Balian of Ibelin

For other individuals with the same name, see Balian (dis- 2 Succession disputes
ambiguation).
Balian of Ibelin (French: Balian d'Ibelin; c. 1143 Baldwin supported Raymond III of Tripoli over Miles of
Plancy as regent for King Baldwin IV in 1174, and in
1177 the brothers were present at the Battle of Mont-
gisard, leading the vanguard victoriously against the
strongest point of the Muslim line. That year Balian also
married Maria Comnena, widow of King Amalric I, be-
coming stepfather to Amalrics younger daughter Isabella.
He received the lordship of Nablus, which had been a
dower gift to Maria following her marriage to Amalric.
In 1179, Baldwin of Ramla was captured by Saladin af-
ter the Battle of Jacobs Ford, and Balian helped arrange
A drawing of Balian of Ibelins seal, from The Crusades: The for his ransom and release the next year; the ransom was
Story of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, by T. A. Archer and eventually paid by Byzantine emperor Manuel I Com-
Charles Lethbridge Kingsford (London & NY, 1894). The rowel- nenus, Marias great-uncle.
spurs (of a later date) are probably an error by the 19th century
artist copying the seal. In 1183 Balian and Baldwin supported Raymond against
Guy of Lusignan, husband of Amalrics elder daughter
Sibylla and by now regent for Baldwin IV, who was dying
1193) was an important crusader noble of the Kingdom
of leprosy. The king had his 5-year-old nephew Baldwin
of Jerusalem in the 12th century.
of Montferrat crowned as co-king in his own lifetime, in
an attempt to prevent Guy from ascending. Shortly be-
fore his death in spring 1185, Baldwin IV ordered a for-
1 Early years mal crown-wearing by his nephew at the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre. It was Balian himselfa notably tall
Balian was the youngest son of Barisan of Ibelin, and manwho carried the child Baldwin V on his shoulder
brother of Hugh and Baldwin. His father, a knight in at the ceremony, signifying the support of Isabellas fam-
the County of Jaa, had been rewarded with the lord- ily for her nephew. Soon after, the eight-year-old boy
ship of Ibelin after the revolt of Hugh II of Le Puiset. became sole king. When he, too, died in 1186, Balian
Barisan married Helvis of Ramla, heiress of the wealthy and Maria, with Raymonds support, put forward Marias
lordship of Ramla. Balians name was also Barisan, but daughter Isabella, then about 14, as a candidate for the
he seems to have adapted the name to the Old French throne. However, her husband, Humphrey IV of Toron,
Balian c. 117576; he is sometimes known as Balian refused the crown and swore fealty to Guy. Balian reluc-
the Younger or Balian II when his father is also re- tantly also paid homage to Guy, while his brother refused
ferred to as Balian. He is also called Balian of Ramla to do so and exiled himself to Antioch. Baldwin placed
or Balian of Nablus. In Latin his name appears variously Balian in charge of raising his son Thomas, the future lord
as Balian, Barisan, Barisanus, Balianus, Balisan, and Bal- of Ramla, who did not go with his father to Antioch.
isanus. Arabic sources call him Balian ibn Barzan, which
translates Balian, son of Barzan (or Barisan)". His pre-
cise year of birth is unknown, but he was of the age of
majority (usually 15) by 1158, when he rst appears in
3 Dispute between Raymond and
charters, having been described as under-age ("infra an- Guy
nos") in 1156.
After the death of Balians eldest brother Hugh c. 1169, Balian remained in the kingdom, as an advisor to Guy.
the castle of Ibelin passed to the next brother, Baldwin. At the end of 1186, Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and
Baldwin, preferring to remain lord of Ramla, gave it to Damascus, threatened the borders of the kingdom after
Balian. Balian held Ibelin as a vassal of his brother, and Guys ally Raynald of Chtillon, Lord of Oultrejordain,
indirectly as a rear-vassal of the king, from whom Bald- had attacked a Muslim caravan. Saladin was allied with
win held Ramla. the garrison of Tiberias in the north of the kingdom, a

1
2 5
territory held by Raymond III. Guy gathered his army at
Nazareth, planning to besiege Tiberias, but Balian dis-
agreed with this, and instead suggested that Guy send an
emissary to Raymond in Tripoli, hoping the two could be
reconciled before Guy made a foolish attack on Saladins
larger army. The rst embassy was a failure and the situ-
ation remained unchanged throughout the early months
of 1187. After Easter of that year, Balian, Gerard of
Ridefort (Grand Master of the Knights Templar), Roger
des Moulins (Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller),
Reginald of Sidon, and Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre were
sent on a new embassy to Tripoli. During the journey they
stopped at Balians ef of Nablus, and Balian planned to
remain behind briey while the others went ahead. On
May 1, the Templars and Hospitallers were defeated by
Saladins son al-Afdal at the Battle of Cresson; Balian
was still a day behind, and had also stopped at Sebastea
to celebrate a feast day. After reaching the castle of La
Fve, where the Templars and Hospitallers had camped,
he found that the place was deserted, and soon heard
news of the disastrous battle from the few survivors. Ray-
mond heard about the battle as well and met the em-
bassy at Tiberias, and agreed to accompany them back
to Jerusalem.
4 The Battle of Hattin
Since al-Afdals army had been allowed to enter the king-
dom through their alliance with Raymond, the count
now regretted his actions and reconciled with Guy. Guy
marched north and camped at Sephoria, but insisted on
marching the army across a dry and barren plain to relieve
Tiberias. The army had no water and was constantly ha-
rassed by Saladins troops, and was nally surrounded at
the Horns of Hattin outside Tiberias early in July. In the
battle that followed on July 4, Balian and Joscelin III of
Edessa commanded the rearguard, but the crusader army
was completely defeated. The anonymous text, De Ex-
pugnatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum Libellus claims
that Balian, Raymond and Reginald of Sidon ed the eld
in the middle of the battle, trampling "the Christians, the
Turks and the Cross" in the processbut this is not cor-
roborated by other accounts, and likely reects the au-
thors hostility to the Poleins (a European born in the
Levant).
The defeat led to a changing of the guard in Jerusalem:
King Guy was taken prisoner, and nearly every town and
castle soon fell to Saladin. Balian, Raymond, Reginald,
and Payen of Haifa were among the few leading nobles
who managed to escape to Tyre. Raymond and Reginald
soon left to attend to the defence of their own territories,
and Tyre came under the leadership of Conrad of Mont-
ferrat, Baldwin Vs paternal uncle, who had arrived not
long after Hattin. Balian was to become one of his closest
allies. Leaving Tyre, Balian asked Saladin for permission
to return through the lines to Jerusalem to escort his wife
DEFENCE OF JERUSALEM
and their children to Tripoli. Saladin allowed this, pro-
vided that Balian leave the city and take an oath to never
raise arms against him.
5 Defence of Jerusalem
When Balian and his small group of knights arrived in
the city, the inhabitants begged them to stay, and Balian
was absolved of his oath to Saladin by Patriarch Eraclius,
who argued that the greater need of Christendom was
stronger than his oath to a non-Christian. Balian was re-
cruited to lead the defence of the city, but he found that
there were under fourteen, possibly as few as two, other
knights there, so he created 60 new knights from the ranks
of the burgesses. Queen Sibylla seems to have played lit-
tle part in the defence, and oaths were taken to Balian as
lord. With Eraclius, he prepared for the inevitable siege
by storing food and money. Saladin indeed arrived to
besiege the city in September, after he had conquered
almost all of the rest of the kingdom, including Ibelin,
Nablus, Ramla, and Ascalon. The sultan felt no ill-will to
Balian for breaking his oath, and arranged for an escort
to accompany Maria and their children to Tripoli. As the
highest ranking lord remaining in Jerusalem, Balian, as
Ibn al-Athir wrote, was seen by the Muslims as holding a
rank more or less equal to that of a king.
Saladin was able to knock down portions of the walls, but
was unable to gain entrance to the city. Balian then rode
out to meet with the sultan, to report to him that the de-
fenders would rather kill each other and destroy the city
than see it taken by force. After negotiations, it was de-
cided that the city would be handed over peacefully, and
that Saladin would free seven thousand men for 30,000
bezants; two women or ten children would be permitted
to take the place of one man for the same price. Balian
handed over the keys to the Tower of David (the citadel)
on October 2. There was a 50-day period for the pay-
ment of ransoms. Those who could not pay for their
freedom were forced into slavery; Saladin freed some of
them, however, and allowed for an orderly march away
from Jerusalem, preventing the sort of massacre that had
occurred when the Crusaders captured the city in 1099.
Balian and Patriarch Eraclius had oered themselves as
hostages for the ransoming of the remaining Frankish cit-
izens, but Saladin had refused. The ransomed inhabitants
marched away in three columns. Balian and the Patriarch
led the third, which was the last to leave the city, probably
around November 20. Balian joined his wife and children
in Tripoli.
 3

said that one of the two assassins responsible had entered

Balians household in Tyre some months previously, pre-
tending to be a servant, in order to stalk his victim; the
other may have similarly inltrated Reginald of Sidons or
Conrads own household. Richard was widely suspected
of involvement in the murder. Isabella, who was expect-
ing her rst child (Maria of Montferrat), married Henry
Balian of Ibelin surrendering the city of Jerusalem to Saladin,
from Les Passages faits Outremer par les Franais contre les II of Champagne only a week later.
Turcs et autres Sarrasins et Maures outremarins, c. 1490. Balian became one of Henrys advisors, and later that
year (along with William of Tiberias), he commanded the
6 Balian as king-maker, and the rearguard of Richards army at the Battle of Jaa. Later,
he helped negotiate the Treaty of Ramla between Richard
Third Crusade and Saladin, ending the crusade. Under this treaty, Ibelin
remained under Saladins control, but many sites along
The fall of Jerusalem, and the death of Sibylla at the Siege the coast which had been reconquered during the crusade
of Acre in 1190, led to a dispute over the throne of the were allowed to remain in Christian hands. After Richard
kingdom. Balians stepdaughter Isabella was now right- departed, Saladin compensated Balian with the castle of
ful queen, but Guy refused to concede his title, and Is- Caymont and ve other nearby sites, all outside Acre.
abellas husband Humphreywho had let her cause down
in 1186remained loyal to him. If Isabella were to suc-
ceed, she needed a politically acceptable and militarily 7 Legacy
competent husband, the obvious candidate being Conrad
of Montferrat, who also had some claim as Baldwin V's Balian died in 1193, in his early fties. With Maria he
paternal uncle. Balian and Maria seized Isabella and had four children:
talked her into agreeing to a divorce. There were prece-
dents: the annulment of Amalric Is marriage to Agnes of Helvis of Ibelin, who married (1) Reginald of Sidon;
Courtenay, and the unsuccessful attempts to force Sibylla (2) Guy of Montfort.
to divorce Guy.
John of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut and constable of
Isabellas marriage was annulled by Ubaldo Lanfranchi,
Jerusalem, and regent for his niece Maria of Mont-
Archbishop of Pisa, who was Papal legate, and Philip of
ferrat, Queen of Jerusalem. He married (1) Helvis
Dreux, Bishop of Beauvais. The Bishop of Beauvais then
of Nephin; (2) Melisende of Arsuf.
married her to Conrad (controversially, since his brother
had been married to her half-sister and it was uncertain Margaret, who married (1) Hugh of Saint-Omer
whether he had been divorced by his Byzantine wife). (stepson of Raymond III of Tripoli); (2) Walter of
The succession dispute was prolonged by the arrival of Csarea.
Richard I of England and Philip II of France on the Third
Crusade: Richard supported Guy, as a Poitevin vassal, Philip of Ibelin, Regent of Cyprus, who married Al-
while Philip supported Conrad, his late fathers cousin. ice of Montbliard, and sired John of Ibelin, Count
of Jaa and Ascalon
Balian and Marias role in Isabellas divorce and their sup-
port for Conrad as king earned them the bitter hatred Balians squire Ernoul, who was with him on the embassy
of Richard and his supporters. Ambroise, who wrote a to Tripoli in 1187, wrote parts of the Old French continu-
poetic account of the crusade, called Balian more false ation of the Latin chronicle of William of Tyre (William
than a goblin and said he should be hunted with dogs. had died in 1186, before the fall of Jerusalem). Although
The anonymous author of the Itinerarium Peregrinorum this family of manuscripts now often bears his name, his
et Gesta Regis Ricardi wrote that Balian was a member of account only survives in fragments within it, mainly for
a council of consummate iniquity around Conrad, ac- the period 118688, with a heavy bias in favour of the
cused him of taking Conrads bribes, and said of Maria Ibelin family.
and Balian as a couple:
Balian became a common name in the Ibelin family in
Steeped in Greek lth from the cradle, she had the 13th century. Balian, lord of Beirut, son of John and
a husband whose morals matched her own: he grandson of the above Balian, succeeded his father as lord
was cruel, she was godless; he was ckle, she of Beirut in 1236. Balian of Beiruts brother, also named
was pliable; he was faithless, she was fraudu- John, had a son named Balian; this Balian was lord of
lent. Arsuf and married Plaisance of Antioch.
The name also passed into the family of the Greniers
On 28 April 1192, only days after his kingship was con- of Sidon, since Balians daughter Helvis and Reginald of
rmed by election, Conrad was assassinated in Tyre. It is Sidon named their son Balian.
4 9 SOURCES

8 Balian in ction and game sity Press, 1962.

William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond

One notable mention of Balian can be found in the 1904 the Sea. E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey, trans.
novel The Brethren by Henry Rider Haggard, in which Columbia University Press, 1943.
he was portrayed as the defender of Jerusalem in a not so
historically accurate scenario. Balian appears in Ronald Chronique d'Ernoul et de Bernard le Trsorier,
Welch's childrens novel Knight Crusader (1954) as a fat, edited by M. L. de Mas Latrie. La Socit de
middle-aged baron. He is a sympathetic major charac- l'Histoire de France, 1871.
ter in British author Graham Shelby's two novels of Out-
remer, The Knights of Dark Renown (1969) and its se- La Continuation de Guillaume de Tyr (11841192),
quel The Kings of Vain Intent (1970). However, the rst edited by Margaret Ruth Morgan. L'Acadmie des
is based on now-outdated research. In the sequel, Balian Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 1982.
and Maria are depicted as manipulated by Conrad, whom Ambroise, The History of the Holy War, translated
Shelby (without any historical evidence) portrays as an by Marianne Ailes. Boydell Press, 2003.
evil sadist, and they become his enemies. Shelby even de-
picts Balian telling Conrad he wishes he could kill him, Chronicle of the Third Crusade, a Translation of
although all the historical evidence indicates they were Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi,
close friends and allies. Balian is also portrayed in Alan translated by Helen J. Nicholson. Ashgate, 1997.
Gordon's fourth work in the Fools Guild Mysteries, The
Widow of Jerusalem (2003), as the wise adviser of Con- Peter W. Edbury, The Conquest of Jerusalem and
rad and Isabella. In Catherine Jinks book, Pagans Cru- the Third Crusade: Sources in Translation. Ashgate,
sade, Balian is portrayed a 'growing older' yet is admired 1996.
as an ecient military commander and a sensible man. Peter W. Edbury, John of Ibelin and the Kingdom of
A highly ctionalised version of Balian is the main char- Jerusalem. Boydell Press, 1997.
acter of the 2005 lm Kingdom of Heaven, played by
Amin Maalouf, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes.
Orlando Bloom as a young man with a questioning sensi-
London, 1984.
bility regarding religion and social attitudes. In the lm,
Balians father, a ctional character named Godfrey the H. E. Mayer, Carving Up Crusaders: The Early
Baron of Ibelin (played by Liam Neeson), returns to Eu- Ibelins and Ramlas, in Outremer: Studies in the his-
rope to nd Balian, his long-lost illegitimate son, who is a tory of the Crusading Kingdom of Jerusalem pre-
blacksmith in France, and encourages him to come to the sented to Joshua Prawer. Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Insti-
Holy Land as his heir. Balian is portrayed as having a love tute, 1982.
aair with Sibylla.(This is possibly derived from the Old
French Continuation of William of Tyre 's claims about Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. II:
her and Baldwin.) The lm depicts Balian as the sole The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University
commander of the defence of Jerusalem and instead of Press, 1952.
working in close alliance with Patriarch Eraclius, Balian
Medieval Lands Project on Balian de Ibelin, Lord of
is depicted as his rival. In the lms coda, Balian re-
Nablus
turns to France (with Sibylla) where he meets Richard
I of England, who rides up to Balian and says to him that
he is looking for Balian, the defender of Jerusalem, to
which Balian replies that he is a blacksmith. After some
time passes Balian and Sibylla are seen to be riding up
the crossroads his father had used when returning from
Jerusalem.
Balian also appears in Jan Guillou's book The Knight Tem-
plar, the second book in the Arn Trilogy.
Balian is also a general of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at
the Medieval: II Total War, Crusade Campaign.

9 Sources

De Expugnatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum,

translated by James A. Brundage, in The Cru-
sades: A Documentary Survey. Marquette Univer-
 5

10 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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Balian of Ibelin Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_of_Ibelin?oldid=669957725 Contributors: Zoe, Mulad, Adam Bishop,
Thue, Hadal, DocWatson42, SetarconeX, Fergananim, Mike Rosoft, Groucho~enwiki, Rich Farmbrough, Pavel Vozenilek, Cmdrjame-
son, Kaivanmil, Polylerus, Christian.ispir, Flyingcheese, Angr, FeanorStar7, TigerShark, FreplySpang, BerndGehrmann~enwiki, Ucucha,
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mouth, Vinni-Puh, Bluezy, SmackBot, Dweller, Elonka, Vald, Kintetsubualo, Srnec, Gilliam, Jon513, Mensch, Colonies Chris, Andrew
Dalby, Neddyseagoon, FairuseBot, JohnCD, ShelfSkewed, Hemlock Martinis, Cydebot, Fnlayson, Michaelas10, Tbird1965, Caledonian
Place, Thijs!bot, Wandalstouring, Widefox, Zidane tribal, Robina Fox, Lordjim13, Waacstats, Cdiasoh, DoSiDo, Agricolae, R'n'B, Bec-
caLynnLaw, TXiKiBoT, Origin445, Dorkules, AlleborgoBot, SieBot, Karense, VVVBot, Lucasbfrbot, Flyer22, Antonio Lopez, Steven
Zhang, Skypro~enwiki, Sundehul, Tesi1700, RobinHood70, ClueBot, Mablanco, Cygnis insignis, Istilidion, XLinkBot, Krazy08, Surtsicna,
Addbot, Baron Theodore, Leszek Jaczuk, Ka Faraq Gatri, LaaknorBot, 5 albert square, Lightbot, Againme, AnomieBOT, Ulric1313,
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