Joscelin I.

Joscelin von Courtenay († 1131 ) was Count von Edessa as Joscelin I von Edessa . He ruled the county during the zenith of its existence, from 1118 to 1131. His military prowess held the country's wide and unstable borders together.

Life

He was a younger son of Joscelin , Lord of Courtenay ( House Courtenay ), and Elisabeth von Montlhéry ( House Montlhéry ). He reached the Holy Land with the minor crusade of 1101 , which followed the successful First Crusade . He soon became one of the most important followers of his cousin of Count Baldwin II of Edessa (the mothers were sisters). Baldwin appointed him commander of the Turbessel fortress on the Euphrates , an important outpost of the county in the fight against the Seljuks .

In 1104 he came into the power of the Muslims together with his master Baldwin at the Battle of Harran and was imprisoned by them for three years, until 1107. 1113 he received from Baldwin I, the Principality of Galilee .

When Baldwin II became King in the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1118 as successor to Baldwin I, he made Joscelin in 1119 in Edessa his successor as Count. This was also the reward for Joscelin's commitment in the election of the king in favor of Baldwin II.

The seriously injured Joscelin leads his troops to the relief of Kaisun. (Miniature in a 13th century manuscript.)

Joscelin was captured again in 1122, and when Baldwin II came to free him, he was also captured, so that Jerusalem was now without a king. Joscelin managed to escape in 1123 and obtained Baldwin's release the following year.

In 1125 he took part in the Battle of Azaz , a victory of the Crusaders against the Atabeg of Mosul .

In 1131, during the siege of a small castle in northeast Aleppo , he was seriously injured by the collapse of a pioneer trench , after which he passed the government of the county to his son Joscelin II . A short time later he received the news that the Danischmenden - Emir Ghazi was marching against the city and fortress of Kaisun . When his son refused to help the city, he ordered his own army to leave, with Joscelin carried on a stretcher at the head of the army. When Ghazi heard of the coming of the army, he lifted the siege and withdrew. A short time later Joscelin died on the roadside.

Joscelin's first marriage was to a daughter of Prince Constantine I of Armenia , and his second marriage to Maria of Salerno, sister of Roger of Salerno , regent of Antioch .

literature

• Jonathan Riley-Smith : Josselin I. In: Lexikon des Mittelalters , Vol. 5, Col. 637 (there also further literature).

Web links

• Joscelin de Courtenay at fmg.ac (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Tankred of Taranto	Prince of Tiberias 1113–1119	Wilhelm I of Bures
Baldwin II	Count of Edessa 1119–1131	Joscelin II