Drawing of Balian of Ibelin's seal, from The Crusades: The Story of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, by T. A. Archer and Charles Lethbridge Kingsford (London & NY, 1894). The rowel-spurs (of a later date) are probably an error by the 19th-century artist copying the seal.

Balian of Ibelin (early 1140s–1193) was an important noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. Image File history File links Balian_of_Ibelin_seal. ... Centuries: 11th century - 12th century - 13th century Decades: 1090s 1100s 1110s 1120s 1130s - 1140s - 1150s 1160s 1170s 1180s 1190s Years: 1140 1141 1142 1143 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1149 Events and Trends Abbot Suger rebuilds the monastery of St Denis outside Paris, seen as the initiation of the Gothic... // Saladin dies, and the lands of the Kurdish Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt and Syria are split among his descendants. ... This article is about the medieval crusades. ... Official language Latin, French, Italian, and other western languages; Greek and Arabic also widely spoken Capital Jerusalem, later Acre Constitution Various laws, so-called Assizes of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Christian kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 by the First Crusade. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

Early life

Balian was the youngest son of Barisan of Ibelin, and brother of Hugh and Baldwin. His father, who was probably Italian, had been a knight in the County of Jaffa, and had been rewarded with the lordship of Ibelin after the revolt of Hugh II of Le Puiset. Barisan married Helvis, heiress of the wealthy lordship of Ramla. Balian's name was also Barisan, but he seems to have adapted the name (found in Tuscany and Liguria) to the Old French "Balian" c. 1175-76; he is sometimes known as Balian the Younger or Balian II when his father is also referred to as Balian. He is also called Balian of Ramla or Balian of Nablus. In Latin his name appears variously as Balian, Barisan, Barisanus, Balianus, Balisan, and Balisanus. Arabic sources call him Balian ibn Barzan. His precise year of birth is unknown, but he was of the age of majority (usually 15) by 1158, when he first appears in charters, having been described as under-age ("infra annos") in 1155. (H. E. Mayer has suggested a limited degree of competence may have been accepted from the age of 8, reducing Balian's age further, but the examples given of this are of males of the royal house, whose situation was somewhat different.) Barisan of Ibelin (died 1150) was an important figure in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, and was the ancestor of the Ibelin family. ... Hugh of Ibelin (died c. ... Baldwin of Ibelin, also known as Baldwin of Ramla (died c. ... The double County of Jaffa and Ascalon was one of the four major seigneuries of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin. ... The Ibelin coat of arms. ... Hugh II of Le Puiset or Hugh II of Jaffa (c. ... The Lordship of Ramla was one of the vassal states of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. ... Tuscany (Italian: ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. ... Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. ... Old French is a term sometimes used to refer to the langue doïl, the continuum of varieties of Romance language spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of Belgium and Switzerland during the period roughly from 1000 to 1300 A.D... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

After the death of Balian's eldest brother Hugh c. 1169, the castle of Ibelin passed to the next brother, Baldwin. Baldwin, preferring to remain lord of Ramla, gave it to Balian. Balian held Ibelin as a vassal of his brother, and indirectly as a rear-vassal of the king, from whom Baldwin held Ramla. Ramla (Hebrew רמלה Ramlāh; Arabic الرملة ar-Ramlah, colloquial Ramleh), is a city in the Center District of Israel in Israel. ... A vavasour, (also vavasor, Old French vavassor, vavassour, French vavasseur, LL. vavassor, probably from vassus vassorum vassal of the vassals) is a term in Feudal law. ...

Succession disputes

Balian and 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 Montgisard, leading the vanguard victoriously against the strongest point of the Muslim line. That year Balian also married Maria Comnena, widow of King Amalric I, and became stepfather to their daughter Princess Isabella. He received the lordship of Nablus, which had been a dower gift to Maria following her marriage to Amalric. In 1179, Baldwin was captured by Saladin after the Battle of Marj Uyun, and Balian helped arrange for his ransom and release the next year; the ransom was eventually paid by Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus, Maria's great-uncle. Raymond III of Tripoli (1140–1187) was Count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187 and Prince of Galilee and Tiberias in right of his wife Eschiva. ... Miles of Plancy (died 1174), also known as Milon or Milo, was a noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. ... Baldwin IV (1161 – 1185), called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185. ... Combatants Kingdom of Jerusalem Ayyubids Commanders Baldwin IV, Raynald of Chatillon, Knights Templar Saladin Strength 375 knights, 80 Templars, Several thousand infantry About 30,000 Casualties 1100 killed 750 wounded About 27,000 The Battle of Montgisard was fought between Saladin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem on November 25, 1177. ... Maria Komnene or Comnena (Greek: Μαρία Κομνηνή, Maria Komnēnē), (c. ... Amalric I (also Amaury or Aimery) (1136 – July 11, 1174) was King of Jerusalem 1162–1174, and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession. ... Isabella of Jerusalem (c. ... Map of the West Bank, with Nablus in the center north. ... Dower (Lat. ... Artistic representation of Saladin. ... This is a list of Byzantine Emperors. ... Manuel I Comnenus (Greek: Μανουήλ Α ο Κομνηνός; November 28, 1118 – September 24, 1180), was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean. ...

In 1183 Balian and Baldwin supported Raymond against Guy of Lusignan, husband of Sibylla of Jerusalem and by now regent for Baldwin IV, who was dying of leprosy. The king had his 5-year-old nephew Baldwin of Montferrat crowned as co-king in his own lifetime, in an attempt to prevent Guy from succeeding as king. Shortly before his death in spring 1185, Baldwin IV ordered a formal crown-wearing by his nephew at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was Balian himself - a notably tall man - who carried the child Baldwin V on his shoulder at the ceremony, signifying the support of Isabella's family for her nephew. Soon after, the 8-year old boy became sole king. When he, too, died in 1186, Balian and Maria, with Raymond's support, put forward Maria's daughter Isabella, then about 14, as a candidate for the throne. However, her husband, Humphrey IV of Toron, refused the crown and swore fealty to Guy. Balian reluctantly also paid homage to Guy, while his brother refused to do so and exiled himself to Antioch. Baldwin placed Balian in charge of raising his son Thomas, the future lord of Ramla, who did not go with his father to Antioch. Guy of Lusignan (c. ... Top: Baldwin IV betrothes Sibylla to Guy; Bottom: Sibylla and Guy are married. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Top: Baldwin IV on his sickbed; Bottom: Baldwin V crowned. ... Main Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. ... Humphrey IV of Toron (c. ... Antioch on the Orontes (Greek: Αντιόχεια η επί Δάφνη, Αντιόχεια η επί Ορόντου or Αντιόχεια η Μεγάλη; Latin: Antiochia ad Orontem, also Antiochia dei Siri), the Great Antioch or Syrian Antioch was an ancient city located on the eastern side (left bank) of the Orontes River about 30 km from the sea and its port, Seleucia Pieria. ...

Dispute between Raymond and Guy

Balian remained in the kingdom, as an advisor to Guy. At the end of 1186, Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Damascus, threatened the borders of the kingdom after Guy's ally Raynald of Chatillon, lord of Oultrejordain, had attacked a Muslim caravan. Saladin was allied with the garrison of Tiberias in the north of the kingdom, a territory held by Raymond III. Guy gathered his army at Nazareth, planning to besiege Tiberias, but Balian disagreed with this, and instead suggested that Guy send an embassy to Raymond in Tripoli, hoping the two could be reconciled before Guy made a foolish attack on Saladin's larger army. The first embassy was a failure and the situation 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 Balian's fief of Nablus, and Balian planned to remain behind briefly while the others went ahead. On May 1, the Templars and Hospitallers were defeated by Saladin's 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 Fève, 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. Raymond heard about the battle as well and met the embassy at Tiberias, and agreed to accompany them back to Jerusalem. Artistic representation of Saladin. ... Damascus at sunset Damascus ( translit: Also commonly: الشام ash-Shām) is the largest city of Syria and is also the capital. ... Raynald of Châtillon (also Reynaud or Renaud or Reginald of Chastillon) (c. ... Oultrejordain or Oultrejourdain (French for beyond the Jordan) was the name used during the Crusades for an extensive and partly undefined region to the east of the Jordan river, an area known in ancient times as Edom and Moab. ... Tiberias in 1862, the ruins reminiscent of its ancient heritage. ... Nazareth (IPA: ) (Arabic الناصرة an-Nāṣira lit. ... Easter, the Sunday of the Resurrection, Pascha, or Resurrection Day, is the most important religious feast of the Christian liturgical year, observed at some point between late March and late April each year (early April to early May in Eastern Christianity), following the cycle of the moon. ... Gerard of Ridefort (died October 1, 1189) was Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1184 until his death. ... This article is about the medieval military order. ... Roger de Moulins was Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1177 to his death in 1187. ... The Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, Knights of Malta, Knights of Rhodes, and Chevaliers of Malta) is an organization that began as an Amalfitan hospital founded in Jerusalem in 1080 to provide care for poor and sick... Reginald Grenier (died 1202; also Reynald or Renaud) was Lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. ... Joscius, also Josce or Josias (died 1202), was Archbishop of Tyre in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the late 12th century. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... The Battle of Cresson was a small battle fought on May 1, 1187, at the springs of Cresson, or Ain Gozeh, near Nazareth. ... Sebastia (סבסטיה) is located in the West Bank also referred to in the bible as Samaria. ... The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organising a liturgical year on the level of days by associating each day with a saint, and referring to the day as the saints day of that saint. ...

The Battle of Hattin

Since al-Afdal's army had been allowed to enter the kingdom 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 harassed by Saladin's troops, and was finally 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 Expugnatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum Libellus claims that Balian, Raymond and Reginald of Sidon fled the field in the middle of the battle, trampling "the Christians, the Turks and the Cross" in the process - but this is not corroborated by other accounts, and reflects the author's hostility to the Poleins. Tzippori, also known by several other names & spellings including Sepphoris, is one of the oldest Jewish settlements to be uncovered by archaeologists, and one of the richest in what has been found there. ... Hittin was a Palestinian village that was captured by Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. ... Combatants Ayyubids Kingdom of Jerusalem Commanders Saladin Guy of Lusignan Raymond III of Tripoli Strength Est. ... For the United States holiday, the Fourth of July, see Independence Day (United States). ... Joscelin III of Edessa (d. ...

The defeat was a disaster for the kingdom of 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 Montferrat, Baldwin V's 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 and their children to Tripoli. Saladin allowed this, provided that Balian swear not to remain in the city and raise arms against him. The Triumphal Arch Tyre (Arabic , Phoenician , Hebrew Tzor, Tiberian Hebrew , Akkadian , Greek Týros) is a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon. ... Conrad of Montferrat (c. ...

Defense of Jerusalem

When Balian arrived in the city, the inhabitants begged him to stay, and he 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 recruited 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 sixty new knights from the ranks of the burgesses. Queen Sibylla seems to have played little 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." Heraclius of Caesarea (died 1191) was archbishop of Caesarea and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. ... Burgess was originally a freeman of a borough. ... Top: Baldwin IV betrothes Sibylla to Guy; Bottom: Sibylla and Guy are married. ... The Siege of Jerusalem took place from September 20 to October 2, 1187. ... Izz ad-Dīn Hassan Karam pour Athīr (1160–1233), was a 13th century Iranian/Persian historian born in Cizre in Northern Kurdistan province. ...

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 defenders would rather kill each other and destroy the city than see it taken by force. After negotiations, it was decided 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 payment 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 offered themselves as hostages for the ransoming of the remaining Frankish citizens, 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. Tower of David Migdal David in Jerusalem as it appears today The Tower of David is Jerusalems citadel, a historical and archaeological site of world importance. ... October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Armenian Cilicia and Crusader States The County of Tripoli was the last of the four major Crusader states in the Levant to be created. ...

Balian of Ibelin surrendering the city of Jerusalem to Saladin, from Les Passages faits Outremer par les Français contre les Turcs et autres Sarrasins et Maures outremarins, c. 1490.

Image File history File linksMetadata BalianofIbelin1490. ... Hebrew יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim) (Standard) Yerushalayim or Yerushalaim Arabic commonly القـُدْس (Al-Quds); officially in Israel أورشليم القدس (Urshalim-Al-Quds) Name Meaning Hebrew: (see below), Arabic: The Holiness Government City District Jerusalem Population 724,000 (2006) Jurisdiction 123,000 dunams (123 km²) Jerusalem (Hebrew:  , Yerushaláyim or Yerushalaim; Arabic:  , al-Quds, the Holiness)[2... Artistic representation of Saladin. ... Events Tirant Lo Blanc by Joanot Martorell, Martí Joan De Galba is published. ...

Balian as king-maker, and the Third Crusade

The fall of Jerusalem, and the death of Sibylla at the Siege of Acre in 1190, led to a dispute over the throne of the kingdom. Balian's stepdaughter Isabella was now rightful queen, but Guy refused to concede his title, and Isabella's husband Humphrey - who had let her cause down in 1186 - remained loyal to him. If Isabella were to succeed, she needed a politically acceptable and militarily competent husband, the obvious candidate being Conrad of Montferrat, who also had some claim as Baldwin V's paternal uncle. Balian and Maria seized Isabella and talked her into agreeing to a divorce. There were precedents: the annulment of Amalric I's marriage to Agnes of Courtenay, and the unsuccessful attempts to force Sibylla to divorce Guy. The Siege of Acre was the most important event of the Third Crusade, lasting from August 28, 1189 until July 12, 1191, and the first time in the history of the crusades that the king was compelled to personally see to the defense of the Holy Land. ... Conrad of Montferrat (c. ... Baldwin V (1177-1186) was the son of Sibylla of Jerusalem and her first husband, William of Montferrat. ...

Isabella's marriage was annulled by Ubaldo Lanfranchi, Archbishop of Pisa, who was Papal legate, and Philip of Dreux, Bishop of Beauvais. The Bishop of Beauvais then married her to Conrad (controversially, since his brother had been married to her half-sister and it was uncertain whether he had been divorced by his Byzantine wife). The succession dispute was prolonged by the arrival of Richard I of England and Philip II of France on the Third Crusade: Richard supported Guy, as a Poitevin vassal, while Philip supported Conrad, his late father's cousin. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pisa is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy. ... A papal Legate, from the Decretals of Boniface VIII (1294 to 1303). ... The Bishop of Beauvais-Noyons-Senlis is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Reims. ... Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 to 1199. ... Philip II Augustus (French: Philippe II Auguste) (August 21, 1165 – July 14, 1223), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. ... The Third Crusade (1189–1192), also known as the Kings Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin. ...

Balian and Maria's role in Isabella's divorce and their support for Conrad as king earned them the bitter hatred of Richard and his supporters. Ambroise, who wrote a poetic account of the crusade, called Balian "more false than a goblin" and said he "should be hunted with dogs". The anonymous author of the Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi wrote that Balian was a member of a "council of consummate iniquity" around Conrad, accused him of taking Conrad's bribes, and said of Maria and Balian as a couple: Ambroise (around 1190), Norman poet, and chronicler of the Third Crusade, author of a work called LEstoire de la guerre sainte, which describes in rhyming French verse the adventures of Richard Coeur de Lion as a crusader. ...

Steeped in Greek filth from the cradle, she had a husband whose morals matched her own: he was cruel, she was godless; he was fickle, she was pliable; he was faithless, she was fraudulent.

On 28 April 1192, only days after his kingship was confirmed by election, Conrad was assassinated in Tyre. It is said that one of the two Hashshashin responsible had entered Balian's household in Tyre some months previously, pretending to be a servant, in order to stalk his victim; the other may have similarly infiltrated Reginald of Sidon's or Conrad's own household. Richard was widely suspected of involvement in the murder. Isabella, who was expecting her first child (Maria of Montferrat), married Henry II of Champagne only a week later. April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... // Events The Third Crusade ends in disaster. ... Jack Ruby murdered the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in a very public manner. ... The Hashshashin (also Hashishin, Hashashiyyin or Assassins) was a religious sect of Ismaili Muslims from the Nizari sub-sect. ... Maria of Montferrat (c. ... Henry II of Champagne (July 29, 1166–1197), was count of Champagne from 1181 to 1197, and king of Jerusalem from 1192 to 1197. ...

Balian became one of Henry's advisors, and later that year, (along with William of Tiberias) he commanded the rearguard of Richard's army at the Battle of Jaffa. Later, he helped negotiate the Treaty of Ramla between Richard and Saladin, ending the crusade. Under this treaty, Ibelin remained under Saladin's control, but many sites along the coast which had been reconquered during the crusade were allowed to remain in Christian hands. After Richard departed, Saladin compensated Balian with the castle of Caymont and five other nearby sites, all outside Acre. On September 7 the army proceeded from Arsuf to Jaffa, which the Crusaders took and fortified strongly. ... The Treaty of Ramla was signed by Saladin and Richard the Lionheart in June 1192 after the Battle of Arsuf. ... The Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, created in 1099, was divided into a number of smaller seigneuries. ...

Legacy

Balian died in 1193, in his early fifties. With Maria he had four children:

• Helvis, who married (1) Reginald of Sidon; (2) Guy of Montfort.
• John of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut and constable of Jerusalem, and regent for his niece Maria of Montferrat, Queen of Jerusalem. He married (1) Helvis of Nephin; (2) Melisende of Arsur.
• Margaret, who married (1) Hugh of Saint-Omer (stepson of Raymond III of Tripoli); (2) Walter of Cæsarea.
• Philip of Ibelin, Regent of Cyprus, who married Alice of Montbéliard.

Balian's squire Ernoul, who was with him on the embassy to Tripoli in 1187, wrote parts of the Old French continuation of the Latin chronicle of William of Tyre (William had died in 1186, before the fall of Jerusalem). Although this family of manuscripts now often bears his name, his account only survives in fragments within it, mainly for the period 1186-88, with a heavy bias in favour of the Ibelin family. Reginald Grenier (died 1202; also Reynald or Renaud) was Lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-04-15, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, created in 1099, was divided into a number of smaller seigneuries. ... There were six major officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem: constable, marshal, seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and chancellor. ... Maria of Montferrat (c. ... In feudal times a squire was a man-at-arms in the service of a knight, often as his apprentice. ... Ernoul is the name generally given to the author of a chronicle of the late 12th century dealing with the fall of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. ... Old French is a term sometimes used to refer to the langue doïl, the continuum of varieties of Romance language spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of Belgium and Switzerland during the period roughly from 1000 to 1300 A.D... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... William of Tyre (c. ...

Balian became a common name in the Ibelin family in the 13th century. Balian, lord of Beirut, son of John and grandson of the above Balian, succeeded his father as lord of Beirut in 1236. Balian of Beirut's brother, also named John, had a son named Balian; this Balian was lord of Arsuf and married Plaisance of Antioch. Arsuf (also known as Arsur or Apollonia) was a Crusader city and fortress located in what is now Israel, about 15 kilometres north of Tel Aviv. ... Queen Plaisance of Cyprus, born Plaisance of Antioch (b c 1235 died 1261) was a daughter of Bohemund V of Antioch and his second wife, an Italian noblewoman Lucienne dei Conti di Segni, kinswoman of Pope Innocent III. She became Queen consort and Queen regent of the Kingdom of Cyprus...

The name also passed into the family of the Greniers of Sidon, since Balian's daughter Helvis and Reginald of Sidon named their son Balian.

Balian in fiction

Orlando Bloom as Balian in Kingdom of Heaven

Balian appears in Ronald Welch's children's novel Knight Crusader (1954) as a fat, middle-aged baron. He is a sympathetic major character in British author Graham Shelby's two novels of Outremer, The Knights of Dark Renown (1969) and its sequel The Kings of Vain Intent (1970). However, the first is based on now-outdated research. In the sequel, Balian and Maria are depicted as manipulated by Conrad, whom Shelby (without any historical evidence) portrays as an evil sadist, and they become his enemies. Shelby even depicts Balian telling Conrad he wishes he could kill him, although all the historical evidence indicates they were close friends and allies. Balian is also portrayed in Alan Gordon's fourth work in the Fool's Guild Mysteries, The Widow of Jerusalem (2003), as the wise adviser of Conrad and Isabella. Download high resolution version (609x900, 96 KB)Poster for the movie Kingdom of Heaven. ... Download high resolution version (609x900, 96 KB)Poster for the movie Kingdom of Heaven. ... Ronald Welch (Pseudonym of Ronald Oliver Felton) (1909 - 1982) His pseudonym comes from his wartime regiment, The Welch. ... Graham Shelby is a British historical novelist. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Alan Gordon (b. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A highly fictionalised version of Balian is the main character of the 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven, played by Orlando Bloom as a young man with a questioning, 21st-century sensibility regarding religion and social attitudes. In the film, Balian's father, named Godfrey (played by Liam Neeson), returns to Europe to find his long-lost illegitimate son, a blacksmith in France, and encourages him to come to the Holy Land as his heir. The movie does not include any of Balian's brothers, and the character may be a composite of Balian and Baldwin of Ibelin: he is portrayed as having a love affair with Sibylla, possibly derived from the Old French Continuation of William of Tyre's claims about her and Baldwin. The movie's Godfrey, however, is closer to the real Balian in age and in his friendship with Raymond III of Tripoli, although not in his friendship with the King, Baldwin IV, who in reality was wary of the Ibelins' ambitions. The film depicts Balian as the sole commander of the defence of Jerusalem: instead of working in close alliance with Patriarch Eraclius, he is depicted as his enemy. In the film's coda, Balian is depicted as having an amicable verbal exchange with Richard I of England, which does not accord with their well-documented animosity. This is a list of film-related events in 2005. ... There is another article about the theological concept of the Kingdom of Heaven. ... Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom[1] (born January 13, 1977) is an English actor. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... A blacksmith A blacksmith at work A blacksmith at work A blacksmiths fire Hot metal work from a blacksmith A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from iron or steel by forging the metal; i. ... Top: Baldwin IV betrothes Sibylla to Guy; Bottom: Sibylla and Guy are married. ... Raymond III of Tripoli (1140–1187) was Count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187 and Prince of Galilee and Tiberias in right of his wife Eschiva. ... Baldwin IV (1161-1185), the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife Agnes of Edessa, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1183, when he had his nephew Baldwin V crowned in his place. ... Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 to 1199. ...

Sources

• De Expugnatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum, translated by James A. Brundage, in The Crusades: A Documentary Survey. Marquette University Press, 1962.
• William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea. E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey, trans. Columbia University Press, 1943.
• Chronique d'Ernoul et de Bernard le Trésorier, edited by M. L. de Mas Latrie. La Société de l'Histoire de France, 1871.
• La Continuation de Guillaume de Tyr (1184-1192), edited by Margaret Ruth Morgan. L'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 1982.
• Ambroise, The History of the Holy War, translated by Marianne Ailes. Boydell Press, 2003.
• Chronicle of the Third Crusade, a Translation of Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi, translated by Helen J. Nicholson. Ashgate, 1997.
• Peter W. Edbury, The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade: Sources in Translation. Ashgate, 1996.
• Peter W. Edbury, John of Ibelin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Boydell Press, 1997.
• Amin Maalouf, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. London, 1984.
• H. E. Mayer, "Carving Up Crusaders: The Early Ibelins and Ramlas", in Outremer: Studies in the history of the Crusading Kingdom of Jerusalem presented to Joshua Prawer. Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Institute, 1982.
• Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 1952.