Pons, Count of Tripoli
| Pons | |
|---|---|
His seal
|
|
| Count of Tripoli | |
| Reign | 1112–1137 |
| Predecessor | Bertrand |
| Successor | Raymond II |
| Born | c. 1098 |
| Died | 25 March 1137 (aged 38–39) |
| Spouse | Cecile of France |
| Issue |
Raymond II Philip Agnes |
| House | House of Toulouse |
| Father | Bertrand of Tripoli |
| Religion | Catholicism |
Pons (c. 1098 – 25 March 1137) was count of Tripoli from 1112 to 1137. He was still a minor when his father, Bertrand, died in 1112. He swore fealty to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos in the presence of a Byzantine embassy. His advisors sent him to Antioch to be educated in the court of Tancred of Antioch, thus putting an end to the hostilities between the two crusader states. Tancred granted four important fortresses to Pons in the Principality of Antioch. On his deathbed, Tancred also arranged the marriage of his wife, Cecile of France, and Pons. Pons closely cooperated with Tancred's successor, Roger of Salerno, against the Muslim rulers in the 1110s.
He refused obedience to Baldwin II of Jerusalem in early 1122, but their vassals soon mediated a reconciliation between the two rulers. Pons was one of the supreme commanders of the crusader troops during the successful siege of Tyre in 1124. He supported Alice of Jerusalem, the dowager princess of Antioch, against her brother-in-law, Fulk, King of Jerusalem, in late 1132, but they could not prevent Fulk from taking control of Antioch. A year later, Pons could only defend his county against Imad ad-Din Zengi, atabeg of Mosul, with Fulk's assistance.
Native Christians captured Pons during a campaign of Bazwāj, the mamluk (or slave) commander of Damascus, against Tripoli in March 1137. His captors handed him over to Bazwāj who had him killed. The County of Tripoli developed into a fully independent crusader state during Pons' reign who united his inherited lands (that his father had held in fief of the kings of Jerusalem) with territories located in the Principality of Antioch.
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