c. 1145–1192 · Defender of Tyre and king-elect of Jerusalem
Conrad de Montferrat
Conrad de Montferrat (c. 1145–1192) — Defender of Tyre and king-elect of Jerusalem. This dossier combines the biographical record with dated events and the listed primary and secondary sources.
No verified depiction added
BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER
Life and historical role
Life and political setting
Conrad belonged to the Montferrat dynasty of northern Italy and had extensive family connections with the Byzantine court and western aristocracy. He reached the Levant in the summer of 1187 as the kingdom of Jerusalem was collapsing after Hattin. His arrival gave the remaining coastal resistance an experienced political and military leader.
Career during the Crusading era
Conrad refused to surrender Tyre and successfully defended the city, preserving the principal base from which the Franks could maintain a coastal presence. He joined the siege of Acre and claimed the throne through his marriage to Isabella. The barons elected him in 1192, but Assassins killed him before his coronation.
Documented activity: a chronological record
On November 1187 – January 1188, Conrad de Montferrat appears in the atlas record “Defence of Tyre” at Tyre. The event is documented through Ernoul, İbnü’l-Esîr, TDV İA, ‘Sûr’.
Allies, opponents and geographical range
Conrad de Montferrat appears in the same records as Saladin. Co-occurrence does not always indicate alliance: the connection may involve command, dynastic rivalry, captivity, negotiation or direct conflict.
The principal geographical range represented in the atlas is Tyre. These places record not only presence but also the supply lines, diplomatic contacts and limits of authority relevant to the biography.
Results of recorded decisions
The “Defence of Tyre” dossier records the consequences of this episode and identifies the source problems that limit a definitive reconstruction. Use this record as a starting point for comparing narrative sources, military practice, captivity, negotiation and the legal treatment of war.
Sources and historiography
Latin chronicles and dynastic narratives make the person's role visible, while charters, treaties, letters and Arabic, Greek, Armenian or Syriac accounts provide independent controls. Later heroic portraits are evidence for memory and reception, not contemporary biography.
Names and titles vary between languages; variant spellings and titles should be searched together in catalogues and texts. Approximate dates remain marked as such, and later literary or visual fame is separated from contemporary testimony.
Biographical statements are tied to the sources listed on this page and to the connected event dossiers. Approximate or disputed dates remain marked; missing information is not filled by conjecture, and later literary or visual representations are not treated as contemporary portraits.