Bohemond III

Life and political setting

Bohemond III was a son of Raymond of Poitiers and Constance of Antioch. He assumed government of the principality at a young age and navigated changing relations with the patriarch of Antioch, the Byzantine emperor and the Armenian rulers of Cilicia. Dynastic disputes and ecclesiastical conflicts repeatedly affected his authority.

Career during the Crusading era

Nur al-Din captured him at Harim in 1164, but diplomatic and financial support from Emperor Manuel helped secure his relatively early release. After Hattin he preserved Antioch from immediate destruction and offered only limited support to the Third Crusade. His long reign was also marked by disputes over succession and regional alliances.

Documented activity: a chronological record

On 10 August 1164, Bohemond III appears in the atlas record “Battle of Harim” at Harim. The event is documented through Willermus Tyrensis, Süryani Mihail, İbnü’l-Esîr.

Allies, opponents and geographical range

Bohemond III appears in the same records as Nur al-Din Zengi, Raymond III, Konstantinos Kalamanos. 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 Harim. 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 “Battle of Harim” 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.