Minority Pons was a minor when his father died on 3 February 1112.
Anna Comnena recorded that Bishop Albert of Tripoli wanted to keep the money that a Byzantine embassy had deposited with Pons' father and himself. Lewis says, the dispute is evidence the bishop exerted a strong influence on the government during Pons' minority. The money was returned to the Byzantines only after they had threatened to impose a blockade on Tripoli. Pons could only keep the gold and other valuable objects explicitly promised to his father as personal gifts. The Byzantines also persuaded Pons to swear fealty to Alexios I Komnenos as his grandfather and father had done. His "guardians and lords" concluded an agreement with Tancred of Antioch, making Pons "one of Tancred's knights", according to Ibn al-Qalanisi. Historian
Jean Richard associated the "guardians and lords" with the most influential noblemen of the
County of Tripoli who ruled the county on the minor count's behalf. Their decision helped to reconcile Antioch's Norman and Tripoli's
Occitan crusaders, who had fallen out during the
Siege of Antioch. The conflict with the Byzantines also contributed to the rapprochement between Tripoli and
Antioch. Tancred granted Tortosa (now
Tartus in Syria),
Maraclea,
Safita and
Krak des Chevalierswhich had been claimed by the counts of Tripolito Pons in fief. Pons held his inherited lands in fief of the kings of Jerusalem. Tancred's grant contributed to the development of Tripoli into an autonomous
crusader state. He died in December 1112, but only after ordering his wife,
Cecile of France, be engaged to Pons. William of Malmesbury wrote that the dying prince arranged the marriage because he was convinced that Pons would be a successful military leader. Pons remained in Antioch during the first months or years of the rule of Tancred's successor,
Roger of Salerno.
Baldwin I of Jerusalem sent envoys to Antioch to seek the assistance of Roger and Pons against
Mawdud, the
Seljuk atabeg (governor) of
Mosul, who had invaded the
Kingdom of Jerusalem in late June 1113. However, Baldwin did not wait until their arrival and attacked the invaders near
Tiberias.
His army was defeated on 28 June. Pons accompanied Roger during the campaign and they sharply criticized Baldwin for his impatience after their arrival.
Cooperation Walter, the
chancellor of Antioch, who wrote a chronicle of the history of the principality, never refers to Pons' presence in Antioch. This implies he had reached the age of majority and returned to Tripoli before 29 November 1114 (which is the starting date of Walter's narration). Pons was certainly in Tripoli when
Bursuq ibn Bursuq of Hamadan invaded Antioch in 1115, because Roger of Salerno sent envoys from Antioch to Tripoli to seek his assistance. Walter recorded that Pons marched north to aid Roger only after
Baldwin II of Jerusalem had ordered him to join his campaign. This shows that Pons still acknowledged the
suzerainty of the king. After their united armies reached
Apamea, Bursuq lifted the siege of the Antiochene fort of
Kafartab and retreated without fighting. Baldwin and Pons soon returned to their countries, enabling Bursuq to return and capture Kafartab. Roger of Salerno attacked the invaders before Baldwin and Pons returned, and
defeated Bursuq on 14 September.
Ilghazi, the
Ortoquid ruler of
Mardin, invaded Antioch at the end of May 1119.
Bernard, the
Latin patriarch of Antioch, convinced Roger to again seek help from Baldwin II and Pons. However, Roger could not wait until their arrival. He launched a counter-attack against Ilghazi leading his principality's whole army.
Roger died fighting and his army was annihilated on 28 June. Ilghazi tried to prevent Baldwin and Pons from reaching Antioch, but Baldwin entered the town without resistance. Pons, who arrived a day later, warded off Ilghazi's attack in early August. Baldwin was acknowledged as the ruler of Antioch until its absent prince,
Bohemond II, came of age.
Conflicts and alliances Baldwin's acquisition of Antioch made him the most powerful monarch of the crusader states which annoyed Pons. Neither Pons nor the bishops of his county attended the
synod which was held on 23 January 1120 at Nablus, although all prelates and secular lords of the Kingdom of Jerusalem were present at the assembly. He openly refused obedience to the king in early 1122. Baldwin mustered his army and marched towards Tripoli, taking the
True Cross from Jerusalem with him. According to
Fulcher of Chartres' report, to avoid an armed conflict, the two rulers' vassals mediated a reconciliation, making Baldwin and Pons "friends".
Balak, the Ortoquid ruler of
Harran, captured Baldwin II of Jerusalem while Baldwin was hunting near the
Euphrates on 18 April 1123. During his captivity, a
Venetian fleet under the command of the
Doge,
Domenico Michele, arrived at
Acre. Taking advantage of the presence of a sizeable army from Europe, the leaders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem decided to capture Tyre, one of the last of two
Fatimid ports on the western coast of the
Mediterranean Sea. They
laid siege to the town on 16 February 1124. The Jerusalemite nobles sent envoys to Pons, urging him to join the siege. Pons hurried to the town, accompanied by a large retinue, damaging the self-confidence of the town's defenders, according to William of Tyre. Although Fulcher of Chartres and William of Tyre emphasized that Pons "remained always obedient" to
Gormond, the
Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and other Jerusalemite lords during the siege, their narration is actually evidence that Pons was regarded as one of the supreme commanders of the Christian army. He led the Christian troops' successful attack against
Toghtekin, the
Emir of Damascus, who tried to relieve the besieged town. He was chosen to confer knighthood on the messenger of
Joscelin I of Edessa who had brought the severed head of Balak (Baldwin's captor) to the crusaders' camp. After the capture of Tyre on 7 July, Pons' banner was one of the three flags erected over the town's towers. Balak's relative,
Timurtash, released Baldwin II in return for 80,000 dinars and Antiochene fortresses on 29 July, but the Antiochene lords prevented Baldwin from ceding the fortresses to him. Pons' activities in the late 1120s and early 1130s are poorly documented. He supported Baldwin II against Bursuq ibn Bursuq, who had invaded Antiochene territory and captured the fortress of
Kafartab in May 1125. The united forces of Jerusalem, Antioch, Tripoli and
Edessa defeated Bursuq at
Zardana on 11 June, forcing him to lift the siege of the fort. Next year he sought help from the king in attacking
Rafaniya (an important castle once held by Pons' grandfather, but lost to Toghtekin in 1115). They besieged the fortress for 18 days and captured it on 31 March 1126. Pons also participated in an unsuccessful campaign against Damascus in November 1129.
Sedition s in 1135 Relationships between the crusader states became tense after Baldwin II died on 21 August 1131. His successor,
Fulk of Anjou, seized the estates of the local lords in both Jerusalem and Antioch and granted them to his own partisans. His sister-in-law,
Alice, the dowager princess of Antioch, wanted to take control of the government of Antioch. She formed an alliance with Pons and
Joscelin II of Edessa in the summer of 1132. According to William of Tyre, Alice bribed Pons into the alliance. The Antiochene lords who opposed Alice asked King Fulk to intervene, but Pons refused the king passage through Tripoli. Fulk was forced to avoid the county and travel by sea to the Antiochene port of
Saint Symeon (now Samandağ in Turkey). Pons hurried to Antioch and launched a series of attacks against Fulk and his allies from the Antiochene fortresses
Arcicanum and
Rugia (two castles forming his wife's dowry). Fulk attacked Pons near Rugia in late 1132. Pons suffered a heavy defeat. Although many of his retainers were captured on the battlefield, he was able to flee. His soldiers were taken in chains to Antioch where they were either imprisoned or executed. Pons lost Arcicanum and Rugia, but Fulk did not restore the suzerainty of the kings of Jerusalem over Tripoli.
Last years Pons renounced the estates he held in the county of
Velay (in France) in favor of the
bishop of Le Puy in 1132. He had the ''ra'īs'' (native chief) of Tripoli killed for unknown reasons in 1132 or 1133. The killing of a native chief at a crusader ruler's order was an unprecedented act. Lewis argues that it was a sign of growing unrest among the local population. Actually, the
Nizari strengthened their hold on the
mountainous region along the northern border of the county in the 1130s.
Imad ad-Din Zengi,
atabeg (governor) of Mosul, invaded the County of Tripoli, plundering the capital and the neighboring region in 1133. Pons wanted to stop the invaders near Rafaniya, but his army was almost annihilated. After this catastrophic defeat, he fled first to
Montferrand, and soon to Tripoli, while Zengi laid siege to the fort of Montferrand. Pons sought Fulk's assistance and the arrival of the Jerusalemite army forced Zengi to lift the siege and to withdraw his troops from the county. In March 1137, Bazwāj, the
mamluk commander of Damascus, launched a military campaign against Tripoli, reaching
Pilgrims' Mount near the town. Pons rode out of Tripoli to meet the enemy, but suffered a defeat. He fled to the nearby mountains, but local Christians—according to Lewis, most probably
Jacobites or
Nestorians—captured and handed him over to Bazwāj, who had him killed on 25 March 1137. His son,
Raymond II, who inherited the County of Tripoli, and his retainers captured the local Christians from the nearby villages and had most of them tortured to death in revenge for Pons death. ==Family==