Joscelin III, count of Edessa, Sénéchal de Jérusalem

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joscelin_III_of_Edessa

Joscelin III of Edessa (died 1190s) was the titular Count of Edessa 1159 – after 1190. He was the son of Joscelin II of Edessa and his wife Beatrice. He inherited the title of "Count of Edessa" from his father, Joscelin II, although Edessa had been captured in 1144 and its remnants (including the Lordship of Turbessel) conquered or sold years before he took the title.

Joscelin lived in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and managed to gather enough land around Acre to set up the Seigneurie of Joscelin. His sister, Agnes of Courtenay, had been the first wife of King Amalric I before he succeeded to the throne, and was the mother of Baldwin IV and Sibylla. In 1164 Joscelin was taken captive by Nur ad-Din Zengi at the Battle of Harim. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Harim

He remained a prisoner until 1176 when Agnes paid his ransom of 50,000 dinars, probably with support from the royal treasury. His nephew Baldwin then made him seneschal of Jerusalem. He faced some rivalry from the king's paternal kindred, led by Raymond III, count of Tripoli.

In 1180 Joscelin went as an ambassador to the Byzantine Empire. After the betrothal of Princess Isabella of Jerusalem (Baldwin's half-sister) to Humphrey IV of Toron that year, the Toron estates passed to the crown in exchange for a money fief. Baldwin IV granted part of them, Chastel Neuf, to Joscelin, and awarded Agnes an income from the usufruct, or produce, of Toron. Agnes died in late 1184, a few months before her son.

In 1185, Joscelin became guardian of his young great-nephew, Baldwin V, while Raymond III was regent. Raymond feared that, if he were the child's personal guardian, he would be blamed if he died in his care, because he had a claim to the throne himself. Joscelin, as the king's maternal grandmother's brother, had no claim, but rather had strong family interests in keeping him alive. Additional support came with the arrival of Baldwin's paternal grandfather, William V of Montferrat, from Italy. However, Baldwin seems to have been sickly, and died at Acre in 1186. Joscelin and William escorted his coffin to Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Raymond went to Nablus to attempt a coup with Balian of Ibelin to install Isabella of Jerusalem as queen. This failed, and Sibylla was crowned, also crowning her second husband, Guy of Lusignan.

In 1186, Guy and Sibylla granted Chastel Neuf and Toron, with other territory, to Joscelin. He, in turn, gave them as the dowry of his elder daughter, Beatrice, whom he betrothed to Guy’s younger brother, William of Valence. Her younger sister, Agnes, was to marry one of Guy’s nephews, but if Beatrice died while still a minor, William was to marry Agnes instead.

At the Battle of Hattin in 1187, Joscelin commanded the rearguard with Balian of Ibelin. Both escaped the disastrous defeat and fled to Tyre. All his estates were captured by Saladin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hattin

Joscelin joined in the siege of Acre in the Third Crusade. He last witnessed a charter on 25 October 1190, after Sibylla's death. There is a strong likelihood that he died during the siege. A month later, Isabella, who was now claiming the crown from Guy, restored Humphrey of Toron's claim to Chastel Neuf and Toron (should they be reconquered) when she accepted the annulment of their marriage. If Joscelin was still alive, he made no recorded objection. However, this seems to have ended the prospect of his daughters' Lusignan marriages. He was definitely dead by October 1200.

Marriage and children

After his release from captivity in 1176, Joscelin married Agnes of Milly, daughter of Henry "the Buffalo" of Milly, Lord of Petra, by whom he had two daughters:

1. Beatrice (d. aft. 1245), betrothed to William of Valence, brother of Guy of Lusignan, in 1186, but married Otto von Henneberg, Count of Botenlauben by 1208; she was widowed by January 1247.
2. Agnes, betrothed to a nephew of Guy of Lusignan in 1186, but married, by 1200, William of Amandolea, a Norman from Calabria, who became Lord of Scandeleon

Joscelin's seigneurie was bought from his daughters by Hermann of Salza, the master of the Teutonic Knights, in 1220.

-http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/EDESSA.htm#JoscelinIII

b) JOSCELIN [III] de Courtenay (-before 1200). William of Tyre names "tertium Joscelinum" as the son of "Joscelinus junior, ex sorore Levonis Armeni" and his wife "Wilelmi de Saona viduam…Beatricem"[77]. Lord of Harenc [1158-1164]. The Chronicle of Patriarch Michel le Grand records that "Hérim" was captured by "le roi de Jérusalem" who gave it "au fils de Djoslin qui portait le même nom que son père et qui était héritier de Romgla"[78]. He was taken prisoner in [1159/60] and sent to Aleppo[79]. The Chronicle of Patriarch Michel le Grand records that the "fils de Djoslin qui portait le même nom que son père et qui était héritier de Romgla" ravaged Aleppo in revenge for the death of his father, but after two years was captured and died in chains (although the sources quoted below indicate that Joscelin [III] did not die at the time)[80]. The capture of Joscelin [III] is dated to 1164 by the History of Kamel-Altevarykh which records that "au mois de ramadhan Nour-eddin Mahmoud" conquered "le château de Harem" from the Franks and that "le prince Boémond souverain d´Antioche, le comte, maître de Tripoli…le fils de Josselin…et le duc" were captured[81]. "Rogerius dominus Seonæ" confirmed the donation of property "casale Tricheria" to the Knights Hospitallers, with the consent of "uxoris Aviciæ et fratrum Garentonis et Joscelini", by charter dated Jul 1170[82]. "Joscelini" in this document is presumably identified as Joscelin [III], who was the uterine brother of the donor, although he was still in prison in Aleppo at that date. Raymond Count of Tripoli attacked Homs 1 Feb 1175, distracting Saladin from his siege of Aleppo in return for which the ruler of Aleppo released his remaining Christian prisoners, including Renaud de Châtillon ex-Prince of Antioch and Joscelin de Courtenay[83]. After their release, he and Renaud de Châtillon became leaders of the more progressive elements in Palestine, centred around recent arrivals and the Knights Templar[84]. Baudouin IV King of Jerusalem appointed him as Seneschal of Jerusalem in [1176/77][85]. Bohémond III Prince of Antioch granted property to "Joscelino, filio Joscelini, Edessani comitis, homino suo ligio" by charter dated 5 Feb 1178, subscribed by "Rainaldus de Margat, Bartholomæus, filius comitis, Guillelmus, marescalcus Antiochiæ…"[86]. The primary source which confirms his date of death has not yet been identified.

m ([1170/75]%29 AGNES de Milly, daughter of HENRI "Bubalus" de Milly & his wife Agnes Garnier of Sidon. The Lignages d'Outremer record that the third daughter of "Henri le Bufle" & his wife was wife "dou conte Jocelin", and in a later passage that she inherited "Montfort et le Chastiau dou roy et la terre que les Alemans tienent" on the death of her father[87]. Another manuscript of the Lignages names her Agnes, stating that her dowry was "le Chastiau dou Roy et Monfort"[88].

 Joscelin [III] & his wife had two children: