Raymond III (1140-1187), referred to merely as Tiberias in the film Kingdom of Heaven, was Prince of Galilee and Tiberias and Count of Tripoli.In 1164, Raymond along with Bohemond III of Antioch marched out to relieve Harim, but were defeated and captured. Raymond remained in captivity until 1173, when he was finally ransomed.King Amalric I of Jerusalem died in 1174, and was succeeded by his young son Baldwin IV, who was still too young to rule in his own right. Raymond, as Amalrics first cousin, was entrusted with the title of bailli or regent of the kingdom until Baldwin could reach his majority in 1176.In the ensuing dynastic predicament in which Jerusalem found itself (due to Baldwin IVs leprosy, he could not be expected to father a successor, and having no brothers, the crown would follow one of his sisters), Raymond and Bohemond would attempt to march on Jerusalem in 1179 to attempt to force Baldwins 19-year-old sister Sibylla (already a widow) to marry a man of their choosing (probably Baldwin of Ibelin). However, Sibylla managed to avert this by first marrying another man: a knight named Guy de Lusignan. Although Guys station was considerably beneath that of Sibylla, he was both a cousin of King Philip II of France, and a vassal of King Henry II of England (who owed the Pope a crusade as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas Becket). The connection to these powerful European kings made him a potentially very useful king who could bring much needed aid. Raymond accepted this marriage for the time being and returned home without attacking.As Baldwin IVs health continued to deteriorate, he named Guy de Lusignan as bailli in 1182, which displeased Raymond. However, by 1183, Guy had already fallen out of the kings favor, and he was stripped of this position, which was then granted to Count Raymond. Raymond also convinced the king to reorder the succession, circumventing Sibylla and Guy in favor of Sibyllas young son by her first marriage: the future Baldwin V. It was of little consequence, because even though young Baldwin V was crowned the new king after Baldwin IVs death in 1185, Baldwin V was of poor health also, and died the following year in 1186. Raymond supported Isabella, Baldwin IVs half-sister (now the step-daughter of Balian of Ibelin) and he rode to Ibelin to support her claim to the throne. However, this claim was prevented by Guy and Sibylla arrived in Jerusalem for Baldwin Vs funeral with a large armed escort and forcing the Patriarch and the local nobility to crown them.Raymond temporarily made peace with Saladin, presumably to ally against their common enemy: Guy de Lusignan. Saladin stationed his army in Tiberias (one of Raymonds fiefs). However, this peace broke down when an embassy sent by Guy to Raymond was attacked by Saladin in the Battle of Cresson (May, 1187). Raymond and Guy put aside their differences and regrouped in Acre. The two disagreed about strategy, but Guy ended up leading the army into a waterless plain, where Saladin surrounded them, and annihilated nearly the entire army at the Battle of Hattin (July, 1187). During the battle, Raymond led two unsuccessful cavalry charges against the Muslims, and in the second, the Muslims simply parted the lines and let Raymonds cavalry pass through. Cut-off from the rest of the army, Raymond fled, and was one of very few crusaders to escape the battle.Although he survived Hattin and managed to return to Tripoli, Raymond did not live much longer. He succumbed to pleurisy in September or October of that year. Having no children of his own, he was succeeded by his godson Raymond of Antioch. Show less «