ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on two rulers: William Jordan of Cerdanya and Bertrand of Toulouse, rival claimants to what would become the county of Tripoli after the death of the crusader Raymond IV of Saint-Gilles and Toulouse in 1105. It concerns the reigns of Count Pons and his son Raymond II respectively. The book deals with a single count: Raymond III, whose reign was by far the longest, arguably the most complex and easily the best documented – not to mention most debated. Raymond IV of Saint-Gilles himself, the first self-professed 'count of Tripoli', does not receive his own chapter or indeed much special attention at all beyond what is absolutely necessary for the purpose of setting the scene. The twelfth-century counts of Tripoli never forgot their European ancestry as direct descendants of the famous crusader Count Raymond IV of Saint-Gilles.
