BOEMOND, Prince of ANTIOCH. — Born c. 1170, died in 1233, he was the son of Bohemond III and of Orguilleuse. At his father’s death (1201) he seized the principality of Antioch in defiance of feudal right. His rule, however, was disturbed by the succession struggle waged against him by his nephew Raymond Roupen and the latter’s grandfather Leo II of Armenia, a struggle that soon took on a religious character as well. The city’s patriarch, Peter of Angoulême, backed by the Hospitallers, favoured Raymond, while the Templars sided with Bohemond. Bohemond then installed a Greek-rite patriarch, Symeon III, but Peter excommunicated him. A popular uprising led by Peter succeeded for a few days (1208) in admitting Raymond to Antioch; but Bohemond retook the city and imprisoned the patriarch, who died there in July of the same year. The Pope then appointed a new Latin patriarch in the person of Peter of Leucedio, but Bohemond refused to recognize him. In 1216, while Bohemond was away, Raymond seized control of the city and held it for four years; but he proved incapable of governing, and Bohemond easily reclaimed it with the help of his remaining partisans. He then took harsh vengeance on his enemies, especially the Hospitallers, whose property he confiscated. They appealed to Pope Gregory IX, who in 1230 excommunicated Bohemond. Later, Patriarch Gerald of Jerusalem managed to restore peace in the principality, an accord ratified by the Pope, who therefore lifted the excommunication (1231). Bohemond was still drawn into the strife tearing apart the various Latin princes of Syria, but his allegiance was fickle, shifting now to one side, now to the other.
BOEMONDO, PRINCIPE DI ANTIOCHIA
BIBL.: A. Luchaire, Innocent III (IV). La question d'Orient, 2nd ed., Paris 1911, pp. 34-42; R. Grousset, Histoire des Croisades et du royaume franc de Jérusalem, III, ibid. 1936, pp. 246-66; L. Bréhier, Bohemond IV, in DHG, IX, cols. 504-506.