Raymond III of Tripoli

Raymond III (1140 – September/October 1187) was count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187. He was one of the most influential political and military figures in the Crusader states of the 12th century. Leader of the faction of the local nobility established in the Holy Land, Raymond III advocated a policy of diplomatic coexistence and truces with Saladin's sultanate, in opposition to the belligerent stances of the newly arrived nobles from Europe. Although he advised against the Christian army's advance through the desert before the decisive Battle of Hattin, his advice was ignored, resulting in the destruction of the Crusader forces and the subsequent loss of Jerusalem.

He was a minor when Nizari Assassins murdered his father, Count Raymond II of Tripoli. His cousin, King Baldwin III of Jerusalem, who was staying in Tripoli, made Raymond's mother, Hodierna of Jerusalem, regent. Raymond spent the following years at the royal court in Jerusalem. He reached the age of majority in 1155, after which he participated in a series of military campaigns against Nur ad-Din, the Zengid ruler of Damascus. In 1161 he hired pirates to pillage the Byzantine coastline and islands to take vengeance on Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos, who had refused to marry his sister Melisende. He was captured in the Battle of Harim by Nur ad-Din's troops on 10 August 1164, and imprisoned in Aleppo for almost ten years. During his captivity, his cousin King Amalric of Jerusalem administered the county of Tripoli on his behalf.