Plivain, also known as Plivano or Pleban, was the lord of Botrun (now Batroun in Lebanon) in the County of Tripoli from around 1180 to around 1206. He was a merchant from Pisa who settled in the county in the late 1170s. He seized Botrun through his marriage to its heiress, Lucia. According to a late source, he bribed Lucia's suzerain, Count Raymond III of Tripoli, into allowing the marriage. He fell into captivity in the Battle of Hattin on 4 July 1187.
Life
editPlivain was a wealthy merchant from Pisa who settled in the County of Tripoli.[1] His presence in the county was first recorded on 9 August 1179.[2] He married Lucia, the only daughter of William Dorel, Lord of Botrun, and thus seized the lordship, around 1180.[1][3] According to a folkloristic story recorded in the Estoire de Eracles, to seize her hand, Plivain had offered her weight in gold to Count Raymond III of Tripoli, her suzerain.[1][4] Raymond accepted the offer, although he had promised the hand of the first wealthy heiress in the county to a Flemish knight, Gerard of Ridefort.[4][5] Plivain was first mentioned as the lord of Botrun in March 1181.[1][6]
Plivain participated in the Battle of Hattin and fell into captivity on 4 July 1187.[7][8] Although the Estoire de Eracles claimed that Saladin captured Botrun, historian Kevin J. Lewis argues that Plivain paid a huge ransom for his release and retained his lordship.[9] He was last mentioned as lord of Botrun in 1206.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Lewis 2017, p. 159.
- ^ Lewis 2017, p. 252.
- ^ Runciman 1989, p. 406.
- ^ a b Runciman 1989, p. 404.
- ^ Hamilton 2000, p. 146.
- ^ Hamilton 2000, p. 147.
- ^ Barber 2012, pp. 304, 365.
- ^ Lewis 2017, p. 269.
- ^ a b Lewis 2017, p. 271.
Sources
edit- Barber, Malcolm (2012). The Crusader States. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11312-9.
- Hamilton, Bernard (2000). The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64187-6.
- Lewis, Kevin James (2017). The Counts of Tripoli and Lebanon in the Twelfth Century: Sons of Saint-Gilles. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-4724-5890-2.
- Runciman, Steven (1989). A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-06163-6.
- Ernoul, "Chronique d’Ernoul et de Bernard le Trésorier", a c. di Mas Latrie, Paris 1871. "Estoire d’Eracles", in "Recueil des Historiens des Croisades: Historiens Occidentaux" [RHCOcc], pp. 51-52, 114.
- M. Chiaverini, "Il ‘Porto Pisano’ alla foce del Don tra il XIII e XIV secolo", Pisa MARICH, 2000, p. 49 e n. 152.