Raymond of Toulouse

   Military chief of the First Crusade (q.v.); count of Toulouse in France (qq.v.). His relationship with Alexios I Komnenos (q.v.) was a model of cooperation and trust. He accepted Byzantine overlordship of his County of Tripoli (q.v.), in return for material aid from Alexios I Komnenos (q.v.), sent to him from Cyprus (q.v.). He also worked with Alexios I to ease passage of the Crusade of 1100-1101 through Constantinople (q.v.). Raymond died in 1105 outside the walls of Tripolis (q.v.) while still besieging the city (it did not fall until 1109). Anna Komnene (q.v.) in her Alexiad has only praise for Raymond, who appears to have personified the Byzantine vision of a Crusader: noble, courageous, and a willing client of Byzantium (q.v.).