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Conrad of Montferrat: A Medieval Murder Mystery [16:43]
YouTube ^ | April 28, 2025 | The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Posted on 04/28/2025 1:37:27 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

We don't know all that much about Conrad of Montferrat, but we do know that his death was murder most foul. It is a medieval murder mystery that deserves to be remembered. All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram. 
Conrad of Montferrat: A Medieval Murder Mystery | 16:43 
The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered | 1.54M subscribers | 11,201 views | April 28, 2025
Conrad of Montferrat: A Medieval Murder Mystery | 16:43 | The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered | 1.54M subscribers | 11,201 views | April 28, 2025

(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: conradofmontferrat; cultoftheassassins; godsgravesglyphs; lancegeiger; middleages; richardthelionheart; thecrusades; thehistoryguy; thg
--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
0:00·my viewers are most likely familiar with
0:02·the story of Robin Hood and in most
0:04·modern tellings of the story King
0:06·Richard I the Lionhe Heart is a hero of
0:08·the story who upon returning from the
0:10·Crusades puts an end to the deprivations
0:12·of his rapacious brother John some even
0:15·add the detail that Richard was being
0:17·held for ransom and John in various ways
0:19·is trying to prevent the payment of that
0:20·ransom in order to remain king like all
0:23·legends the story is a mix of some
0:25·historical fact and an awful lot of
0:27·fiction but one thing is often left out
0:29·of the story that one of the reasons
0:31·that Richard was being held for ransom
0:33·had to do with the murder of another
0:35·king we don't know all that much about
0:39·Conrad of Mulerat we just know that his
0:41·death came by murder most foul it is a
0:46·medieval murder mystery that deserves to
0:50·be remembered
0:51·[Music]
0:55·jerusalem is an ancient city with
0:57·evidence of settlement at least as far
0:59·back as 5,000 years the fertile area at
1:02·the crossroads of the Mediterranean has
1:04·been held and conquered many times and
1:06·the walled city besieged by numerous
1:08·empires the city first came under Muslim
1:10·rule after it was taken by the first
1:11·caliphate from the Byzantines in 637 or
1:14·638 reported threats to Christian
1:17·pilgrims by the Seljuk Empire in the
1:19·11th century resulted in the first
1:21·crusade a religious war initiated by
1:23·Pope Urban II to retake the Holy Land
1:26·jerusalem was taken by siege by the
1:28·armies of the first crusade from the
1:30·Fatimid Caliphate in 1099 leading to the
1:33·slaughter of the city's Muslim and
1:35·Jewish inhabitants in creating the
1:36·Christian kingdom of Jerusalem a leader
1:39·in the crusade Godfrey Bulon was made
1:41·leader of the city although he did not
1:43·choose the title king
1:45·godfrey died only a year later in 1100
1:47·by some accounts of sickness and by
1:49·another falling in battle he died
1:51·without an error and was replaced by his
1:53·brother Baldwin who was the first leader
1:55·of the kingdom to use the title king
1:57·thereafter the succession was decided by
1:59·a group called the high court of
2:00·Jerusalem a council of leading lords
2:03·although the council tended to favor
2:04·blood relatives of the previous king
2:06·thus rulership was somewhat hereditary
2:09·conflict with the Muslim world continued
2:11·although alliances often shifted and
2:12·various crusader factions sometimes
2:14·allied with different Muslim factions
2:16·the crusader orders the Knights
2:17·Hospitalpiter and the Knights Templar
2:19·formed to defend the kingdom and protect
2:21·pilgrims with the aid of Europe the
2:23·kingdom grew notably capturing the
2:24·ancient city of Ty in
2:26·1124 there was also internal conflict as
2:29·the kingdom still depended upon support
2:31·from Europe and different factions vied
2:33·for control
2:34·baldwin I died without an heir and was
2:37·replaced by his cousin Baldwin
2:39·II baldwin II died without a son and so
2:42·left the throne to his daughter
2:43·Melisende who married a French count
2:45·named Folk making him king the
2:48·imposition of a foreign king brought
2:49·revolt among the native crusader nobles
2:52·moreover Folk was Count of Anjhu the
2:54·grandfather of the future King Henry II
2:56·of England thus tying the kingdom to the
2:58·Ajan dynasty the kingdom faced a
3:01·succession crisis during the reign of
3:02·Baldwin IV Folk's grandchild crowned in
3:05·1174 baldwin suffered from leprosy which
3:08·although not preventing him from ruling
3:09·and fighting did prevent him from
3:11·marrying or having children he spent
3:13·much of his reign trying to groom an
3:15·heir here the succession gets even more
3:17·confusing baldwin IV had two halfsisters
3:20·Zabilla and Isabella sabilla being the
3:23·oldest was made heir to the throne she
3:25·was wed to William of Monroat the
3:28·Marquez of Monroat were related to both
3:30·the kings of France and the Holy Roman
3:32·Empire they had a son also named Baldwin
3:35·but William died of a fever while Cibila
3:37·was still pregnant at just 20 years old
3:40·the princess was the key to the throne
3:42·machinations over who she would marry
3:44·began immediately the story is
3:46·unsurprisingly convoluted it was a quick
3:49·move to force her marriage to a
3:50·Jerusalem nobleman Baldwin of Ibin as
3:54·confusing as the number of Baldwins were
3:56·this was perceived as potential by
3:58·Baldwin IV as an attempted coup and
4:00·Sibila was quickly married to another
4:02·nobleman who had recently arrived in the
4:03·Holy Land the relatively unknown Gee of
4:07·Lusen however the contemporary chronicle
4:09·of Ernol suggests another simple
4:11·possibility possibly the young siblau
4:14·was simply seduced by Gee gee was of the
4:17·house of Luzen which was in Pchu part of
4:20·the Anjivven dynasty and vassals of the
4:21·king of England Henry II and then his
4:24·son Richard
4:25·I but Gee proved to be unpopular among
4:28·both the baronss of Jerusalem and the
4:29·kings of the other crusader states
4:32·fearing a crisis and with multiple
4:33·claimments to the throne the leper king
4:35·held a council and settled upon his
4:37·six-year-old nephew Baldwin son of
4:39·Sabilla and William baldwin was named
4:42·Baldwin V and made co-ruler of Jerusalem
4:45·when Baldwin IV died in 1185 Baldwin V
4:48·became king and Count Raymond of Tripoli
4:50·another crusader state was made regent
4:53·this was significant as historian Helena
4:55·Prader writes "The fact that Tripoli was
4:57·made regent with the consent of the high
4:59·court and the count of Adessa was made
5:01·the boy's guardian are both indications
5:03·of the intensity of the animosity and
5:05·suspicion the bishops and barums of
5:07·Jerusalem harbored for Guinon by his
5:10·time but the young king suffered from
5:13·ill health and died in 1186 rumors of
5:15·treachery were widespread but Cibila
5:17·acted quickly and claimed the throne her
5:20·husband was still unpopular and the
5:21·Jerusalem nobility only allowed her
5:23·ascension if she enold her marriage to
5:24·Gee a stipulation to which she agreed
5:26·only if she was allowed to marry the man
5:28·of her choice she dutifully enolled her
5:30·marriage ascended the throne and then
5:32·chose to remarry Gee the decision was so
5:35·reviled that the Latin patriarch of
5:37·Jerusalem refused to crown Gee sibla
5:39·chose to crown him herself despite
5:41·opposition from virtually everyone but
5:43·his apparently loyal wife and one
5:45·important noble Reod Shantion Lord of
5:48·the Fum of Ultra Jordan machinations had
5:51·made Gee of Luzinong king of Jerusalem
5:53·in 1186 it was a development that would
5:56·drastically affect the kingdom under
5:58·Baldwin IV and the Regency of Raymond an
6:01·uneasy peace had been held with the
6:02·Muslim Caliphates but Reol chose to
6:05·provoke war first by attempting a
6:07·disastrously failed attack on Mecca and
6:09·then by taking the sister of the great
6:10·Seljuk Turk general Saladine prisoner it
6:14·isn't clear what Gee's role was in these
6:15·decisions but he was at least unable to
6:18·reign Rainald in less than a year later
6:21·Gee would lead the crusader armies to a
6:23·devastating defeat at the July 1187
6:26·Battle of Hatton again historians
6:28·disagree as to exactly how responsible
6:30·Gee was for the defeat while many
6:33·including Raymond of Tripoli argued that
6:35·he should seek peace and avoid
6:36·confrontation Gee sought battle possibly
6:39·because he was overconfident and
6:40·headstrong and possibly because he
6:42·didn't trust Raymond the crusader army
6:44·held a strong position at the village of
6:46·Seaporus where they had an ample water
6:48·supply yet Saladine managed to tempt Gee
6:50·to lead his army on a chase taking them
6:52·away from their water supply some
6:54·describe this tactic as a brilliant move
6:56·by Saladine others as a devastating
6:58·tactical blunder by Gee and yet others
7:01·portray Gee as a victim of circumstance
7:03·he certainly had headstrong leaders
7:04·including Renald pushing him to attack
7:07·he also had been given a substantial sum
7:09·by King Richard the 1 of England and
7:11·perhaps felt that he had to secure
7:12·victory in any case the crusader army
7:15·exhausted by thirst and fighting on the
7:16·ground of Saladine's choosing was
7:18·devastated historian Kelly de Dere wrote
7:21·in 2007 on 4 July 1187 the crusades
7:24·changed and the change was felt not only
7:26·in the Holy Land but also throughout
7:28·Syria Egypt Bzantium and Europe it
7:31·seemed as if the Christian god's wield
7:32·of fortune had fallen while the Muslim
7:35·gods had risen gee was captured his army
7:38·destroyed he'd left Jerusalem virtually
7:40·defenseless although a brief but feutal
7:42·stand was made under the leadership of
7:43·one of his rivals Baalon of Ibolan the
7:46·kingdom was nearly overrun but a new
7:49·hero arose conrad of Bonfra the younger
7:52·brother of Cibilia's first husband
7:53·William was described by a member of the
7:55·Byzantine court of beautiful appearance
7:57·comely in life springtime exceptional
7:59·and peerless in manly courage and
8:01·intelligence and in the flower of his
8:03·body strength in July of 1187 Conrad
8:06·came to Jerusalem apparently intending
8:08·to join his father on crusade only to
8:10·find Jerusalem had fallen his father was
8:12·held prisoner and the crusader armies
8:13·were in disarray he sailed into the last
8:16·stronghold of Jerusalem the fortified
8:18·city of Ty where the remnants of the
8:20·crusader army had gathered a
8:22·contemporary chronicle writes that he
8:23·arrived in Ty in time to prevent its
8:25·commander from surrendering the city he
8:27·reorganized the defense and put up such
8:28·a fight that a Muslim chronicler said of
8:30·him "He was a devil incarnate in his
8:32·ability to govern and defend a town and
8:34·a man of extraordinary courage."
8:37·Saladine went looking for easier prey
8:39·but returned for a second siege there
8:42·the legend says Saladine brought out
8:43·Conrad's father and offered to release
8:45·him if Conrad surrendered the city
8:47·conrad reportedly said that he would not
8:49·give one stone of Tyer's walls for his
8:51·father's life and saying that he'd
8:52·already lived a long life pointed a
8:54·crossbow at his father and threatened to
8:56·kill him himself it was a bold move
8:59·saladine was shocked but his buff called
9:01·released the Marquees anyway tyer was
9:04·saved meanwhile the defeated Hatton
9:06·raised a furer throughout Europe which
9:08·called for another crusade the third
9:10·crusade was led by powerful kings holy
9:12·Roman Emperor Frederick Barbar Roa
9:14·Philip II of France and Richard the 1st
9:16·of England although Frederick himself
9:18·died on his way to the Holy Land the
9:20·crusaders won some victories and
9:22·reconquered a part of the kingdom but
9:24·not Jerusalem and again the kingdom
9:26·needed a king saladine released Gee in
9:29·1188 and he came to Ty demanding that
9:31·Conrad recognize him as king conrad
9:33·refused referring to the will of Baldwin
9:35·IV that kings Henry II and Philip were
9:38·to choose the next king the method that
9:40·Cibil and Guy had used to claim the
9:42·throne had come back to haunt them then
9:44·Cibila died of an illness in 1189 and
9:47·Conrad and his supporters convinced her
9:48·younger sister Isabella to divorce her
9:50·husband and married Conrad it was an
9:53·interesting machination conrad was
9:55·possibly still married himself he had
9:57·taken another man's wife and the
9:58·marriage was technically illegal under
10:00·church law since his brother had been
10:01·married to Isabella's halfsister
10:04·still possibly because there was so much
10:06·opposition to Gee the papal leot
10:08·sanctioned the marriage this raised an
10:10·issue richard supported Gee as Luzinon
10:14·was a vassal state of Richard philip on
10:16·the other hand supported Conrad his
10:18·first cousin who once removed in April
10:20·1192 the High Court of Jerusalem met to
10:23·Richard's dismay they unanimously
10:24·selected Conrad over Gee gee purchased
10:28·the island of Cypress and ruled there
10:29·continuing to use the title king then
10:32·historian Patrick Williams of the
10:33·University of Portsmouth wrote in a 1970
10:35·edition of the journal Tradicio studies
10:37·in ancient and medieval history thought
10:39·and religion on 28 April 1192 Conrad
10:43·Marquez of Mrat and Lord of Ty husband
10:46·of the last royal princess of Jerusalem
10:48·and newly elected king of that embattled
10:50·state was assassinated and temporary
10:53·chronicles differ in some respects but
10:55·what is generally agreed is that Conrad
10:56·was riding home from dinner with a light
10:58·escort when two men approached knocked
11:00·him from his horse and fatally wounded
11:02·him with daggers they attempted to
11:04·escape but one was killed and the other
11:05·captured by Conrad's guards many
11:08·accounts say that the men were part of
11:09·the sect called the Order of Assassins
11:11·but at least one contemporary account
11:12·said that the two men were servants of
11:14·Conrad who had been bribed others said
11:16·that they were servants but had taken
11:18·the jobs with the purpose of the
11:19·assassination williams writes "It may be
11:22·taken as established then that the
11:23·murder of Conrad was accomplished on
11:24·28th April 1192 by two men who admitted
11:27·to being of the sect of the assassins
11:29·who had therefore been sent to their
11:31·task by Sinian the master of the sect
11:33·moreover the culprits had successfully
11:35·masqueraded as Christians and had been
11:37·at least familiar with Conrad for some
11:38·time possibly even acting as his
11:40·servants thus the assassination was
11:42·apparently planned well in advance but
11:45·the question remains by whom?" Some
11:48·accounts say the surviving men admitted
11:50·that he had been hired by Richard it's
11:52·very plausible richard had opposed
11:54·Conrad and Conrad was in the process of
11:56·negotiating with Saladine behind
11:57·Richard's back but Williams notes that
11:59·the chronicle making that claim was
12:00·written by a member of Saladine's court
12:02·may have been covering for another prime
12:04·suspect saladine knowing his reputation
12:07·and not wanting decisive leadership for
12:08·the kingdom may have had Conrad killed
12:12·but there were other suspects as well
12:13·had Gee having just lost to his rival
12:16·hired the assassins could it have been
12:18·Humphrey of Terrone Isabella's former
12:20·husband or had the leader of the
12:21·assassin Simeon had his own reasons to
12:23·kill Conrad williams discounts Humphrey
12:26·who had little to gain and was not known
12:28·for his initiative and Gee who had
12:29·apparently accepted his fate and made
12:31·little protest to his loss while Cine
12:33·had ordered the attack his reason for
12:35·doing so himself is questionable a
12:37·letter presented in 1193 suggests that
12:39·Conrad had insulted Cine when he
12:40·captured a boat of assassins but the
12:42·letter was what Williams calls an
12:44·obvious forgery and if Cineon had reason
12:46·to kill Conrad why wait for years until
12:48·he was elected king williams notes that
12:51·Saladine also makes little sense as he
12:53·was in negotiation with Conrad and was
12:55·known to be hostile to the guild of
12:57·assassins and unlikely to use them but
12:59·there's also a case that Richard would
13:01·not have used assassins as it would have
13:02·gone against his sense of honor and he
13:04·likely would have just simply challenged
13:05·Conrad himself moreover he was planning
13:08·to return to England and it's unlikely
13:10·at that time that he was interested in
13:11·upsetting the proverbial apple cart
13:14·william suggested another candidate
13:16·Henry II of Champagne henry was a French
13:19·nobleman a nephew of both Henry of
13:21·France and Richard who had come along
13:23·with the Third Crusade henry had been
13:25·sent by Richard to inform Conrad that he
13:27·had been elected king williams writes
13:28·"On Tuesday 28th April Conrad was killed
13:32·by Thursday Henry had arrived back in
13:34·Tire been unanimously recognized as the
13:36·person fit to secede Conrad as king and
13:38·had been persuaded to marry Conrad's
13:40·pregnant widow Isabella." Williams
13:43·argues that it is suspicious that Henry
13:44·who had left Tyer found out about
13:46·Conrad's assassination before Richard
13:48·almost as if he knew it was coming
13:50·further suspicion comes because Henry
13:51·paid a visit to the mountain stronghold
13:53·of the assassins in 1194 was he there to
13:56·pay a debt still Williams concludes it
13:59·is admitted that the case against Henry
14:00·is far from conclusive it is however
14:03·suggestive if at least as tenable as the
14:04·case against any of the others richard
14:07·continued the crusade but failed to take
14:08·Jerusalem the continued existence of a
14:11·reduced kingdom of Jerusalem was
14:12·guaranteed by a three-year truce in the
14:14·1192 treaty of Jaffa negotiated between
14:16·Richard and
14:17·Saladine in a bizarre twist Henry died
14:21·falling out of a window in 1197 the
14:23·long-suffering Isabella married a fourth
14:25·time to Amory of Lusen Gee's brother who
14:29·had replaced Gee as Lord of Cyprus after
14:30·his death in
14:32·1194 i know this is all rather confusing
14:35·there are too many people with the same
14:36·names enough machinations for a season
14:38·of Game of Thrones in a murder mystery
14:41·with multiple suspects none of whom are
14:43·still around to be interrogated
14:45·sometimes history is like that it could
14:46·be difficult to unravel and sometimes
14:48·mysteries remain a mystery even more
14:51·than 800 years later and what do we
14:54·really know about Conrad in fiction and
14:57·film he's often been portrayed as
14:58·something of a villain but Mariana
15:00·Gilchrist of Hol University notes that
15:02·the historical description of Conrad has
15:04·been tainted by Anglojan chronicle and
15:07·romance traditions that are favorable to
15:09·Richard I is it possible that instead of
15:12·being a villain that he was actually a
15:13·very capable ruler had he survived how
15:16·might have impacted his kingdom and one
15:19·further important thing to note when
15:21·Richard was returning home to England he
15:23·had to travel in disguise because he had
15:25·created enmity with both the French and
15:27·the Holy Roman Empire when he was
15:29·finally discovered and held it was by
15:31·Liupold V the Duke of Austria who
15:34·happened to be Conrad of Montatz first
15:39·cousin one of the charges made against
15:41·Richard at the time was that he had
15:42·arranged for the murder of Conrad guilty
15:45·or not Richard took the blame and
15:48·England paid the price i hope you
15:51·enjoyed watching this episode of The
15:53·History Guy and if you did please feel
15:54·free to like and subscribe and share the
15:56·history guide with your friends and if
15:58·you also believe that history deserves
16:00·to be remembered then you can support
16:01·the history guy as a member on YouTube a
16:04·supporter on our community at locals or
16:07·as a patron on Patreon you can also
16:09·check out our great merchandise shop or
16:11·book a special message from the history
16:12·guy on
16:13·[Music]
16:25·Cameo heat heat
16:31·[Music]
16:33·[Applause]
16:39·[Applause]
16:40·[Music]

1 posted on 04/28/2025 1:37:27 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...
Obviously he was murdered by muzzies. Period.

2 posted on 04/28/2025 1:38:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Does Hillary have an alibi?


3 posted on 04/28/2025 1:40:39 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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I think these are the other THG / The History Guy / Lance Geiger topics, sorted, but it won't surprise me to find some more later:

4 posted on 04/28/2025 1:44:56 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

She’s probably got filing cabinets full of them, for everything she’s ever done or planning to do.


5 posted on 04/28/2025 1:46:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Common, if this incident is that well preserved and interesting, where’s the book and the 5-star movie?


6 posted on 04/28/2025 1:50:53 PM PDT by Jim W N (MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ (Jude 3) and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Interesting


7 posted on 04/28/2025 2:34:55 PM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: Jim W N

Yeah, Hollywood would love to portray the Crusaders as a bunch of oversexed corrupt lying murderers and the muzzies as benevolent stewards just trying to keep the peace and impose law and order. :^)


8 posted on 04/28/2025 2:37:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: ComputerGuy

Thanks!


9 posted on 04/28/2025 2:37:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Maybe so, but I would think a reliable book or two would have been written about it.


10 posted on 04/28/2025 2:54:45 PM PDT by Jim W N (MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ (Jude 3) and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Is it common to write it that way? (Montferrat instead of Montserrat, like Congrefs for Congress)?
Yes, it’s an old fashioned German s in the middle of a word.


11 posted on 04/28/2025 3:14:02 PM PDT by scrabblehack
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To: SunkenCiv; SaveFerris; gundog

Conrad. Wasn’t he that handyman who could never make a decision?


12 posted on 04/28/2025 3:28:09 PM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: Larry Lucido

13 posted on 04/28/2025 5:36:13 PM PDT by gundog (The ends justify the mean tweets. )
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mark


14 posted on 04/28/2025 6:10:26 PM PDT by Bigg Red ( Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.)
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To: Larry Lucido

I’m not sure, I guess I could go either way on that question...


15 posted on 04/28/2025 7:23:36 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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