I

364

Iacopone da Todi SeeJACAPONE DATODI.

Iaroslav the Wise SeeYAROSLAV THEWISE.

Ibelin family The Ibelins were a crusader family who
wielded power and influence in the Latin kingdoms of
JERUSALEM and, later on, CYPRUS. An ancestor, Balian,
took part in the early Crusade. In PALESTINE, he entered
the service of Hugh of Puiset. After becoming the consta-
ble of Jaffa and marrying the heiress of Ramallah, he
became one of the richest barons in the kingdom.
In 1132 Balian supported King FULKV against his
own lord of Jaffa, captured that town, and was granted
the estates at Yabneh or Ibelin. There he built the fortress
from which the family took its name in 1136. Known as
“Balian the Old of Ibelin,” he owned lands throughout
Palestine. His sons then married daughters of the major
families of the kingdom. By the middle of the 12th cen-
tury, the family was among the most powerful families in
the kingdom. In 1175 his youngest son, Balian II, even
married the widow of King Amalic (r. 1162–73/74),
Maria Komnene, a BYZANTINEprincess. By the reign of
BALDWINIV the Leper (r. 1173/74–1185), the Ibelin fam-
ily was deeply involved in the government.

CONSOLIDATION AND CYPRUS

After the Third Crusade, in the 1190s, they became lead-
ers of the crusader nobility at ACRE. At the beginning of
the 13th century, Philip Ibelin moved to Cyprus, where
he gained large territories, becoming regent during the
minority of King Hugh I (r. 1205–18) of Lusignan. Other
members of the family strongly opposed FREDERICKII
HOHENSTAUFENas king of Jerusalem. They were naturally

ardent defenders of the privileges of the local nobility,

demanding government by a local crusader oligarchy. The

king was merely the chief feudal lord of the kingdom.

This concept was part of the ASSIZES DEJERUSALEM,writ-

ten in 1245 much under the influence of John of Ibelin

(ca. 1200–66). In the 14th century, the family declined

and the male line died out. At the same time the female

line married into the greatest clans of Cyprus and Latin

Greece.

Further reading:Philip de Novare, The Wars of Fred-

erick II against the Ibelins in Syria and Cyprus,trans. John

L. La Monte (New York: Columbia University Press,

1936); Peter W. Edbury, John of Ibelin and the Kingdom of

Jerusalem (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1997); Steven

Runciman, A History of the Crusades,Vol. 3, The Kingdom

of Acre and the Later Crusades(Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1951).

Iberia See AL-ANDALUS;ARAGON;CASTILE;NAVARRE;

PORTUGAL;SPAIN.

Ibn al-Athir, Izz al-Din (Abu l’Hasan Ali ibn Muham-

mad)(1160–1233)Arab historian

Ibn al-Athir was born probably in Mosul on May 13,

1160. He knew SALADINand spent most of his life in
      ALEPPO. His partisan historical work is especially useful
      for understanding BYZANTINEmilitary affairs in ANATOLIA
      in the second half of the 12th century, for the events of the
      Third Crusade, and for the conquest of CONSTANTINOPLE
      by the Fourth Crusade. He died in May or June of 1233.
      See alsoCRUSADES.
      Further reading: Franz Rosenthal, “Ibn al-Athır,”
      Encyclopedia of Islam3.724; Amin Maalouf, The Crusades