Bohemond VI of Antioch (1237-1275) was the Prince of Antioch from 1251 to 1275, succeeding Bohemond V of Antioch and preceding Bohemond VII of Antioch.
Biography[]
Bohemond was born in 1237 to Bohemond V of Antioch and Luciana de Segni, the granddaughter of Pope Innocent III. He was from the Catholic French House of Poitou. In January 1252 Bohemond succeeded his father as the prince of Antioch under the regency of his mother, but he gained power a few months early when Pope Innocent IV shared common cause with him over his disappointment that his mother appointed her family to rule Antioch for Bohemond. Bohemond was knighted by King Louis IX of France, and in 1254 Bohemond married Sibylla of Armenia at Louis' suggestion. This ended the rivalry with King Hethum I of Armenia, and the two states finally made peace after Bohemond IV of Antioch's war with the Armenians years before. From 1256 to 1270, in the War of Saint Sabas, the House of Embriaco from Genoa (of which Bohemond was the overlord) and the Republic of Venice rivalled each other, and the Embriacos rebelled against Bohemond when he tried to get them to support the Venetians. Tens of thousands of people died as the Knights Hospitaller-backed Genoese and Templar Order-backed Venetians fought, and Bohemond's assassination of Bertrand Embriaco did not end the war.
In 1260, Bohemond decided to become a vassal of the Ilkhanate after his father-in-law Hethum did so, as the Mongols fought against the Muslim Qutuzid Sultanate Mamelukes. Bohemond helped in the conquest of Aleppo and Damascus by the Mongols, and he was rewarded with Lattakieh, Darkush, Kafardubbin, Laodicea, and Jabala, which the Mongols had conquered from the Muslims. However, in return he installed Euthymius of Antioch as the (Orthodox) Patriarch of Antioch in the place of the Latin (Catholic) Patriarch of Antioch, as the Mongols wanted to be closer to the Byzantine Empire; the Latin Empire had a negative opinion of Bohemond because of this. Patriarch of Jerusalem Jacques Pantaleon (the future Pope Urban IV) excommunicated Bohemond because of this, but Pope Urban later suspended his sentence in 1261 when he heard of his reasons. However, the Mongol defeat at the Battle of Ain Jalut let the Qutuzids put pressure on Antioch, so Bohemond and Hethum decided to regain power. They deposed and kidnapped Euthymius (carrying him off to Armenia) and replaced him with the Latin patriarch Opizo Fieschi, but their attempts at a blockade against the Mamelukes further incited their sultan Baibars. Hulegu Khan was disappointed in Bohemond's deposition of the Greek patriarch was against the Mongols' plans to ally with the Byzantines against the Turks of Anatolia. In 1266 Bohemond headed to the Mongol court, but while he was gone, the Mamelukes took Antioch in 1268. In 1271 Tripoli was besieged, and Bohemond gained no help from Abaqha Khan. Bohemond agreed to a truce, stalling the Mamluks until Prince Edward of the Kingdom of England embarked on the Ninth Crusade against the Muslims. Bohemond and Hugh I of Jerusalem joined Edward, and the Mameluke fleet was destroyed and in 1272 the Treaty of Caesarea enacted a ten-year peace treaty. Bohemond died in 1275, and his son Bohemond VII of Antioch succeeded him.