Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria, conquered the county, save for the capital and two fortresses, in summer 1188.

After his father died in April 1201, Bohemond seized Antioch with the support of the burghers, the Knights Templar and Hospitallers, and the Italian merchants.

Bohemond made an alliance with Az-Zahir Ghazi, the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo, and Kaykaus I, the Seljuq sultan of Rum, who often invaded Cilicia during the following years, to prevent Leo I from attacking Antioch.

[9] Charters issued during the first years of Bohemond's rule imply that his elder brother was regarded a titular count of Tripoli for a while.

[5] After Saladin conquered almost the whole Kingdom of Jerusalem in the second half of 1187, Queen Sibylla sought shelter in Tripoli, which became a center of her supporters.

[10] The noblemen who condemned her husband, Guy of Lusignan, for the fall of the kingdom, joined Conrad of Montferrat at Tyros.

[11] He started his military campaign against Tripoli in May 1188, but the arrival of the fleet of William II of Sicily saved the town.

[16] Taking advantage of the crusade, Bohemond's father made a ten-year truce with Saladin on 30 October 1192.

[5][20][21] Leo also forced Bohemond III to surrender Antioch to him, but the Latin and Greek burghers formed a commune and prevented the Armenian soldiers from seizing the town.

[21] Bohemond hurried from Tripoli to Antioch at the head of his army to help his brother, compelling the Armenian troops to return to Cilicia.

[22] Bohemond III sent Alice and her posthumous son, Raymond-Roupen, to Leo, implying that he wanted to disinherit his grandson.

[24][25] Leo of Cilicia persuaded the papal legate, Conrad of Wittelsbach, Archbishop of Mainz, to visit Antioch.

[24] On the archbishop's demand, Bohemond III declared Raymond-Roupen his heir and ordered the Antiochene noblemen to swear fealty to the boy.

[25] In early 1198, Bohemond marched to Antioch and gained the support of the military orders and the Italian merchants, promising new grants to them.

[26] The commune also acknowledged his claim to rule, because the burghers feared that the Armenians' influence would increase if Raymond-Roupen succeeded his grandfather.

[32] Bohemond made an alliance with Az-Zahir Ghazi, the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo, and Kaykaus I, the Seljuq sultan of Rum, who forced the Armenian troops to return to Cilicia.

[34] Bohemond declined to meet the papal legate, stating that the patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem had excommunicated him for his debate with the Hospitallers.

[39][37] Peter of Angoulême and the papal legate were reconciled and the patriarch excommunicated Bohemond, Symeon and the commune with the approval of the Holy See.

[35][42] After Peter of Angoulême died of thirst, Pope Innocent III ordered Albert Avogadro, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, to excommunicate Bohemond.

[43] He also debated the right of the Holy See to make a judgement about the succession in Antioch, stating that the principality was a fief of the Latin emperors of Constantinople.

[43] Cilician soldiers who tried to seize a caravan wounded the grand master of the Knights Templar Guillaume de Chartres, in a skirmish on the plains near Antioch in 1211.

[47] Bohemond expelled the Eastern Orthodox patriarch from Antioch, allowing Peter of Ivrea to take charge of his see.

[50] Duke Leopold VI of Austria, who landed at Acre in late summer 1217, invited Bohemond to join the Fifth Crusade.

[57] Before long, Bohemond granted Jabala (which was still to be conquered) to the Templars although Raymond-Roupen had promised the town to the Hospitallers.

[61] Shortly after Bohemond's departure, Shihab ad-Din Toghrul, atabeg of Aleppo, broke into the Principality of Antioch.

[66] He authorized Gerald of Lausanne, Patriarch of Jerusalem, to lift the ban if Bohemond agreed to make peace with the Hospitallers.

[66] Bohemond confirmed the Hospitallers' right to hold Jabala and a nearby fortress and granted them money fiefs in both Tripoli and Antioch.

[66] John of Ibelin, who was the leader of Emperor Frederick's opponents in the kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus, tried to convince Bohemond to support their cause.

[69] Bohemond's first wife, Plaisance, was the daughter of Hugh III Embriaco, Lord of Jabala, and Stephanie of Milly.

[77] Bohemond's second wife, Melisende, was the youngest daughter of King Aimery of Cyprus and Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem.