Regency (bailliage)

Also known as Bailli, Regent

The interim government of the realm during a king's minority, absence, or incapacity — frequent in a kingdom whose rulers were repeatedly underage, female, leprous, or absentee.

Few medieval kingdoms relied on regency as much as Jerusalem. Baldwin III, Baldwin IV, Baldwin V, Conrad of Montferrat, Maria of Montferrat, Yolande / Isabella II, and the absentee Hohenstaufen kings Frederick II, Conrad IV, and Conradin all reached the throne as minors, women, or absentees, and each required a bailli — a regent appointed by the Haute Cour to rule in their name.

The choice of regent was almost always politically charged. The contest between Raymond III of Tripoli and Guy of Lusignan over the regency for Baldwin V (1185–86) directly produced the disastrous succession of 1186; the long Ibelin–imperial War of the Lombards (1228–43) was at heart a struggle over the regency for the absent Frederick II and his son. A baillie did not enjoy royal authority; he was a steward, accountable to the Haute Cour, and could be removed by it.

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