# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/balian-of-ibelin
# Generated: 2026-09-02T00:28:25.526Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/balian-of-ibelin"
name: "Balian of Ibelin"
slug: "balian-of-ibelin"
description: "He held Jerusalem's walls when Saladin's army came in 1187, then walked out and handed over the keys. That surrender — not a battle win, but the choice to stop one — is why the name still gets Googled."
tagline: "Crusader and noble of the Kingdom of Jerusalem"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Sceau_de_Balian_d'Ibelin.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Israel"
  isoCode: "IL"
birthDate: "1135"
deathDate: "1193"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           62.11
  momentum:             19.44307083693905
  historical:           24.52196
  currentAttention:     25.8681101319252
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  50
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  177
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Medieval Era"
    slug: "medieval-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_of_Ibelin"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q374385"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Balian%20of%20Ibelin"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%8F%D0%BD_II_%D0%86%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%96%D0%BD"
    title: "Баліян II Ібелін"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%BE%D1%82_%D0%98%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD"
    title: "Балиан от Ибелин"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0_%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8"
    title: "ইবেলিনের বেলিয়ান"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_d'Ibelin"
    title: "Balian d'Ibelin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_z_Ibelinu"
    title: "Balian z Ibelinu"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_von_Ibelin"
    title: "Balian von Ibelin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%AC%CE%BD_%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85_%CE%99%CE%BC%CF%80%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%AD%CE%BD"
    title: "Μπαλιάν του Ιμπελέν"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali%C3%A1n_de_Ibel%C3%ADn"
    title: "Balián de Ibelín"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%86"
    title: "بالین ابلین"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_d'Ibelin_(mort_en_1193)"
    title: "Balian d'Ibelin (mort en 1193)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%91%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%90%D7%9F_%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%99%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9F"
    title: "באליאן מאיבלין"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_od_Ibelina"
    title: "Balian od Ibelina"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibelin_Balian"
    title: "Ibelin Balian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D4%B2%D5%A1%D5%AC%D5%AB%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%A4'%D4%BB%D5%A2%D5%A5%D5%AC%D5%AB%D5%B6"
    title: "Բալիան դ'Իբելին"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_dari_Ibelin"
    title: "Balian dari Ibelin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baliano_di_Ibelin"
    title: "Baliano di Ibelin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%91%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98%E1%83%90%E1%83%9C_%E1%83%93%E1%83%94_%E1%83%98%E1%83%91%E1%83%94%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C%E1%83%98"
    title: "ბალიან დე იბელინი"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%B0%9C%EB%A6%AC%EC%95%99_%EB%94%94%EB%B8%94%EB%9E%AD"
    title: "발리앙 디블랭"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balianus_de_Ibelino"
    title: "Balianus de Ibelino"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_dari_Ibelin"
    title: "Balian dari Ibelin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_van_Ibelin"
    title: "Balian van Ibelin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balian_z_Ibelinu"
    title: "Balian z Ibelinu"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "باليان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0belinli_Baliyan"
    title: "İbelinli Baliyan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Balian of Ibelin inherited his lordship in 1170, a minor noble in a kingdom built by Crusaders who'd claimed the Holy Land eighty years earlier. By 1187 that kingdom was collapsing. When Saladin's forces encircled Jerusalem, Balian was inside, tasked with a defense nearly everyone knew couldn't hold. He negotiated terms instead of a massacre. On 2 October 1187, he surrendered the city. He lived another six years, his name now attached to the hinge moment when Jerusalem changed hands — not through heroism, but through the arithmetic of sieges and the will to avoid slaughter.