Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse

Raymond of Saint-Gilles inherited a trifecta of southern French titles in 1094: Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne, Margrave of Provence. Two years later he joined the First Crusade, one of its principal leaders from 1096 to 1099. While other lords returned to Europe after Jerusalem fell, Raymond stayed. He spent his final five years fighting to establish the County of Tripoli along the coast of the Near East, a foothold he never fully secured in his lifetime but that would endure long after. He died there on 28 February 1105.