Lord of Transjordan (1161-1165/1166) and master of the Templars (1169-1171).
Philip was one of three sons of the nobleman Guy of Milly, from whom he inherited various fiefs in Samaria around the town of Nablus. He became one of the most experienced soldiers in the kingdom of Jerusalem, participating in most of the campaigns fought by its forces against its Muslim enemies from 1144 up to his death. He was a key supporter of Queen Melisende of Jerusalem during her disputes with her son King Baldwin III, and soon after her death (1161), Baldwin forced Philip to surrender his fiefs in Samaria in exchange for the lordship of Transjordan.
By early 1166 Philip had joined the Order of the Temple; as his son Rainier was dead by this time, Transjordan passed to his elder daughter, Helen, and her husband, Walter III of Beirut. Within four years Philip was elected master of the order (August 1169). In 1171 he resigned this office and went as an ambassador to the Byzantine emperor Manuel Kom-nenos in preparation for a planned diplomatic visit by King Amalric, but died during his stay in Constantinople, probably on 3 April 1171.
-Alan V. Murray
Bibliography
Barber, Malcolm, “The Career of Philip of Nablus in the Kingdom of Jerusalem,” in The Experience of Crusading, ed. Marcus Bull, Norman Housley, Peter Edbury, and Jonathan Phillips, 2 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 2:60-75.
Mayer, Hans Eberhard, Die Kreuzfahrerherrschaft Montreal (Sobak): Jordanien im 12. Jahrhundert (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1990).
World History
