Assumes Control
Following the regencies of Baldwin II of Jerusalem (1130–1131) and Fulk of Jerusalem (1131–1136), Raymond assumed control of the principality of Antioch by his marriage in 1136 to the heiress of Bohemund II of Antioch, Constance, a child of ten years of age. The marriage had the blessing of the Patriarch of Antioch, but not of Alice of Antioch, the mother of the bride, who believed that Raymond was intended to be her husband.
The first years of Raymond and Constance's joint rule were spent in conflicts with the Byzantine Emperor John II Comnenus, who had come south partly to recover Cilicia from Leo of Armenia, and to reassert his rights over Antioch. Raymond was forced to pay homage, and even to promise to cede his principality as soon as he was recompensed by a new fief, which John promised to carve out for him in the Muslim territory to the east of Antioch. The expedition of 1138, in which Raymond joined with John, and which was to conquer this territory, proved a failure. The expedition culminated in the unsuccessful Siege of Shaizar. Raymond was not anxious to help the emperor to acquire new territories, when their acquisition only meant for him the loss of Antioch. John Comnenus returned unsuccessful to Constantinople, after demanding from Raymond, without response, the surrender of the citadel of Antioch.
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