Fulk, as regent for the heiress Constance of Antioch, had in 1135 sent envoys to offer her in marriage to Raymond, the younger son of William VII, count of Poitiers, who was then at the court of Henry I of England.

Raymond, then around thirty-seven, had arrived in Antioch in April 1136 and married the nine-year-old Constance, thereby becoming ruler of Antioch.

Constantinople has claimed Antioch ever since the First Crusade (1095–99), when the Crusaders had promised to hand over the city to the empire but instead had kept it.

Nur ad-Din goes on to besiege Antioch itself, but is unable to take it.

Although devastated by the loss of its prince, the city is vigorously defended by Raymond's widow Constance and the Patriarch Aimery of Limoges.

King Baldwin III of Jerusalem marches north to relieve the siege.

Raynald of Châtillon, a member of the Second Crusade who had left France for the Holy Land in 1147, had put himself at the service first of Baldwin III of Jerusalem and then of Constance of Antioch, whose husband had died in 1149.

Constance, having fallen in love with Raynald, had married him in secret in 1153 without consulting her first cousin and liege lord, Baldwin III.

Raynald had thus become Prince of Antioch.

Neither King Baldwin nor Aimery of Limoges, the Latin Patriarch of Antioch, had approved of Constance's choice of a husband of such low birth.

At the instigation of Emperor Manuel, Raynald attacks Armenian Cilicia in southeastern Anatolia, but he subsequently makes peace with Thoros II of Cilicia.

Raynald claims in 1156 that Constantinople’s emperor Manuel I Komnenos had reneged on his promise to pay Raynald a sum of money, and vows to attack the island of Cyprus, an imperial possession, in revenge.

When Patriarch Aimery refuses to finance this expedition, Raynald has the Patriarch seized, stripped naked, covered in honey, and left in the burning sun on top of the citadel.

When the Patriarch is released, he collapses in exhaustion and agrees to finance Raynald's expedition against Cyprus.

Bohemond III's father, Raymond of Poitiers, had been killed at the Battle of Inab in 1149, and his mother has ruled as regent until Bohemond is old enough to rule on his own.

Constance, however, had married a second time, to Raynald of Châtillon, who had ruled as Prince of Antioch until being taken captive in 1160 and imprisoned in Aleppo (where he will remain until 1176).

Bohemond was by this time of legal age to succeed, but Constance had refused; King Baldwin III of Jerusalem had intervened and declared Bohemond ruler of the principality.

In 1163, Constance asks the newly appointed imperial governor of Cilicia, Constantine Kalamanos, for aid in order to maintain her rule; the citizens of Antioch then riot and exile her.

She dies later this year, allowing Bohemond to take full control.