Baldwin V of Jerusalem contested between Baldwin IV's sister and their younger half-sister Isabella. Their extended family and leading nobles were divided in support for the two heiresses. Raymond III of Tripoli, first cousin of their father Amalric I of Jerusalem, had been "bailli" or regent for Baldwin IV while the latter was a child, but once the king came of age in 1176 his power began to recede. He had a claim to the throne in his own right, but his childlessness hindered him advancing it. Instead, he acted as a power-broker, and aided the interests of the Ibelin family. Amalric's widow (Isabella's
Philip I, Count of Flanders brother-in-law, intervened in 1184 on behalf of his son-in-law, King Philip, in support of his daughter's interests. The dispute between Count Philip and Baldwin was encouraged by King Philip, who went so far as to name Baldwin his representative in negotiations with the Count. Count Philip's wife, Elisabeth, died in 1183, prompting King Philip II to seize the province of Vermandois on behalf of Elisabeth's sister, Eleonore. Philip then remarried, to Matilda, daughter of Afonso I, the first King of Portugal. Philip gave Matilda a dower that included a number of major Flemish towns, in an apparent slight to Baldwin