Raymond was an old man in his fifties when he left for the Holy Land. History considers him the best military mind among the leaders of the First Crusade as he studied Saracen tactics and devised his own countermeasures. His instincts may have been honed by his years of campaigning against the Moors in Spain.

He founded the principality of Tripoli, now most of modern-day Lebanon. He died in 1105 in his castle outside Tripoli.