Constance of Antioch

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Constance
Bohemond III
AlongsideRaymond (1136–1149)
Raynald (1153–1160 or 1161)
Regents
See list
Born1128
Died1163 (aged 34–35)
Spouse
Catholicism

Constance of Hauteville (1128–1163) was the ruling

Fulk of Anjou
to rule as regent for Constance.

Constance was given in marriage to

Manuel I Komnenus. Finally, she found a love interest and was married to Raynald of Châtillon
, a knight from France, in 1153.

After her second husband fell into captivity around 1160–1161, Constance wanted to rule Antioch alone, but Baldwin III of Jerusalem declared her fifteen-year-old son,

Bohemond III
, the lawful prince. Constance disregarded this declaration and took control of the administration of the principality with the assistance of Emperor Manuel. Constance was dethroned in favor of her son shortly before her death.

Early life

Born in 1128, Constance was the only child of Prince

House of Hauteville.[8][9]

The Antiochene noblemen sent envoys to Baldwin II, urging him to come to the principality,

Imad ad-Din Zengi, atabeg of Aleppo.[7][10] According to William of Tyre's account, her envoys were captured by Baldwin II's soldiers, who had meanwhile reached Antioch.[7] Before long, Alice was forced to beg for mercy from her father.[7] He removed Alice from the regency, ordering her to leave Antioch.[5][11]

Reign

Childhood

The crusader states around 1135
A dozen armed horsemen fight against each other on a field covered by bodies at a large castle on a hill
Death of Constance's first husband, Raymond of Poitiers, in the Battle of Inab (illustration from the Passages d'outremer).
Latin Patriarch of Antioch, by Constance's second husband, Raynald of Châtillon

The Antiochene noblemen acknowledged Baldwin II as regent, swearing fealty to him and Constance.

Joscelin I of Edessa her guardian to rule the principality until her marriage.[5][11] Baldwin II died on August 21, 1131, and Joscelin I died a week later.[12][13]

Alice again laid claim to the regency.

constable of Antioch, to administer the principality.[17]

Fulk returned to Antioch when Zengi dispatched Sawar, governor of Aleppo, to invade the principality in 1132 or 1133.[18] After defeating the invaders, Fulk entered Antioch.[19] Since the principality needed a firm government, the Antiochene noblemen approached Fulk to select a husband for Constance.[20] He chose Raymond of Poitiers, the younger son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine.[20][21] He did not announce his decision in public because he wanted to prevent Alice and Roger II of Sicily from intervening.[21]

Alice's sister,

Queen Melisende, Fulk's wife, persuaded Fulk to allow Alice to return to Antioch in 1135.[19] Alice wanted to tighten the relationship of the principality and the Byzantine Empire; therefore, she offered Constance's hand to Manuel, a son of Emperor John II Komnenos.[19] To prevent the Byzantine marriage, Fulk sent his envoy to France to Raymond of Poitiers to urge him to come to Antioch, which he did, traveling in disguise, because Roger II of Sicily wanted to capture him in southern Italy.[8][22]

First marriage

Raymond of Poitiers arrived at Antioch in April 1136.

Lattakieh.[24]

In early 1147 Roger II of Sicily extended an offer to

Nur ad-Din, but Louis VII decided to leave Antioch to Jerusalem, forcing Eleanor to accompany him.[27]

Widowhood

Raymond was killed in the

Nur ad-Din Zangi on June 29, 1149.[29] Since Raymond and Constance's four children were still underage, there was no one to "perform the duties of a prince and raise the people from despair", according to William of Tyre.[30] Nur ad-Din invaded the principality and seized all Antiochene territories to the east of the Orontes River.[31] Aimery of Limoges, Latin Patriarch of Antioch, directed the defense, but most noblemen preferred a secular ruler.[31][32] After learning of Raymond's fate, Constance's cousin, Baldwin III of Jerusalem, hurried to Antioch and assumed the regency.[31][33] He also concluded a truce with Nur ad-Din.[31]

Baldwin III returned to Antioch in summer 1150.

Walter of Saint Omer, and Ralph of Merle), but she declined.[33] Urged by Baldwin III, Constance went to Tripoli in early 1152 to meet him and her two aunts, Melisende and Hodierna.[34] The two ladies tried to persuade Constance to choose among the three candidates, but she returned to Antioch without making a promise to remarry.[34][35][36] According to William of Tyre, Patriarch Aimery convinced Constance to resist, because he wanted to control the government of the principality.[36][37] The Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos sent his widowed brother-in-law, the middle-aged John Rogerios Dalassenos, to Antioch to marry Constance.[38][36] However, because of his age, she "regarded him with displeasure", according to the contemporaneous John Kinnamos, and refused to marry him.[38]

Historian Steven Runciman says that Constance may have refused the candidates proposed by Baldwin III and Manuel I because she had met Raynald of Châtillon, a knight from France.[39] Even though William of Tyre described Raynald as a "knight of common sort", Constance decided to marry Raynald.[40] Their betrothal was kept secret because Constance wanted to obtain Baldwin III's permission for the marriage.[41]

Second marriage

After Baldwin sanctioned the marriage, Constance and Raynald married in early 1153.[41] Raynald took charge of the administration of the principality.[39] However, he was unpopular because his subjects regarded him as an upstart.[39] His frequent attempts to raise funds brought him into conflict with Patriarch Aimery and Emperor Manuel I during the subsequent years.[41] The emperor forced Raynald to pay homage to him in the spring of 1159.[42] Raynald was captured and imprisoned by Majd al-Din, governor of Aleppo, during a plundering raid in November 1160 or 1161.[40][43]

After her husband fell into captivity, Constance announced her intention to administer the principality, but most Antiochene noblemen preferred a male ruler.[44] Baldwin III of Jerusalem hurried to Antioch and declared Constance's fifteen-year-old son, Bohemond III, the lawful prince, charging Patriarch Aimery with the administration of the principality.[44][45] Constance did not accept Baldwin's decision and protested against it to Emperor Manuel.[46]

Manuel dispatched his nephew, Alexios Bryennios Komnenos, and John Kamateros to Antioch to begin negotiations about his marriage to Constance's daughter, Maria.[47] The marriage contract was signed and the emperor's delegates confirmed Constance's position as the ruler of the principality.[47] Baldwin III, who came to Antioch to meet the imperial envoys, did not protest.[47]

Constance's son, Bohemond, reached the age of majority in 1163.

Lattakieh or Byblos, according to Steven Runciman.[51]

Family

Constance's first husband,

Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos in 1161.[57] Another daughter, Philippa, was given in marriage to Humphrey II of Toron in the late 1160s.[58]

Whether the father of Constance's second son, Baldwin, was Raymond of Poitiers or Raynald of Châtillon cannot be determined with certainty.

Azzo VI of Este in 1204.[63]

Constance's close family and relationship with the rulers of Sicily and the Crusader states[64]
Tancred of HautevilleFressenda
Isabella of MontlhéryMelisende of Montlhéry
Hugh I of Rethel
Alberada of BuonalbergoRobert GuiscardRoger I of Sicily
Joscelin I of Edessa
Baldwin II of JerusalemMorphia of MeliteneConstance of FranceBohemond I of AntiochRoger II of Sicily
Pons of Tripoli
Raymond III of Tripoli
Bohemond III of AntiochMaria
(m. Manuel I Komnenos)		Philippa
(m. Humphrey II of Toron)		BaldwinAgnes
(m. Béla III of Hungary)

References

  1. ^ Hodgson 2007, p. 182.
  2. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 176.
  3. ^ Murray 2016, pp. 81, 83.
  4. ^ Murray 2016, p. 84.
  5. ^ a b c d Nicholson 1969, p. 431.
  6. ^ Murray 2016, p. 81.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Runciman 1989, p. 183.
  8. ^ a b Norwich 1992, p. 473.
  9. ^ Murray 2016, p. 85.
  10. ^ Buck 2017, p. 221.
  11. ^ a b c Runciman 1989, p. 184.
  12. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 185.
  13. ^ Barber 2012, p. 152.
  14. ^ a b c Runciman 1989, p. 188.
  15. ^ a b c d Nicholson 1969, p. 433.
  16. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 188, 190.
  17. ^ a b Runciman 1989, p. 190.
  18. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 195.
  19. ^ a b c Runciman 1989, p. 198.
  20. ^ a b Nicholson 1969, p. 434.
  21. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 153.
  22. ^ a b Runciman 1989, p. 199.
  23. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 199–200.
  24. ^ a b Runciman 1989, p. 200.
  25. ^ Norwich 1992, pp. 484–486.
  26. ^ Norwich 1992, p. 486.
  27. ^ a b Runciman 1989, p. 278.
  28. ^ Barber 2012, p. 188.
  29. ^ Baldwin 1969, pp. 532–533.
  30. ^ Hodgson 2007, pp. 182–183.
  31. ^ a b c d Baldwin 1969, p. 533.
  32. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 330–331.
  33. ^ a b c Runciman 1989, p. 331.
  34. ^ a b Runciman 1989, p. 333.
  35. ^ Hodgson 2007, p. 187.
  36. ^ a b c Barber 2012, p. 208.
  37. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 331 (note 1).
  38. ^ a b Runciman 1989, p. 332.
  39. ^ a b c Runciman 1989, p. 345.
  40. ^ a b Barber 2012, p. 206.
  41. ^ a b c Baldwin 1969, p. 540.
  42. ^ Baldwin 1969, pp. 543–544.
  43. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 357.
  44. ^ a b Runciman 1989, p. 358.
  45. ^ a b c Barber 2012, p. 215.
  46. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 359.
  47. ^ a b c Runciman 1989, p. 360.
  48. ^ Baldwin 1969, p. 547.
  49. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 364.
  50. ^ Runciman 1989, pp. 364–365.
  51. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 365 (note 1).
  52. ^ Meade 1991, pp. 8, 22.
  53. ^ Dunbabin 2000, p. 384.
  54. ^ Meade 1991, pp. 18, 22.
  55. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 330.
  56. ^ a b Hodgson 2007, p. 183.
  57. ^ Garland 1999, p. 201.
  58. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 378.
  59. ^ Hamilton 2000, pp. xviii, 40–41.
  60. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 365, Appendix III (Genealogical tree No. 2.).
  61. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 413.
  62. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 365 (note 2).
  63. ^ Chiappini 2001, p. 31.
  64. ^ Runciman 1989, Appendix III.

Sources

Further reading

Constance of Antioch
House of Hauteville
Born: 1128 Died: 1163
Regnal titles
Preceded by Princess of Antioch
1130–1163
With: Raymond and Raynald 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Constance_of_Antioch&oldid=1219720416"