Maria Komnene, Queen of Jerusalem

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Maria Komnene
Balian, Lord of Ibelin
Issue
Komnenos dynasty
FatherJohn Doukas Komnenos
MotherMaria Tarontinissa

Maria Komnene (

King Amalric. She occupied a central position in the Kingdom of Jerusalem
for twenty years, earning a reputation for intrigue and ruthlessness.

Maria was a grandniece of Byzantine Emperor

lord of Ibelin, Balian
, in 1177, with whom she had four more children.

From 1180, Maria was one of the leaders of the faction opposing Sibylla and her husband

annulled so that the new queen could marry the more capable candidate, Conrad of Montferrat. Maria died in the reign of her great-granddaughter Isabella II
, having outlived all her allies and adversaries.

Background

Maria was the daughter of the Byzantine

Roman Catholics.[4] The crusader states were constantly threatened by neighbouring Muslim powers.[5]

Maria's cousin

Sibylla and Baldwin, declared legitimate.[8]

Queenship

13th-century depiction of Maria and Amalric riding with entourage

Wishing to restore alliance with the powerful Byzantine Empire,

Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Amalric of Nesle, celebrated her marriage to the king at the Cathedral of Tyre on 29 August 1167.[12] Historian Bernard Hamilton concludes that the new queen was neither particularly attractive, as not even her supporters flattered her, nor endowed with an impressive dowry, as her cousin Theodora had been.[1]

Maria and her household represented Byzantine interests in the

Queen Melisende, King Amalric and his brother, King Baldwin III, were keen to avoid sharing authority with their wives. Maria was also disadvantaged by having no son.[14] A daughter who died in infancy was likely born to the queen in 1171.[15] The royal couple's only surviving child was Isabella, born in 1172.[14] There was little affection in the relationship between the queen and her stepson, Baldwin. She proved markedly ambitious, and probably resented Baldwin's precedence over her own progeny in the line of succession.[16] The lack of a son in the royal marriage became troubling as suspicion grew that Baldwin had contracted leprosy, which was then an incurable and much stigmatised illness.[14]

Dowager

Death of King Amalric as depicted in the 13th century

Maria's husband, Amalric, came down with dysentery in June 1174.[17] On his deathbed, he granted the city of Nablus, formerly held by his mother, to Maria to be held in fief as dower.[14] He died on 11 July.[17] Maria may have taken part in the ensuing discussion about succession to the throne.[18] Having no other son, Amalric was succeeded by 13-year-old Baldwin, who had not yet been formally diagnosed with leprosy.[19] Despite ominous symptoms, he was seen as a better candidate than his slightly older sister, Sibylla, because she was a girl and unmarried. The claim of Maria's daughter, Isabella, was unviable because she was only two years old.[20]

Diplomatic role

Maria found herself in an unusual situation after Amalric's death; she was the

Raymond III of Tripoli assumed regency, Agnes returned to court.[22] Soon after his accession it became clear that Baldwin was indeed afflicted with leprosy,[23] meaning that he could not father an heir.[24] Amalric's daughters, Sibylla and Isabella, therefore became crucial figures.[24]

After reaching the

Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem instead.[13]

Count

Philip I of Flanders arrived in Jerusalem in 1177[27] and was tasked by his liege, King Louis VII of France, with discussing a Franco-Byzantine alliance with Emperor Manuel on his way back to Europe.[28] Philip was expected to assist in the Egyptian campaign, but prevaricated when he realized that he would not be granted sovereignty over conquered territory.[29] In 1178 he visited Maria in Nablus to seek her advice about the Byzantine court. The queen dowager must have been in contact with the Byzantines in the Levant and aware of their intention to cancel the expedition due to their allies' failure to cooperate. It is likely she who explained to Philip that the High Court would pin the blame on him, thereby damaging his standing with Manuel.[30] Philip quickly announced his readiness to assist, but the Byzantines doubted his sincerity and broke off the alliance.[31]

Ibelin alliance

Seal of Balian of Ibelin

In late 1177, Queen Maria married

John, Margaret, and Philip.[34] Remarriage ended any possibility that Maria might manage the king's court; the role was assumed by Agnes, whose influence over Sibylla and Baldwin steadily increased.[35]

Maria's brother-in-law Baldwin of Ibelin was captured by Saladin in 1179. It is probably she who informed her granduncle Manuel about the scheme to have Baldwin marry Sibylla, prompting the Byzantine emperor to pay his extortionate ransom.

lord of Oultrejordain, Raynald of Châtillon, while the opposing faction consisted of the queen dowager, the Ibelin brothers, Count Raymond III of Tripoli, and Prince Bohemond III of Antioch.[37] In October, King Baldwin arranged the betrothal of his half-sister Isabella, Maria's daughter, to Raynald's stepson, Humphrey IV of Toron. This served to prevent the faction of the Ibelins from using her as a pawn in a dynastic conflict. Isabella was sent to live at Kerak Castle with Humphrey's mother, Stephanie of Milly, who prevented her from visiting Maria at Nablus.[38]

Muslim threat

Kerak Castle

Isabella and Humphrey's wedding was held at Kerak in late 1183. Maria attended despite being a personal enemy of the groom's stepfather, Raynald. Extravagant festivities were cut short by news of the approach of the Muslim army under Saladin.

co-king,[42] and led his army to the relief of Kerak.[43]

In 1184, Saladin again besieged Kerak and once more fled before Baldwin IV's army.[44] Knowing that all the king's troops were at Kerak, he attacked Nablus between 8 and 10 September. As Balian was at Kerak too, it was presumably Maria who conducted the defence. The city was unwalled and she could do nothing to prevent Saladin from sacking it, but no Franks were killed because she took the entire population inside the citadel.[45]

Succession dispute

Death of Baldwin IV, Baldwin V carried by Balian, and Raymond's assumption of regency as depicted in Acre in the 13th century

Completely disabled due to leprosy, Baldwin IV lay on his deathbed in early 1185. He arranged for Sibylla's son, Baldwin V, to undergo a crown-wearing ceremony after which Maria's husband, Balian, expressed their family's support for the boy by carrying him to banquet on his shoulders.

France.[47] Baldwin died after the barons promised to uphold this condition.[48]

Baldwin V died in mid-1186. Sibylla hurried to Jerusalem to claim the throne. She and her supporters secured most of the

porphyrogeniture.[51] Humphrey was unwilling to cause a civil war, however, and foiled the plan by sneaking out of Nablus and submitting to Sibylla.[52] The rest of the nobility convened in Nablus then arrived to submit as well, except Baldwin of Ibelin and Raymond.[53]

Third Crusade

Saladin took advantage of the discord between the nobles. He invaded the kingdom in April 1187

besiege Acre. The queens, Balian, Isabella, and Humphrey accompanied him, and the Third Crusade ensued.[60]

The Kingdom of Jerusalem without Jerusalem, as reconstituted in 1192

Unity appeared to have been restored during the crusade until Sibylla and her daughters died of an epidemic in mid-1190.

bishop of Beauvais, Philip of Dreux,[64] that Isabella had been forced by Baldwin IV to marry Humphrey and that she was underage at the time.[60] Isabella was subsequently crowned and married to Conrad.[34]

Last years

The Third Crusade brought the reconquest of a strip of coast from Jaffa to Tyre in 1192,[65] but the kingdom remained without Jerusalem itself.[66] Balian died in 1194 and Maria did not remarry again. She retained an active role in family affairs.[34] Isabella I married twice more and died in 1205.[65] Maria's native Byzantine state, which had ceased to be a great power in the 1180s, was all but destroyed in the Fourth Crusade, while the Kingdom of Jerusalem was reduced to a rump state centred in Acre; yet, Maria's influence only increased.[9]

In 1208 Maria arranged the marriage of Isabella I's daughter Alice of Champagne to King Hugh I of Cyprus. Having outlived all the principal figures of Christian-ruled Jerusalem, Maria may have provided valuable recollections of the kingdom's laws and customs to her son John. She died in mid-1217, in the reign of her great-granddaughter Isabella II. All the kings of Jerusalem and Cyprus and much of the 13th-century nobility of both Cyprus and the mainland kingdom descended from her.[34]

Character

A very hostile source, the Itinerarium Regis Ricardi, describes Maria as being "steeped in Greek filth from the cradle",[67] and says that the character of her husband Balian "matched her own":

Where he was savage, she was godless; where he was shallow-minded, she was fickle; where he was treacherous, she was scheming.[35]

Maria was resilient and adaptable, which enabled her to thrive politically in spite of unfavourable circumstances. Like her mother-in-law Melisende and rival Agnes, Maria desired power, but Hamilton notes that she differed from them in being interested more in practical matters than in appearances and thus worked to acquire power in "more devious" ways.[9] Her opponents described her as ruthless and scheming, and Hamilton concludes that "there was some truth" in their view.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hamilton 1978, p. 161.
  2. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 50.
  3. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 31.
  4. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 49.
  5. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 54.
  6. ^ Hamilton 1978, pp. 159, 161.
  7. ^ Hamilton 1978, p. 159.
  8. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 26.
  9. ^ a b c Hamilton 1978, p. 174.
  10. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 370.
  11. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 36.
  12. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 377.
  13. ^ a b Hamilton 2005, p. 113.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Hamilton 1978, p. 163.
  15. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 404, 443.
  16. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 27.
  17. ^ a b Hamilton 2005, p. 32.
  18. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 35.
  19. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 38.
  20. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 40.
  21. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 84.
  22. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 95.
  23. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 100.
  24. ^ a b Hodgson 2007, p. 78.
  25. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 111.
  26. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 106.
  27. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 414.
  28. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 121.
  29. ^ Hamilton 2005, pp. 127–128.
  30. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 129.
  31. ^ Hamilton 2005, pp. 129–130.
  32. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 139.
  33. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 404.
  34. ^ a b c d e Hamilton 1978, p. 173.
  35. ^ a b Hamilton 1978, p. 165.
  36. ^ Hamilton 1978, p. 166.
  37. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 158.
  38. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 161.
  39. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 440.
  40. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 192.
  41. ^ Hamilton 2005, pp. 192–193.
  42. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 194.
  43. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 196.
  44. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 202.
  45. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 203.
  46. ^ Hamilton 2005, pp. 208–209.
  47. ^ Hamilton 2005, pp. 206–207.
  48. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 220.
  49. ^ Hamilton 2005, pp. 217–218.
  50. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 221.
  51. ^ Riley-Smith 1973, p. 108.
  52. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 448.
  53. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 222.
  54. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 227.
  55. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 230.
  56. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 231.
  57. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 172.
  58. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 463.
  59. ^ Runciman 1952, p. 465.
  60. ^ a b c d e Hamilton 1978, p. 172.
  61. ^ a b Riley-Smith 1973, p. 114.
  62. ^ Riley-Smith 1973, p. 115.
  63. ^ Hodgson 2007, p. 188.
  64. ^ Runciman 1954, pp. 22, 35.
  65. ^ a b Hamilton 2005, p. 232.
  66. ^ Hamilton 2005, p. 234.
  67. ^ Hodgson 2007, p. 189.

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maria Comnena.
  • Hamilton, Bernard (1978). "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem". In Baker, Derek (ed.). Medieval Women. Ecclesiastical History Society.
    ISBN 978-0631192602
    .
  • Hamilton, Bernard (2005). The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press.
    ISBN 9780521017473
    .
  • Hodgson, Natasha R. (2007). Women, Crusading and the Holy Land in Historical Narrative. Boydell Press.
    ISBN 978-1843833321
    .
  • Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1973). The feudal nobility and the kingdom of Jerusalem, 1147 - 1277. Macmillan.
  • ISBN 0241298768
    .
  • ISBN 0-521-06163-6
    .
Royal titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Theodora Komnene
Queen consort of Jerusalem

1167–1174 		Vacant
Title next held by
Elisabeth of Bavaria
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