Agnes of Courtenay
Encyclopedia
Agnes of Courtenay was the daughter of Joscelin II of Courtenay by his wife Beatrice (widow of William, Lord of Saône), and the mother of king Baldwin IV of Jerusalem
and queen Sibylla of Jerusalem
.
ruled the County of Edessa
, the furthest north of the Crusader states
. Joscelin I of Courtenay, an ally of Baldwin II of Jerusalem
, was awarded the county in 1118. Joscelin II inherited Edessa
and Turbessel in 1131 on the death of his father, and desperately tried to defend his extensive borders against his hostile Muslim
neighbours. Agnes grew up in Edessa, until the city was captured
by Zengi
in 1144. Her father fled to the fortress of Turbessel for safety.
Agnes was an eligible heiress in her own right. Her first marriage was to Reynald of Marash, who was killed at the Battle of Inab
in 1149, when she was no more than 15. They had had no children. The following year, 1150, Marash was captured by the Turks, and after attempting to regain Edessa, her father Count Joscelin was captured, blinded, and imprisoned in Aleppo
. On hearing of his capture, the Countess of Edessa, unable to secure Turbessel herself, sold the remnant of their domains to the Byzantine Empire
and took her children to Saône, the modern Sahyun Qal'at Salah al-Din (which she had inherited from her first husband) in the principality of Antioch. Byzantium lost Turbessel later that year. There is no record of Beatrice, Agnes and young Joscelin
in Jerusalem before 1157.
Agnes then seems to have been betrothed, possibly even married, to Hugh of Ibelin
, but Hugh was captured in battle. In 1157, Amalric
, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon - the heir apparent
of his brother King Baldwin III
, married her, after forcibly abducting her, according to the Lignages d'Outremer. In 1159 Agnes' father died in captivity.
Agnes bore Amalric three children, Sibylla (b. c. 1158-1160), Baldwin IV (b. 1161), and Alix or Alice, who died in childhood. Agnes and Amalric made their home in the royal court, where Queen Melisende
acted as regent for her son Baldwin III while he was on campaign.
. Baldwin III died unexpectedly, childless, in 1162, leaving Amalric as heir. These events placed Agnes's marriage in jeopardy. She was an easy target as she held no political value: Edessa was firmly in enemy hands. Since her brother had comital rank but no lands, it may have been feared that making her queen would feed his ambitions. It is also possible, if Hans Eberhard Mayer is correct in claiming that she had been married, not simply betrothed, to Hugh of Ibelin, that the objections were on the grounds of bigamy. The Old French Continuation of William of Tyre (sometimes cited by earlier historians as the Chronicle of Ernoul
, although he only wrote the portion of it which covers 1186-87) seems to slight her moral character: "car telle n'est que roine doie iestre di si haute cite comme de Jherusalem" ("such a woman should not be queen of so exalted a city as Jerusalem"). It must be said, however, that William of Tyre
and his continuator
are personally hostile to Agnes and probably do not reflect the true situation. The Continuation in its present form is a 13th century text. No-one seems to have objected at the time to her making two further advantageous marriages.
The leading members of the Haute Cour
refused to endorse Amalric as king unless he annulled his marriage to Agnes. To this he agreed, but it was ruled that their children, Baldwin and Sibylla, would remain legitimate and legal heirs to the throne. Additionally, Agnes would retain her marriage title of Countess, along with a portion of the income of the fiefs of Jaffa and Ascalon. Once the negotiations were complete, their marriage was annulled on grounds of consanguinity
; they shared a great-great-grandfather, Guy I of Montlhéry
.
at the convent of St. Lazarus
. In 1167, Amalric made a lucrative political alliance with Byzantium by marrying princess Maria Comnena, great-niece to emperor Manuel I Comnenus. Agnes had no influence at court in this period. Soon after the annulment, in 1163, she was reunited with Hugh of Ibelin
, her previous fiancé or husband. However, he died during a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
c. 1169.
In 1170 Agnes married Reginald of Sidon
. The marriage probably lasted for fourteen years, until Agnes' death. A confusing passage in William of Tyre led some writers to claim that his father had it annulled on grounds of consanguinity, but this is thought unlikely by modern historians: Reginald's father was dead by this time, and the passage in question is probably referring back to her marriage to Amalric (see Hamilton, The Leper King & his Heirs). Certainly, William and official charters continue to refer to her as Reginald's wife. In December 1179, they witnessed a charter together, in which her name precedes his as "Agnes, Countess of Sidon". As to her rumoured 'lovers', seized upon by popular historians and novelists alike, the conferring of political patronage does not necessarily imply a personal relationship, and it is difficult to see Reginald as a mari complaisaint.
was first regent for the young king, but was soon supplanted by Raymond III of Tripoli
, Amalric's first cousin. He had the support of Agnes's husband Reginald of Sidon and of her former brothers-in-law the Ibelins. Agnes re-established herself at the royal court and built a new relationship with her son, from whom she had parted in his infancy. In later years, she would accompany him to meetings of the Haute Cour, and even went on the military campaigns in which he insisted on taking part, even when his sight had gone and he was unable to walk or ride. The dowager-queen Maria Comnena, now having no role at court, retired to Nablus
: Maria had ambitions for the succession of her own daughter with Amalric, Isabella
, and so did not get on with Agnes. Sibylla was brought back to court when she was of marriageable age. In 1176 Baldwin married her to William of Montferrat
. The County of Jaffa and Ascalon, which Agnes had held as a legacy of her marriage to Amalric when he was heir to the throne, now passed to William, as husband of the heiress. However, William died in 1177, leaving Sibylla pregnant with the future Baldwin V
.
Later in 1176 a potential political crisis developed. Philip of Flanders arrived that year and demanded to be named regent, as the king's nearest male relative currently in the kingdom; Philip was a grandson of King Fulk
, as was Baldwin IV, and was therefore a cousin of the king, while Raymond III was somewhat more distantly related, as his mother Hodierna
was a sister of Baldwin IV's grandmother Melisende
. Philip also demanded that the princesses Sibylla and Isabella be wed to his own vassals. Isabella was still under-age, and Sibylla had no interest in such a marriage. The Haute Cour, led by Baldwin of Ibelin
, rebuffed Philip's demands. Since Baldwin reached the age of 15 - the age of majority - that year, Raymond III had to step down as regent, and similarly, Philip's claim to that position had to be withdrawn.
With her son exercising full royal prerogatives, Agnes played a significant role at court, although by no means to the extent some earlier historians, overly influenced by William of Tyre and the Old French Continuation, have claimed. She raised the 50,000-dinar ransom for her brother, Joscelin III
, the titular Count of Edessa, evidently from the treasury and with the consent of Raymond of Tripoli. Joscelin was released from captivity and appointed seneschal of Jerusalem.The king arranged his marriage to the co-heiress Agnes of Milly. For Baldwin IV, his mother and uncle were a source of support he could trust, without feeling threatened, since they had no claim to the throne; whereas his father's cousin, Raymond of Tripoli, had a claim in his own right as a grandson of Baldwin II
.
Agnes had Amalric of Lusignan
appointed as constable of Jerusalem in 1179. He had first come to court in 1174 as son-in-law of Baldwin of Ibelin; it is possible that his promotion by Agnes may have been an attempt to shift him away from his wife's family politically. The Old French Continuation, however, (strongly biased towards the Ibelins) alleged it was because he was Agnes's lover. In 1180, Baldwin placed Agnes in charge of the appointment of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
: Eraclius
, Archbishop of Caesarea
, was chosen, over the Chancellor William of Tyre. Resentment over this appointment seems to have been at the root of William's hostility to Agnes; the Old French Continuation even claimed that she and Eraclius were lovers. However, there was a precedent for her involvement in the appointment: Queen Melisende had been delegated responsibility for church appointments by Baldwin III.
The Muslim traveller Ibn Jubair, who called Baldwin IV al-khinzir ("the pig"), called Agnes al-khinzira ("the sow"). These appellations were apparently given to them by the Muslim inhabitants of Outremer.
1180, Raymond III of Tripoli and Bohemund III of Antioch
entered the kingdom to exert pressure on what they perceived to be a weakened monarchy. One of their goals was to have the princess Sibylla, the heir apparent, wedded to someone of their choosing - probably Baldwin of Ibelin
, a widower over twice her age. Since negotiations with Hugh III of Burgundy had reached an impasse, Baldwin IV hastily arranged Sibylla's marriage to Guy of Lusignan
, younger brother of the Constable, Amalric, to block Raymond and Bohemund's plans. The Lusignans were unruly vassals of his cousin Henry II of England
. It was in Henry's interests to keep them out of Poitou, while at the same time he might be expected to send military support to maintain Guy in the kingdom, as he owed the Pope a penitential pilgrimage for the Thomas Becket
affair.
The 13th century, pro-Ibelin Old French Continuation of William of Tyre tries to put a romantic gloss on this, again blaming Agnes. It claims that Sibylla and Baldwin of Ibelin were in love, and when Baldwin was captured by Saladin
after the Battle of Jacob's Ford
in 1179, they exchanged letters during his imprisonment; that Sibylla herself proposed to Baldwin in a letter, with the wedding set to occur after his release. Saladin had raised Baldwin's ransom to a great sum, but surprisingly released him with the promise to pay later. Honour-bound to pay the debt, Baldwin left for Constantinople
where he received a grant from the Emperor Manuel (whose great-niece Maria had by now re-married, to Baldwin's brother Balian
), but in his absence, Agnes persuaded Sibylla, whom this text depicts as fickle, to marry Guy of Lusignan. However, Baldwin of Ibelin was, in fact, in Jerusalem at the time of Sibylla's marriage, and this account shows a heavy debt to literary romance, as well as strong political biases.
In 1182, Baldwin IV, now blind and bed-ridden, appointed Guy of Lusignan as his regent. Guy abused his authority and ignored Raynald of Châtillon
's harassment of Muslim trade caravan
s, causing a diplomatic crisis between Jerusalem and Egypt-Syria. Guy's apparent excess caution at Kerak
caused King Baldwin to depose Guy as regent and lift Saladin's siege there
, during the wedding of young princess Isabella and Humphrey IV of Toron
.
. He crowned Baldwin of Montferrat
, Sibylla's young son from her first marriage, co-king as Baldwin V, placing him above Sibylla in the succession, with Raymond III of Tripoli as regent. If Baldwin V were to die during his minority, there was to be a regency under his "most rightful heirs" until his maternal kinsman, the King of England
, and his paternal relatives, the King of France
and the Holy Roman Emperor
, adjudicated between the claims of Sibylla and Isabella. Later in 1184, King Baldwin granted Agnes the usufruct
(income from produce) of the fief of Toron
.
But Agnes herself seems to have been in failing health. She died at her estates in Acre, in the second half of 1184, aged about fifty. Her widower Reginald of Sidon married Helvis of Ibelin
, eldest daughter of Maria Comnena and Balian of Ibelin, in or after 1190. Baldwin IV himself died in spring 1185, leaving Sibylla's son as king and Raymond as regent. Baldwin V died in the summer of 1186, ultimately leaving Sibylla as Queen and Guy as her consort.
's Król trędowaty (The Leper King), Graham Shelby
's The Knights of Dark Renown, and Cecelia Holland
's Jerusalem - invariably as an aging harlot, her attractiveness varying from author to author. (Kossak depicts her as buxom and blowsy; Shelby, with particularly vicious misogyny, as a scrawny creature whom even Eraclius, whom he depicts as her lover, despises.)
----
A different Agnes of Courtenay was the daughter of Peter II of Courtenay, Latin emperor
, and Yolanda of Flanders
. She married Geoffrey II of Villehardouin
, prince of Achaea
, in 1217.
|-
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem , called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife, Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185. His full sister was Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem and his nephew through this sister was the child-king Baldwin V...
and queen Sibylla of Jerusalem
Sibylla of Jerusalem
Sibylla of Jerusalem was the Countess of Jaffa and Ascalon from 1176 and Queen of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1190. She was the eldest daughter of Amalric I of Jerusalem and Agnes of Courtenay, sister of Baldwin IV and half-sister of Isabella I of Jerusalem, and mother of Baldwin V of Jerusalem...
.
Dynasty
The Courtenay familyHouse of Courtenay
The House of Courtenay was an important dynasty in medieval France originating from the castle of Courtenay in the Gâtinais , going back to the 10th century. The dynasty descended from Athon, the first lord of Courtenay, apparently himself a descendant of the Counts of Sens and from Pharamond,...
ruled the County of Edessa
County of Edessa
The County of Edessa was one of the Crusader states in the 12th century, based around Edessa, a city with an ancient history and an early tradition of Christianity....
, the furthest north of the Crusader states
Crusader states
The Crusader states were a number of mostly 12th- and 13th-century feudal states created by Western European crusaders in Asia Minor, Greece and the Holy Land , and during the Northern Crusades in the eastern Baltic area...
. Joscelin I of Courtenay, an ally of Baldwin II of Jerusalem
Baldwin II of Jerusalem
Baldwin II of Jerusalem , formerly Baldwin II of Edessa, also called Baldwin of Bourcq, born Baldwin of Rethel was the second count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and the third king of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death.-Ancestry:Baldwin was the son of Hugh, count of Rethel, and his wife Melisende,...
, was awarded the county in 1118. Joscelin II inherited Edessa
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...
and Turbessel in 1131 on the death of his father, and desperately tried to defend his extensive borders against his hostile Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
neighbours. Agnes grew up in Edessa, until the city was captured
Siege of Edessa
The Siege of Edessa took place from November 28 to December 24, 1144, resulting in the fall of the capital of the crusader County of Edessa to Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo.- Background :...
by Zengi
Zengi
Imad ad-Din Zengi was the atabeg of Mosul, Aleppo, Hama and Edessa and founder of the Zengid dynasty, to which he gave his name.-Early life:...
in 1144. Her father fled to the fortress of Turbessel for safety.
Agnes was an eligible heiress in her own right. Her first marriage was to Reynald of Marash, who was killed at the Battle of Inab
Battle of Inab
The Battle of Inab, also called Battle of Ard al-Hâtim or Fons Muratus, was fought on June 29, 1149, during the Second Crusade. The Syrian army of Nur ad-Din Zangi destroyed the Crusader army of Raymond of Antioch and the allied followers of Ali ibn-Wafa.-Background:Nur ad-Din had gained control...
in 1149, when she was no more than 15. They had had no children. The following year, 1150, Marash was captured by the Turks, and after attempting to regain Edessa, her father Count Joscelin was captured, blinded, and imprisoned in Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
. On hearing of his capture, the Countess of Edessa, unable to secure Turbessel herself, sold the remnant of their domains to the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and took her children to Saône, the modern Sahyun Qal'at Salah al-Din (which she had inherited from her first husband) in the principality of Antioch. Byzantium lost Turbessel later that year. There is no record of Beatrice, Agnes and young Joscelin
Joscelin III of Edessa
Joscelin III of Edessa was the titular Count of Edessa 1159 – after 1190. He was the son of Joscelin II of Edessa and his wife Beatrice...
in Jerusalem before 1157.
Agnes then seems to have been betrothed, possibly even married, to Hugh of Ibelin
Hugh of Ibelin
Hugh of Ibelin was an important noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.Hugh was the eldest son of Barisan of Ibelin and Helvis of Ramla. He was old enough to witness charters in 1148, as was his younger brother Baldwin of Ibelin, which suggests he was born c. 1130-1133, as the male age of...
, but Hugh was captured in battle. In 1157, Amalric
Amalric I of Jerusalem
Amalric I of Jerusalem was King of Jerusalem 1163–1174, and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession. Amalric was the second son of Melisende of Jerusalem and Fulk of Jerusalem...
, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon - the heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
of his brother King Baldwin III
Baldwin III of Jerusalem
Baldwin III was king of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1163. He was the eldest son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem, and the grandson of Baldwin II of Jerusalem.-Succession:...
, married her, after forcibly abducting her, according to the Lignages d'Outremer. In 1159 Agnes' father died in captivity.
Agnes bore Amalric three children, Sibylla (b. c. 1158-1160), Baldwin IV (b. 1161), and Alix or Alice, who died in childhood. Agnes and Amalric made their home in the royal court, where Queen Melisende
Melisende of Jerusalem
Melisende was Queen of Jerusalem from 1131 to 1153, and regent for her son between 1153 and 1161 while he was on campaign. She was the eldest daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, and the Armenian princess Morphia of Melitene. She was named after her paternal grandmother, Melisende of...
acted as regent for her son Baldwin III while he was on campaign.
Royal annulment
Melisende suffered a stroke in 1161 and died in NablusNablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
. Baldwin III died unexpectedly, childless, in 1162, leaving Amalric as heir. These events placed Agnes's marriage in jeopardy. She was an easy target as she held no political value: Edessa was firmly in enemy hands. Since her brother had comital rank but no lands, it may have been feared that making her queen would feed his ambitions. It is also possible, if Hans Eberhard Mayer is correct in claiming that she had been married, not simply betrothed, to Hugh of Ibelin, that the objections were on the grounds of bigamy. The Old French Continuation of William of Tyre (sometimes cited by earlier historians as the Chronicle of Ernoul
Ernoul
Ernoul is the name generally given to the author of a chronicle of the late 12th century dealing with the fall of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.-Biography:Ernoul himself is mentioned only once in history, and only in his own chronicle...
, although he only wrote the portion of it which covers 1186-87) seems to slight her moral character: "car telle n'est que roine doie iestre di si haute cite comme de Jherusalem" ("such a woman should not be queen of so exalted a city as Jerusalem"). It must be said, however, that William of Tyre
William of Tyre
William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...
and his continuator
Continuator
A continuator, in literature, is a writer who creates a new work based on someone else's prior text, such as a novel or novel fragment. The new work may complete the older work , or may try to serve as a sequel or prequel to the older work A continuator, in literature, is a writer who creates a new...
are personally hostile to Agnes and probably do not reflect the true situation. The Continuation in its present form is a 13th century text. No-one seems to have objected at the time to her making two further advantageous marriages.
The leading members of the Haute Cour
Haute Cour of Jerusalem
The Haute Cour was the feudal council of the kingdom of Jerusalem. It was sometimes also called the curia generalis, the curia regis, or, rarely, the parlement.-Composition of the court:...
refused to endorse Amalric as king unless he annulled his marriage to Agnes. To this he agreed, but it was ruled that their children, Baldwin and Sibylla, would remain legitimate and legal heirs to the throne. Additionally, Agnes would retain her marriage title of Countess, along with a portion of the income of the fiefs of Jaffa and Ascalon. Once the negotiations were complete, their marriage was annulled on grounds of consanguinity
Consanguinity
Consanguinity refers to the property of being from the same kinship as another person. In that respect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person...
; they shared a great-great-grandfather, Guy I of Montlhéry
Guy I of Montlhéry
Guy I was the second lord of Bray and the second lord of Montlhéry. He was probably the son of Thibaud of Montmorency, but some sources say that his father was named Milo. Thibaud may instead have been his grandfather....
.
Reign of Amalric I
Though her position was secured, Agnes had no place in her children's lives. Baldwin IV was raised by William of Tyre at court, and Sibylla was raised by her great-aunt Ioveta of BethanyIoveta of Bethany
Ioveta was the fourth and youngest daughter of King Baldwin II and Morphia of Melitene. She was the princess of Jerusalem.- Names :...
at the convent of St. Lazarus
Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days, is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death...
. In 1167, Amalric made a lucrative political alliance with Byzantium by marrying princess Maria Comnena, great-niece to emperor Manuel I Comnenus. Agnes had no influence at court in this period. Soon after the annulment, in 1163, she was reunited with Hugh of Ibelin
Hugh of Ibelin
Hugh of Ibelin was an important noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.Hugh was the eldest son of Barisan of Ibelin and Helvis of Ramla. He was old enough to witness charters in 1148, as was his younger brother Baldwin of Ibelin, which suggests he was born c. 1130-1133, as the male age of...
, her previous fiancé or husband. However, he died during a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
c. 1169.
In 1170 Agnes married Reginald of Sidon
Reginald of Sidon
Reginald Grenier was Lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century Kingdom of Jerusalem.-Rise to fame:...
. The marriage probably lasted for fourteen years, until Agnes' death. A confusing passage in William of Tyre led some writers to claim that his father had it annulled on grounds of consanguinity, but this is thought unlikely by modern historians: Reginald's father was dead by this time, and the passage in question is probably referring back to her marriage to Amalric (see Hamilton, The Leper King & his Heirs). Certainly, William and official charters continue to refer to her as Reginald's wife. In December 1179, they witnessed a charter together, in which her name precedes his as "Agnes, Countess of Sidon". As to her rumoured 'lovers', seized upon by popular historians and novelists alike, the conferring of political patronage does not necessarily imply a personal relationship, and it is difficult to see Reginald as a mari complaisaint.
Reign of Baldwin IV
Amalric I died in 1174, leaving Baldwin IV - a leper, underage, and unmarried - as his heir. Miles of PlancyMiles of Plancy
Miles of Plancy , also known as Milon or Milo, was a noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.He was born in Champagne and came to the east in the 1160s, where he served King Amalric I, to whom he was distantly related. Amalric made him seneschal of Jerusalem, and in 1167 he participated in...
was first regent for the young king, but was soon supplanted by Raymond III of Tripoli
Raymond III of Tripoli
Raymond III of Tripoli was Count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187 and Prince of Galilee and Tiberias in right of his wife Eschiva.-Early life:...
, Amalric's first cousin. He had the support of Agnes's husband Reginald of Sidon and of her former brothers-in-law the Ibelins. Agnes re-established herself at the royal court and built a new relationship with her son, from whom she had parted in his infancy. In later years, she would accompany him to meetings of the Haute Cour, and even went on the military campaigns in which he insisted on taking part, even when his sight had gone and he was unable to walk or ride. The dowager-queen Maria Comnena, now having no role at court, retired to Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
: Maria had ambitions for the succession of her own daughter with Amalric, Isabella
Isabella of Jerusalem
Isabella I was Queen regnant of Jerusalem from 1190/1192 until her death. By her four marriages, she was successively Lady of Toron, Marchioness of Montferrat, Countess of Champagne and Queen of Cyprus....
, and so did not get on with Agnes. Sibylla was brought back to court when she was of marriageable age. In 1176 Baldwin married her to William of Montferrat
William of Montferrat, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon
William of Montferrat , also called William Longsword , was the Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, the eldest son of William V, Marquess of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg...
. The County of Jaffa and Ascalon, which Agnes had held as a legacy of her marriage to Amalric when he was heir to the throne, now passed to William, as husband of the heiress. However, William died in 1177, leaving Sibylla pregnant with the future Baldwin V
Baldwin V of Jerusalem
Baldwin V of Jerusalem was the son of Sibylla of Jerusalem and her first husband, William of Montferrat...
.
Later in 1176 a potential political crisis developed. Philip of Flanders arrived that year and demanded to be named regent, as the king's nearest male relative currently in the kingdom; Philip was a grandson of King Fulk
Fulk of Jerusalem
Fulk , also known as Fulk the Younger, was Count of Anjou from 1109 to 1129, and King of Jerusalem from 1131 to his death...
, as was Baldwin IV, and was therefore a cousin of the king, while Raymond III was somewhat more distantly related, as his mother Hodierna
Hodierna of Tripoli
Hodierna of Jerusalem was a Countess consort of Tripoli. She was the daughter of Baldwin II of Jerusalem and the Armenian noblewoman Morphia. She was countess of Tripoli through her marriage to Raymond II of Tripoli...
was a sister of Baldwin IV's grandmother Melisende
Melisende of Jerusalem
Melisende was Queen of Jerusalem from 1131 to 1153, and regent for her son between 1153 and 1161 while he was on campaign. She was the eldest daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, and the Armenian princess Morphia of Melitene. She was named after her paternal grandmother, Melisende of...
. Philip also demanded that the princesses Sibylla and Isabella be wed to his own vassals. Isabella was still under-age, and Sibylla had no interest in such a marriage. The Haute Cour, led by Baldwin of Ibelin
Baldwin of Ibelin
Baldwin of Ibelin, also known as Baldwin III of Ramla , was an important noble of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. He was the second son of Barisan of Ibelin, and was the younger brother of Hugh of Ibelin and older brother of Balian of Ibelin...
, rebuffed Philip's demands. Since Baldwin reached the age of 15 - the age of majority - that year, Raymond III had to step down as regent, and similarly, Philip's claim to that position had to be withdrawn.
With her son exercising full royal prerogatives, Agnes played a significant role at court, although by no means to the extent some earlier historians, overly influenced by William of Tyre and the Old French Continuation, have claimed. She raised the 50,000-dinar ransom for her brother, Joscelin III
Joscelin III of Edessa
Joscelin III of Edessa was the titular Count of Edessa 1159 – after 1190. He was the son of Joscelin II of Edessa and his wife Beatrice...
, the titular Count of Edessa, evidently from the treasury and with the consent of Raymond of Tripoli. Joscelin was released from captivity and appointed seneschal of Jerusalem.The king arranged his marriage to the co-heiress Agnes of Milly. For Baldwin IV, his mother and uncle were a source of support he could trust, without feeling threatened, since they had no claim to the throne; whereas his father's cousin, Raymond of Tripoli, had a claim in his own right as a grandson of Baldwin II
Baldwin II of Jerusalem
Baldwin II of Jerusalem , formerly Baldwin II of Edessa, also called Baldwin of Bourcq, born Baldwin of Rethel was the second count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and the third king of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death.-Ancestry:Baldwin was the son of Hugh, count of Rethel, and his wife Melisende,...
.
Agnes had Amalric of Lusignan
Amalric II of Jerusalem
Amalric II of Jerusalem or Amalric I of Cyprus, born Amalric of Lusignan , King of Jerusalem 1197–1205, was an older brother of Guy of Lusignan....
appointed as constable of Jerusalem in 1179. He had first come to court in 1174 as son-in-law of Baldwin of Ibelin; it is possible that his promotion by Agnes may have been an attempt to shift him away from his wife's family politically. The Old French Continuation, however, (strongly biased towards the Ibelins) alleged it was because he was Agnes's lover. In 1180, Baldwin placed Agnes in charge of the appointment of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the title possessed by the Latin Rite Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem. The Archdiocese of Jerusalem has jurisdiction for all Latin Rite Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Cyprus...
: Eraclius
Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem
Heraclius or Eraclius , was archbishop of Caesarea and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.Heraclius was from the Gévaudan in Auvergne, France. Like his later rival William of Tyre he studied law at the University of Bologna: his contemporaries and friends included Stephen of Tournai and Gratian...
, Archbishop of Caesarea
Archbishop of Caesarea
The Archbishop of Caesarea was one of the major suffragans of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem during the Crusades. The Bishop of Caesarea became metropolitan of Palestine in the early 3rd century but after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 he was subordinate to the Patriarch of Jerusalem...
, was chosen, over the Chancellor William of Tyre. Resentment over this appointment seems to have been at the root of William's hostility to Agnes; the Old French Continuation even claimed that she and Eraclius were lovers. However, there was a precedent for her involvement in the appointment: Queen Melisende had been delegated responsibility for church appointments by Baldwin III.
The Muslim traveller Ibn Jubair, who called Baldwin IV al-khinzir ("the pig"), called Agnes al-khinzira ("the sow"). These appellations were apparently given to them by the Muslim inhabitants of Outremer.
Political marriages
Attempts were made to find a new husband for Sibylla. At EasterEaster
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
1180, Raymond III of Tripoli and Bohemund III of Antioch
Bohemund III of Antioch
Bohemond III of Antioch , also known as the Stammerer or the Stutterer, was Prince of Antioch from 1163 to his death. He was a son of Constance of Antioch by her first husband Raymond of Poitiers...
entered the kingdom to exert pressure on what they perceived to be a weakened monarchy. One of their goals was to have the princess Sibylla, the heir apparent, wedded to someone of their choosing - probably Baldwin of Ibelin
Baldwin of Ibelin
Baldwin of Ibelin, also known as Baldwin III of Ramla , was an important noble of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. He was the second son of Barisan of Ibelin, and was the younger brother of Hugh of Ibelin and older brother of Balian of Ibelin...
, a widower over twice her age. Since negotiations with Hugh III of Burgundy had reached an impasse, Baldwin IV hastily arranged Sibylla's marriage to Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan was a Poitevin knight, son of Hugh VIII of the prominent Lusignan dynasty. He was king of the crusader state of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla of Jerusalem, and of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194...
, younger brother of the Constable, Amalric, to block Raymond and Bohemund's plans. The Lusignans were unruly vassals of his cousin Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
. It was in Henry's interests to keep them out of Poitou, while at the same time he might be expected to send military support to maintain Guy in the kingdom, as he owed the Pope a penitential pilgrimage for the Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
affair.
The 13th century, pro-Ibelin Old French Continuation of William of Tyre tries to put a romantic gloss on this, again blaming Agnes. It claims that Sibylla and Baldwin of Ibelin were in love, and when Baldwin was captured by Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
after the Battle of Jacob's Ford
Battle of Jacob's Ford
Jerusalem has been and is considered by many to be one of the holiest cities in the world. For this reason, Christians and Muslims fought for control of the Holy City over several centuries. Around 1095, Christians from Europe marched to the Holy Land to retake control of Jerusalem. By 1099, the...
in 1179, they exchanged letters during his imprisonment; that Sibylla herself proposed to Baldwin in a letter, with the wedding set to occur after his release. Saladin had raised Baldwin's ransom to a great sum, but surprisingly released him with the promise to pay later. Honour-bound to pay the debt, Baldwin left for Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
where he received a grant from the Emperor Manuel (whose great-niece Maria had by now re-married, to Baldwin's brother Balian
Balian of Ibelin
Balian of Ibelin was an important noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century.-Early life:Balian was the youngest son of Barisan of Ibelin, and brother of Hugh and Baldwin. His father, a knight in the County of Jaffa, had been rewarded with the lordship of Ibelin after the...
), but in his absence, Agnes persuaded Sibylla, whom this text depicts as fickle, to marry Guy of Lusignan. However, Baldwin of Ibelin was, in fact, in Jerusalem at the time of Sibylla's marriage, and this account shows a heavy debt to literary romance, as well as strong political biases.
In 1182, Baldwin IV, now blind and bed-ridden, appointed Guy of Lusignan as his regent. Guy abused his authority and ignored Raynald of Châtillon
Raynald of Chatillon
Raynald of Châtillon was a knight who served in the Second Crusade and remained in the Holy Land after its defeat...
's harassment of Muslim trade caravan
Caravan (travellers)
A caravan is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defence against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade.In historical times, caravans...
s, causing a diplomatic crisis between Jerusalem and Egypt-Syria. Guy's apparent excess caution at Kerak
Kerak
Kerak Castle is a large crusader castle located in Kerak in Jordan. It is one of the largest crusader castles in the Levant.Construction of the castle began in the 1140s, under Pagan, the butler of Fulk of Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it Crac des Moabites or "Karak in Moab", as it is frequently...
caused King Baldwin to depose Guy as regent and lift Saladin's siege there
Siege of Kerak
The Siege of Kerak took place in 1183, with Saladin's forces attacking and being repelled from the Crusader stronghold.- Prelude :Kerak was the stronghold of Raynald of Châtillon, Lord of Oultrejordain, 124 km South of Amman. The fortress was built in 1142 by Pagan the Butler, Lord of Montreal...
, during the wedding of young princess Isabella and Humphrey IV of Toron
Humphrey IV of Toron
Humphrey IV of Toron was the lord of Toron, Kerak, and Oultrejordain in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.-Biography:...
.
Retirement and death
In 1183 Baldwin began trying to end his sister's marriage but was unsuccessful, as Guy was defying royal orders and had retreated to the safety of AscalonAshkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
. He crowned Baldwin of Montferrat
Baldwin V of Jerusalem
Baldwin V of Jerusalem was the son of Sibylla of Jerusalem and her first husband, William of Montferrat...
, Sibylla's young son from her first marriage, co-king as Baldwin V, placing him above Sibylla in the succession, with Raymond III of Tripoli as regent. If Baldwin V were to die during his minority, there was to be a regency under his "most rightful heirs" until his maternal kinsman, the King of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, and his paternal relatives, the King of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
and the Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
, adjudicated between the claims of Sibylla and Isabella. Later in 1184, King Baldwin granted Agnes the usufruct
Usufruct
Usufruct is the legal right to use and derive profit or benefit from property that either belongs to another person or which is under common ownership, as long as the property is not damaged or destroyed...
(income from produce) of the fief of Toron
Toron
Toron, now Tibnin or Tebnine in southern Lebanon, was a major Crusader castle, built in the Lebanon mountains on the road from Tyre to Damascus....
.
But Agnes herself seems to have been in failing health. She died at her estates in Acre, in the second half of 1184, aged about fifty. Her widower Reginald of Sidon married Helvis of Ibelin
Helvis of Ibelin
Helvis of Ibelin was a daughter of Balian of Ibelin and his wife, Maria Komnene, who was the dowager Queen of Jerusalem. Helvis was a member of the House of Ibelin. She was Lady of Sidon by her first and second marriage....
, eldest daughter of Maria Comnena and Balian of Ibelin, in or after 1190. Baldwin IV himself died in spring 1185, leaving Sibylla's son as king and Raymond as regent. Baldwin V died in the summer of 1186, ultimately leaving Sibylla as Queen and Guy as her consort.
Agnes in fiction
Until recent years, the image of Agnes perpetrated by Ernoul and William of Tyre has defined her treatment in history, especially of the 'popular' variety, the political agenda of these authors not being taken into account. This has affected her fictional portrayals. She has appeared in a number of novels dealing with twelfth-century Outremer - Zofia Kossak-SzczuckaZofia Kossak-Szczucka
Zofia Kossak-Szczucka was a Polish writer and World War II resistance fighter. She co-founded the wartime Polish organization Żegota, set up to assist Poland's Jews in escaping the Holocaust...
's Król trędowaty (The Leper King), Graham Shelby
Graham Shelby
Graham Shelby is a British historical novelist. He worked as a copywriter and book-reviewer before embarking on a series of historical novels, mainly set in the twelfth century.-List of works:...
's The Knights of Dark Renown, and Cecelia Holland
Cecelia Holland
-Biography:She was born December 31, 1943 in Henderson, Nevada, and began writing at the age of twelve, recording the stories she made up for her own entertainment. From the beginning, her focus was on history because "being twelve, I had precious few stories of my own...
's Jerusalem - invariably as an aging harlot, her attractiveness varying from author to author. (Kossak depicts her as buxom and blowsy; Shelby, with particularly vicious misogyny, as a scrawny creature whom even Eraclius, whom he depicts as her lover, despises.)
Sources
- Bernard Hamilton, "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem", in Medieval Women, edited by Derek Baker. Ecclesiastical History Society, 1978
- Bernard Hamilton, The Leper King and his Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
- Hans Eberhard Mayer, "The Beginnings of King Amalric of Jerusalem", in B. Z. Kedar (ed.), The Horns of Hattin, Jerusalem, 1992, pp. 121–35.
- Marie-Adélaïde Nielen (ed.), Lignages d'Outremer. Paris, 2003.
- William of TyreWilliam of TyreWilliam of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...
, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea. E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey, trans. Columbia University PressColumbia University PressColumbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology,...
, 1943. - Reinhold RöhrichtReinhold RöhrichtGustav Reinhold Röhricht was a German historian of the crusades.-Biography:He was born in Bunzlau in Silesia , the third son of a miller. He studied at the Gymnasium in Sagan from 1852 to 1862, and then attended the Berlin Theological School, where he obtained his licentiate in 1866...
(ed.), Regesta Regni Hierosolymitani MXCVII-MCCXCI, and Additamentum, Berlin, 1893-1904. - Steven RuncimanSteven RuncimanThe Hon. Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH — known as Steven Runciman — was a British historian known for his work on the Middle Ages...
, A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 1952.
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A different Agnes of Courtenay was the daughter of Peter II of Courtenay, Latin emperor
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...
, and Yolanda of Flanders
Yolanda of Flanders
Yolanda of Flanders ruled the Latin Empire in Constantinople for her husband Peter II of Courtenay from 1217 to 1219.She was the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainault, and Countess Margaret I of Flanders. Two of her brothers, Baldwin I and then Henry, were emperors in Constantinople...
. She married Geoffrey II of Villehardouin
Geoffrey II of Villehardouin
Geoffrey II of Villehardouin was the third prince of Achaea . From his accession to the princely throne, he was a powerful and respected person, and even from France knights came to the principality to enter his service...
, prince of Achaea
Principality of Achaea
The Principality of Achaea or of the Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, along with the Duchy of Athens, until Thessalonica...
, in 1217.
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