Fighting for Egypt

In 1163, the young Fatimid caliph of Egypt was al-Adid, who was only 12 and a puppet of several strong nobles and viziers. His current vizier, Shawar, was overthrown by the military commander Dirgham. Shortly after, Amalric I, King of Jerusalem, attacked on the pretense that Egypt was not keeping up tributes promised to Baldwin III, Amalric's brother and predecessor.

Amalric failed, but it motivated Nur ad-Din, Emir of Aleppo, to attack Crusader forces in Syria to keep their attention away from Egypt. While Nur ad-Din was attacking Tripoli, Shawar visited him asking for help to be restored to power in Egypt.

Nur ad-Din did not want to divide his forces, but gave a Kurdish mercenary general employed by the Zengid Dynasty permission to invade Egypt. General Shirkuh was happy to do so, but his approach made Dirgham forge an alliance with Amalric to fight Shirkuh. Unfortunately, Amalric assembled his forces but did not arrive in time to help Dirgham was killed, and Shawar was restored to power over the kingdom and the young caliph.

But Shawar and Shirkuh fell out and Shawar called Amalric for help. Amalric attacked Shirkuh's forces, but they came to a stalemate and each agreed to live Egypt. In 1166, however, Shirkuh came back. Shawar called on Amalric, who arrived in January 1167. Another stalemate was reached, and gain the two agreed to retreat and leave Egypt to Shawar (although Amalric left a garrison in Cairo. Amalric also demanded more tribute from Egypt.

Amalric came back in the winter of 1168, at which point Shawar re-allied himself with Shirkuh. They could not drive Amalric out of Cairo, and Amalric progressed until he was camped at Frustat (now called Old Cairo). Shawar decided to destroy the city rather than let it fall into Christian hands. An Egyptian historian, writing at least two centuries later, says:

Shawar ordered that Fustat be evacuated. He forced [the citizens] to leave their money and property behind and flee for their lives with their children. In the panic and chaos of the exodus, the fleeing crowd looked like a massive army of ghosts.... Shawar sent 20,000 naphtha pots and 10,000 lighting bombs and distributed them throughout the city. Flames and smoke engulfed the city and rose to the sky in a terrifying scene. The blaze raged for 54 days.

Shirkuh did not give up, however. e fought until Amalric was forced out of Egypt, conquered Cairo himself, executed Shawar, and ruled Egypt for a mere two months. He was succeeded by his nephew, a name better known to us: Saladin.

Amalric would continue to invade Egypt. Tomorrow we'll return to see how his reign was going.

Nur ad-Din

Born into the Zengid Dynasty, Al-Malik al-Adil Abu al-Qasim Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd bin Imad al-Dīn Zengī, known as Nur ad-Din, became Emir of Aleppo in 1146 when he was 28 years old.

He set out to eliminate the Frankish kingdoms that had been created by Crusaders. He attacked Antioch and rebuffed attempts to recover the County of Edessa, which had fallen to the Zengid Dynasty in 1144. An attempt to recapture Edessa by the Franks led to Nur ad-Din executing the male population of Armenian Christians and enslaving the women and children.

(The illustrations shows the dark orange Zengid territory when Nur ad-Din became Emir. The lighter orange shows how the territory expanded by 1174 when Nur ad-Din died.)

The Second Crusade in 1148 was an attempt to recover Edessa. They were unable to do so, and looked for another suitable goal. Aleppo was too far, so attacking Nur ad-Din directly was not feasible. They considered Damascus, but a siege there lasted only four days before the Crusade gave up.

After the departure of the Crusade, Nur ad-Din prepared another attack on Antioch. This led to the Battle of Inab in 1149, during which Prince Raymond of Antioch was killed, along with the husband (at the time) of Agnes of Courtenay, and many Franks. He conquered so much of the territory around Antioch that he was content to leave the city itself alone. (Antioch soon after became part of the Byzantine Empire, which Nur ad-Din was not prepared to go against.) He was able to march all the way to the Mediterranean, a symbolic goal.

In 1163, the new King of Jerusalem, Amalric I, began an offensive against Egypt. Egypt at the time was weakened by a series of very young Fatimid caliphs who were undermined and overruled by their viziers and other powerful nobles. Amalric failed, but it motivated Nur ad-Din to attack the Crusaders in Syria to draw their attention and forces away from Egypt.

What followed was a dance of shifting alliances between Turks and Franks. I'll explain soon.

Amalric Ascends

Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem, contracted dysentery in 1162 after taking some pills from a Syriac physician. He was only 33 years old, and healthy prior to the pills, so poison was suspected, but no investigation turned up any sign of wrongdoing. Trying to get home from Antioch, he got as far as Beirut. He summoned his nobles to him, announcing his younger brother, Amalric, as his heir. He died on 10 February 1163.

Amalric was 27, and therefore unlike Baldwin at his ascension needed no regent (besides, his mother Queen Melisende had died on 11 September 1161) and was ready to rule. Unfortunately, the High Court refused to recognize him as king until he got rid of his wife, Agnes of Courtenay, for reasons on which historians cannot agree.

Amalric and Agnes already had children, and the need for an heir was a concern. Amalric gained papal agreement from Pope Alexander III that his children would be seen as legitimate even if his marriage was annulled. The marriage was annulled, presumably on the grounds of consanguinity.

Eight days after Baldwin's death, he was interred in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. On the same day in the same place, Amalric was crowned (see illustration) by the patriarch, Amalric of Nesle, the chief spokesman who told him he had to give up Agnes. (Although king and patriarch often worked together, this king excluded this patriarch from his councils, possibly because of the Agnes decision.)

One of Amalric's first pieces of legislation was the Assise sur la ligece ("Assize on liege-homage"). This declared all lords to be vassals of the king. This change allowed the vassals of Amalric's vassals to appeal directly to the king if they felt their overlords were not being fair or trustworthy. It disallowed the seizing of fiefs by lords, but allowed the king to confiscate fiefs from anyone.

Amalric's chief military goal during his reign was to conquer Egypt. This was not just a "land grab." The Crusaders were constantly threatened by Muslim neighbors, chief of whom was Nur ad-Din, Emir of Aleppo since 1146. Nur ad-Din also saw the strategic importance of Egypt: if he could control it, he would have the Crusader states surrounded.

The next decade saw these two men working against each other over Egypt. So let's learn more about Nur ad-Din next time.

Agnes of Courtenay

Some women in the Middle Ages became pawns as wives to powerful men. Some women had power in their own right and wielded it despite opposition from their husbands, like Eleanor of Aquitaine and Queen Melisende of Jerusalem. Agnes of Courtenay, who became Melisende's daughter-in-law, found herself in similar straits.

Agnes was born c.1136, daughter of Count Joscelin II of Edessa (a second cousin of Melisende) and Beatrice of Saone. She was married to Reginald of Marsah, who was killed in the Battle of Inab (along with several others) in 1149.

Her next husband was...well, there historians disagree. She came to Jerusalem and married Amalric, Melisende's son, in 1157. When Amalric was about to succeed his brother and become King of Jerusalem, there was opposition to the marriage from Fulcher of Angoulême, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. 

William of Tyre (who was a contemporary and writing a history of the Crusader states) claims it was because the two were too closely related. A later chronicler claims she was essentially abducted by Amalric because she was betrothed to another, Hugh of Ibelin, and that the objection was the impropriety of Amalric's abducting her.

Modern historians have other theories. One is that she was already married to Hugh of Ibelin, and therefore Amalric's actions made the two guilty of bigamy. Another theory was an objection from the Jerusalem nobles that she would wind up wielding too much power and give favors to exiles from Edessa. Also, it might have been that Amalric could make a more advantageous match.

Whatever the case, Amalric did not let a wife stand in the way of the kingship: he had the marriage annulled in 1163 (see them being separated in the illustration) rather than be excommunicated for bigamy or reasons of consanguinity.

Immediately after the annulment, she married Hugh of Ibelin, removing from Amalric any responsibility for supporting her. Hugh died c.1169, and Agnes (only in her 30s) married Reginald Grenier, heir to the Lord of Sidon.

But Agnes was not done with the Kingdom of Jerusalem. She had given birth to two children with Amalric: Sibylla of Jerusalem and Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. Let's go back to Amalric and what happened when he died.

Amalric

Queen Melisende and Fulk of Anjou had a second son, Amalric, born in 1136. When his grandfather, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, was on his deathbed in 1131, he conferred the kingdom on Melisende, Fulk, and the elder son, Baldwin III. Fulk tried to cut Melisende out of authority, but she had enough regard from the local nobles that he had to offer peace and cooperation. It is possible that she, in turn, accepted reconciliation because she only had one son, whereas Fulk had adult children from an earlier marriage and might have tried to put them in the line of succession.

Amalric is seen as the result of that reconciliation, a "spare" to follow the "heir."

Fulk died in 1143, and Melisende became co-ruler with her son, the 15-year-old Baldwin. Years later, when she and Baldwin continued to be at odds, she named the 15-year-old Amalric the Count of Jaffa, giving him power and making him beholden to her.

A year later, in 1152, Baldwin took the bold move of besieging his mother and her most loyal advisors in the Tower of David. Baldwin was successful. He managed to depose his mother and return Jaffa to Baldwin's own control. Two years later, in 1154, Baldwin gave his younger brother Jaffa and Ascalon.

Melisende was retired to Nablus, 30 miles  north of Jerusalem: sufficient territory to give her an income, but no fortifications that she could hide behind if she tried to stir up trouble for Baldwin.

Amalric married Agnes of Courtenay in 1157, the daughter of Melisende's second cousin. William of Tyre wrote that the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fulcher of Angoulême, objected because the couple were too closely related. A later chronicle of the lineages of the Crusader families states that the marriage was inappropriate in another way: Agnes, recently widowed, had been about to marry another, Hugh of Ibelin, but Amalric married her instead. A more recent historian claims Agnes was already married to Hugh, and Amalric kidnapped her to marry her, making them bigamous.

Amalric, like Baldwin, kept good relations with the Byzantine Empire, especially through Manuel I Comnenos (Baldwin was married to Manuel's niece, Theodora). They had no children, and so when Baldwin was nearing death, he named Amalric as his heir.

Tomorrow I want to take a look at Agnes of Courtenay, her life, her marriage to Amalric, and what happened when Amalric wanted to be King of Jerusalem. It didn't work out in Agnes' favor.

Baldwin vs. Melisende

The young King Baldwin III of Jerusalem really wanted to be seen as a military commander. To do this, he would have to take steps to overcome people's (and his mother's) memories of his previous lack of success with the Second Crusade and in Bosra.

A year after the Second Crusade debacle over Damascus he had his chance. The Prince of Antioch, Raymond of Poitiers, and others were killed in the Battle of Inab against Nur al-Din and Unur of Damascus. Antioch was pillaged.

In the past, Baldwin's father and grandfather had each been in a position to assume the regency of Antioch, and Baldwin took up the mantle. He marched his troops north to lay siege to Harim, a city taken by Nur al-Din, but was unsuccessful. He sent an advisor with a troop of knights to protect another city, Azaz. He himself could not stay in Antioch (William of Tyre recorded that affairs in Jerusalem needed his attention).

Around this time, however, the split between Baldwin and his mother, Queen Melisende, began to widen. (See the illustration in which he is admonishing her.) Troops loyal to Melisende refused to march to Antioch, perhaps wanting to prevent Baldwin from achieving victory.

There was also a problem in the kingdom's chancery. Melisende wanted to make Ralph the Englishman, the current chancellor of Jerusalem, the archbishop of Tyre. There was opposition to this from the bishops, and Melisende abandoned the conflict with the Church by giving up on Ralph and dismissing him. She could not appoint another with the consent of her co-ruler. Baldwin decided to keep Ralph as his advisor after Melisende dismissed him.

After this incident, the two co-rulers issued charters separate from each other through chancery. Melisende's charters mentioned Baldwin's name; Baldwin dropped Melisende's name from his pronouncements.

Melisende's most loyal supporters were in the southern part of the kingdom. Baldwin tried to consolidate power in the north, in the coastal cities of Acre and Tyre. When Melisende granted land in that area to the Hospitallers, however, Baldwin did not object, probably to maintain good relations with that particular fighting force. He found his own method of passive retaliation by re-fortifying Gaza in the south.

Baldwin made one very smart move. Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenos asked for the six fortresses of the County of Edessa (it was an exchange, but the details are not important for us). Baldwin, seeing how difficult it was to defend these, gave them willingly. Within months they were lost to the Turks, and Baldwin avoided the blame for their loss.

Then Melisende made a move that disturbed Baldwin: she named her younger son, Amalric, as the Count of Jaffa without Baldwin's approval. Amalric was 15, and giving him a title of his own was not an unknown thing for a prince, but Baldwin may have seen this move—and the fact that Melisende was including Amalric's name in her charters—as an attempt to set brother against brother. 

Before we go further to see the definitive clash between Melisende and Baldwin, we should learn about Amalric. See you next time.

Baldwin and the Second Crusade

After the defeat and embarrassment of the Bosra incident, Queen Melisende tried to keep her son and co-ruler, King Baldwin III of Jerusalem, out of the spotlight. Charters issued from the throne after this included her younger son, Amalric, as if he were equal to Baldwin in authority.

When Pope Eugene III called for a Second Crusade in 1148 after the fall of Edessa, France and Germany responded. It would seem to be easier now, since the First Crusade established a foothold in the Middle East. The German forces were led by King Conrad III. They arrived in Jerusalem in April and met Baldwin (a male needed to lead the military, so this was one official function Melisende could not perform), along with the Templars.

Because Edessa had been so thoroughly damaged that it would be difficult to defend if re-taken, the Crusaders decided to attack and conquer Damascus instead. Damascus was controlled by Unur, an ally of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, so Melisende should have been against this course of action. If Baldwin could lead the army along with the Crusade on a successful military mission, his people would see his value and he could become more popular than his mother.

Melisende went with the army to Palmarea, one of their cities near Acre, where on 24 June 1148 they met up with the French contingent led by King Louis VII, who was accompanied by his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. All agreed to lay siege to Damascus.

They first approached Darayya, a city a few miles southwest from Damascus, but for some reason did not conquer it, deciding instead to move southeast of Damascus. This new location had little in the way of provisions or even water, and behind them Muslim forces prevented them from going back to Darayya. With the news that more Muslim forces were approaching, and with constant attacks on their hastily constructed defenses, the Crusaders started to panic. They retreated in disorder to save their lives.

Accusations of betrayal arose. Michael the Syrian (1126 - 1199), the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, wrote that Damascus had offered Baldwin 200,000 gold dinars if he could get the Crusade to withdraw from Damascus. The story continues that the dinars were delivered, only to turn out to be gold-plated copper. (There is no proof of this story.)

The failure of the attempted Siege of Damascus (pictured) gave Melisende the opportunity to further reduce Baldwin's authority. Charters after this do not even carry his name.

It was only a year later that he tried, again, to manage a military campaign. Would it surprise you that he was unsuccessful? His mother's confidence in him was steadily deteriorating. A serious clash was forthcoming, which we will see forming tomorrow.

Baldwin in Bosra

The decision to go to Bosra (pictured) and help Altuntash become ruler of the Hauran against the wishes of Damascene ruler Mu'in ad-Din Unur was taken by Baldwin III of Jerusalem for reasons that had more to do with saving face in front of the army rather than making a sound military decision.

Baldwin and the army had to go east into territory that was unfamiliar, finding provisions along the way. Once they arrived on a plain in southwestern Syria, they found themselves surrounded and outnumbered by Turkish forces they did not anticipate.

They should have anticipated this, however. The Bosra expedition had put them in opposition to Unur, who was an ally of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. By communicating their intent to him, they gave him time to alert others to the incursion. Unur had summoned an ally to keep an eye on the Franks. No battle took place, but the Frankish army had to move slowly, and by the time they reached Bosra, they were in for a disappointment.

While Altuntash was away from home seeking help, his wife had handed Bosra over to the Turks. Caught as strangers in a strange land with no allies and a failed quest, they chose to retreat. The Turks hampered their survival by setting fire to crops, giving the Franks dangers to overcome and a scarcity of food to find.

According to one report, in the midst of the fires, the soldiers offered Baldwin the swiftest horse to allow him to try to reach safety—he was, after all, their king. Baldwin, however, wisely refused, since from such a cowardly act he would  never be able to regain the confidence and respect of the army—he was, after all, their king.

William of Tyre claimed the Franks owed their survival to divine intervention. Archbishop of Nazareth Robert I had a piece of the True Cross; he raised it high, and the wind changed direction, blowing the flames away from the Franks. There was also a story of a knight on a white horse with a red banner miraculously appearing and leading the army to safety.

A contemporary Arab chronicler of Damascus, writing a little later from eyewitness accounts, informs us that Unur held back his army, allowing the Franks to leave without incident to avoid a larger military retaliation later.

Melisende (rightly) ascribed the failure of this campaign to Baldwin, and used it to exclude him from future decisions.

But it was 1147, and Europe was already planning what would become known as the Second Crusade. As King of Jerusalem, Baldwin would of course become involved. This would lead to another military failure with lots of finger pointing, and some of the fingers would point at Baldwin, but that's a story for tomorrow.

Queen Melisende

With Fulk of Anjou dead from a riding accident in 1143, Melisende now had full control over the Kingdom of Jerusalem with her son Baldwin III still only 13 years old. (The illustration is of their dual coronation.)

Her first changes were to replace appointees to government that Fulk had chosen. Not allowed as a woman to be head of the army, she chose Manasses of Hierges, her recently arrived cousin, as constable in control of the military. Manasses was a loyal supporter whom she could trust completely.

Her inner circle also included Philip of Milly (who would become connected to the Templars), Elinand of Tiberias whom Melisende helped become Prince of Galilee, and Rohard the Elder (whom she had been angry with earlier, for good reason).

In 1144, Baldwin asserted himself. The residents of Wadi Musa in southern Jordan decided to rebel against Melisende's rule and called Muslim forces to help them. Baldwin acted by cutting down all their olive trees, their livelihood, and offered to pardon them for their rebellion. Wadi Musa dismissed the Muslims and accepted the pardons.

Melisende was not ready for Baldwin to be seen as a ruler, however, so the next time military action was needed—later in 1144, in fact, when Edessa came under siege by Zengid dynasty Muslims—an appeal to Baldwin by the Edessans was intercepted by his mother who had Manasses go to Edessa without Baldwin's involvement.

Then, in 1147, another opportunity for a military action created a chaotic situation.

The governor of Bosra, Altuntash, wanted to secede from the ruler of Damascus, the Mamluk Mu'in ad-Din Unur. He asked for help from the Franks, offering them his towns and territories if they would help him rule the Hauran (a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan). This was risky for more than one reason. Bosra was farther east than the Franks had ever tried to exert any influence, and until that time Unur had been a peaceful neighbor and ally.

Hauran had a Christian population, and Melisende's councilors thought the idea was sound, so they assembled an army. The Franks also sent a messenger to Unur to inform him that they intended to support Altuntash's claim. Unur sent the word back that he did not wish them to proceed, and would even compensate them financially for their expenses if only they would call off the plan. The messenger, Bernard Vacher, who had served Baldwin's father and later stayed with Baldwin, informed the young king of Unur's intent.

Baldwin saw the wisdom of not going any further. The assembled army, however, saw things differently. They had been looking forward to the opportunity for plunder, and loudly expressed their disappointment in the king's decision. The still-teenaged king acquiesced, and the army headed east.

How big a mistake that was will be the subject for tomorrow's post. See you then.

Melisende and Fulk, Part 3

The King and Queen of Jerusalem were very involved in supporting and promoting the Christian religion. Queen Melisende contributed to many convents, for instance, starting with the Convent of Sant Anne where her sister Ioveta was.

Fulk and Melisende convinced the Patriarch of Jerusalem to give them jurisdiction over Bethany near Jerusalem so that they could build a monastery or convent. Melisende in 1138 would start building a convent. The Convent of Saint Lazarus took six years to build, and in 1144 it was granted the status of an abbey by Pope Celestine II. An experienced abbess was installed, with the understanding that the young Ioveta would succeed her, which she did in short order. Fulk's daughter from his first marriage, Sibylla of Anjou, became a nun there during a pilgrimage with her husband, and never returned to Europe.

There were other gifts to religious institutions. The Temple of the Lord (now called the Dome of the Rock) was given lands from which to draw revenue. Melisende gave grants to the Hospitallers, to the leper hospital of the Order of Lazarus (not connected to Ioveta's abbey), and to the Premonstratensians and their Church of Saint Samuel.

Melisende's mother, Morphia of Melitene, was buried in the Abbey of Saint Mary of the Valley of Jehosaphat, a Benedictine abbey founded by Godfrey of Bouillon in the eastern part of the Old City of Jerusalem. This burial started a tradition of the queens of Jerusalem being buried apart from their husbands. Melisende herself would also be buried there. (The illustration is part of the recovered artwork from the abbey, now in a museum in Jerusalem.)

She also supported the Syriac Orthodox Church. When a Frankish knight tried to claim some land possessed by the Syriac Church, Fulk supported the knight. Melisende expressed her displeasure at this, and Fulk agreed that no decision would be final until the case was debated in Melisende's presence. Once that happened, the land stayed in Syriac hands.

On 7 November 1143, the court was at Acre, enjoying a picnic. During a ride, Fulk decided to chase a hare. His horse threw him, and Fulk was knocked unconscious. He was carried back to Acre where he died on the 10th. That Christmas, Melisende went through a second coronation, this time including her son Baldwin III, who was 13 years old. Although Baldwin tried to assert himself, Melisende had complete control over the government now. Let's find out what that was like, starting tomorrow.

Melisende and Fulk, Part 2

After a rocky start to their life as King and Queen of Jerusalem, Fulk of Anjou and Melisende started to work together.

Melisende was particularly angry, however, at Rohard the Elder, a one-time retainer of her cousin Hugh of Jaffa who abandoned Hugh when Hugh rebelled against Fulk and who (Melisende believed) was instrumental in helping Fulk against Hugh. Rohard (and others) who had supported Fulk against Hugh's rebellion were careful to stay out of the queen's sight. It took mediation and time to get Melisende to forgive those allied with Fulk, and to forgive Fulk himself.

William of Tyre wrote that, once king and queen were reconciled, Fulk "did not attempt to take the initiative, even in trivial matters, without her knowledge." Any charters issued from the throne in Jerusalem were done with Melisende's consent from then on.

Fulk may be responsible for the Melisende Psalter (see Christ flanked by Mary and John the Baptist above), created c. 1135 and believed to have been commissioned by Fulk himself as a gift to placate her. The reason we believe it was specifically made for her is because the calendar inside it contains only two dates of a personal nature: the deaths of Baldwin II and Morphia, Melisende's parents. Also, the psalter contains a blend of Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox elements, in a nod to her upbringing: her father was catholic and her Armenian mother was Greek Orthodox.

Another sign of Fulk and Melisende's reconciliation is that they conceived another child in 1136, a son named Amalric.

Melisende tried to arrange careers for her sisters. Alice had lost her regency in Antioch when Raymond of Poitiers married her daughter Constance (only eight years old). Alice managed to live as a princess of Latakia until her death in 1150. Sister Hodierna married Raymond II of Tripoli. Ioveta was made abbess of an abbey founded for her by Melisende. Was it a kind gesture because Ioveta wanted to live a monastic life, or a calculated move to keep Ioveta or any future children away from a potential claim to the throne?

Speaking of religion, Fulk and Melisende had a lot of interaction with the Church in their territory, which I'll talk about tomorrow.

Melisende and Fulk, Part 1

Fulk of Anjou made sure that King of Jerusalem Baldwin II's choice of eldest daughter Melisende to succeed him was firm before he agreed to marry her. Once Baldwin died in August 1131, Melisende became Queen of Jerusalem in her own right (the first to be crowned so, although her mother Morphia was the actual first woman to be named "Queen of Jerusalem").

This allowed Fulk to be King of Jerusalem jure uxoris ("by right of [his] wife"). Once crowned, however, he started to rule by himself, leaving Melisende out of political affairs. This caused consternation from many quarters.

Fulk started appointing friends from Anjou into important roles, neglecting local nobles. The northern Crusader states feared that he would try to bring them under Jerusalem's control, but he did not have the sway that his father-in-law had in the area.

Melisende's sister Alice was married to Bohemond II of Antioch, who had died in 1130. She seized power and acted as regent for her infant daughter, Constance. In 1132 she made an alliance with two Crusader states, Tripoli and Edessa, and made plans to prevent Fulk from moving northward. There was one battle between Fulk and Tripoli, but they made peace and Alice was exiled.

Fulk was also opposed by the Christians in Jerusalem whose parents came from Europe but only knew the Holy Land. Hugh II of Jaffa, Melisende's cousin (their grandmothers were sisters), was a popular and charismatic figure. Although Hugh was devoted to Melisende, Fulk saw him as a potential rival for power in Jerusalem. Hugh argued against Fulk's exclusion of Melisende from royal duties.

Hugh brought several barons and other nobles together to challenge Fulk. They were defeated and Hugh was exiled— Fulk also accused Hugh of having an inappropriate relationship with Melisende—but Melisende began to exercise some power in government affairs after that.

Hugh was to be exiled to Europe. Three days before he was to leave Jerusalem he was stabbed in the back while playing dice (see illustration). Fulk is suspected to have instigated an assassination attempt, but there was no proof. Hugh recovered and went to Europe, never returning.

Fulk's reputation soured, and he had to be careful in the future. Melisende was angry over the accusation of dishonor and Hugh's treatment. She still had support among the people and local nobles, and Fulk realized being king alone was not going to be as easy as he thought.

Things had to change, and I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

Melisende

Baldwin II, Count of Edessa, and Morphia of Melitene had four daughters. When it seemed likely that a son was not going to happen, Baldwin named his eldest daughter Melisende as his heir presumptive. This was a bold move, since rulers were also supposed to be able to lead armies, and an army led by a woman was not customary at this place or time.

Melisende was born sometime between 1104 and 1109, probably in Edessa (upper Mesopotamia). With a Frankish father and an Armenian mother, she and her sisters would have grown up learning French and Armenian, and probably Greek as well.

Her father became King of Jerusalem in 1118, succeeding Baldwin I, and Morphia was named the first Queen of Jerusalem. Morphia did not involve herself in government affairs, but is credited with instilling the "fear of God" in her daughter, according to one contemporary writer. In 1119, Baldwin sent to Edessa for his wife and daughters to join him in Jerusalem.

Melisende was married to Fulk of Anjou (father of Sibylla) in 1129. Fulk was 37 and much older than Melisende, but had 17 years of experience as a ruler and was recently made a widower. During pilgrimages to Jerusalem he had developed good relations with the local nobles.

Fulk made clear during negotiations that he was willing to marry Melisende but needed her right of succession made certain. He wanted to guarantee that she was her father's heir as queen (therefore giving him the right by marriage to be king) instead of the other children. Another daughter, Alice, had been married to Prince Bohemond II of Antioch, and Fulk did not want that couple pressing a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin started including Melisende's name in official documents alongside his own, listing her as "daughter of the king and heir of the kingdom" to make sure everyone understood the plan.

With the agreement in place, Fulk passed the title Count of Anjou to his son Geoffrey and went to Jerusalem in May 1129. Melisende's dowry was the cities of Acre and Tyre. Melisende gave birth to a son in early 1130, Baldwin III of Jerusalem.

Baldwin II died on 21 August 1131.

Fulk and Melisende were crowned King and Queen of Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (see illustration). After that, Fulk started to show his true colors, sidelining the queen from government affairs. We'll see how that went tomorrow.

Sibylla in Jerusalem

When Thierry of Alsace, the Count of Flanders, made his third pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1157, he took his wife, Sibylla of Anjou. They had been married for over 15 years and had several children who went on to successful careers.

In Jerusalem at the time was Queen Melisende, the Queen of Jerusalem after the death of her father, Baldwin II. Melisende was the second wife of Fulk of Anjou, which made Melisende Sibylla's stepmother (and made Sibylla's father King of Jerusalem jure uxoris ("by right of [his] wife").

Baldwin had four daughters, the youngest of whom, Ioveta, was the abbess of the Benedictine Convent of St. Lazarus in Bethany, an abbey founded by Melisende so that Ioveta could be its abbess. The abbey was founded on the reputed site of the tomb of Lazarus. (see illustration)

Thierry assisted against the Muslims in the siege of Shaizar in northern Syria. The siege fell apart because Thierry argued with Raynald of Châtillon over which of them would take command of the town. Which of the two men was being the more difficult is not easy to know, but Raynald later was killed for his lack of respect.

Sibylla was housed with Ioveta in Bethany while her husband was away fighting. The two women were close in age and became good friends, so much so that Sibylla chose to stay in Jerusalem when Thierry went home, leaving him to see to the raising of their children.

Sibylla became a nun at Ioveta's abbey. She died in Bethany in 1165 and was buried at the abbey.

Sibylla was a great supporter of Queen Melisende, the first female ruler of Jerusalem, who deserves to have her story told. We will start that tomorrow.

Sibylla of Anjou

When Fulk V of Anjou married his daughter Sibylla (c. 1112 – 1165) to William Clito, a grandson of William the Conqueror, it seemed like a match with much potential. Unfortunately, King Henry I of England, who had invaded Normandy and taken it from his brother Robert Curthose (William Clito's father), objected and convinced Pope Calixtus II to annul the marriage on the grounds of consanguinity.

William Clito's fate was covered here, but what happened to Sibylla? She was not even a teen when the marriage took place and still not a teen when it was annulled a year later. Her dowry was the County of Maine (which came to her through her mother), so she would have been not an inconsequential match for someone else. She did not re-marry until 1134 at the age of 22, when she was wedded to Thierry, Count of Flanders.

In a curious twist, had Sibylla remained married to William Clito, she would have become Countess of Flanders sooner: Louis VI of France helped William get the position (against objections from people like Thierry). In fact, it was opposition to William by Thierry's forces that led to William's wounding and death in 1128. Thierry succeeded him as count. (Thierry was already married at the time, but his wife, Margaret of Clermont, died in 1132.)

Thierry had one daughter by Margaret, but several children with Sibylla. When Thierry went on the Second Crusade, Sibylla was left as regent in Flanders. During this time, Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut thought it was a good time to attack Flanders, but Sibylla was ready for him. She plundered Hainaut in a counter-attack. In response, Baldwin attacked the territory of Artois. It took the Archbishop of Rheims to negotiate a truce. (Still, when Thierry returned from overseas in 1149, he took revenge on Baldwin.)

Their children were Philip I, who became Count of Flanders; Matthew of Alsace who became the Count of Boulogne; Margaret, who married Baldwin of Hainaut's son, Count Baldwin V of Hainaut; Gertrude of Flanders, who married Humbert III, Count of Savoy. There was also a daughter Matilda, who became abbess of Fontevrault, and a son Peter who was slated to become bishop of Cambrai but was never consecrated.

The illustration shows her with her husband on the facade of the Holy Blood Basilica in Brugge. She was not buried in Brugge, or even in Europe, however, but on the southeastern slop of the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. How that came about, and how she abandoned her husband and children, is a story for tomorrow.

The Death of William Clito

So King Henry I of England managed to get the marriage of William Clito and Sibylla of Anjou annulled in 1124 through the help of Pope Calixtus II. Henry did not want Clito allied with the powerful Fulk of Anjou, and also wanted to spite William who was in a position to make a claim on Henry's kingdom as well as Normandy.

In England, Henry named a new heir and had his barons swear an oath of loyalty to her: his daughter the Empress Matilda (empress because she was married to Holy Roman Emperor Henry V).

In Normandy, a rebellion favoring William rose up. King Louis VI of France supported William, but Henry of England persuaded his son-in-law Henry V to cause trouble on France's eastern border, which divided French forces so they could not help William when England's forces defeated the rebellion at the Battle of Bourgthéroulde in March 1124.

Then Charles the Good, Count of Flanders, was killed in 1127, and Louis managed to get William Clito elected as the new count. Henry challenged this and ordered his vassal Stephen of Blois to attack Flanders, a move which was unsuccessful. Other claimants to William's title caused non-stop trouble, despite William having powerful allies.

One claimant was Thierry of Alsace, a cousin of Charles the Good (their mothers were both daughters of Robert I, Count of Flanders, mentioned here as Robert the Frisian). Thierry with an army of 300 mounted men-at-arms and 1,500 infantrymen besieged Axspoele, an estate held by an ally of William, on 19 June 1128. William brought 450 men-at-arms the next day, positioning two-thirds of his army on a hill where they could easily be seen. Thierry's cavalry decided to attack what looked like an equal number of opponents. After some serious fighting, William feigned a retreat and led the cavalry into an ambush where the rest of his men were waiting on the other side of the hill. Thierry's battle-weary men were now facing fresh fighters.

Thierry's cavalry was crushed, Thierry's infantry panicked and fled and were followed by William's men.

William then besieged Thierry at Oostkamp in West Flanders. Thierry retreated to the city of Aalst, where William also besieged him. William Clito sustained a wound from a Flemish foot soldier (see illustration). The wound turned gangrenous, and William Clito died on 28 July 1128. On his deathbed he wrote to Henry, requesting forgiveness for William's followers, which was granted.

Of course, when Henry died, Stephen of Blois seized the throne instead of staying true to his oath to Matilda and started a civil war called The Anarchy, but that's all been covered before.

In the middle of William's troubles, he remarried, this time in 1127 to Joanna (or Joan) of Montferrat, who died in 1128. What happened to Sibylla of Anjou, William's first wife? She remarried many years after the events related here, and lived until 1165. Let's follow her story tomorrow.

The Story of William Clito

When William the Conqueror died, he had already made his wishes clear about the division of his lands. His older son, Robert Curthose, became Duke of Normandy, a large and prosperous province on the continent. A younger son, William Rufus, became king of England. A third surviving son, Henry, was left with nothing, but when Rufus died suddenly Henry raced to take the kingdom, becoming Henry I.

So the older son got a duchy and the younger son a kingdom. In 1106, King Henry I conquered Normandy from Robert. Robert Curthose had a son, William Clito, who pressed a claim to Normandy after his father died, but Henry wanted to give Normandy to his own son, William Adelin.

King Louis VI of France and William Clito were opposed to Henry's assertion of authority over Normandy. Battles and alliances took place over a few years with Henry always coming out on top. William Clito spent some time flying "under the radar." Then something happened that gave him a chance to re-assert his claim.

William Adelin died in the White Ship tragedy.

Henry had no more male heirs. Worse, William Adelin was supposed to marry Matilda, the daughter of Fulk V of Anjou, and Fulk wanted the dowry back (several castles and towns between Normandy and Anjou). Henry wouldn't give up those places, and so Fulk married another daughter, Sibylla of Anjou, to a young man who was 18, popular, and had recent experience in military campaigns—none other than William Clito. The two were married in 1123.

Henry strongly objected to this, and wrote to Pope Calixtus II to complain that William and Sibylla were too closely related for the marriage to be appropriate, due to the laws of consanguinity. Calixtus annulled the marriage, an action which was objected to by the bride's father until Calixtus excommunicated him and placed Anjou under interdict.

This is the event that I mentioned in yesterday's post: that the papal legate was allowed into England by Henry later after eight legates were refused as a quid pro quo because the papacy had done Henry the favor of annulling the marriage.

The marriage was done, but Clito was not. Tomorrow I'll tell you what happened and about his death some years later. The illustration is his seal when Louis made him Count of Flanders.

Giovanni of Crema

When Pope Honorius II wanted to resolve a dispute in England between the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, he sent Giovanni of Crema as his papal legate.

England had refused to allow papal legates on the island for a long time, preferring the relationship between the king and the Archbishop of Canterbury to manage religious decisions. During the reign of King Henry I (reigned 1100 - 1135) he refused eight papal legates prior to Giovanni.

Giovanni stopped at Rouen and sent a letter dated 1 June 1124 to Henry, asking permission to cross the English Channel. He did not receive the permission he sought until 1125. His first mission was to go to Scotland and hold a council to tell the Scottish bishops they were subject to the Archbishop of York. This mission was unsuccessful.

Giovanni held a council at Westminster Abbey (pictured above in its earlier days) on 9 September 1125. It was attended by Archbishop of Canterbury William of Corbeil, Archbishop of York Thurstan of Bayeaux, and about 20 bishops and 40 abbots. Many reforms were declared regarding simony and priestly celibacy, but the issue of primacy between the archbishops was avoided. Instead, Giovanni invited both William and Thurstan to return to Rome with him and meet with the pope.

The three traveled to Rome, but even then Honorius was wary about making a hard and fast decision about the two English offices. One decision Honorius made was that the Bishop of St. Andrews, which was the Roman Catholic diocese of Scotland, would be subject to the Archbishop of York.

Whether York or Canterbury could overrule the other as archbishop was avoided, but Honorius said York would be subject to Canterbury not because Canterbury was somehow more important thanYork but in Canterbury's role as papal legate to England and Scotland. On the other hand, Canterbury could not demand an oath of obedience from York.

Papal legates making demands did not sit well with England (possibly not with anyone), and a rumor spread about Giovanni. Roger of Hoveden's history includes a story from historian Henry of Huntingdon (c.1088 - c.1157) that Giovanni was caught in bed with a woman. Giovanni was suspended from his cardinal position but then restored by Honorius. The rumor of the woman in his bed might explain that.

Why was Giovanni allowed into England after so many papal legates had been refused? Maybe the king wanted the archbishop rivalry resolved and didn't want to anger anyone by doing it himself. Some think it was a quid pro quo situation because of an action taken by the previous pope, Calixtus II. Let's look at that situation tomorrow.

Honorius and Conflicts, Part 4

Bernard of Clairvaux was concerned (as just about everyone for several centuries) about the relationship between religious and secular authority and the supremacy of one over the other. Bernard's preaching and devotion inspired the Bishop of Paris, Stephen of Senlis, to try to eliminate the influence of the French kings in the appointment of clergy.

The French king at the time was Louis VI (reigned 1108 - 1137), called "Le Gros" because over time he gained so much weight he could no longer ride into battle (see illustration). Louis was not against religion—his chief advisor was Abbot Suger—but he maintained the tradition of having some say over his bishops. In response to Stephen opposing Louis' authority, Louis seized Stephen's wealth.

Stephen's goal of Church reform (making it independent of the king) also motivated the Archbishop of Sens, Henri Sanglier. Louis in retaliation charged Henri with simony (selling clergy positions for money) and tried to remove him from his position. Bernard's letter to Honorius requested that the pope intercede with Louis on behalf of Stephen of Senlis and Henri Sanglier. Louis was trying to fill bishop and priest positions in Tours as well, after Honorius had just appointed Hildebert of Lavardin to be Archbishop of Tours.

Honorius did not take as hard a line with a king as he had with abbots (see here and here). When the French bishops banded together to place the diocese of Paris under interdict (denying all residents of the diocese from receiving any of the sacraments of the Church), Louis protested to Honorius. Honorius lifted the interdict to save the residents of Paris from this punishment. This took pressure off of Louis to change his ways.

This "soft on crime" approach disgusted Bernard of Clairvaux, who expressed himself to Honorius. Honorius stuck to his guns, however, advising Stephen of Senlis to reconcile with Louis. Honorius must have had some words with Louis, because Louis stopped interfering with Archbishop Henri.

Honorius was also involved in English affairs, particularly in the debate over the Archbishoprics of Canterbury and York: did one have supremacy, or did they have equal authority? Thurstan of Bayeaux in York was pushing his claim, and Honorius wrote to him saying that the pope would settle the matter personally.

By "personally" he meant he would send a papal legate with the authority to act on the pope's behalf. Cardinal Giovanni of Crema went to England and convened a council at Westminster and...you know, this is going to get complicated, because England had been denying entrance to papal legates for years, so why did Giovanni of Crema get in? And what about Scotland? Did York have jurisdiction over Scotland? Let's save all that for tomorrow.

Honorius and Conflicts, Part 3

After making a deal with Roger II of Sicily, Pope Honorius II turned his attention back to focusing on monasteries he felt were too powerful and independent. The abbot of Monte Cassino had been dealt with, but there was another abbot who was acting up improperly, Pons of Melgueil.

Pons (c.1075 - 1126) was the seventh abbot of  Cluny, but had been ousted in 1122. Pons had been a mediator at the Concordat of Worms that resolved the Investiture Controversy. While abbot, he had continued the building of the great abbey church of Cluny. This became "Cluny III" (pictured) and was the largest Christian church for the next 200 years.

During the Investiture Controversy, when Holy Roman Emperor Henry V marched on Rome in 1118, Pope Gelasius II fled Rome and found safety at Cluny. While there, he (supposedly) declared that he should be succeeded as pope by either Archbishop Guy of Vienne or Pons. Guy of Vienne became Pope Calixtus II, and was followed by Honorius.

Pons may have been bothered by having papal ambitions that went nowhere. In 1122 his monks at Cluny charged him with extravagance. The Archbishop of Lyon and the Bishop of Mâcon had also complained about him spending money too lavishly. Calixtus summoned him to Rome, where he resigned as abbot and made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In 1123 he was back in Italy and started a small monastery of his own.

He then decided to reclaim his position as abbot of Cluny. He managed to gather some mercenaries and marched to Cluny in 1125 where he pushed out Abbot Hugh II of Cluny. He occupied the monastery and melted down some of the treasures there to pay his mercenaries, who remained in the area, harassing the monks and nearby villagers.

Honorius heard what was happening and sent a papal legate to excommunicate Pons and order him to Rome. Pons was deposed by Honorius in 1126 and put in prison where he died. At Cluny he was succeeded by Peter the Venerable.

Then Bernard of Clairvaux wrote to Honorius, asking him to get involved in a dispute between Louis VI of France and the French bishops. Honorius was all too glad to get involved, but that's a story for tomorrow.