Melisende

Queen of Jerusalem (r. 1131-1153)

• Born: 1105
• Birthplace: Edessa, Anatolia (now Urfa, Turkey)
• Died: September 11, 1161
• Place of death: Jerusalem (now in Israel)

Melisende was a powerful ruling and cultural figure of the Latin Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. She served as a patron of the arts, architecture, and the Christian Church at a time when it was rare for a woman to do so.

Growing to the age of fourteen in Edessa, Melisende was influenced by high standards of education, the eastern way of life, and her mother’s orthodox form of Christianity. At that time it was common for young noblewomen to be married in their early teens. However, unexpected circumstances put Melisende’s future on hold. In 1118, while her father was making pilgrimage to Jerusalem, his cousin, the first Crusader king, Baldwin I, died. After the funeral, the nobility selected her father as King Baldwin II (r. 1118-1131).

Women had not played a prominent role among Crusader rulers up to this time. However, Baldwin II delayed his coronation for eighteen months until Morphia and her three daughters could move to Jerusalem. Together they were crowned on Christmas Day, 1119. Baldwin’s hopes likely were for a male heir, but the following year Morphia gave birth to a fourth daughter, Joveta.

While Melisende was still a teenager, a young man, Hugh of LePuiset, arrived in Jerusalem. Since Hugh’s late father had been a cousin of Baldwin II, he was taken into the royal court of Jerusalem, where he and Melisende developed a close relationship. Eventually he was given the title count of Jaffa, and, as the closest male relative of the king, he assumed a high degree of influence.

There is no evidence that Morphia took an active role in government in Jerusalem. However, when the king was taken captive by Muslim forces in 1123-1124, it was Morphia who brought about his release. She first hired Armenians, who infiltrated the garrison, and then traveled to Syria to negotiate his release, even handing over her youngest daughter as hostage until ransom could be paid.

In 1128, about the time of Morphia’s death, Baldwin began to look to Melisende to continue the reign, offering her a number of responsibilities. A grant to the Holy Sepulchre in 1129 was made in her name. She signed charters with the inscription filia Regis et regni Hierosolimitani haeres (daughter of the king and heir to the kingdom of Jerusalem).

Melisende’s younger sister Alice was already providing the model of a strong woman leader. In 1126, Alice had married Bohemond II, the prince of Antioch (r. 1126-1130), and found herself well liked by the local Orthodox population. Her daughter Constance was born two years later. Then, in 1130, Bohemond was killed in battle. Instead of waiting for her father to appoint a regent, Alice assumed the regency herself, initiating contacts with the Muslim prince Zangī for support. However, Baldwin intervened, appointing Count Jocelin of Edessa regent and banishing his daughter to Latakia. When Jocelin soon died, the leadership of Antioch allowed the regency to stand vacant, with Alice exerting influence from a distance.

However, Frankish property laws would not permit Melisende to rule Jerusalem by herself. Also, women were excluded from the military leadership critical in the Crusader kingdom. Baldwin therefore sent a delegation to France to find her a suitable husband. Fulk V, count of Anjou, a forty-year-old widower with two grown children, was selected with the endorsement of King Louis VI of France and Pope Honorius II.

According to William of Tyre, the chief chronicler of this period, there were questions whether Melisende accepted the arranged marriage. Nevertheless, they were married in May, 1129. Fulk immediately joined his father-in-law in a conquest of Damascus. In 1130, Melisende bore a son, Baldwin III, and in 1135 another son, Amalric I. Both would serve as Latin Crusader kings.

When Baldwin II grew ill, he transfered power to Fulk and Melisende. He took off the crown and moved to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where he lived his final days as a monk.

Life’s Work

The coronation of Fulk and Melisende took place on Holy Cross day, September 14, 1131. Tensions soon developed between the couple. Her father had envisioned a joint rule that would guarantee the place of inheritance to his young grandson. However, Fulk did everything to limit Melisende’s power, with all official acts for the first five years coming only in his name. The nobility in Jerusalem quickly sympathized with Melisende, viewing Fulk’s efforts as a power grab. When he attempted to gain control over Antioch, Alice publicly opposed him and reclaimed the regency in an alliance with the popular patriarch.

Early Life

Melisende (mehl-ih-SEHND-ah) was the firstborn daughter of an Armenian princess, Morphia of Melitene, and a European noble who fought in the First Crusade, Baldwin of Le Bourgh, the count of Edessa. While living in Edessa, the couple had three daughters: Melisende, Alice (b. 1106), and Hodierna (b. 1115).

Jerusalem was divided between partisans of Fulk and partisans of Melisende, with her second cousin Hugh emerging as her strongest supporter. By 1134, a full rebellion erupted. Rumors filled the city of Jerusalem of an illicit affair between Melisende and Hugh accepted as factual by many. Yet others note the church consistently backed Melisende throughout this struggle. The rumors were probable attempts by Fulk to discredit the queen. Things came to a head when Hugh was accused of treason and then challenged to a duel, but instead of agreeing to a duel, he sought refuge among Muslims in Ascalon. The patriarch of Jerusalem sought terms of peace that would have exiled Hugh for three years in Italy. While waiting for his ship, Hugh was stabbed in the back during a game of dice. Most people believed that King Fulk immediately put the assassin to death to silence him from implicating the king. The tide turned against Fulk, and he feared for his life.

Eventually, Fulk made a most favorable settlement with Melisende. Shortly thereafter she bore him a second son. According to William of Tyre, Fulk “never tried to initiate anything, even in trivial matters, without her foreknowledge.” This is documented in six surviving acts from this period made in both their names.

The influence of Melisende extended to Antioch, where she negotiated the return of her sister Alice to the city. Officially, Alice ruled by herself from 1135 to 1136. A strange twist occurred when Raymond of Poitiers, prince of Antioch (r. 1136-1149), arrived and asked for her hand in marriage. Instead, he kidnapped Alice’s eight-year-old daughter Constance and was married to her by the new patriarch Radulph. Alice was again banished to Latakia, while Raymond and Constance ruled Antioch.

Fulk’s death in a hunting accident in the fall of 1143 gave Melisende another chance to rule. She was designated regent for thirteen-year-old Baldwin III. On Christmas Day, 1143, they were crowned as corulers in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. William of Tyre described the ritual as an anointing, a significant act because it imitated the coronation of David and the Old Testament kings and suggested rule by divine right. In reality, Melisende controlled the government. William of Tyre reported on her abilities in glowing terms, writing,

Melisende, the king’s mother, was a woman of great wisdom who had much experience in all kinds of secular matters. She had risen so far above the normal status of women that she dared to undertake important measures. It was her ambition to emulate the magnificence of the greatest and noblest princes and to show herself in no wise inferior to them. Since her son was as yet under age, she ruled the kingdom and administered the government with such skillful care that she may be said to truly have equaled her ancestors in that respect. As long as her son was willing to be governed by her counsel, the people enjoyed a highly desirable state of tranquility, and the affairs of the realm moved on prosperously.

In 1145, when Baldwin reached a legitimate ruling age, Melisende downplayed the celebration and instead began to maneuver him out of every place of influence. For the next seven years his name was omitted from official acts.

Although she was not permitted to lead the army, Melisende chose her cousin Manasses of Hierges as constable and closest adviser. In 1144, they sent an army to Edessa to assist Jocelin. When this proved unsuccessful, she wrote Bernard of Clairvaux to call for a second Crusade. In 1148, Melisende traveled to Acre (now in Israel) to receive King Louis VII of France and advised him to attack Damascus, a city under control of eastern Christians. When the Crusade appeared a failure, the criticism mounted.

Baldwin was especially put off by the haughty attitude of Manasses and rallied many of the nobles of Jerusalem against him. In 1152, he made an official complaint to the high court that his mother had excluded him from his rightful rule. Baldwin decided that he would be crowned king on Easter Day. Melisende requested a second coronation for herself, but Baldwin excluded his mother and appeared in public as a secretly crowned king. Baldwin’s next step was to request that the kingdom be divided in two, so that Melisende could continue ruling in Jerusalem and he would rule the north. This created a dilemma for the leading nobles, who recognized both Melisende’s experience as an efficient administrator and Baldwin’s inherited right to rule. The matter was determined by force when Baldwin’s army invaded Jerusalem and besieged Melisende in the Tower of David.

Melisende retired from Jerusalem and retained only the city of Nablus. However, rather than retire from public life, she traveled to Tripoli, where she advised her niece Constance. Constance remained sole ruler of Antioch from the death of her husband, Raymond of Poitiers, in 1149 to her remarriage to the Crusader Reginald of Châtillon in 1153. Melisende also offered counsel to her own sister Hodierna, concerning both her strained marriage with Count Raymond II of Tripoli and Hodierna’s becoming regent of Tripoli following his death.

Realizing that his mother still exerted influence in the north where the Muslim sultan Nureddin (d. 1174) was growing in power, Baldwin reconciled himself to her. From 1153, she served as Baldwin’s closest adviser and shared in many of his public acts. In 1157, when Baldwin was campaigning in Antioch, she undertook her own military attack and recovered a fortress beyond the Jordan. On November 30, 1160, Melisende suffered a stroke, which limited her abilities until her death.

Significance

Melisende’s most lasting contribution was to the art and architecture of Jerusalem. She initiated extensive work on both the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. In 1149 about fifty years after the arrival of the first Crusaders she presided over the ceremonies dedicating the remodeled Church. Second Crusaders remarked on the magnificent paved streets and the vaulted roofs of the city, which are still visible in the Old City suq (marketplace) today.

Melisende’s youngest sister, Joveta, took monastic vows at a convent just inside the city walls, at what is now called Stephen’s Gate. There the queen built the Church of Saint Anne, which is still considered one of the most impressive Crusader structures in Jerusalem. Later she obtained land in Bethany (now in Jordan) to establish and endow the convent of St. Lazarus, where Joveta later became abbess. Her final project was a new structure for the Tomb of the Virgin in the Valley of Josaphat, where her mother had been buried. Melisende, too, chose to be buried in a chamber still visible inside this structure. The queen’s name is also connected with the Melisende Psalter, a beautifully illustrated text with an ivory cover. Created in 1135, it was a gift from her husband, Fulk.

Jerusalem: Crusader Kings and Queens, 1095-1291

Reign

• Ruler

1095-1099

• First Crusade

1099-1100

• Godfrey of Boulogne (or Bouillon)

1100-1118

• Baldwin I of Boulogne

1118-1131

• Baldwin II of Le Bourg

1131-1153

• Melisende

1131-1143

• Fulk V of Anjou

1143-1162

• Baldwin III

1147-1149

• Second Crusade

1162-1174

• Amalric I

1174-1183

• Baldwin IV the Leper

1185-1186

• Baldwin V

1185-1190

• Sibylla

1186-1192

• Guy of Lusignan

1189-1192

• Third Crusade

1190-1192

• Conrad of Montferrat

1192-1197

• Henry of Champagne

1192-1205

• Isabella I

1197-1205

• Amalric II

1202-1204

• Fourth Crusade

1205-1210

• Maria of Montferrat (regent)

1210-1225

• John of Brienne

1210-1228

• Isabella (Yolanda) II

1217-1221

• Fifth Crusade

1225-1228

• Frederick II

1227-1230

• Sixth Crusade

1228-1254

• Conrad IV Hohenstaufen

1244

• Fall of Jerusalem

1248-1254

• Seventh (or Sixth) Crusasde

1254-1268

• Conradin Hohenstaufen

1268-1284

• Hugh III

1268-1284

• Charles of Anjou (rival)

1270

• Eighth (or Seventh) Crusade

1284-1285

• John I

1285-1306

• Henry I of Jerusalem (II of Cyprus)

1291

• Fall of Acre to Mamluks

Bibliography

Boas, Adrian J. Crusader Archaeology: The Material Culture of the Latin East. New York: Routledge, 1999. Explores the material culture of the early Crusades in Jerusalem and surrounding rural areas, with chapters on defense structures, ecclesiastical architecture, fine arts, arts and crafts, building techniques and materials, and burial. Bibliography, index.

Folda, Jaroslav. The Art of the Crusaders in the Holy Land, 1098-1187. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. An illustrated look at the history of the art of the first three Crusades, with chapters on the influences of Melisende, Fulk, and the Baldwins. Includes a discussion of historical writing about Crusader art and the artistic context of the First Crusaders. Maps, bibliography, and index.

Hamilton, Bernard. “Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem.” In Medieval Women, edited by Derek Baker. Oxford, England: Blackwell, 1978. A study focusing on the role of women who governed Jerusalem during the Crusades.

Riley-Smith, Jonathan, ed. The Oxford History of the Crusades. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. An illustrated history that shows the artistic and architectural legacy of Melisende. Bibliography, index.

Runciman, Steven. The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Vol. 2 in A History of the Crusades. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1951-1958. One of the most detailed resources on the Crusader era, by a respected British scholar. Illustrations, maps, and a genealogical table.

William of Tyre. A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea. 1941. Reprint. New York: Octagon Books, 1976. Provides a contemporary account of the era, written shortly after Melisende’s death. Bibliography, index.