Melisende of Jerusalem (1131–1153)

Melisende was probably born around 1109, the eldest daughter of Baldwin II, count of Edessa, and his wife Morphia. Baldwin became king of Jerusalem in 1118, and named Melisende heiress to the kingdom in 1127 after it was apparent that he would have no male heir.

Melisende and Fulk’s marriage was celebrated in early June 1129, and at that time her father the king endowed them with the cities of Acre and Tyre to be held during his lifetime.

Through Melisende, the status of heir to the throne was transmitted to Fulk. Their marriage must have been a grand occasion of celebration in the kingdom, and all of the important barons and churchmen would have been present.  Within a few months of the wedding, Melisende became pregnant with the couple’s first child and heir, the future Baldwin III, who was born in 1130.  

Baldwin II died on August 21, 1131, and he was mourned with “great pomp and ceremony.”  He was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, next to his predecessors at the foot of Mt. Calvary known as Golgatha.  On September 14, Holy Cross Day (an important feast day in the crusader kingdom), Fulk and Melisende were “solemnly crowned and consecrated, according to custom, in the Church of the Sepulcher of the Lord, by William, patriarch of Jerusalem, of happy memory.”

One of the most interesting developments at this time during Fulk and Melisende’s reign was an alliance between Jerusalem and Damascus.  Zengi, the leader of Aleppo, had entered the territory of Damascus with a hostile army and Mu’īn ad-Din Unur, the Muslim ruler there, appealed to the crusaders for aid against this common enemy who threatened all of them.  Not only did Unur agree to pay for the campaign, but he also promised to restore the city of Banyas, which had been conquered from the Christians some years before but had come to be held by Zengi.  He also promised to ensure the treaty with noble hostages, relatives of his army commanders.

Fulk and Melisende agreed to the treaty’s terms, but not before lengthy deliberations with the barons and clerics in the High Court were held.  After the hostages had arrived, Fulk’s army marched out to join the Damascenes accompanied by Patriarch William and, although Zengi retreated, the two armies began a fierce siege of Banyas, where the prince of Antioch and the count of Tripoli and their forces joined them as well.  The city surrendered in 1140 and keeping his word, Unur handed it over to the crusaders.  Patriarch William and Fulcher, archbishop of Tyre, who was also present chose Adam, the archdeacon of Tyre, to be the city’s bishop, and then it was returned to its former Lord Renier de Brus, the constable of the kingdom.

Fulk’s death in November of 1143 dramatically altered Melisende’s political life and the future of the kingdom’s monarchy.  Her political power and authority as queen were to grow far beyond that which she had enjoyed after her second son Amalric was born.  William of Tyre recorded the circumstances of Fulk’s tragic accident.  Visiting Acre with Fulk, Melisende of Jerusalem had proposed a trip outside the city to a place that had many springs.  The king and queen had ridden together with the royal escort and a party of servants.  Along the way, the group surprised a hare, which fled from its burrow and aroused shouts and attention.  Fulk grabbed his lance, joined the other men in the hunt, and urged his horse on recklessly.  Suddenly, his horse stumbled and fell, throwing him onto the ground where his heavy saddle struck his head and crushed his skull.  The members of his escort who had joined him in the pursuit rushed to his aid but it was too late.  

Melisende and the rest of the train caught up quickly and were horrified by the sight. The queen “tore her garments and hair and by her loud shrieks and lamentations gave proof of her intense grief.  Flinging herself upon the ground she embraced the lifeless body.  Tears failed her through continual weeping; frequent sobs interrupted her voice as she tried to give expression to her grief; nor could she do justice to it, although she cared for naught save to satisfy her anguish.  The people of the household also manifested their grief by tears, words, and aspect and gave plain proof of great sorrow.”

They bore Fulk to Acre, and still unconscious, he died three days later on November 10.  He was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher next to his predecessors at the foot of Mt. Calvary.  As Fulk and Melisende’s son Baldwin was only thirteen years old at this time and Amalric only ten, “the royal power passed to the Lady Melisende, a queen beloved of God, to whom it belonged by hereditary right.”

Thus, Melisende took over the government but, as William of Tyre emphasized, did not do so as regent for her eldest son.  Future events would demonstrate that she took up her new role at the death of her husband because she knew it was her responsibility to do so as the kingdom’s reigning queen.  Through her unexpected widowhood, she gained an extraordinary amount of independence.  She would make the most of it and do whatever she would have to in order to protect it.  It is no surprise, then, that she did not remarry, even though the pressure to do so must have been great.

During the feast of the Nativity, 1143, “Baldwin [III] was solemnly anointed, consecrated, and crowned, together with his mother, in the church of the Sepulcher of the Lord.  The ceremony was conducted by William, patriarch of Jerusalem, before the customary assemblage of the princes and all the prelates of the church.”

Crowned at his mother’s side, he was, however, under the legal age to rule.  Melisende was required to rule alone until Baldwin came of age and could rule with her.  Nevertheless, despite her sacred status and abilities, because she was a woman, she was immediately forced to cope with the limitations of her gender.  Alone for the first time, she had the added responsibilities of controlling and administering the crown’s offices and fiefs as well as defending the crusader states from the constant threats of invasion from Zengi, the leader of Aleppo, and the other neighboring Muslim powers.  Although she marshaled and directed the kingdom’s army as the reigning monarch, she did not lead it herself.  By 1144, she appointed and deputized her cousin Manasses of Hierges, who had recently arrived in the East, as constable of the kingdom.  Owing his new prestigious position to her, Manasses would loyally lead the kingdom’s military affairs for her.  

Melisende and the kingdom’s first challenge was at hand because the crusader lands were all facing a dangerous threat from the still undefeated Zengi, who had laid siege to the city of Edessa “during the interval between the death of King Fulk and the elevation of Baldwin to the throne.”

It is very likely that Zengi and the rest of the Muslim world viewed Melisende’s throne in the Latin Kingdom as empty or as if the kingdom was in a period of interregnum.  The timing was perfect for the prosecution of a jihad to restore the lands taken by the crusaders back to Islam, and Zengi would be the most successful Muslim warrior to present himself as a leader for such an endeavor.

References:

Hamilton (B.), "Medieval Women", in, Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem. Oxford: Ecclesiastical History,ed. by. Derek Baker, Oxford, 1978.

Gaudette (H.), The Second Crusade: The War Council of Acre, 1148, March 2009.

Baldwin II of Jerusalem (1118–1131)

King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, or Baldwin II of Edessa, or Baldwin of Bourcq was the son of Hugh, count of Rethel, and his wife Melisende, daughter of Guy I of Montlhéry. He had two younger brothers, Gervase and Manasses, and two sisters Matilda and Hodierna. He left his own family behind to follow his cousins on the First Crusade in 1096.

Baldwin, Count of Edessa:

Baldwin of Boulogne became the first count of Edessa, while Baldwin of Bourcq entered the service of Prince of Antioch, acting as an ambassador between Antioch and Edessa. Baldwin of Boulogne was elected king of Jerusalem upon the death of Godfrey, and Baldwin of Bourcq was appointed count of Edessa. In 1101 Baldwin married Morphia of Melitene, the daughter of the Armenian prince Gabriel of Melitene.

In 1102 Baldwin and Tancred (his nephew) assisted King Baldwin against the Egyptians at Ascalon. 1104 the Seljuk Turks invaded Edessa and with help from Antioch, Count Baldwin met them at the Battle of Harran. The battle was a failure and Count Baldwin was captured; Tancred became regent of Edessa while he was away. Tancred and Bohemund preferred to ransom their own Seljuk prisoners for money rather than an exchange them for Baldwin, so the count remained in captivity in Mosul until 1108 when he was ransomed for 60,000 dinars by Joscelin of Courtenay. Tancred refused to restore Edessa to him, but with the support of the Kurds, Arabs, Byzantines, and even the Seljuks, Tancred was forced to back down.

Baldwin II King of Jerusalem:

After the death of Baldwin I in 1118, the crown was offered to the king's elder brother Eustace III, but Joscelin of Courtenay insisted that the crown be passed to Baldwin of Bourcq, despite Count Baldwin having exiled Joscelin from Edessa in 1113. Baldwin of Edessa accepted and was crowned king of Jerusalem as Baldwin II on Easter Sunday, 14 April 1118. Almost immediately, the kingdom was simultaneously invaded by the Seljuks from Syria and the Fatimids from Egypt. By showing himself ready and willing to defend his territory, Baldwin forced the Muslim army to back down without a battle. 1119, the crusader Principality of Antioch (crusader state) was invaded, and Baldwin hurried north with the army of Jerusalem. Roger of Salerno, prince of Antioch, would not wait for Baldwin's reinforcements, and the Antiochene army was destroyed in a battle the crusaders called Ager Sanguinis (the Field of Blood).

Although it was a crushing blow, Baldwin helped Antioch recover and drove out the Seljuks later that year. Baldwin called the Council of Nablus in 1120, where he probably established the first written laws for the kingdom, and extended rights and privileges to the growing bourgeois communities. In 1122 Joscelin, who had been appointed count of Edessa when Baldwin became king, was captured in battle. Baldwin returned to the north to take over the regency of the county, but he too was taken captive by the Ortoqids while patrolling the borders of Edessa in 1123, and was held captive with Joscelin. Eustace Grenier acted as regent in Jerusalem, and at the Battle of Yibneh defeated an Egyptian invasion hoping to take advantage of the king's absence. Baldwin and Joscelin escaped from captivity with help from the Armenians in 1124. In 1125 Baldwin assembled the knights from all the crusader territories and met the Seljuks at the Battle of Azaz. Although the Seljuk army was much larger, the crusaders were victorious, d they restored much of the influence they had lost after the Ager Sanguinis. Baldwin attempted to take Damascus in 1126 with the help of the Templars, but the attempt was pushed back by Emir Toghtekin.

Succession of Baldwin II:

Baldwin had no sons with Morphia, but four daughters: Melisende, Alice, Hodierna, and Ioveta. In 1129 Baldwin named Melisende his heir, and arranged for her to marry Fulk V of Anjou. Fulk assisted Baldwin with the attack on Damascus. His daughters Alice and Hodierna also married important princes, Bohemund II of Antioch and Raymond II of Tripoli.In 1131 Baldwin fell sick and died on 21 August, and was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Melisende, by law the heir to the kingdom, succeeded her father with Fulk as her co‐ruler. The new queen and king were crowned on 14 September.

References:

Röhricht (R.), Regesta Regni Hierosolymitani (MXCVII–MCCXCI), Innsbruck, 1893.

Mayer (H. E.), 'The Succession to Baldwin II of Jerusalem: English Impact on the East', Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 1982, PP. 531-541.

Hugh of Vermandois (1057-1101)

Hugh of Vermandois. He was the brother of Philip I, king of France (1052-1108). Hugh partook to the first crusade (1096-1099).

Those of the Langue d'Oil had gone before, and under the guidance of Hugh, Count of Vermandois, had been the first of all the Crusaders to take the field. " Hugh," writes a contemporary, " was first to cross the sea to Durazzo, where the citizens took him prisoner, and sent him to the Emperor at Constantinople." How he was released from his captivity we have already seen.

Hugh of Vermandois and the Expeditions of 1101:

Hugh the Great, who had been sent to Constantinople after the fall of Antioch, shared in the disastrous expedition of 1101 and died at Tarsus. The recreant Count Stephen of Blois, driven back to the East by his wife's reproaches, took part in the same expedition, and was slain in the great battle of Ramleh (1102). This expedition, which ended so disastrously for the two French counts, must detain us for a little.

The conquest of Jerusalem kindled a warlike enthusiasm in many hearts which had been cold to the impassioned pleading of Urban and Peter. Amongst those who now took up arms was the powerful Duke William of Aquitaine. Religious feeling had not restrained him from the endeavour to turn Count Raymond's absence on the Crusade to his own profit He is perhaps the first of all the Crusading chiefs who undertook the expedition in the frivolous spirit of the mere adventurer eager for some new thing. The details of this crusade, or series of crusades, are difficult to follow ; but first of all a large and unruly horde of Lombards reached Constantinople, and after some riotous conduct, in the course of which they broke into the palace and killed one of the Emperor's pet lions, crossed the Bosphorus. At Nicomedia they were joined by Conrad the Constable of the Emperor Henry, and the two Stephens of Blois and Burgundy.

¬It was now Whitsuntide, 1101, and the Crusaders, eager to depart, begged Alexius for a guide. He offered them Raymond of St. Gilles, who was present at Constantinople But when the time for departure arrived a feud broke out between the two divisions. Stephen of Blois was for following the old Crusading track through Iconium to Antioch. The Lombards, however, were seized with a wild desire to push across the highlands of Asia Minor to the realm of Chorazan, by which they probably understood Persia or the region of the Lower Tigris. There they hoped to rescue Bohemond from captivity or, happier still, to seize Bagdad itself. Others, among whom was Ekkehard, our chief authority for this expedition, took alarm at a reported speech of the Emperor Alexius, to the effect that he would let the Franks and the Turks devour one another like dogs ; these went by sea from one or other of the Greek ports, and, as Ekkehard says, " Through the Divine mercy, after six weeks we reached the haven of Jaffa."

References:

Archer (T. A.),  The Crusades; the story of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, London, 1894.

Riley-Smith (J.), The First Crusade and Idea of Crusading, New York, 1993.

Murray (A. V.), The Crusades: an encyclopedia, CA : ABC-CLIO, 2006.

Stephen of Blois and his Letters to his wife Adela

    Stephen of Blois spent about two weeks (from c.14-28 May,  1097) in Constantinople. From there he sent Adela a letter, which has since been lost. However, his next letter, which does survive, said that he  was repeating some at least of what he  wrote in the first.  He then crossed the Bosporos and marched to Nicaea (Iznik, Turkey) to join the other Crusader forces already there, arriving on 3 June.

    He wrote his first surviving letter to Adela from Nicaea around 24 June 1097. In it he said that the emperor, Alexios I Comnenos, had received him like a son,  that there was  no  duke or count in the army in whom Alexios had placed more trust or who he had more favored, that the emperor had asked that Stephen send one of their sons  to Constantinople and had promised to  pay him a great honor, and that there was no man alive whose munificence could  compare  to  that  of the  emperor.  Even  Adela's  father, William the Conqueror, could not compare to him:  'In our times, as it seems to us, there was no prince so magnificent in his whole integrity of character. Your father,  my  beloved, gave many and great things, but [compared] to him he was almost nothing.'

Stephen of Blois and Chartres
Letter to his wife Adele (29 March 1098)

    Count Stephen to Adele, his sweetest and most amiable wife, to his dear children, and to all his vassals of all ranks--his greeting and blessing.

    You may be very sure, dearest, that the messenger whom I sent to give you pleasure, left me be before Antioch safe and unharmed, and through God's grace in the greatest prosperity. And already at that time, together with all the chosen army of Christ, endowed with  great  valor by Him, we had been continuously  advancing for twenty-three weeks toward the home of our Lord Jesus. You may know for certain, my beloved, that of gold, silver and many other kind of riches I now have twice as much your love had assigned to me when  I left  you.  For all our princes with  the common  consent  of the whole army,  against  my  own  wishes,  have  made  me  up  to  the  present  time  the  leader,  chief  and director of their whole expedition.

    You have certainly heard that after the capture of the city of Nicaea we fought a great battle with the Turks and by God's aid conquered them. Next we conquered for the Lord all Romania. And we learned that there was a certain Turkish prince Assam, dwelling in Cappadocia; thither we directed our course. All his castles we conquered by force and compelled him to flee to a certain very strong castle situated on a high rock. We also gave the land of that Assam to one of our chiefs and in order that he might conquer the above-mentioned Assam, we left there with him many soldiers of Christ. Thence, continually following the wicked Turks, we drove them through the midst of Armenia, as far as the great river Euphrates. Having left all their baggage and beasts of burden on the bank, they fled across the river into Arabia.

    The bolder of the Turkish soldiers, indeed, entering Syria, hastened by forced marches night and day, in order to be able to enter the royal city of Antioch before our approach. The whole army of God learning this gave due praise and thanks to the Lord. Hastening with great joy to the aforesaid chief city of Antioch, we besieged it and very often had many conflicts there with the Turks; and seven times with the citizens of Antioch and with the innumerable troops coming to its aid, whom we rushed to meet, we fought with the fiercest courage, under the leadership of Christ. And in all these seven battles, by the aid  of  the  Lord  God,  we  conquered  and  most  assuredly  killed  an  innumerable  host  of them. In those battles, indeed, and in very many attacks made upon the city, many of our
brethren and followers were killed and their souls were borne to the joys of paradise.

    We found the city of Antioch very  extensive, fortified with  incredible strength  and almost impregnable. In addition, more than 5,000 bold Turkish soldiers had entered the city, not counting the Saracens, Publicans, Arabs, Tulitans, Syrians, Armenians and other different  races  of  whom  an  infinite  multitude  had  gathered  together  there.  In  fighting against these enemies of God and of our own we have, by God's grace, endured many sufferings  and  innumerable  evils  up  to  the  present  time.  Many  also  have  already exhausted all their resources in this very holy passion. Very many of our Franks, indeed, would have met a temporal death from starvation, if the clemency of God and our money had not saved them. Before the above-mentioned city of Antioch indeed, throughout the whole winter we suffered for our Lord Christ from excessive cold and enormous torrents of rain. What some say about the impossibility of bearing the heat of the sun throughout Syria is untrue, for the winter there is very similar to our winter in the west.

    When  truly  Caspian  [Bagi  Seian],  the  emir  of  Antioch-that  is,  prince  and  lord-perceived that he was hard pressed by us, he sent his son Sensodolo [Chems Eddaulah] by  name,  to  the  prince  who  holds  Jerusalem,  and  to  the  prince  of  Calep,  Rodoam [Rodoanus], and to Docap [Deccacus Iba Toutousch], prince of Damascus. He also sent into Arabia to Bolianuth and to Carathania to Hamelnuth. These five emirs with 12,000 picked Turkish horsemen suddenly came to aid the inhabitants of Antioch. We, indeed, ignorant of all this, had sent many of our soldiers away to the cities and fortresses. For there are one hundred and sixty-five cities and fortresses throughout Syria which are in our power. But a little before they reached the city, we attacked them at three leagues' distance  with  700  soldiers,  on  a  certain  plain  near  the  "Iron  Bridge."  God,  however, fought for us, His faithful, against them. For on that (lay, fighting in the strength that God gives, we conquered them and killed an innumerable multitude--God continually fighting for us-and we also carried back to the army more than two hundred of their heads, in order that the people might rejoice on that account. The emperor of Babylon also sent Saracen messengers to our army with letters and through these he established peace and concord with us.

    I love to tell you, dearest, what happened to us during Lent. Our princes had caused a fortress to he built before a certain gate which was between our camp and the sea. For the Turks daily issuing from this gate, killed some of our men on their way to the sea. The city of Antioch is about five leagues' distance from the Sea. For this reason they sent the excellent  Bohemond  and  Raymond,  count  of  St.  Gilles,  to  the  sea  with  only  sixty horsemen, in order that they might bring mariners to aid in this work. When, however, they were returning to us with those mariners, the Turks collected an army, fell suddenly upon our two leaders and forced them to a perilous In that unexpected flight we lost more than 500 of our foot-soldiers--to the glory of God. Of our horsemen, however, we lost only two, for certain.

    On that same day truly, in order to receive our brethren with joy, and ignorant of their misfortunes,  we  went  out  to  meet  them.  When,  however,  we  approached  the  above-mentioned gate of the city, a mob of horsemen and foot-soldiers from Antioch, elated by the victory which they had won, rushed upon us in the same manner. Seeing these, our leaders sent to the camp of the Christians to order all to be ready to follow us into battle. In the meantime our men gathered together and the scattered leaders, namely, Bohemond and  Raymond,  with  the  remainder  of  their  army  came  up  and  narrated  the  great misfortune which they had suffered.

    Our men, full of fury at these most evil tidings, prepared to die for Christ and, deeply grieved for their brethren, rushed upon the sacrilegious Turks. They, enemies of God and of us, hastily fled before us and attempted to enter their city. But by God's grace the affair turned out very differently: for, when they wanted to cross a bridge built over the great river Moscholum, we followed them closely as possible, killed many before they reached the bridge, forced many into the river, all of whom were killed, and we also slew many upon the bridge and very many at the narrow entrance the gate. I am telling you the truth, my beloved, and you may be very certain that in this battle we killed thirty emirs, that is princes, and three hundred other Turkish nobles, not counting the remaining Turks and pagans. Indeed, the number of Turks and Saracens killed is reckoned at 1,230, but of ours we did not lose a single man.

    While on the following day (Easter) my chaplain Alexander was writing this letter in great haste, a party of our men lying in wait for the Turks, fought a successful battle with them and killed sixty horse-men, whose heads they brought to the army.

    These which I write to you, are only a few things, dearest, of the many which we have done, and because I am not able to tell you, dearest, what is in my mind, I charge you to do right, to carefully watch over your land, to do your duty as you ought to your children and your vassals. You will certainly see me just as soon as I possibly return to you.

Farewell. 

(Before Antioch, March 29, 1098)

Reference:

Munro, "Letters of the Crusader", Translations and Reprints from the  Original  Sources  of  European  History,  University  of  Pennsylvania History Department, 1898-1912, volume 1, number 4, 5-8.