DEATH OF QUEEN MELISENDE

Melisende was the first queen of Jerusalem, and her rule represented the apogee of royal power in the Latin kingdom during the twelfth century.

Melisende, the eldest of four sisters, was born around 1105. Her father Baldwin of Bourcq, Count of Edessa, had married Morphia, a daughter of the Armenian prince Gabriel of Melitene, a Greek Orthodox Armenian. Although the reasons for the marriage were political – Baldwin benefited greatly from the support of the Armenian nobility and the great dowry Morphia brought with her – the spouses became close allies over time.

When Baldwin became king of Jerusalem as Baldwin II in 1118, he moved his wife and four daughters to the holy city. He campaigned exhaustively and was captured twice by Muslim forces; during his second captivity, when Melisende was in her teens, Morphia headed negotiations for his release.

After the death of her mother (1126), Melisende was designated the royal heiress and married Fulk V, Count of Anjou and Maine, in 1129. At his death (1131), Baldwin made an unusual stipulation: that Fulk, Melisende and their son, also called Baldwin, were to jointly inherit the throne. Husband and wife were crowned together at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

It seems that Baldwin II was worried that she might be pushed aside by her husband. It appears that in the early years of Fulk reign, Melisende was excluded from important decisions in the kingdom. One of her close supporters, Hugh of Jaffa, rebelled against the king and one of Fulk’s knights tried to assassinate Hugh. Melisende was furious about the attack and Fulk feared for his life, believing himself threatened by partisans of the queen. He incorporated the queen into his rule, consulting her on the business of the realm and issuing charters jointly. During this period, the famous Melisende Psalter, a richly decorated personal prayer book fit for a queen, was commissioned – possibly by Melisende herself, or by Fulk as a gift. The royal couple also embarked on a substantial building program, including major works on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

In 1143, Fulk was killed in a hunting accident and Melisende inherited the throne jointly with her son Baldwin III, then aged 13. She ruled the kingdom skillfully, but by the early 1150s her son challenged his mother, wanting sole authority. Fighting erupted, and Baldwin put siege to his mother in the citadel at Jerusalem. After peace was negotiated and Melisende agreed to cede full power to Baldwin, he soon reconciled with his mother and sought her advice. She performed occasional roles in government until her death on September 11, 1161. Chronicler William of Tyre called her “a very wise woman, fully experienced in almost all spheres of state business,” who took “charge of important affairs.”