Theodora Komnene, Queen of Jerusalem
| Theodora Komnene | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Queen consort of Jerusalem | |
| Tenure | 1158–10 February 1162 |
| Born | c. 1145 |
| Died | Before 1182 |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | Alexios Komnenos Eirene Komnene |
| House | Komnenos |
| Father | Isaac Komnenos |
| Mother | Eirene Synadene |
Theodora Komnene (Greek: Θεοδώρα Κομνηνή) (born c. 1145) was a member of the Byzantine imperial Komnenos family who became queen consort of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Background
[edit]Theodora was a member of the Komnenos dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. Her father, the sebastokrator Isaac, was the eldest surviving son of Emperor John II Komnenos. Her mother, Eirene Synadene, was Isaac's second wife.[1] Upon John's death in 1143 the imperial throne was seized by Theodora's uncle Manuel I Komnenos.[2]
In 1157 envoys from the Kingdom of Jerusalem arrived in Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, to request a marital alliance with Manuel.[3] The kingdom was a crusader state, carved out by the Catholic Franks from the Muslim states in the Levant.[4] It was in dire need of money and military assistance against the Muslim ruler Nur al-Din Zengi, and so when its high court debated the marriage of their young king, Baldwin III, a decision was reached to seek a Byzantine bride.[3]
The negotiations over Baldwin's Byzantine marriage were prolonged by the Norman threat to the empire's western territories.[3] The bride finally selected was the 12-year-old Theodora.[5] She left Constantinople in the late summer of 1157.[3] The Franks were fully satisfied:[3] Theodora set out with a "colossal dowry of 100,000 hyperpyra,[3][6] with a wardrobe worth a further 14,000, and another 10,000 for the costs of the royal wedding.[3] Theodora's exceptional beauty was, according to historian Bernard Hamilton, an "uncovenanted bonus".[5] The conditions imposed by the emperor were that Baldwin should grant Acre, the greatest city of the kingdom, to Theodora as her dower and that Baldwin should work to secure Byzantine overlordship of the Principality of Antioch.[7]
Life in Jerusalem
[edit]Theodora landed at Tyre, the kingdom's port city, in September 1158. Aimery of Limoges, the exiled Latin patriarch of Antioch, crowned and anointed Theodora and, within a few days, celebrated her marriage to Baldwin.[8] Hamilton surmises that Theodora and Baldwin were happy together: the king, whose earlier lechery scandalized his subjects, became "a reformed character" after the marriage.[7]
Despite being the crucial figure in the Franko-Byzantine alliance, Theodora did not publicly exercise any power as the queen of Jerusalem.[7] Hamilton suggests that both Baldwin and his younger brother, Amalric, were mindful of the power once wielded by their mother, Queen Melisende,[7] whom Baldwin had deposed in 1152.[9] Baldwin associated Theodora in only two acts: one involving Acre, her dower-fief, and the other concerning a major land exchange with his vassal Philip of Milly, the importance of which required that it be witnessed by the entire royal family.[7] The young queen did, however, have complete freedom in managing her own land.[10]
Relationship with Andronikos I Komnenos
[edit]A few years later in 1166, Theodora's kinsman Andronikos, a first cousin of her father, visited the kingdom and was named lord of Beirut by Baldwin's brother and successor Amalric I. Andronikos invited Theodora to Beirut, and the two eloped to Damascus, or as William says, Andronikos abducted her in collusion with Nūr al-Dīn. It was likely not an abduction; Andronikos was already married, and had already had an affair with Philippa, a sister of Prince Bohemund III of Antioch and of Manuel's wife Maria of Antioch, and he was likely trying to escape persecution by Manuel, who did not approve of these incestuous affairs. As there was no legal marriage, Acre was returned to King Amalric. Amalric had also married a Byzantine princess, Maria Komnene, and the imperial alliance remained intact.
At the court of Nūr al-Dīn in Damascus, Andronikos and Theodora had two children together, Alexios and Eirene, although Andronikos was inevitably excommunicated. They also travelled to Baghdad, and then to the Sultanate of Rum where Andronikos was made lord of a castle in Paphlagonia.
Some years later Theodora and her children were captured and handed over to the emperor Manuel, who kept them in Constantinople as a bait to encourage Andronikos to return to his Byzantine allegiance. He did in fact capitulate and visited Constantinople in 1180 to submit to Manuel.
Andronikos finally returned to Constantinople in 1182, becoming emperor in 1183. There is no mention of Theodora in sources from Andronikos's reign; she likely died before 1182.
Namesakes
[edit]Another Theodora Komnene was the wife of Prince Bohemund III of Antioch and sister of Queen Maria Komnene of Jerusalem. A third Theodora Komnene was the wife of Duke Henry II of Austria and mother of Duke Leopold V of Austria.
References
[edit]- ^ Magdalino 2002, Genealogy.
- ^ Magdalino 2002, p. 41.
- ^ a b c d e f g Hamilton 1978, p. 157.
- ^ Hamilton 2000, p. 49.
- ^ a b Hamilton 1978, pp. 157–158.
- ^ Magdalino 2002, p. 70.
- ^ a b c d e Hamilton 1978, p. 158.
- ^ Barber 2012, p. 212.
- ^ Hamilton 1978, p. 153.
- ^ Hamilton 1978, pp. 158–159.
Bibliography
[edit]- Barber, Malcolm (2012). The Crusader States. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11312-9.
- Hamilton, Bernard (1978). "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem". In Baker, Derek (ed.). Medieval Women. Ecclesiastical History Society. ISBN 978-0631192602.
- Hamilton, Bernard (2000). The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521017473.
- Magdalino, Paul (2002) [1993]. The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52653-1.