Agnes of Courtenay
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Agnes of Courtenay (c.1136-c. 1184) was the daughter of Joscelin II of Courtenay, and the mother of king Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and queen Sibylla of Jerusalem.
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Dynasty
The Courtenay family ruled the County of Edessa, the furthest north of the Crusader states. Joscelin I of Courtenay, an ally of Baldwin II of Jerusalem, was awarded the county in 1118. Joscelin II inherited Edessa and Turbessel in 1131 on the death of his father, and desperately tried to defend his extensive borders against his hostile Muslim neighbours.
Agnes grew up in Edessa, until the city was captured by Zengi in 1144. Her father fled family to the fortress of Turbessel for safety, and after attempting to regain Edessa, he was captured and imprisoned in 1150. On hearing of Joscelin's capture, the Countess of Edessa, unable to secure Turbessel herself, sold the remnant of their domains to the Byzantine Empire and took her children to Jerusalem in 1150. Byzantium lost Turbessel later that year.
With the proceeds from the sale of Turbessel, the Courtenay family was able to secure themselves in Jerusalem and offer patronage and earn their position at court. During the "civil war" of 1152, when Baldwin III rebelled against the government of his mother Melisende, the Courtenay family supported Melisende and may have been amongst the other nobles who sought refuge in the Tower of David.
As a senior member of the Courtenay family, Agnes was a most eligible heiress in her own right. Her first marriage was to Reynald of Marash, who later died. She then may have been betrothed to Hugh of Ibelin, but Hugh was captured in battle and the marriage never took place. Then, a love match seems to have developed between Agnes and Amalric, the heir apparent and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon. The couple wed in 1157, clearly with the support of queen Melisende and King Baldwin III, for without their support the wedding would not have taken place. In 1159 Agnes' father died in captivity.
Agnes bore Amalric two children, first Sibylla (b.c. 1160) and then Baldwin IV (b. 1161). Agnes and Amalric made their home in the royal court, where Queen Melisende acted as regent for her son Baldwin III while he was on campaign.
Royal annulment
Melisende suffered a stroke in 1161 and died in Nablus. Baldwin III died unexpectedly in 1162, leaving Amalric as heir. These events placed Agnes' marriage in jeopardy. Agnes was an easy target as she held no political value. Edessa was firmly in enemy hands and she could offer no diplomatic cache. Additionally, she had made enemies at court. The chronicle of Ernoul hints at a perceived slight on her moral character with "car telle n'est que roine doie iest di si haute cite comme de Jherusalem".
The leading members of the Haute Cour refused to endorse Amalric as king unless he annulled his marriage to Agnes. To this he agreed, but it was ruled that their children, Baldwin and Sibylla, would remain legitimate and legal heirs to the throne. Additionally, Agnes would retain her marriage title of Countess of Jaffa and Ascalon, along with a portion of the income of these fiefs. Once the negotiations were complete, their marriage was annulled on grounds of consanguinity. Amalric later make a lucrative political alliance with Byzantium by marring princess Maria Comnena, great-grandniece to emperor Manuel I Comnenus.
Reign of Amalric I
Though her position was secured, Agnes was not permitted to raise her own children. Baldwin IV was raised by William of Tyre at court, and Sibylla was raised by her great-aunt Ioveta of Bethany at the convent of St. Lazarus. Along with her income from Jaffa and Ascalon, Agnes was able to maintain her position as a leading noble of the realm, offering patronage to new crusaders such as Amalric of Lusignan, whom she would promote as her personal constable. In 1163 she married Hugh of Ibelin, to whom she might have been betrothed previously. After Hugh's death in 1170 Agnes married Reginald of Sidon. Despite her position and income, Agnes would have little influence at court where her ex-husband's wife, Queen Maria Comnena, held sway.
Reign of Baldwin IV
When her son Baldwin IV came to the throne Countess Agnes was able to exert more influence. As the king's mother she was invited back to court, and as her son was not married, she was able to take the role of "queen mother". The dowager-queen Maria Comnena, now having no role at court, retired to Nablus. During these years Agnes became closer to both of her children, as Sibylla was also brought to court. However, Agnes was unable to prevent the regent Raymond III of Tripoli from having her daughter Sibylla married to William of Montferrat in 1176. Additionally, as regent, Raymond stripped Agnes of Jaffa and Ascalon and created William Count of those fiefs. William soon died, leaving Sibylla pregnant with the future Baldwin V.
Later in 1176 a potential political crisis developed. As Baldwin IV was a leper and a minor, Raymond of Tripoli led the regency government. Philip of Flanders arrived that year and demanded to be named regent, as the king's nearest male relative actually in the kingdom, and to have the princesses Sibylla and Isabella (daughter of Amalric and Maria) wed to his own vassals.
The Haute Cour, led by Baldwin of Ibelin, rebuffed Philip's demands. To foil Philip's claim to the regency, the Haute Cour declared that Baldwin IV had now reached his majority. This meant Raymond III had to step down as regent. With her son exercising full royal prerogatives, Agnes' influence rapidly grew.
Agnes emerged as one of the leaders at court, which was becoming more polarized. She had her brother, Joscelin III, the titular Count of Edessa, released from captivity and appointed seneschal of Jerusalem. Additionally, she had Amalric of Lusignan appointed as constable of the kingdom in 1179. In 1180 she influenced the election of Heraclius as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, over his rival William of Tyre.
Political marriages
At Easter of 1180, Raymond III of Tripoli and Bohemund III of Antioch entered the kingdom to exert pressure on what they perceived to be a weakened monarchy. One of their goals was to have the princess Sibylla, the heir apparent, wedded to someone of their choosing.
Sibylla had remained widowed since 1177. This might be because a love-match developed between Sibylla and Baldwin of Ibelin. According to the chronicler Ernoul, Sibylla and Baldwin were courting, and when Baldwin was captured by Saladin in 1179, they exchanged letters during his imprisonment. Ernoul wrote that Sibylla herself proposed to Baldwin in a letter, with the wedding after his release. Saladin had raised Baldwin's ransom to a great sum, but surprisingly released him with the promise to pay later. Honor-bound to pay the debt, Baldwin left for Constantinople where he received a grant from the Emperor Manuel. Baldwin was still in Constantinople when Raymond and Bohemund threatened to take over the government and force Sibylla's marriage. Agnes, not wishing her daughter married into the rival nobles' faction, arranged to have Sibylla marry her own client, Guy of Lusignan.
In 1182, with Agnes' influence, King Baldwin appointed Guy of Lusignan as his regent. Guy abused his authority and ignored Raynald of Chatillon's harassment of Muslim trade caravans, causing a diplomatic crisis between Jerusalem and Egypt-Syria. Guy's favoritism for Raynald and the friction he caused at court caused King Baldwin to depose Guy as regent and lift Saladin's siege of Kerak, which was hosting the arranged marriage of princess Isabella and Humphrey IV of Toron.
Retirement and Death
Throughout 1184 King Baldwin tried to free his sister of her marriage but was unsuccessful, as Guy was defying royal orders and was held up in Ascalon. King Baldwin was forced to take drastic action. The king and the factional leaders agreed to a solution advanced by Agnes of Courtenay. Elderly Agnes, herself disgruntled with Guy's behavior, was willing to reach an accord with her one-time rivals. The agreement would place Baldwin V, Sibylla's infant son from her first marriage, on the throne over Sibylla herself, with Raymond III of Tripoli as regent. If the infant Baldwin V were to expire, a council was to convene to determine the next monarch: Sibylla or Isabella. Additionally, a clause also allowed for the rulers of England, France, and Germany to have a say in the next monarch. Later in 1184, King Baldwin gave Toron to his mother Agnes, previously stripped of her titles by Raymond of Tripoli.
Agnes died at her estates in Acre, sometime in 1184. Baldwin IV himself expired by early 1185, leaving Sibylla's son as king and Raymond as regent. Baldwin V, never a healthy child, died by early 1186, ultimately leaving Sibylla as Queen and Guy as her consort.
A different Agnes of Courtenay was the daughter of Peter of Courtenay, Latin emperor, and Yolanda of Flanders. She married Geoffrey II Villhardouin, prince of Achaea, in 1217.
