Sibyl of Anjou

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Depiction of Sibylle von Anjou next to Dietrich von Alsace on the facade of the Basilica of the Holy Blood in Bruges

Sibylle von Anjou (* around 1112 , † 1165 in Bethanien ) was a French noblewoman and countess of Flanders by marriage.

Life

She was a daughter of Count Fulk V of Anjou from his first marriage to Ermengard of Maine .

In 1123 she married Wilhelm Clito , son of Robert Kurzhose , Duke of Normandy. Sibylle brought the county of Maine into the marriage, which was annulled in 1124 due to consanguinity. The cancellation was carried out by Pope Honorius II at the behest of King Heinrich I , Wilhelm's uncle. Fulko opposed it and did not agree until Honorius excommunicated him and placed an interdict on Anjou . Sibylle then accompanied her widowed father to the Holy Land , where he married Melisende , the heir to the Kingdom of Jerusalem , and became king there in 1131. In 1139 she married Dietrich von Alsace , the new Count of Flanders , who was on his first pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

She returned to Flanders with her husband . While Dietrich was on the Second Crusade from 1147 to 1150 , the pregnant Sibyl ruled the country. Baldwin IV , Count of Hainaut took the opportunity and attacked Flanders, but Sibylle struck back and plundered Hainaut. In return, Baldwin devastated Artois . In 1151 Baldwin finally made peace with Dietrich when he returned.

In 1157 Sibylle traveled with Dietrich on his third pilgrimage, but did not want to return with her husband after arriving in Jerusalem. She became a nun in the convent of St. Lazarus in Bethany , where her step-aunt, Ioveta of Bethany , was the abbess. Ioveta and Sibylle supported their stepmother, Queen Melisende , and influenced the Church. Especially after Melisende's death she became a half-sister of the kings Baldwin III. and Amalrich I held an influential position in the Jerusalem royal family. Sibylle died in Bethany in 1165.

progeny

She had six children with Dietrich:

  • Philip of Alsace († 1191), Count of Flanders, Vermandois and Valois
  • Matthew of Alsace († 1173), Count of Boulogne
  • Margarete († 1194), Countess of Flanders and Hainaut, married to Baldwin V. von Hainaut
  • Gertrude († 1186), ∞ I) 1155 Humbert III. († 1189), Count of Savoy, divorced before 1162; ∞ II) after 1158 Hugo III. von Oisy († 1189), castellan of Cambrai
  • Matilda († 1194)
  • Peter († 1176), Bishop of Cambrai

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm of Tire: Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum. Book XIV, Chapter I.
  2. ↑ Steven Runciman : A History of the Crusades. Penguin Books, 1978, Volume 2, p. 361.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Sibyl of Anjou
BRIEF DESCRIPTION by marriage Countess of Flanders
DATE OF BIRTH around 1112
DATE OF DEATH 1165
Place of death Bethany (Bible)