Theodora Komnena (Jerusalem)

Queen Theodora Komnena in a depiction from the 14th century

Theodora Kalusine Komnena ( Middle Greek Θεοδώρα Κομνηνή , * 1145 or 1146 probably in Constantinople ; † after 1185) was Queen of Jerusalem from 1158 to 1162 .

Life

Theodora was the daughter of the Sebastokrator Isaak Komnenos and his second wife Irene Diplosynadena and thus niece of his younger brother, the Byzantine emperor Manuel I. She had been brought up in the imperial palace. She was considered very beautiful and well-formed.

In the autumn of 1157, King Baldwin III. Sent by Jerusalem Attard, the Archbishop of Nazareth , Joscellin Pisellus, Wilhelm von Barres and the constable Humfried as ambassadors to Constantinople to request a bride for him. After long negotiations, thirteen-year-old Theodora was selected. Her dowry was 100,000 solidi , plus 10,000 solidi for the cost of the wedding. Wilhelm von Tyros estimates that their equipment and clothing, "gold and precious stones, robes and pearls, carpets and silk as well as precious vessels" were worth another 14,000 solidi. In the marriage contract, her Acre and the area of ​​the city were promised as a morning gift, "in full peace and undisputed". Accompanied by the rest of the ambassadors (Attard had died in Constantinople) and Byzantine nobles, the bride sailed to Tire , where she landed in September 1158. In the same month she was anointed and crowned queen in Jerusalem and married to Baldwin. The marriage was performed by the Latin Patriarch Amalrich of Antioch , as the Patriarch of Jerusalem had not yet been consecrated due to the lack of consent of the Pope. After the marriage, the king gave up his dissolute lifestyle and is said to have been loyal to his bride, as Wilhelm von Tire expressly emphasizes.

After Rainald of Antioch was captured in 1160 or 1161 after an unsuccessful raid on the area of Maraş and was in the power of Nur ad-Din in Aleppo , Baldwin traveled to Antioch to settle the situation there. Queen Melisende died in Jerusalem in 1161 during his absence . When Baldwin in Antioch had taken medicine, as he usually did, before the beginning of winter, he developed a high fever and diarrhea and developed emaciation from which he could no longer recover. His local court doctor Barrac was then suspected of having poisoned him, allegedly a dog died after being fed the rest of the pills. Baldwin was first brought to Tripoli , where he lay down for several months, and finally to Beirut . There he made his confession, received the last unction and died on February 2, 1162 (or 1163) at the age of 32. His body was brought to Jerusalem and buried on Calvary . Since the marriage with Theodora had remained childless, his brother Amaury , Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, was crowned king in 1163. He seems to have actively prevented Theodoras from remarrying, since Akko remained under his control.

When her cousin Andronikos Komnenos came to Jerusalem, Theodora took him into her house. When Amalrich I gave him Beirut as a fief in 1167, she traveled with him to Beirut and seems to have lived with him there too. Manuel was informed of the relationship, presumably from Theodora's second niece Maria Komnena , Amalrich's second wife. Since Theodora and Andronikos were too closely related to be allowed to marry (second cousins), they fled the wrath of Manuel to Nur ad-Din , the Sultan of Damascus . Amalrich took control of Akko.

Theodora gave birth to their son Alexios in Harran , after which they moved on to Baghdad , Mardin and Erzurum . Eventually they settled in Kolonea in Paphlagonia on the border with the Byzantine province of Trapezunt (Trabzon) . When Andronikos was on a raid against the Romans, the governor of Trebizond took the castle of Kolonea. Theodora and her two children Alexios and Irene were captured and sent to Constantinople. In order to obtain their release, Andronikos submitted to Emperor Manuel and was pardoned. He was allowed to settle with Theodora and her children in the fortress of Oinaion on the Black Sea.

When Manuel died in 1180, his son Alexios II succeeded him as ruler under the reign of Empress Maria of Antioch . In 1183, however, Maria had to recognize Andronikos as co-ruler.

Theodora's daughter Irene Komnena was married by her father to Alexios , the illegitimate son of Manuel I and Theodora Batatzina. Because they were too closely related, an ecclesiastical dispensation had to be issued. Bishop Theodosius, who opposed the wedding, was exiled to the island of Terebinthos , and Basilios Kamateros was appointed in his place , who was loyal to Andronikos. The wedding was performed by the Archbishop of Bulgaria.

Mary of Antioch and her son died soon after, and rulership fell to Andronikos. Andronikos then married Alexios' widow Agnes of France (Anna), a daughter of Louis VII . He seems to have maintained good relations with Theodora, after all, his bride was only eleven years old. In 1184/85 Theodora succeeded in persuading Andronikos to provide the ransom for her nephew Isaak Komnenos , who had been in Armenian captivity for a long time .

Nothing is known about the fate of Theodora after the violent death of Andronikos in 1185.

literature

• Mary Noyes Colvin (Ed.): Godeffroy of Boloyne, or, The siege and conqueste of Jerusalem, by William, Archbishop of Tire. Translated from the French by William Caxton, and printed by him in 1481; edited from the copy in the British Museum (London 1893).
• Steven Runciman : History of the Crusades. P. 654ff.
• Andreas Thiele: Narrative genealogical family tables on European history. Volume III, European Imperial, Royal and Princely Houses Supplementary Volume (Frankfurt 1994), Pl. 202 ff.
• J.-L. Van Dieten (Ed.), Nicetas Choniates: Historia. Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 11 (Berlin / New York 1975).