Agnes of Courtenay

Agnes of Edessa or Agnes of Courtenay ( * before 1149; † around 1184 ) was the mother of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and played an important role during the reign of her son.

Agnes was the daughter of Joscelin II of Courtenay, Count of Edessa, and the sister of Joscelin III. Her first husband was Reynald of Marash, after his death ( 1149 ) she became engaged to Hugh of Ibelin, but then in 1157 Amalric, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon married after Hugo had been captured in a battle of the Muslims. The Patriarch Fulk this marriage resisted so much that Amalric was in 1162 forced to cancel it in order to become king can. The reasons for the resistance were often seen in the close relationship of the two, but it is also possible that many nobles such a vindictive and greedy woman did not want to have as a queen. Agnes and Amalric were the parents of Sibylle and Baldwin IV, the wedlock remained despite the annulment of the marriage. A little later, Agnes married but Hugh of Ibelin, who died in 1169. Her fourth husband was Reynald of Sidon.

While Amalric government had little influence in the kingdom. That changed with the accession of Baldwin IV in 1174, especially after Raymond III. had been relieved of Tripoli as regent. 1176 she released her brother Joscelin III. from from Muslim captivity and made him seneschal of Jerusalem. They also appointed constable Amalric of Lusignan for the Empire, as Humphrey II of Toron died in 1179 - accompanied by rumors that she had an affair with him. She stood in opposition to William of Tyre, and you owed ​​Heraclius that he was archbishop of Caesarea and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1180, although William was the more popular candidate - the rumors held that she had an affair with Heraclius.

Meanwhile, she had become one of the leaders of the court party, which stood in contrast to the more conservative and less adventurous aristocratic party. 1180 they supported the marriage of their daughter Sibylle with Guido of Lusignan, although Guido had not been long in the country, and certainly did not belong to one of the established families. As an opponent of Raymond III. she convinced Baldwin IV in 1182, this denial of entry into the Kingdom. 1183 probably helped to arrange the marriage of Humphrey IV of Toron and Isabella of Jerusalem; a provision of the marriage contract stipulated that Toron should be a royal domain - Agnes in 1184 then claimed for himself.

Your exact date of death is unknown, but it is likely that they still died in 1184.