Theodora Komnene - Queen Consort of Jerusalem

Queen Consort of Jerusalem

Baldwin III of Jerusalem had taken control of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his mother and Regent Queen Melisende in 1153. He was unmarried, however, and around 1157 it was decided by the Haute Cour that a wife should be sought from the Byzantine Empire, the kingdom's most powerful and wealthy neighbour. A Byzantine alliance would hopefully also bring much-needed money and military assistance against Nūr al-Dīn, sultan of Syria and Jerusalem's greatest enemy.

Attard, archbishop of Nazareth, Humphrey II of Toron, constable of Jerusalem, Joscelin Piscellus, and William de Barris were sent to Constantinople to negotiate a marriage for the king (Attard died while on the mission). The ambassadors were delayed in Constantinople for almost an entire year but it was finally decided that Theodora would be chosen as Baldwin's wife. She was at the time only 12 or 13 years old, but was already renowned for her beauty. Her dowry was worth 100,000 hyperpyra, and William of Tyre estimated that her extravagant wedding clothes cost another 14,000 hyperpyra. As a dowry from Baldwin, Theodora was granted the city of Acre, which she would hold as her own should Baldwin die childless.

The ambassadors arrived in Jerusalem with Theodora in September 1158. Aimery of Limoges, the patriarch of Antioch, performed the marriage, as the patriarch of Jerusalem had not yet been consecrated. Baldwin was previously known for his frivolous lifestyle, but now became a devoted and loyal husband. The marriage was short and childless: Baldwin died only a few years later in 1162, leaving Theodora a widow at the age of about 17. Theodora received the city of Acre, as promised.