Maria Comnena (c. 1150-1208 or later) was the second wife of King Amalric I of Jerusalem and mother of Isabella of Jerusalem. She was the daughter of Ioannes Comnenus, sometime Byzantine dux in Cyprus, and Maria Taronitissa, a descendant of the ancient Armenian kings. Her sister Theodora married Prince Bohemund III of Antioch, and her brother Alexios was briefly emperor of Thessalonica. Events Åhus, Sweden gains city privileges City of Airdrie, Scotland founded King Sverker I of Sweden is deposed and succeeded by Eric IX of Sweden. ... Events Philip of Swabia King of Germany and rival Holy Roman Emperor to Otto IV, assassinated June 21 in Bamberg by German Count Otto of Wittelsbach because Philip had refused to give him his daughter in marriage. ... Amalric I (also Amaury or Aimery) (1136 – July 11, 1174) was King of Jerusalem 1162–1174, and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession. ... Isabella of Jerusalem (c. ... Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus The Comnenus or Komnenos family was an important dynasty in the history of the Byzantine Empire. ... Bohemund III of Antioch (1144-1201), also know as the Stammerer, was ruler of the principality of Antioch (a crusader state) from 1163 to his death. ... The White Tower The Arch of Galerius Map showing the Thessaloníki prefecture Thessaloníki (Θεσσαλονίκη) is the second-largest city of Greece and is the principal city and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. ...

After the annulment of his first marriage to Agnes of Courtenay, Amalric was anxious to forge an alliance with Byzantium and asked the emperor Manuel for a bride from the imperial family. Maria Comnena was no beauty (and Amalric himself was growing increasingly corpulent), but she was the emperor's grandniece and he bestowed upon her a rich dowry. The marriage of Amalric and Maria was celebrated with much fanfare at Tyre, on August 29, 1167. Agnes of Courtenay (c. ... Fresco of Manuel I Manuel I Comnenus Megas (November 28, 1118? – September 24, 1180) was Byzantine Emperor from 1143 to 1180. ... For a wheel tyre, see the article under the US English spelling of the word, tire. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... Events Taira no Kiyomori becomes the first samurai to be appointed Daijo Daijin, chief minister of the government of Japan Peter of Blois becomes the tutor of William II of Sicily Absalon, archbishop of Denmark, leads the first Danish synod at Lund Absalon fortifies Copenhagen William Marshal, the greatest knight...

Maria bore him a daughter, Isabella, in 1172, and a stillborn child some time later. On his deathbed, Amalric left Nablus to Maria, who became dowager-queen upon his death, and Isabella. Nāblus (sometimes Nābulus; Arabic: (help· info); IPA , Hebrew: (help· info); IPA ); 32°13′N 35°16′E) is a major city under Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and, with a population of over 100,000, is one of the largest Palestinian population centers in the Middle East. ...

In 1177, Maria married Balian of Ibelin. She bore him at least four children: Balian of Ibelin (c. ...

• Helvis, who married Reginald of Sidon (widower of Agnes of Courtenay), then Guy of Montfort
• John of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut and constable of Jerusalem, who married Helvis of Nephin, then Melisende of Arsur
• Margaret, who married Hugh of Tiberias (stepson of Raymond III of Tripoli), then Walter of Caesarea
• Philip of Ibelin, bailli (regent) of Cyprus, who married Alice of Montbéliard.

Maria and Balian supported Conrad of Montferrat (uncle of the late Baldwin V) in his struggle for the kingship against Guy of Lusignan. They arranged for Maria's daughter by Amalric, Isabella, to have her first marriage annulled so that she could marry Conrad, giving him a stronger claim to the throne. In this, Maria and Balian gained the enmity of Richard I of England and his chroniclers. The anonymous author of the Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi wrote of them: Reginald Grenier (died 1202; also Reynald or Renaud) was Lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. ... Agnes of Courtenay (c. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-04-15, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, created in 1099, was divided into a number of smaller seigneuries. ... There were six major officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem: constable, marshal, seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and chancellor. ... Raymond III of Tripoli (c. ... Conrad of Montferrat (c. ... Top: Baldwin IV on his sickbed; Bottom: Baldwin V crowned. ... Guy of Lusignan (c. ... Richard I (September 8, 1157 – April 6, 1199) was King of England from 1189 to 1199. ...

Steeped in Greek filth from the cradle, she had a husband whose morals matched her own: he was cruel, she was godless; he was fickle, she was pliable; he was faithless, she was fraudulent.

As the grandmother of Alice of Champagne (Isabella's daughter by her third husband, Henry II of Champagne), Maria conducted the marriage negotiations with Cyprus in 1208 – Alice was to marry Hugh I of Cyprus. Blanche of Navarre, Regent and Countess of Champagne, widow of Alice's paternal uncle, provided the dowry for Alice. This is the last time Maria is mentioned, and she was certainly dead by 1217. Queen Alice of Cyprus, born Alice of Jerusalem or Alice de Champagne (1196–1246) was the daughter of Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem and Count Henry II of Champagne (Henry I of Jerusalem). ... Henry II of Champagne (July 29, 1166–1197), was count of Champagne from 1181 to 1197, and king of Jerusalem from 1192 to 1197. ... Hugh I of Cyprus (born 1194 or 1195, died 1218) succeeded to the throne of Cyprus in 1205 underage upon the death of his elderly father Amalric of Lusignan, King of Cyprus and King-Consort of Jerusalem. ... This article is about a regent of Navarre, countess of Champagne. ...

Sources

• Chronique d'Ernoul et de Bernard le Trésorier, edited by M. L. de Mas Latrie. La Société de l'Histoire de France, 1871.
• La Continuation de Guillaume de Tyr (1184-1192), edited by Margaret Ruth Morgan. L'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 1982.
• Ambrose the poet, The History of the Holy War, translated by Marianne Ailes. Boydell Press, 2003.
• Chronicle of the Third Crusade, a Translation of Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi, translated by Helen J. Nicholson. Ashgate, 1997.
• Peter W. Edbury, The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade: Sources in Translation. Ashgate, 1996.
• Edbury, Peter W. John of Ibelin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1997
• Payne, Robert. The Dream and the Tomb, 1984
• Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vols. II-III. Cambridge University Press, 1952-55.