Alice of Antioch

Lost Kingdoms – The Kingdom of Jerusalem

The Kingdom of Jerusalem came into existence due to crusaders. Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in 1095 to assist the Byzantine Empire against the invasions of the Seljuk Turks. The ultimate goal was to control the Holy Land. After successfully laying siege to Jerusalem in 1099, Godfrey of Bouillon, who had been [read more]

Jerusalem

Queens Regnant – Maria of Montferrat

Maria of Montferrat was born in the summer of 1192 as the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and her first husband, Conrad of Montferrat. She never knew her father as he died before she was born. Maria had six half-siblings from her mother’s two subsequent marriages. Of those six half-siblings, four sisters survived, [read more]

Jerusalem

Queens Regnant – Melisende of Jerusalem

Melisende was born in 1105 in Edessa (modern-day Turkey) to the future Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Morphia of Melitene. Her father was elected King of Jerusalem in 1118. Baldwin and Morphia had four daughters, of whom Melisende was the eldest. Though Baldwin had been encouraged to set aside Morphia to make a better political [read more]

isabella jerusalem
Alice of Champagne

Queens Regnant – Isabella I of Jerusalem

The future Isabella I of Jerusalem was born circa 1172 from her father Almaric of Jerusalem’s second marriage to Maria Kommene, a grandniece of the Byzantine emperor. She had two half-siblings from her father’s first marriage, Baldwin and Sibylla. She was just two years old when her father died, and he was succeeded by his [read more]