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 – 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]

white ship
Empress Matilda

Matilda of Anjou – The forgotten Princess

Matilda of Anjou is another Queen-to-be that we never got to see in action. She remains quite unknown to the public, and I cannot even locate a contemporary portrait or even a description of her. When searching for her, I often find references to her more famous sister-in-law who was also coincidentally named Matilda, and [read more]