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Birth:          1128 
Death:          1163 

Notes
heiress of Antioch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_of_Antioch
Constance of Hauteville (1128–1163) was the ruling Princess of Antioch from 1130 to 
1163. She was the only child of Bohemond II of Antioch by his wife, Alice of 
Jerusalem. Constance succeeded her father, who fell in battle, at the age of two, 
although his cousin, Roger II of Sicily, laid claim to Antioch. Her mother assumed the 
regency, but the Antiochene noblemen replaced her with her father (Constance's 
grandfather), Baldwin II of Jerusalem. After he died in 1131, Alice again tried to take 
control of the government, but the Antiochene barons acknowledged the right of her 
brother-in-law, Fulk of Anjou, to rule as regent for Constance.

Constance was given in marriage to Raymond of Poitiers in 1136. During the 
subsequent years, Raymond ruled Antioch while Constance gave birth to four children. 
After Raymond was murdered after a battle in 1149, Fulk of Anjou's son, Baldwin III of 
Jerusalem, assumed the regency. He tried to persuade Constance to remarry, but she 
did not accept his candidates. She also refused to marry a middle-aged relative of the 
Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenus. Finally, she found a love interest and was 
married to Raynald of Châtillon, a knight from France, in 1153.

After her second husband fell into captivity around 1160–1161, Constance wanted to 
rule Antioch alone, but Baldwin III of Jerusalem declared her fifteen-year-old son, 
Bohemond III, the lawful prince. Constance disregarded this declaration and took 
control of the administration of the principality with the assistance of Emperor Manuel. 
Constance was dethroned in favor of her son shortly before her death.
Early life[edit]

Constance who was born in 1128 was the only child of Prince Bohemond II of Antioch 
and Alice,[1][2] the second daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem.[1][3] Bohemond 
was killed in a battle at the Ceyhan River in February 1130.[4][5] After his death, Alice 
assumed the regency for Constance.[5] According to rumors spreading in Antioch, 
Alice was planning to send Constance to a monastery or to marry her off to a 
commoner.[5] Bohemond's cousin, Roger II of Sicily, regarded himself as Bohemond's 
lawful successor because he was the senior member of the House of Hauteville.[6]

The Antiochene noblemen sent envoys to Baldwin II, urging him to come to the 
principality.[4] Alice decided to resist and sought assistance from Imad ad-Din Zengi, 
Atabeg of Aleppo.[5] However, Baldwin II's soldiers, who had meanwhile reached 
Antioch, captured Alice's envoy.[5] Before long, Alice was forced to beg for mercy 
from her father.[5] He removed Alice from the regency, ordering her to leave Antioch.
[4][7]

Reign[edit]

Childhood[edit]


 


 The crusader states around 1135

A dozen armed horsemen fight against each other on a field covered by bodies at a 
large castle on a hill 


 Death of Constance's first husband, Raymond of Poitiers, in the Battle of Inab.

A naked man is hung out from the top of a tower while three men are talking at the 
tower 


 Torture of Aimery of Limoges, Latin Patriarch of Antioch, by Constance's second 
husband, Raynald of Châtillon
The Antiochene noblemen acknowledged Baldwin II as regent, swearing fealty to him 
and Constance.[7] He made Joscelin I, Count of Edessa, her guardian to rule the 
principality until her marriage.[4][7] Baldwin II died on August 21, 1131, and Joscelin I 
died a week later.[8][9]

Alice again laid claim to the regency.[10] However, most Antiochene lords remained 
hostile to the idea of a female ruler and sent envoys to Baldwin II's successor, Fulk of 
Anjou, who was Alice's brother-in-law.[10][11] Alice made an alliance with Joscelin II, 
Count of Edessa, and Pons, Count of Tripoli, in early 1132.[12][11] Fulk had to travel 
to Antioch by sea, because Pons did not allow him to march through the County of 
Tripoli.[10][11] Fulk landed at St. Symeon where the Antiochene barons 
acknowledged him as regent.[11][13] He appointed Reynald I Mazoir, Constable of 
Antioch, to administer the principality.[13]

Fulk returned to Antioch when Zengi dispatched Sawar, governor of Aleppo, to invade 
the principality in 1132 or 1133.[14] After defeating the invaders, Fulk entered 
Antioch.[15] Since the principality needed a firm government, the Antiochene 
noblemen approached Fulk to select a husband for Constance.[16] He chose 
Raymond of Poitiers, the younger son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine.[16][17] He did 
not announce his decision in public because he wanted to prevent Alice and Roger II 
of Sicily from intervening.[17]

Alice's sister, Melisende, Fulk's wife, persuaded Fulk to allow Alice to return to 
Antioch in 1135.[15] Alice wanted to tighten the relationship of the principality and the 
Byzantine Empire; therefore, she offered Constance's hand to Manuel, a son of the 
Byzantine Emperor, John II Komnenos.[15] To prevent the Byzantine marriage, Fulk 
sent his envoy France to Raymond of Poitiers to urge him to come to Antioch, which 
he did, traveling in disguise, because Roger II of Sicily wanted to capture him in 
southern Italy.[6][18]

First marriage[edit]

Raymond of Poitiers arrived at Antioch in April 1136.[18] Ralph of Domfront, Latin 
Patriarch of Jerusalem, made Alice believe that Raymond came to Antioch to marry her 
instead of her nine-year-old daughter.[19] However, Constance was kidnapped from 
the palace, and Ralph of Domfront blessed her marriage to Raymond in the cathedral.
[20] With the marriage, Raymond became the ruler of the principality, and Alice retired 
to Lattakieh.[20]

In early 1147 Roger II of Sicily extended an offer to Louis VII of France to transport 
the French crusaders to the Holy Land during the Second Crusade.[21] Fearing that 
Roger only wanted to assert his claim to Antioch, Louis VII and his wife Eleanor of 
Aquitaine (niece of Raymond of Poitiers) declined.[22] Louis and his crusaders came 
to the principality in March 1148.[23] Before long, rumors spread among the crusaders 
about a love affair between Raymond and Eleanor.[24] The crusaders tried to 
convince her husband to launch a campaign against Aleppo, the capital of Nur ad-
Din, but Louis VII decided to leave Antioch to Jerusalem, forcing Eleanor to 
accompany him.[23]

Widowhood[edit]

Raymond was killed in the Battle of Inab during an expedition against Nur ad-Din 
Zangi on June 29, 1149.[25] Since Raymond and Constance's four children were still 
underage, there was no one to "perform the duties of a prince and raise the people 
from despair", according to William of Tyre.[26] Nur ad-Din invaded the principality 
and seized all Antiochene territories to the east of the Orontes River.[27] Aimery of 
Limoges, Latin Patriarch of Antioch, directed the defense, but most noblemen 
preferred a secular ruler.[27][28] After learning of Raymond's fate, Constance's 
cousin, Baldwin III of Jerusalem, hurried to Antioch and assumed the regency.[27][29] 
He also concluded a truce with Nur ad-Din.[27]

Baldwin III returned to Antioch in summer 1150.[29] He wanted to persuade Constance 
to remarry, proposing three candidates (Yves, Count of Soissons, Walter of Saint 
Omer, and Ralph of Merle), but she declined.[29] Urged by Baldwin III, Constance 
went to Tripoli in early 1152 to meet him and her two aunts, Melisende and Hodierna.
[30] The two ladies tried to persuade Constance to choose among the three 
candidates, but she returned to Antioch without making a promise to remarry.[30][31]
[32] According to William of Tyre, Patriarch Aimery convinced Constance to resist, 
because he wanted to control the government of the principality.[32][33] The 
Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos sent his widowed brother-in-law, the middle-
aged John Rogerios Dalassenos, to Antioch to marry Constance.[34][32] However, 
because of his age, she "regarded him with displeasure", according to the 
contemporaneous John Kinnamos, and refused to marry him.[34]

Historian Steven Runciman says that Constance may have refused the candidates 
proposed by Baldwin III and Manuel I because she had met Raynald of Châtillon, a 
knight from France.[35] Even though William of Tyre described Raynald as a "knight 
of common sort", Constance decided to marry Raynald.[36] Their betrothal was kept 
secret because Constance wanted to obtain Baldwin III's permission for the marriage.
[37]

Second marriage[edit]

After Baldwin sanctioned the marriage, Constance and Raynald married in early 1153.
[37] Raynald took charge of the administration of the principality.[35] However, he 
was unpopular because his subjects regarded him as an upstart.[35] His frequent 
attempts to raise funds brought him into conflict with Patriarch Aimery and Emperor 
Manuel I during the subsequent years.[37] The emperor forced Raynald to pay homage 
to him in the spring of 1159.[38] Raynald was captured and imprisoned by Majd al-Din, 
governor of Aleppo, during a plundering raid in November 1160 or 1161.[36][39]

After her husband fell into captivity, Constance announced her intention to administer 
the principality, but most Antiochene noblemen preferred a male ruler.[40] Baldwin III 
of Jerusalem hurried to Antioch and declared Constance's fifteen-year-old son, 
Bohemond III, the lawful prince, charging Patriarch Aimery with the administration of 
the principality.[40][41] Constance did not accept Baldwin's decision and protested 
against it to Emperor Manuel.[42]

Manuel dispatched his nephew, Alexios Bryennios Komnenos, and John Kamateros to 
Antioch to begin negotiations about his marriage to Constance's daughter, Maria.[43] 
The marriage contract was signed and the emperor's delegates confirmed Constance's 
position as the ruler of the principality.[43] Baldwin III, who came to Antioch to meet 
the imperial envoys, did not protest.[43]

Constance's son, Bohemond, reached the age of majority in 1163.[44][45] To 
strengthen her position against her son, Constance sought assistance from 
Constantine Kalamanos, Byzantine governor of Cilicia.[46] However, the Antiochene 
barons made an alliance with Thoros II of Cilician Armenia and forced her to leave 
Antioch.[41] After Constance's removal, Bohemond III took control of the principality.
[41] Before long, Constance died, probably in Lattakieh or Jebail, according to Steven 
Runciman.[47]
Constance's first husband, Raymond of Poitiers, was the second son of William IX, 
Duke of Aquitaine and his second wife, Philippa of Toulouse.[51][52] He was born in 
1114.[53] According to William of Tyre, Constance was left with "two sons and as 
many daughters still underage" when her husband died in 1149.[54][55] Their elder 
son, Bohemond, was five at the time of Raymond's death.[55] He seized Antioch from 
his mother in 1163. Constance and Raymond's eldest daughter, Maria, who was born 
in the late 1140s, was famed for her beauty.[56] She married the Byzantine Emperor 
Manuel I Komnenos in the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople on Christmas Day 1161.[56] 
Her younger sister, Philippa of Antioch, was given in marriage to Humphrey II of Toron 
in the late 1160s.[57]

Whether the father of Constance's second son, Baldwin, was Raymond of Poitiers or 
Raynald of Châtillon cannot be determined with certainty.[58][59] Baldwin died fighting 
at the head of a Byzantine cavalry regiment in the Battle of Myriokephalon on 
September 17, 1176.[60] It is certain that Raynald fathered Agnes, who became the 
wife of Béla III of Hungary.[61] Raynald and Constance's second daughter, Alice, 
became the third wife of Azzo VI of Este in 1204.[62]

Parents
____ Bohemond II (ABT 1107 - Feb 1130)
OF ANTIOCH Alice (ABT 1110 - AFT 1136)

Siblings
OF ANTIOCH Constance (1128 - 1163)

Marriage To DE CHATILLON Raynald (Renaud) (ABT 1123 - 4 Jul 1187)
    m. 1153 

Notes

Parents
DE CHATILLON Henry I (Herve) (ABT 1063 - AFT 1135)
DE MONTJOY Ermengarde (ABT 1085 - )

Children by DE CHATILLON Raynald (Renaud) ABT 1123 - 4 Jul 1187
OF ANTIOCH Agnes (1154 - 1184)

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