In 1136, the Bishop of Antioch conned the Princess’ mother to marry the Princess to an outsider. How and why did this con happen?

As with many key historical stories, I cannot ignore the political issues of the day. It also follows I cannot ignore the religious issues since the two went hand in hand. When my ancestor Raymond arrived in the crusader state of Antioch, he found a political mess. This article explains the mess he found, and how he married the pre-pubescent Constance.

Religious issues

As the famous Roman Empire crumbled, the eastern part continued the tradition. Centred on Constantinople, we know this as the Byzantine Empire. At the time they called themselves “Romans” in the “Roman Empire” and the name “Byzantine” came later.

Charlemagne re-established the Holy Roman Empire in 800 together with a machiavellian pope. This created 2 “Roman Empires” and in this article, I will refer to the eastern Empire as the Byzantine Empire. 

Charlemagne is also my ancestor. He lived 11 generations before the events in this article.

The two were distinct, even if they were also similar:

• Holy Roman Empire: Latin was the main language. Rome was the seat of religious and temporal power.
• Byzantine Empire: Greek was the main language. Constantinople was the seat of temporal power, but religion was a trickier point.

Both were Christian civilisations, but they couldn’t agree whether the Pope in Rome was to be the head of the church or not.

Crusaders captured the city-state of Antioch during the first crusade¹. At the time, the church of Antioch claimed St Peter himself founded the city¹.

Antioch was not a simple city; at its height it ruled over the whole of Asia Minor, excluding Palestine. This stretches from southern-Turkey to the Persian border¹. In religious affairs, the bishop of Antioch had authority over domains under Frankish control¹.

It’s easy to see how the bishop would have meddled in politics if that meant increasing his sphere of influence.

Byzantine Emperors maintained a series of bishops who lived in exile in Constantinople¹. They didn’t approve of the Latin church’s use of military force to control lands in Asia Minor. Especially since these places should have been under Byzantine influence.

This summarises the religious tensions; but what about the political situation?

Political issues

In 1130, Prince Bohemond was the prince of Antioch¹. He died in battle, leaving a single child, the 2-year-old Constance¹.

Constance is my 22 x great-grandmother.

No one questioned her right to rule, which was unusual in such a male-oriented society. People did dispute who should be regent until she came of age. The contenders were¹:

1. Alice, Bohemond’s widow and Constance’s mother, felt that it should be her². She was the daughter of Baldwin II of Jerusalem. She came from a noble – and politically connected – family.

2. Baldwin II of Jerusalem, Constance’s grandfather. He responded to calls from Alice’s enemies that she was not suitable and decided he should rule instead. He died in 1131, so this didn’t last long.
3. Roger II of Sicily. Roger was Alice’s closest male relative and felt he had a meaningful claim. He was busy in Sicily unifying the Norman-controlled states in southern Italy. Antioch had to wait, even if he was keen to have a Middle-Eastern base to be able to extend his influence eastwards.
4. Byzantine Emperor John II Comenius. The Byzantines had long memories and hadn’t forgotten that Antioch was once their own. They had forced Baldwin to pay homage to Constantinople, which his heirs were also bound to do by treaty. They had never enforced it, and John thought it was about time they did.
5. Fulk d’Anjou, the new king of Jerusalem, and Alice’s brother-in-law. While he was regent, he couldn’t afford to be in Antioch and away from Jerusalem. He appointed Reynald le Mazoir to be regent on his behalf but this was always meant to be temporary. Fulk needed an eligible bachelor to marry Constance and thought of Raymond of Poitiers³. Before this could happen, Fulk’s wife convinced him to relent and let Alice be regent again.

Raymond of Poitiers is my 22 x great-grandfather.

This list shows many had political reasons to want to rule over Antioch. Fulk was the one who needed someone there as soon as possible, or at least before Roger or John got there first.

When Constance’s father died, this was not the only mess he left behind¹:

1. The Armenian prince Leo I took control of Cilicia, in modern-day south Turkey, from Antioch. This reduced Antioch’s military and economic might.
2. By 1135, Imad al-Din Zengi was the atabeg, or governor, of Mosul and Aleppo. He attacked and captured many fortresses along Antioch’s eastern border.
3. In 1135, the bishop of Antioch died. The process to choose a new bishop was well-established. First, the canons of Antioch would elect someone whom the Prince of Antioch approved of. The Pope in Rome would then confirm this person. But there was no Prince in 1135.

Without a Prince, the canons of Antioch were free of political influence. The people of Antioch had a different idea, and chose Ralph of Domfront, bishop of Mamistra.

Which begs the question: how and why did the people get a say in the matter?

Bishop Ralph

Ralph was a clerk from the fortified French city of Domfront when he first travelled to Syria¹. There is little documentation showing how he became bishop of Mamistra, Cilicia¹.

The only original source we have about these events is the chronicle of William, Bishop of Tyre^{1 4}. It’s worth noting William was a child when he met Ralph¹. It’s worth noting William was a child when he met Ralph. Descriptions rely on William’s memory which may be sketchy. William describes him as¹:

A military man, very magnificent and generous, a great favourite with the common people and with those of knightly birth.”

William, Bishop of Tyre

This suggests he trained as a knight, but it is unclear which order he trained with.

The lord Ralph was a tall, handsome man. He squinted a little, but not excessively. He was not very well-educated, but was a fluent speaker and a cheerful companion and had good manners. Because he was very generous he gained the favour both of the knights and of the burgesses. He was not good at keeping agreements and promises which he had made, and would say first one thing and then another. His was a complex character, cunning, cautious and discerning. … He was called arrogant and conceited and this was true.

William, Bishop of Tyre

William presents Ralph’s accession as a spontaneous democratic choice by the people. There is reason to think that’s not true because¹:

1. Ralph was not part of the group of canons debating who should be the next bishop. He was outside, ready to receive the people’s vote. This suggests pre-mediation.
2. Ralph must have needed the support of the nobility. They would never have supported a democratic choice because that violates feudal rule. This suggests a connection between Ralph and the ruling class.
3. Ralph needed support from Reynald le Mazoir the most, who Fulk had appointed as bailiff. If the most important support came from Fulk, who wanted Raymond to marry Constance, then this is where Ralph’s preference lay.

This leads us to the next logical question: did Ralph get on well with Alice, who was regent at the time?

Marriage of convenience

Being the tactful sort, Ralph’s first move was to support Alice¹. This shrewd move let him shore up more and more temporal power in Antioch¹.

Meanwhile Alice opposed any talk of her daughter marrying Raymond of Poitiers¹. It’s easy to be cynical and claim that her opposition was because she would have to relinquish the reins of power.

There was a simple equation she had to consider:

• Raymond had no military or financial resources. He was illegitimate which meant he wouldn’t inherit much either. 
• The Byzantine empire could provide military and economic aid to Antioch.

It’s clear that Alice preferred negotiating with the Byzantines beyond reasons of self-preservation.

She corresponded with the Emperor suggesting Constance should marry John’s son, Manuel^{1 3}. Constance was young and the earliest she could marry was at the age of 12¹. This would give Alice 5 years of regency while under Byzantine protection¹. Her greatest concern, the Muslim army of the atabeg Zengi of Mosul and Aleppo, would be no more.

Alice didn’t want the same thing Ralph did; so what happened?

Skullduggery

While Alice was plotting, so was Ralph.

He knew Fulk had invited Raymond, who was on his way to modern-day Syria. By 1136, Raymond was in the Middle East. Ralph knew he had two choices¹:

1. Align himself with Alice and let the Byzantines take Antioch. If this happened Bishop Ralph would no longer be welcome because he was a Latin bishop, not a Byzantine one. Could he trust Alice to put in a good word for him, or protect him?
2. Align himself with Fulk and approve the marriage of Raymond and Constance. He would keep his religious power but he would lose his temporal power with a male Prince of Antioch.

The second option was Ralph’s choice, but he felt he needed to stack the cards in his favour.

Ralph offered Raymond a contract whereby Raymond pledged loyalty to Ralph¹. Raymond was in no position to argue because he didn’t have many other prospects in life, so he signed it¹.

It is interesting to note that only one existing source mentions Raymond’s brother in the context of this contract. According to William of Tyre, if Raymond’s brother Henry were to join him, then he would be married to Alice³. While this suggests taking full control of Antioch, Henry is rarely mentioned in other texts. It is possible Henry was also illegitimate, but it is also possible that William of Tyre is wrong.

Ralph then convinced Alice she had nothing to worry about. He led her to believe Raymond was there to marry Alice, not Constance^{1 2 3}. It’s hard not to think that vanity may have helped sway Alice’s mind with this point.

She didn’t blockade the city gates and Raymond arrived in Antioch without any problem¹. Once inside the city gates, Ralph married Raymond and Constance^{1 3}. Raymond became the legal husband of the Princess of Antioch, and took the title of Prince. The nobility deserted Alice because they weren’t prepared to oppose the Prince of Antioch¹.

Alice, humiliated, conceded defeat and abandoned Antioch.

The rest, as they say, is history.

1. This marriage created the House of Poitiers-Antioch.
2. Raymond bore a life-long grudge against Ralph for being strong-armed into signing that contract.
3. In 1138, two clergymen accused Ralph of simony, i.e., selling roles in the church for money⁵. On 30 November 1140, a synod held in Antioch deposed Ralph⁵.
4. Constance’s daughter ended up marrying Manuel Comenius, another marriage of convenience.
5. Raymond died in battle against the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo in 1149.

1. Ralph of Domfront, Patriarch of Antioch (1135-40); Bernard Hamilton; Nottingham medieval studies, Vol 28; 1984-01[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Crusaders: An Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands; Dan Jones; Apollo, London; 2019-09-05[↩][↩]
3. Antioch; Charles Cawley; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-04-05) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. William of Tyre; Encyclopaedia Brittanica; 2023-09-05[↩]
5. Yolles, Julian Jay Theodore. 2015. Latin Literature and Frankish Culture in the Crusader States (1098–1187). Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.[↩][↩]