Constance of Antioch

Constance inherited titles and, in theory, power but other people controlled her life. She also was kidnapped and forced to marry Raymond of Antioch.

She is one of my maternal 22 x great-grandmothers.

Constance was born in 1127¹ ² or 1128 ³, most likely in Antioch. She is the daughter of Bohemond II Prince of Antioch and Alice of Jerusalem⁴ ⁵.

Principality of Antioch By MapMaster – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Titles

Her father died in 1130, without any male heirs⁶. As his only child, she inherited the title of Princess of Antioch⁷ ⁸.

She was an infant when she inherited the title, so she lived under the regency of⁹:

Her mother, Alice
Her maternal grandfather, Baldwin II of Jerusalem.
Her mother’s brother-in-law, Fulk d’Anjou, King of Jerusalem. Fulk delegated this to Raynald Le Mazoir¹⁰.

In 1136, she succeeded her mother as Lady of Latekieh and Jabala upon marriage.

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Family

She first married Raymond of Poitiers¹¹ ¹² in April or May 1136¹³.

You can find the detail of the political intrigue that led to her marriage in this article, and involves the Bishop of Antioch, her uncle and Raymond of Poitiers.

Raymond became Prince of Antioch because of this marriage.

A 3D reconstruction of the city of Antioch in Roman times — *3D reconstruction of the city of Antioch in Roman times*

Together they had five children¹⁴:

Bohemond III “The Stutterer” Prince of Antioch.
Marie of Antioch, who married the Emperor of Byzantium.
Philippa of Antioch.
Baudouin of Antioch.
Raymond of Antioch.

Second marriage

After Raymond died, Baudouin III, King of Jerusalem, proposed three French candidates as a husband for her. She rejected them all¹⁵. Emperor Manuel suggested a member of the Norman nobility but she rejected him too¹⁶.

Sometime before May 1153, she married Frenchman Renaud de Châtillon-sur-Loing¹⁷ ¹⁸ who had remained in Jerusalem after the Second Crusade¹⁹. In 1160, Governor of Aleppo Majd ed-Din imprisoned Renaud for 16 years²⁰. Sensing an opportunity, Constance claimed that power in Antioch reverted to her in Renaud’s absence²¹. King Boudouin declared her son, Bohemond III, to be the rightful prince. He ruled under the regency of Patriarch Aimery²². Constance appealed to Emperor Manuel²³, leveraging the tension between Byzantium and Jerusalem. Manuel then negotiated a marriage with Constance’s eldest daughter, Marie.

A picture of Bohemond III — *Bohemond III*

Manuel was cheeky to get Constance’s hand in marriage, influence her second marriage, and to marry her daughter! It goes to show how they treated women as currency in those days.

As the negotiations took place, the city rioted and by 1163 Constance was living in exile²⁴.

Constance and Renauld had two children²⁵ ²⁶:

AGNÈS de Châtillon-sur-Loing, who married Bela III, King of Hungary.
JEANNE de Châtillon-sur-Loing, who married Bonifazio I, King of Thessaloniki.

Notable events

Constance’s title was unusual in that it was rare to have a female successor.

In September 1134 a charter records that “the daughter of Bohemond II” donated to the church of the Holy Sepulchre²⁷.

On 19 April 1140, a charter records that Raymond of Antioch donated property to the church of the Holy Sepulchre, by consent of his wife Constance²⁸.

Death

She died between 1163²⁹ ³⁰ and 1167³¹. We know this because a charter dated 1167 shows her son had inherited her titles, showing she was dead by then³².

It is unclear where she died, or what of.

They buried her in the Abbey of St Mary of the Valley of Jehosaphat, reputed to be the burial place of the Virgin Mary³³.