Sibilla Ierusalimskaya Queen of Jerusalem since 1186. Country: Israel

Biography of Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem

Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem (Sibylla de Anjou, c. 1160-1190) was the Queen of Jerusalem from 1186. She was the daughter of Amalric I from his first marriage to Agnes de Courtenay, and the older sister of Baldwin IV and Isabella. Sibylla was first married to William of Montferrat, also known as William Longsword, with whom she had a son, the future King Baldwin V. After William's death, Sibylla was remarried to Guy of Lusignan in order to maintain her position as the heir to the throne.

Sibylla grew up in the monastery in Bethany under the care of her grandmother Ioveta, the younger sister of Queen Melisende. In 1169, Amalric I sent Frederick de la Roche, the Archbishop of Tyre, on a mission to Europe to arrange a suitable marriage for Sibylla. As her brother Baldwin was afflicted with leprosy and unable to produce an heir, the continuation of the royal line depended on Sibylla. Frederick de la Roche proposed her hand to Count Stephen of Sancerre. Stephen agreed to marry Sibylla but, upon arriving in Jerusalem, he changed his mind and returned to France for unknown reasons.

After Amalric I's death in 1174, the throne was inherited by Baldwin IV, first under the regency of Seneschal Mile de Plancy and later by Count Raymond III of Tripoli. In the autumn of 1176, sixteen-year-old Sibylla was married to William of Montferrat, also known as William Longsword. As part of the marriage agreement, William received the County of Jaffa and Ascalon, a vassal state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. However, their marriage was short-lived. William died of malaria in the summer of 1177, but Sibylla gave birth to their son, Baldwin, a few months after his death. According to tradition, Sibylla named her son Baldwin.

On August 2, 1177, Sibylla's cousin, Philip, Count of Flanders, arrived in Jerusalem and demanded that Sibylla marry one of his vassals. However, the High Court of Jerusalem rejected his demands, and Baldwin de Ibelin publicly insulted Philip, causing him to leave Jerusalem and join the fight against the Muslims on the side of Antioch. Sibylla remained a widow for three years, during which there were negotiations for her marriage to Duke Hugh III of Burgundy, but they were not successful. In the summer of 1180, Sibylla was married to Guy of Lusignan, who had recently arrived in the East. The marriage was arranged by her cousin, King Henry II of England, and despite the disapproval of Count Raymond III and the Ibelin family, Baldwin personally made the decision to marry his sister.

Sibylla gave birth to two daughters, Alice and Maria, from her marriage to Guy. Initially, Baldwin trusted her husband completely, appointing him as regent of the kingdom in 1183 due to his own incapacity caused by his leprosy. However, in November of the same year, Guy made a serious mistake by allowing Saladin's army to retreat without a fight, angering the king. Baldwin removed Guy from power and, to prevent him from having any claim to the throne, named Baldwin de Montferrat, Sibylla's five-year-old son from her first marriage, as his successor. In 1184, Baldwin also attempted to annul Sibylla's marriage to Guy. Despite Guy's falling out of favor, Sibylla was not affected by her brother's displeasure. According to Baldwin's instructions, in the event of Baldwin V's death before reaching adulthood, one of the sisters, Sibylla or Isabella, was to succeed him. The decision was to be made jointly by the kings of England and France, the Holy Roman Emperor, and the Pope.

On March 16, 1185, Baldwin IV died. As previously agreed, the throne was inherited by Sibylla's son, Baldwin V, with Raymond III of Tripoli as regent. The seven-year-old king was protected by Jocelin III, Count of Edessa. Sibylla's grandfather, William V, Marquess of Montferrat, also arrived in Jerusalem to support his grandson. However, Baldwin V grew up as a sickly child and died in Acre in the summer of 1186.

Jocelin III and William V brought Baldwin's body to Jerusalem and buried him in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. However, Raymond III, fearing the loss of his influence, left for Nablus and called a council attended by his loyal barons. Conflict was brewing in the kingdom. The sympathies of the nobility were divided - Renald de Châtillon and other barons considered Sibylla the rightful heir, while the party of Raymond III, the widowed Queen Maria, and the Ibelin family wanted Maria's daughter Isabella on the throne. Opponents of Sibylla argued that she had no right to claim the throne as she was illegitimate due to the annulment of her parents' marriage. However, this accusation held no weight as the Church of Jerusalem had recognized Sibylla as the legitimate heir of Amalric I as early as 1163. In the end, despite protests from one side and support from the other, the High Court decided to pass the crown of Jerusalem to Sibylla. Her position was further strengthened when Onfroy IV, the husband of Isabella and stepson of Renald de Châtillon, pledged allegiance to her and Guy de Lusignan, thus renouncing his claim to the throne.

The High Court set a condition that Sibylla could only be crowned as the sole ruler of Jerusalem if she divorced Guy de Lusignan. The choice of a new husband was left to her discretion, and Sibylla was crowned as the queen regnant of Jerusalem. However, the condition set by the barons was not met. Once on the throne, Sibylla announced that she had chosen Guy de Lusignan as her husband and crowned him. During Sibylla and Guy's reign, the main threat to the kingdom was Saladin, whose armies were rapidly conquering Christian territories. On July 4, 1187, the Battle of Hattin took place between the Christians, led by Guy and Raymond III, and Saladin's forces. The Muslims achieved a decisive victory, capturing many warriors, including Guy de Lusignan. In September 1187, Saladin laid siege to Jerusalem, and Sibylla personally led the defense with the support of Patriarch Heraclius and Balian of Ibelin, who had survived the Battle of Hattin. However, the city could not withstand the pressure from the Muslims, and on October 2, 1187, Jerusalem fell. Sibylla and her daughters fled to Tripoli.

In the summer of 1188, Sibylla ransomed Guy from captivity by giving Ascalon to Saladin in exchange. In 1189, she and Guy traveled to Tyre, the only city that had not yet fallen to the Muslims. The defense of Tyre was led by Conrad of Montferrat, Sibylla's first husband's brother. He gathered a group of barons who were opposed to Guy and refused to let them enter the city and take power. According to the will of Baldwin the Leper, Conrad intended to wait for the arrival of the kings from Europe and let them decide who would rule the kingdom. Guy and Sibylla then led a small force of knights and laid siege to Acre (later joined by the army of the Third Crusade).

The Siege of Acre lasted for two long years. In the summer of 1190, an epidemic broke out in the camp, claiming the lives of Sibylla's two daughters, and eventually her own. Sibylla died in July or August (likely on July 25), 1190, at the age of thirty. Isabella, Sibylla's step-sister, was forced to divorce Onfroy IV and marry Conrad of Montferrat. However, Conrad, who wanted to be crowned while a healthy king was still alive, was assassinated publicly. The next ruler (but not king) of Jerusalem was Henry of Champagne, who married the widowed Isabella and received a lifelong privilege to rule the Kingdom of Jerusalem from Guy de Lusignan.