Melisende Queen of Jerusalem: Co-rule and Conflict in the Kingdom of Heaven

Join historian Hayley Bassett in this online talk exploring the tumultuous reign of Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem in the twelfth century.
 
An online lecture in partnership with the St John Historical Society.
 
When Baldwin II King of Jerusalem died on 22 August 1131, his eldest daughter Melisende became Jerusalem’s first regnant Queen and was crowned jointly with her husband Fulk and infant son Baldwin III. This talk will examine the monarchical relationship between Melisende and her co-rulers; firstly with her father Baldwin II until his death in 1131, then with her husband Fulk until his death in 1143 and finally with her son Baldwin III until she stood aside in 1152. Co-rule was not a harmonious partnership and the kingdom was brought to civil war twice during Melisende’s reign as the men she ruled with sought to wield power alone.
 
Hayley Bassett (she/her) is a PhD student at Cardiff University. Her research interests include Anglo-Norman politics and diplomacy, particularly royal succession, regnant queenship, marriage, consorts and gender authority. In 2021 she received the St John Historical Society Award for original research. She is a contributor to Queens in Waiting: Potential and Prospective Queens, Ambitions and Expectations, due to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2022.
 
Tickets are free, donations welcome if you can. All donations will support the work of the Museum of the Order of St John, helping to care for its collections and historic buildings.
If you have any questions about this event please email [email protected]
 
Image credit: Coronation of Queen Melisende and King Fulk by Patriarch William of Jerusalem, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 779 France (Champagne), ca. 1270–1275 Fol. 123v (Book XIV)