Maria Comnena ¹

   Another name for Maria was Maria Komnene of Nauplia.

  General Notes:

Maria Comnena (c.1150-1206) was the second wife of Amalric I of Jerusalem and mother of Isabella of Jerusalem. She was the daughter of Ioannes Comnenus, and Maria Taronitissa. Her sister Theodora married Prince Bohemund III of Antioch, and her brother Alexios was briefly emperor of Thessalonica.

After the annulment of his first marriage to Agnes of Courtenay, Amalric was anxious to forge an alliance with Byzantium and asked the emperor Manuel for a bride from the imperial family. Maria Comnena was no beauty, but she was the emperor's grandniece and he bestowed upon her a rich dowry. The marriage of Amalric and Maria was celebrated with much fanfare at Tyre, on August 29, 1167.

Maria bore him a daughter, Isabella, in 1172, and a stillborn child some time later. On his deathbed, Amalric left Nablus to Maria, who became dowager-queen upon his death, and Isabella.

In 1177, Maria married Balian of Ibelin. She bore him at least two children, John of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut and constable of Jerusalem, and Philip of Ibelin. Maria and Balian supported Conrad of Montferrat in his struggle for the kingship against Guy of Lusignan, and arranged for Maria's daughter by Amalric, Isabella, to marry Conrad, giving him a stronger claim to the throne.

Maria married Amalric I of Jerusalem, son of Fulk V the Younger of Anjou and Melisende of Jerusalem, on 29 Aug 1167 in Tyre. (Amalric I of Jerusalem was born in 1136 and died in 1174.)