Maria of Antioch ¹

  General Notes:

Maria of Antioch was the daughter of Constance of Antioch and her first husband Raymond of Poitiers.

In 1160 Maria's step-father, Constance's second husband Raynald of Chatillon, was taken prisoner by Maj ad-Din, the emir of Aleppo and an ally of Nur ad-Din. Her mother claimed the Principality of Antioch for herself, but the nobles supported her son, Maria's brother Bohemund III. Baldwin III set Bohemund up as prince and appointed as regent the rich and wordly Aimery of Limoges, Latin Patriarch of Antioch and an old opponent of Raynald. Constance protested this decision at the court of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus in Constantinople.

At the end of 1159, Manuel's wife Empress Irene (originally named Bertha of Sulzbach) had died, and Manuel wanted to marry a princess from one of the Crusader states. John Contostephanus and the chief dragoman (interpreter) Theophylact were sent to Jerusalem to seek a new wife, and the two princesses Maria and Melisende of Tripoli, daughter of Raymond II of Tripoli and Hodierna of Tripoli, were offered as candidates. Both were renowned for their beauty. Baldwin suggested Melisende, and her brother Raymond III of Tripoli set about gathering an enormous dowry, with gifts from Hodierna and Melisende's namesake, her aunt Queen Melisende. The ambassadors were not satisfied and delayed the marriage for over a year; they had apparently heard rumours of concerning Hodierna's infidelity and therefore Melisende's legitimacy. Instead, Manuel chose Maria. Raymond was insulted and in retaliation attacked Cyprus.

Meanwhile, an imperial embassy led by Alexius Bryennius Comnenus and the prefect of Constantinople, John Camaterus, came to Antioch to negotiate the marriage. Maria embarked from the port of St. Simeon for Constantinople in September of 1161, and the marriage took place in Hagia Sophia on December 24. Three patriarchs performed the marriage: Luke Chrysoberges, Patriarch of Constantinople; Sophronius, Patriarch of Alexandria, and Athanasius, Patriarch of Antioch. By this Antioch essentially became an imperial fief. The marriage also strengthened the position of her mother Constance, who now held the regency of Antioch.

In 1169 Maria gave birth to a son, the future emperor Alexius. Her step-father Raynald was freed from captivity in 1176 but did not return to Antioch, instead making his fortune elsewhere in Jerusalem. After the death of Manuel in 1180 Maria officially became a nun with the name "Xena," but in reality she acted as regent for their son Alexius, with another Alexius, nephew of Manuel and uncle of Maria Comnena, former queen of Jerusalem, as an advisor and lover, causing a scandal among the Greek population. As a Westerner who favoured the Italian merchants, Maria was opposed by the Greeks, and her regency was widely considered incompetent. The leaders of the opposition were Maria, Manuel and Bertha's daughter, and her husband Renier of Montferrat, though himself a fellow Latin. Manuel's cousin Andronicus marched on Constantinople in 1182 and the citizens were provoked in a massacre of the Latin inhabitants, mostly Venetian and Genoese merchants. Andronicus probably had Maria and Rainier murdered, and then had Empress Maria strangled to death. Andronicus had himself crowned co-emperor, but Alexius II was soon murdered as well, and Andronicus took full control of the empire.

Maria married Manuel I Comnenus, son of Johannes II Komnenos and Piriska of Hungary, on 24 Dec 1161 in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople. (Manuel I Comnenus was born on 28 Nov 1128 and died on 24 Sep 1180.)