Theodora Komnene, Queen of Jerusalem
| Theodora Komnene | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Queen consort of Jerusalem | |
| Tenure | 1158–1162 |
| Born | c. 1145 |
| Died | ? |
| Spouse | Baldwin III of Jerusalem |
| Issue |
Alexios Komnenos Eirene Komnene |
| House | Komnenos |
| Father | Isaac Komnenos |
| Mother | Eirene Synadene |
Theodora Komnene or Comnena (Greek: Θεοδώρα Κομνηνή, Theodōra Komnēnē) (born c. 1145) was a niece of Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus, and wife of King Baldwin III of Jerusalem.
Theodora was a daughter of the sebastokratōr Isaac Komnenos by his second wife, Eirene Synadene. Her father was a son of Emperor John II Komnenos and Piroska of Hungary, daughter of King Ladislaus I of Hungary.
Her paternal uncles included Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Her half-sister Maria Komnene married King Stephen IV of Hungary.
Baldwin III of Jerusalem had taken control of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his mother and Regent Queen Melisende in 1153. He was unmarried, however, and around 1157 it was decided by the Haute Cour that a wife should be sought from the Byzantine Empire, the kingdom's most powerful and wealthy neighbour. A Byzantine alliance would hopefully also bring much-needed money and military assistance against Nūr al-Dīn, sultan of Syria and Jerusalem's greatest enemy.
Attard, archbishop of Nazareth, Humphrey II of Toron, constable of Jerusalem, Joscelin Piscellus, and William de Barris were sent to Constantinople to negotiate a marriage for the king (Attard died while on the mission). The ambassadors were delayed in Constantinople for almost an entire year but it was finally decided that Theodora would be chosen as Baldwin's wife. She was at the time only 12 or 13 years old, but was already renowned for her beauty. Her dowry was worth 100,000 hyperpyra, and William of Tyre estimated that her extravagant wedding clothes cost another 14,000 hyperpyra. As a dower from Baldwin, Theodora was granted the city of Acre, which she would hold as her own should Baldwin die childless.
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