At first, Melisende was chosen, and Raymond collected an enormous dowry, while negotiations continued for over a year ( during this time he prepared a fleet of 12 galleys to escort Melisende ).

Melisende continued to reign by right of law

Contemporaries of Melisende who did rule, however, included Urraca of Castile ( 1080 – 1129 ), Empress Matilda ( 1102 – 1169 ), and Eleanor of Aquitaine ( 1122 – 1204 ).

When Melisende bore a son and heir in 1130, the future Baldwin III, her father took steps to ensure Melisende would rule after him as reigning Queen of Jerusalem.

Later, William of Tyre wrote of Melisende's right to rule following the death of her father that the rule of the kingdom remained in the power of the lady queen Melisende, a queen beloved by God, to whom it passed by hereditary right.

Melisende had hitherto only partially associated Baldwin in her rule.

The Haute Cour decided that Baldwin would rule the north of the kingdom and Melisende the richer Judea and Samaria, and Jerusalem itself.

Church mediation between mother and son resulted with the grant of the city of Nablus and adjacent lands to Melisende to rule for life, and a solemn oath by Baldwin III not to disturb her peace.

Neither Baldwin nor Melisende were pleased with the decision, as Baldwin wanted to rule the entire kingdom and realized it would divide the country's resources, but in order to prevent a civil war Melisende agreed to the compromise.

Her grandmother Melisende had provided an example of successful rule by a queen regnant earlier in the century.

Of Queen Sibylla's right to rule, Bernard Hamilton wrote " there is no real doubt, following the precedent of Melisende, that Sibylla, as the elder daughter of King Amalric, had the best claim to the throne ; equally, there could be no doubt after the ceremony that Guy only held the crown matrimonial.

Melisende ended up on the losing side by 1152, but she was given a small fief to rule in Nablus, where she and Hodierna were able to influence the election of the Latin Patriarch.

Beirut was effectively an independent state under John's rule ; in 1207 John added Arsuf to his territory through his marriage to Melisende of Arsuf, making him one of the wealthiest nobles in the kingdom.

Queen Melisende, now regent for her elder son Baldwin III, appointed a new constable, Manasses of Hierges, to head the army after Fulk's death, but Edessa could not be recaptured, despite Zengi's own assassination in 1146.

Melisende surrendered and retired to Nablus, but Baldwin appointed her his regent and chief advisor, and she retained some of her influence, especially in appointing ecclesiastical officials.

Melisende ( 1105 – 11 September 1161 ) was Queen of Jerusalem from 1131 to 1153, and regent for her son between 1153 and 1161 while he was on campaign.

As regent he had Raymund of Poitou marry the infant Constance of Antioch, daughter of Bohemund II and Alice of Antioch, and niece to Melisende.

For their part, Raymond II of Tripoli and the regent, Melisende of Jerusalem refused to aid the Prince of Antioch.

Agnes and Amalric made their home in the royal court, where Queen Melisende acted as regent for her son Baldwin III while he was on campaign.

Philip of Flanders arrived that year and demanded to be named regent, as the king's nearest male relative currently in the kingdom ; Philip was a grandson of King Fulk, as was Baldwin IV, and was therefore a cousin of the king, while Raymond III was somewhat more distantly related, as his mother Hodierna was a sister of Baldwin IV's grandmother Melisende.

When Baldwin died childless in 1162, a year after his mother Melisende, the kingdom passed to his brother Amalric, who renewed the alliance negotiated by Baldwin.

She was named after her paternal grandmother, Melisende of Montlhéry, wife of Hugh I, Count of Rethel.

Queen Melisende of Jerusalem resided in Nablus from 1150 to 1161, after she was granted control over the city in order to resolve a dispute with her son Baldwin III.

After the death of his first wife, he married again at Tripoli in January 1218 Melisende de Lusignan ( c. 1200 – after 1249 ), Princess of Cyprus, daughter of Amalric II of Jerusalem and his second wife Isabella of Jerusalem.

In 1153 he became constable of Jerusalem when Baldwin III became sole ruler after a struggle with his mother Melisende.

Geoffrey Plantagenet, Fulk's eldest son by his first wife, succeeded to Anjou in 1129 upon his father's departure for Jerusalem, whilst Baldwin III, Fulk's eldest son with Melisende, inherited Jerusalem after Fulk's death in 1143.

There was a major dispute during the regency of Melisende for her son Baldwin III, when Melisende refused to give up the regency after Baldwin came of age.

Prior to this, Fulk and Melisende had been fighting for superiority in the kingdom, and Melisende had allied with rebels against Fulk ; by 1134 they had reconciled, and the psalter had to have been written after 1131, the date of Baldwin II's death.

In 1144, Queen Melisende sent him to relieve the siege of Edessa, but he arrived after the city had already fallen.

She was the daughter of Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch and Tripoli ( d. 1233 ) and his second wife Melisende of Lusignan ( who died after 1249 ).

Maria of Antioch ( died after 10 December 1307 ), daughter of Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch and his second wife Melisende de Lusignan, was the pretender to the throne of Jerusalem from 1269 to 1277.

" The second derivative could be from the " old " German name Milucent, whose derivative is ‘ Amalaswinth .’ It is composed of the Germanic elements ‘ amal ’ meaning ‘ to work ’ or ‘ labor ’ and ‘ swinth ,’ meaning ‘ strength .’ Its combination, ‘ to work for strength ,’ is generally interpreted to mean ‘ ambition .’ The character is probably named after Queen Melisende of Jerusalem.

He arrived in Jerusalem around 1140 and was appointed constable of Jerusalem, the highest office of the kingdom, by his cousin Queen Melisende, after the death of Melisende's husband King Fulk in 1143.

Amalric was the second son of Melisende of Jerusalem and Fulk of Jerusalem, and succeeded his older brother Baldwin III.

Amalric was born in 1136 to King Fulk, the former count of Anjou who had married the heiress of the kingdom, Melisende, daughter of King Baldwin II.

After the death of Fulk in a hunting accident in 1143, the throne passed jointly to Melisende and Amalric's older brother Baldwin III, who was still only 13 years old.

Melisende did not step down when Baldwin came of age two years later, and by 1150 the two were becoming increasingly hostile towards each other.

In 1152 Baldwin had himself crowned sole king, and civil war broke out, with Melisende retaining Jerusalem while Baldwin held territory further north.

Amalric, who had been given the County of Jaffa as an apanage when he reached the age of majority in 1151, remained loyal to Melisende in Jerusalem, and when Baldwin invaded the south, Amalric was besieged in the Tower of David with his mother.

Melisende was defeated in this struggle and Baldwin ruled alone thereafter.

He was poisoned at Caesarea, either by Eleanor of Aquitaine, the wife of Louis, or Melisende, the mother of Baldwin III, king of Jerusalem suggesting the draught.

Baldwin was married to the Armenian noblewoman Morphia of Melitene, and had four daughters: Hodierna and Alice, who married into the families of the Count of Tripoli and Prince of Antioch ; Ioveta, who became an influential abbess ; and the eldest, Melisende, who was his heir and succeeded him upon his death in 1131, with her husband Fulk V of Anjou as king-consort.

After meeting in Acre in June, the crusading kings Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany agreed with Melisende, Baldwin III and the major nobles of the kingdom to attack Damascus.

In Jerusalem, the crusaders were distracted by a conflict between Melisende and Baldwin III.

In 1153 Baldwin had himself crowned as sole ruler, and a compromise was reached by which the kingdom was divided in two, with Baldwin taking Acre and Tyre in the north and Melisende remaining in control of Jerusalem and the cities of the south.

Baldwin and Melisende knew that this situation was untenable.

* March 31 – King Baldwin III of Jerusalem exiles his mother Melisende, with whom he has been jointly reigning, to Nablus.

* August 19 – Baldwin III of Jerusalem takes control of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his mother Melisende, and also captures Ascalon.

Melisende grew up in Edessa until she was 13, when her father was elected as the King of Jerusalem as successor of his cousin Baldwin I.

Baldwin raised his daughter as a capable successor to himself and Melisende enjoyed the support of the Haute Cour, a kind of royal council composed of the nobility and clergy of the realm.

However, Baldwin II also thought that he would have to marry Melisende to a powerful ally, one who would protect and safeguard Melisende's inheritance as Queen and her future heirs.