Hodierna of Jerusalem
Overview
Biography
(See also Genealogical Table(s): 2.4.1, 7)
Hodierna of Jerusalem, countess of Tripoli, was one of four daughters of Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem and Morphia of Melitene, an Armenian princess. She was the younger sister of Melisende, who became queen of Jerusalem, and of Alice, princess of Antioch; the youngest was Joveta, who became abbess of St. Lazarus at Bethany, founded by Melisende. Hodierna was married to Raymond, Count of Tripoli. They had two children, a daughter Melisende and a son Raymond. The count was quite jealous and suspecting that Melisende was another man’s child, tried to keep his wife in “Oriental seclusion” (Runciman, 2.332-33). He was himself the grandson of Bertrand, a bastard son of Raymond of Toulouse. When another son of that Raymond, Alfonso-Jourdain, came East on crusade, Raymond of Tripoli worried that he would try to claim Tripoli, for which his father had fought; when Alfonso died suddenly, his son accused Raymond of having him poisoned. Others suspected Melisende of having had it done for her sister Hodierna. Nothing was ever proved. The sisters were close: Hodierna supported Melisende in her struggles with her son Baldwin and Melisende went to Tripoli to mediate in Hodierna’s marriage problems. Runciman assumes she was successful, though William of Tyre does not (History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, 17.19). In any case, Melisende took Hodierna away with her for a visit and Raymond, who had ridden partway with them, was ambushed on his way back by Hashshashin and killed. Hodierna became regent for their twelve-year old son. The proposed marriage of her daughter Melisende to the emperor of Constantinople did not work out. Hodierna and Joveta were with Melisende in her final illness (1161), and the two “watched over her with unremitting care” (William, History, 18.27). Hodierna probably died within a few years. The Vida of the Provencal poet, Jaufre Rudel, suggests (with little likelihood) that she is the countess he fell in love with, his “amor de lonh.” This biography is based on information from Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, v.2 and William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. Emily A. Babcock and A.C. Krey (New York: Columbia University, 1943).
Letters from Hodierna of Jerusalem
A letter to Public (1140)A letter to Public (1143)
A letter to William, patriarch of Jerusalem (1140)