Agnes of Courtenay - Reign of Amalric I

Reign of Amalric I

Though her position was secured, Agnes had no place in her children's lives. Baldwin IV was raised by William of Tyre at court, and Sibylla was raised by her great-aunt Ioveta of Bethany at the convent of St. Lazarus. In 1167, Amalric made a lucrative political alliance with Byzantium by marrying princess Maria Comnena, great-niece to emperor Manuel I Comnenus. Agnes had no influence at court in this period. Soon after the annulment, in 1163, she was reunited with Hugh of Ibelin, her previous fiancé or husband. However, he died during a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela c. 1169.

In 1170 Agnes married Reginald of Sidon. The marriage probably lasted for fourteen years, until Agnes' death. A confusing passage in William of Tyre led some writers to claim that his father had it annulled on grounds of consanguinity, but this is thought unlikely by modern historians: Reginald's father was dead by this time, and the passage in question is probably referring back to her marriage to Amalric (see Hamilton, The Leper King & his Heirs). Certainly, William and official charters continue to refer to her as Reginald's wife. In December 1179, they witnessed a charter together, in which her name precedes his as "Agnes, Countess of Sidon". As to her rumoured 'lovers', seized upon by popular historians and novelists alike, the conferring of political patronage does not necessarily imply a personal relationship, and it is difficult to see Reginald as a mari complaisaint.