Hodiena was married out to tripoli, which is one of the main crusadestates. We don't know a huge amount about her marriage with raymond apart from era. And it's essentially another way of furthering the family's power in the areaso i get hodiena, she goes to tripoli er and i think she possibly has a lower profile than the other two but there'se still quite a lot of interest. Please have this beautiful ivory salter, which susace i al dater,. It's very ornately decorated, so the covers are all carved ivory, with precious gems marking out the eyes of individuals and the eyes of the birds
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the most powerful woman in the Crusader states in the century after the First Crusade. Melisende (1105-61) was born and raised after the mainly Frankish crusaders had taken Jerusalem from the Fatimids, and her father was King of Jerusalem. She was married to Fulk from Anjou, on the understanding they would rule together, and for 30 years she vied with him and then their son as they struggled to consolidate their Frankish state in the Holy Land.
The image above is of the coronation of Fulk with Melisende, from Livre d'Eracles, Guillaume de Tyr (1130?-1186)
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France
With
Natasha Hodgson
Senior Lecturer in Medieval History and Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Nottingham Trent University
Katherine Lewis
Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Huddersfield
and
Danielle Park
Visiting Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London
Producer: Simon Tillotson