Arda of Armenia

Arda of Armenia (; died after 1116) was the first queen consort of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, as the second wife of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem. She served in that capacity from 1100 to 1105. Arda was also briefly countess of Edessa, a title she held following her politically strategic marriage to Baldwin in 1097, shortly after the First Crusade.

Life

Origins and name

Her birth name is not recorded in contemporary sources, but since the 17th century she has been traditionally known as Arda. This name was popularized by the historian Sebastiano Paoli in 1733 through Hospitaller records. Some modern historians suggest her name may have derived from the Greek ''Arete'' (Ἀρετή), meaning "virtue," possibly transliterated in the Armenian context.

She was the daughter of an Armenian nobleman, possibly named Thathoul or Thoros, the lord of Marash, a fortified town in Cilician Armenia. Some sources associate him with Edessa, linking Arda to the Armenian elite that held influence in northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia at the time of the First Crusade.Murray, Alan V. ''The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Dynastic History, 1099–1125''. Prosopographica et Genealogica, 2000.

Marriage to Baldwin and role in Edessa

Arda married Baldwin of Boulogne in 1097 following the death of his first wife, Godehilde, during the First Crusade. The union was arranged to solidify Baldwin's position in Edessa and secure support from local Armenian nobles. Her father pledged a dowry of 60,000 bezants, though only a portion—possibly as little as 7,000—was ever paid.Hamilton, Bernard. "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem", in Derek Baker (ed.), ''Medieval Women''. Ecclesiastical History Society, 1978, pp. 143–174.

The marriage was politically motivated and possibly unhappy. It produced no children. As Count of Edessa, Baldwin used the alliance to legitimize his authority among the Armenian Christian population. In 1098, he quashed a conspiracy in Edessa involving Armenian nobles allegedly aligned with Arda’s father, which further strained their familial relations.Runciman, Steven. ''A History of the Crusades, Volume One: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem''. Cambridge University Press, 1951 (reprinted 1999), pp. 241–243.

Queen consort of Jerusalem

When Baldwin became king of Jerusalem in 1100, Arda did not accompany him immediately. She remained in northern Syria and traveled by sea to Jaffa, likely arriving in 1101, as overland travel was unsafe due to Muslim control of the coast.Edgington, Susan B. ''Baldwin I of Jerusalem, 1100–1118''. Routledge, 2019, pp. 111–114.

Although crowned king in Bethlehem on Christmas Day 1100, Baldwin did not crown Arda queen, and there is no record of her participating in court functions. In September 1101, during the First Battle of Ramla, Arda—then in Jaffa—dispatched reinforcements under the mistaken belief that Baldwin had been killed. This is one of the few recorded instances of her acting independently in a military or political context.

Annulment and exile

In 1105, Baldwin annulled the marriage. The stated reasons vary by chronicler. William of Tyre later claimed Arda was accused of infidelity, while Guibert of Nogent wrote that she had been raped by pirates en route to Jerusalem, rendering her unfit as queen. Modern historians largely reject these justifications as pretexts.

Arda’s father had delivered only a fraction of the promised dowry, and the lack of children made the marriage politically expendable. Moreover, an Armenian wife held less political utility in Jerusalem than in Edessa. Baldwin never secured an ecclesiastical annulment. Instead, he confined Arda to the convent of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, against her will.

Eventually, Arda demanded release and fled to Constantinople, where her father had also taken refuge after losing his lands in Edessa. While in exile, Arda resumed a secular life and rejected monastic vows.

Baldwin’s later marriage and Arda’s final years

In 1112, Baldwin sought to marry Adelaide del Vasto, the wealthy widow of Roger I of Sicily and regent for Roger II of Sicily. This alliance was pursued despite Baldwin being still legally married to Arda. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Arnulf of Chocques, was suspended from office for approving the bigamous union. Pope Paschal II reinstated Arnulf in 1116 only after Baldwin agreed to annul the marriage to Adelaide.Riley-Smith, Jonathan. ''The First Crusaders, 1095–1131''. Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 171–173.

Baldwin attempted to recall Arda from Constantinople to regularize his marital status, but she refused to return. Baldwin died in 1118. Arda’s later life and death remain unrecorded.

Legacy

Arda is remembered as the first queen consort of Jerusalem, though her brief and constrained reign reflects the precarious status of women in crusader dynastic politics. Her forced monasticism, political sidelining, and eventual exile underscore the vulnerability of foreign consorts in medieval courts.

References

Further reading

* Bernard Hamilton, "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem", in Derek Baker (ed.), Medieval Women, Ecclesiastical History Society, 1978.
* Alan V. Murray, The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Dynastic History, 1099–1125, Prosopographica et Genealogica, 2000.
* Susan B. Edgington, Baldwin I of Jerusalem, 1100–1118, Routledge, 2019.
* Jonathan Riley-Smith, The First Crusaders, 1095–1131, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
* Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, 1951.
* Gérard Dédéyan, Les Arméniens entre Grecs, Musulmans et Croisés, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 2003.
* Guibert of Nogent, Dei Gesta per Francos, ed. R.B.C. Huygens, Brepols, 1996.

Succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arda of Armenia
11th-century births
12th-century deaths
Queens consort of Jerusalem
People of the First Crusade
Armenian nobility