Ioveta of Jerusalem (c. 1120 - after 1161, before 1178), was a princess of Jerusalem and an abbess of the Sisters of Bethany. Her name appears in various forms, including ''Joveta'', ''Jovita'', ''Jowita'', ''Yvette'', ''Iveta'', ''Ivetta'', and even ''Juditta''.

Life

Ioveta was the fourth and youngest daughter of King

Baldwin II of Jerusalem Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq or Bourg (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied his cousins Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the ...

and

Morphia of Melitene Morphia of Melitene, or Morfia, or Moraphia (died c. 1126 or 1127) was queen of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem as the wife of Baldwin II. Marriage Morphia was the daughter of an Armenian nobleman named Gabriel (or Khoril, in Armenian), t ...

. She was the only one of Baldwin's daughters born after he became king in 1118. When Baldwin was taken captive by the Ortoqids near

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...

in 1123, Ioveta was one of the hostages given for his release. She was held at

Shaizar Shaizar or Shayzar ( ar, شيزر; in modern Arabic Saijar; Hellenistic name: Larissa in Syria, Λάρισα εν Συρία in Greek) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. Nearby l ...

until being ransomed to Baldwin in 1125 for eighty thousand dinars. Her ransom was gathered from the spoils taken after Baldwin's victory at the Battle of Azaz that year. Her sister Melisende, married

Fulk V of Anjou Fulk ( la, Fulco, french: Foulque or ''Foulques''; c. 1089/1092 – 13 November 1143), also known as Fulk the Younger, was the count of Anjou (as Fulk V) from 1109 to 1129 and the king of Jerusalem with his wife from 1131 to his death. During t ...

and succeeded Baldwin to the throne of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...

, her sister

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

married

Bohemund II of Antioch Bohemond II (1107/1108 – February 1130) was Prince of Taranto from 1111 to 1128 and Prince of Antioch from 1111/1119 to 1130. He was the son of Bohemond I, who in 1108 was forced to submit to the authority of the Byzantine Empire in the Treat ...

, and her sister Hodierna married

Raymond II of Tripoli Raymond II ( la, Raimundus; 1116 – 1152) was count of Tripoli from 1137 to 1152. He succeeded his father, Pons, Count of Tripoli, who was killed during a campaign that a commander from Damascus launched against Tripoli. Raymond accused the loc ...

. Ioveta, on the other hand, entered the Convent of

St. Anne According to Christianity, Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Gospel#Canonical gospels, canonical gospels. ...

in Jerusalem.

Abbess

In 1143 Melisende built a convent dedicated to St. Lazarus at

Bethany Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West B ...

, on land purchased from the

Latin patriarch of Jerusalem The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem ( la, Patriarchatus Latinus Hierosolymitanus) is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, wit ...

. After the death of the elderly first abbess, Ioveta was elected to the position in 1144. Though not as influential as her sisters, she had some power as abbess; a charter from 1157 survives in which she donated land to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

. Ioveta was responsible for the education of her grandniece Sibylla. Sibylla was the daughter of her nephew. Ioveta and her sisters were very close. When Melisende lay dying in 1161, Ioveta and Hodierna were at her side (Alice had probably died sometime earlier). After this Ioveta disappears from history; the date of her own death is unknown, but she was dead by 1178, when another abbess appears at the Convent of St. Lazarus.

Sources

William of Tyre William of Tyre ( la, Willelmus Tyrensis; 113029 September 1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I, the Englishman, a former ...

, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea. E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey, trans. Columbia University Press, 1943. *

Steven Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...

, A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 1952.

Life

Abbess

Sources

Further reading