Stephanie of Milly (born ) was the lady of

Oultrejordain The Lordship of or (Old French for "beyond the Jordan", also called Lordship of Montreal) was the name used during the Crusades for an extensive and partly undefined region to the east of the Jordan River, an area known in ancient times as Ed ...

in 1169–1197 and an influential figure in 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 establish ...

. She was also known as Stephanie de Milly, Etienette de Milly, and Etiennette de Milly. She married three times; firstly to

Humphrey III of Toron The third in the line of succession for the lordship of Tebnine. He was son of Humphrey II of Toron. Little is known about him as his rule lasted for a short while and the lordship went to his son Humphrey IV of Toron. Under Humphrey III, Toron is ...

, secondly to

Miles of Plancy The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

; her third and last husband was

Raynald of Chatillon Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language. Etymology and history The meaning of Reginald is “King". The name is derived from the Latin ''Reginaldus'', which has been influenced by the Latin word ''regina'', meaning "queen". Th ...

Family and early life

She was the younger daughter of

Philip of Milly Philip of Milly, also known as Philip of Nablus ( la, Philippus Neapolitanus; c. 1120 – April 3, 1171), was a baron in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the seventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar. He briefly employed the troubadour Peire Bremo ...

, lord of Nablus, and Isabella of Oultrejordain, who herself was the daughter and heiress of Maurice of Montreal, lord of

. Through her various marriages, several of her husbands became lords of Oultrejordain. Her first marriage, in 1163, was to

, who died in 1173. This marriage produced two children: a son, Humphrey (the future

Humphrey IV of Toron Humphrey IV of Toron ( 1166 – 1198) was a leading baron in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He inherited the Lordship of Toron from his grandfather, Humphrey II, in 1179. He was also heir to the Lordship of Oultrejourdan through his mother, Steph ...

), and a daughter,

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

, who married Ruben III of Armenia. Her second husband was

, lord of Oultrejordain, who was assassinated in 1174.

Third marriage

In 1177, she married

Raynald of Châtillon Raynald of Châtillon (french: Renaud; 11254 July 1187), also known as Reynald or Reginald, was a Crusader knight of French origin but also Prince of Antioch from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain from 1175 until his death. He w ...

, the former Prince of Antioch, who had recently been released from captivity in Aleppo. Through Stephanie, Raynald succeeded as lord ''jure uxoris'' of the lordship of Oultrejordain, and used his new position to harass Muslim caravan and

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

routes; in 1183 he even threatened to attack

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

itself. In 1180, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem had betrothed his eight-year-old half-sister

to Stephanie's son Humphrey. The marriage took place in the castle of Kerak in 1183. The ceremonies were interrupted by the arrival of

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

, who besieged the place in response to Raynald's threats against Mecca. According to the chronicle of

Ernoul Ernoul was a squire of Balian of Ibelin who wrote an eyewitness account of the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. This was later incorporated into an Old French history of Crusader Palestine now known as the ''Chronicle of Ernoul and Bernard the Treasurer ...

, Stephanie sent messengers to Saladin, reminding him of the friendship they shared when he had been a prisoner in Kerak many years before; this is likely a fiction or some mis-remembered event, as Saladin is not otherwise known to have ever been held hostage at Kerak. Saladin did not lift the siege but agreed not to target Humphrey and Isabella's wedding chamber. The siege was soon raised by King Baldwin. The ''Old French Continuation of William of Tyre'' claimed that Stephanie hated Isabella's mother Maria Comnena, and prevented her having any contact with her daughter. This was probably for political reasons: Baldwin had arranged the marriage to remove the little girl from the influence of her stepfather's family, the Ibelins.

Capture of Humphrey

Raynald continued to harass the caravan and pilgrimage routes, leading to the invasion of the kingdom by Saladin in 1187. Raynald was killed at the ensuing Battle of Hattin, at which Humphrey IV was captured. Saladin agreed to return Humphrey to Stephanie in exchange for Kerak and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

; the castles refused to surrender, however, and Stephanie dutifully sent her son back to captivity under Saladin. Saladin took pity on her and released him. Her own principality of Oultrejordain and its castles were lost to Saladin within a few years of Hattin, and, located so far from the Mediterranean coast where the remaining crusader strongholds were located, remained in Muslim hands. As her son Humphrey had apparently died before her, Stephanie's heiress (as well as the heiress of Toron) was her daughter, Isabella.

References

Bibliography

* * * L. de Mas-Latrie
''Chronique d'Ernoul et de Bernard le Trésorier''
(in French) Paris, Société de l'histoire de France, 1871. *

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 ...

, ''Historia Rerum In Partibus Transmarinis Gestarum'' (A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea), (in English) translated by E. A. Babock and A. C. Krey, Columbia University Press, 1943. * William of Tyre, ''Chronique Willelmi Tyrensis Archiepiscopi Chronicon'', (in French) edition by R.B.C. Huygens; identification of historical sources and determination of dates fixed by H. E. Mayer and G. Rosch, Turnholti: Brepol, 1986. 2 v. (1170 p. compless.)

External links

*{{MLCC , external links=1 , url=http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/CHAMPAGNE%20NOBILITY.htm#AlixChatillondied1235 , title-date= , title= Champagne Nobility, date=August 2012 1190s deaths Women of the Crusader states Year of birth uncertain Lords of Oultrejordain 12th-century women rulers