Cecile of France

Lady of Tarsus and Mamistra, Countess of Tripoli
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(m. 1106; died 1112)​
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(m. 1112; died 1137)​
IssueRaymond II, Count of TripoliFatherPhilip I of FranceMotherBertrade de Montfort

Cecile of France (1097 – 1145) was a French princess, daughter of Philip I of France and Bertrade de Montfort.[1]

Life

Her first marriage was arranged while Bohemond I of Antioch was visiting the French court seeking support against Alexios I Komnenos. She sailed for Antioch at the end of 1106 and became Lady of Tarsus and Mamistra, in Cilician Armenia. Cecile married firstly (late 1106) Tancred, Prince of Galilee, Regent of Antioch, who succeeded in 1111 as Prince of Antioch.[1]

While dying in 1112, Tancred made Pons of Tripoli promise to marry her, and Tancred gave her the fortresses of Arcicanum and Rugia as a dowry. They married in 1112.[2] In 1133, Pons was besieged at his castle of Montferrand by Imad ad-Din Zengi, atabeg of Mosul, and Cecile appealed to her half-brother Fulk, King of Jerusalem, to come to his aid. Zengi abandoned the siege, but during a second siege in 1137, Pons was captured and killed. He was succeeded by his son with Cecile, Raymond II. Cecile died in 1145.

Children with Pons

References

  1. ^ a b McDougall 2017, p. 159.
  2. ^ Hodgson 2007, p. 217.
  3. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 130.
  4. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 109, 183.
  5. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 109.

Sources

  • Hodgson, Natasha R. (2007). Women, Crusading and the Holy Land in Historical Narrative. The Boydell Press.
  • McDougall, Sara (2017). Royal Bastards: The Birth of Illegitimacy, 800-1230. Oxford University Press.
  • Lewis, Kevin James (2017). The Counts of Tripoli and Lebanon in the Twelfth Century: Sons of Saint-Gilles. Routledge.