Morphia of Melitene

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Morphia of Melitene, or Morfia, or Moraphia (died c. 1126 or 1129) was the wife of Baldwin II, king of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Morphia was the daughter of an Armenian nobleman named Gabriel (or Khoril, in Armenian), the ruler of the city of Melitene, and wife, of unknown name, daughter of Prince Constantine I of Armenia [1]. Although ethnically Armenian, the family practised the Greek Orthodox faith. Melitene was a neighbour of the crusader County of Edessa, and Gabriel soon became a vassal of the county. The future Baldwin II of Jerusalem was also count of Edessa after 1100, and he consolidated his position in the county by marrying Morphia around 1101. Gabriel, who was very wealthy, gave 50,000 gold bezants as a dowry. Baldwin and Morphia had four daughters: Melisende, Alice, Hodierna, and Ioveta.

When Baldwin became King of Jerusalem in 1118, Morphia and her children remained in Edessa. After the Muslim victory at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis in 1119, Baldwin returned to the north to respond to the threat. After having secured the crusader territories, he returned home in 1120 with his family, and Morphia was finally crowned as queen. Morphia went back north when Baldwin was taken captive while patrolling the borders of Edessa in 1123, and helped ensure his release by offering their young daughter Ioveta as a hostage.

According to the Melisende Psalter, Morphia died on October 1, but the year is unknown; it was either 1126 or 1127, more likely 1126. With no male heir, Baldwin II designated Melisende, his oldest daughter, as his heir, and married her to Fulk V of Anjou. Two of their other daughters also married influential crusader lords: Alice married Bohemund II of Antioch, and Hodierna married Raymond II of Tripoli. Ioveta became a nun.

Morphia was probably partially responsible for the Greek and Armenian cultural influences that appeared in the Latin kingdom. Art from the kingdom, such as the Melisende Psalter, often shows a mixture of eastern and western styles, just as the western crusaders had begun to accustom themselves to eastern culture. Morphia was buried at the abbey of St. Mary Josaphat, just outside of Jerusalem.