Throughout her life, the “Maiden of Cyprus” (born about 1177) was used as a political and diplomatic tool in the conflicts of men. She was the daughter of Emperor Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus. Her own name is never recorded, although historians have suggested it may have been Beatrice or Maria.
While the princess was often powerless, the evidence we have about her presents the life of a young woman with determination and perseverance to survive and thrive. She is one of many women I have met during my research on the experiences of imprisonment of elite women in medieval Europe from the 11th to the 13th century.
As a child, the princess and her brother were used as hostages in a war in which her father was involved. Isaac was captured while fighting in Armenia and given into the custody of Bohemond III, prince of the Greek city of Antioch. which is now in Türkiye). A ransom of 60,000 gold coins was fixed. After paying half the ransom, Isaac was released and he gave his children into Bohemond’s custody as hostages as surety for the remaining ransom payment.
It is believed that the ransom money was stolen by pirates. Isaac argued that this was a trick invented by Bohemond and refused to repay him. This kept his children in custody for two years until Bohemond, realizing that Isaac would never pay the ransom, released them. The princess was seven years old at the time of her release. After her brother’s death, she was Isaac’s sole heir.
In 1191, the princess was again taken captive, this time by Richard I of England, as a result of a conflict with her father. Isaac attempted to capture Richard’s ship, which was carrying the king’s sister, Joanna of Sicily, and his future wife, Berengaria of Navarre. In retaliation, Richard laid siege to Cyprus.
Isaac eventually fled from Richard’s army. According to the 12th-century English historian Roger of Hoveden, when Richard captured the castle in which the princess was hiding, she came out to meet the king and surrendered. A courageous step by a young girl who was only 14 or 15 years old.
Isaac, who loved his daughter very much, despite first offering her as collateral for ransom, soon surrendered and was thrown into prison. Richard placed the princess under the custody of his new wife and sister “to be cared for and educated in their customs”. Although she was treated as the warden of the two queens, she was in reality a captive.
Freedom or control? princess journeys
A new chapter in the princess’s life began. He traveled with both queens to Acre in west-central France (in modern-day Israel), Rome, Pisa, Genoa, Marseille, Aragon (on the Iberian Peninsula) and Poitou.
Historian Annette Parks has suggested that this offered a “strange kind of freedom” for the princess, with her traveling more than ever before and possibly crossing paths with the Queen Mother of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine. But despite her relative “freedom” in accompanying both queens, these trips were not at the princess’s own discretion, and her activities were controlled.
After Richard was captured by the Holy Roman Emperor, the agreement for his release included the consent of the Princess of Brittany and Eleanor (who was also in Richard’s custody) to marry the sons of Leopold V of Austria.
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The two women embarked on a journey to Austria together in 1193, but they returned briefly during the trip, as the agreement ended due to Leopold’s death. The princess may have accompanied Joanna of Sicily during her second marriage to Raymond VI of Toulouse in 1196.
With Richard’s death in 1199, the princess was finally free and made two advantageous marriages. First, to Raymond VI, the same man who was married to Joanna of Sicily until his death in 1199. secondly, to Thierry of Flanders after the annulment of her first marriage. Raymond had rejected the princess in favor of a stronger marriage alliance with Leonor, daughter of Alfonso II of Aragon.
The princess again appeared briefly in the historical record during this second marriage.
In 1204 Thierry attempted to reclaim Cyprus through his wife’s rights. By this point, the political circumstances of Cyprus had changed and a new king was installed. Thierry and the princess’s attempt was unsuccessful and both were forced to flee, after which they disappeared from record forever.
The young Cypriot girl had almost no control over her life. But the record shows instances in which his own strength and tenacity were able to shine. From confronting King Richard for surrender, to making lucrative marriages when she had no network of her own, she faced the circumstances that came her way due to captivity and managed to survive and establish herself as an elite woman. Find ways to maintain status quo. I would also speculate that the attempt to reclaim Cyprus was done at the behest of the Princess, in an effort to reclaim her home.
As a young girl who doesn’t have much say in her own life, the Cypriot young woman is a reminder of how medieval women continued to find ways to overcome the limitations imposed on them.
,Author: Leticia Jeeval Pala, PhD Candidate, History, Nottingham Trent University)
,disclosure statement: Leticia Jeeval Pala receives funding from Nottingham Trent University)
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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