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Melisende was the eldest daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and the Armenian-born Queen Morphia. At the time of her birth Jerusalem had been recently conquered by Christian Franks in 1099 during the First Crusade. Melisende was nominated as the successor of her father in 1128. In 1129 she married Fulk V of Anjou. Prior to her father's death in 1131, Melisende was pronounced sovereign and was crowned to rule jointly with her father. In 1131, she and Fulk effectively became joint rulers of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, Fulk largely ignored and neglected Melisende, other than to father two sons (the future Baldwin III and Amalric IAmalric I (also Amaury or Aimery ( 1136- 1174) was king of Jerusalem from 1162 to 1174. Amalric was the son of Fulk of Jerusalem, and the brother of Baldwin III. He was married twice, first to Agnes of Edessa, with whom he had two children, Baldwin IV and) upon her.

In 1132Events Diarmaid Mac Murrough has the abbey of Kildare in Ireland burned and the abbess raped. He becomes king of the province of Leinster. St Malachy is made bishop of Armagh in Ireland to impose the Roman liturgy on the independent Irish church. Foundati, however, Melisende was accused of having an ongoing affair with Fulk's biggest rival, the rebel Hugh II of Le Puiset. The Kingdom of JerusalemThe Kingdom of Jerusalem was a short-lived country established in the 12th century by the First Crusade. Foundation and Early History The kingdom came into being with the Crusader capture of Jerusalem in 1099. Godfrey of Bouillon refused, however, to take become divided between the supporters of Melisende and those of her husband. Melisende, however, prevailed, possibly due to her threat to employ the HashshashinThe Hashshashin (also Hashishim , or Assassins were a religious group (some would say, a cult) of Ismaili Muslims (from the Nizari sub-sect) with a militant basis, thought to be active in the 8th to 14th (?) centuries as a group of brigands on the medieva. Her terms for the resulting peace included her admission to the inner councils of the kingdom. Thereafter, wrote the historian William of TyreWilliam of Tyre (c. 1128 1186) was archbishop of Tyre and an historian of the Crusades and the Middle Ages. William was born in Jerusalem around 1128, one of the second generation of children born to the children of the original European Crusaders in the, Fulk "never tried to initiate anything, even in trivial matters, without her foreknowledge."

In the years afterwards she became known as a great patron of the arts and founded a large abbeyThis article is about an abbey as a religious building. See also Abbey (bank), Abbey Theatre and Abbey, Saskatchewan An abbey (from the Latin abbatia which is derived from the Syriac abba "father"), is a Christian monastery or convent under the government at BethanyBethany "house of dates, or house of misery" was the name of two places in Ancient Israel: A place on the east of Jordan River. John 1:28) Its exact location is unclear. A village on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, less than two miles from. She and Fulk commissioned the Melisende PsalterThe Melisende Psalter is an illuminated manuscript commissioned around 1135 in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, probably by King Fulk for his wife Queen Melisende. It is the most notable example Crusader art, which resulted from a merging of the artisti, the greatest example of the tradition of manuscript illumination in the kingdom. She gave political support to her sister Alice in a regency question, and was present at her sister Hodierna's marriage to Count Raymond II of Tripoli in 1137. She is said to have had a succession of lovers, as well. After Fulk's death in 1143 Melisende became regent for her 13-year old son Baldwin, and they were crowned together in Melisende's third co-rulership.

Melisende proved reluctant to let go of power. She worked to keep her son out of positions of influence, and largely ignored the date of his majority in 1145. Baldwin desired a second coronation, but the request was denied by his mother, which triggered a full-blown rift in 1152. Complaining to the Haute Cour (High Court) of the kingdom that his mother would not let him rule, Baldwin demanded that the realm be divided between mother and son. In the subsequent agreement between them, Melisende ruled Judea and Samaria and Baldwin the north. This arrangement, however, proved unstable. The nobility withdrew their support from Melisende, who eventually yielded her territories (except Nablus) to her son. Surprisingly, the two became close afterwards, with Melisende acting as Baldwin's closest advisor, and even as his regent in his absence. Melisende also retained ecclesiastical patronage over the church in the Kingdom of Jerusalem till her death at the convent of Bethany in 1160 or 1161.