Arda of Armenia

Curator (dvb) Note: see the line in Cawley below “According to Rüdt-Collenberg, Arda was the daughter of Thoros”. From Pattou we have the following: “(Baldwin) then takes control of Edessa (02/1098), adopted as son-in-law and heir by Thoros, lord of Mélitène and Edessa (03/1098), of which he became the 1st count (10/03/1098)”. From these statements taken together there is an inference that Arda was daughter of Thoros (Thathoul) and not Taphnuz as what other reason would there be for Thoros to adopt Baldwin as “son-in-law” if not married to his daughter, although these names could all be the same. Also note that Pattou refers to Thoros as “lord of Mélitène and Edessa”, this seems to support references to Arda being referred to by Pattou as Arda de Mélitène. Finally, it was Thoros who history shows demanded the dowry. This is further supported by the apparent fact that the wife of Thoros was “ of Melitene, daughter of GABRIEL Lord of Melitene & his wife ---.”

FmgMedlands -http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/EDESSA.htm#ArdaMBaudouinIJerusalem

1. TAPHNUZ [Tafroc[107]] (-Samosata 1117). Albert of Aix records that "Baldewinum frater ducis Godefridi" married "de genere Armenico…filiam…principis et fratris Constentini…Taphnuz" who appointed Baudouin as his heir, dated to late 1098[108]. Albert of Aix records that "socer…Baldewini Taphnuz" was the focus of an Armenian plot in Edessa against his son-in-law, dated to late 1098 from the context, and fled to the mountains after Baudouin dealt severely with the conspirators, refusing to leave fearing that Baudouin would kill him "for the money which he still owed him" (presumably the unpaid dowry of his daughter)[109]. He was captured by Baudouin II du Bourcq Count of Edessa [Rethel][110], imprisoned at Samosata where he died in an earthquake. [[111]same person as …? THATOUL. Rüdt-Collenberg suggests this co-identity[112]. An Orthodox Christian. He was recognised as Governor of Marash by Emperor Alexios I who awarded him the titles πρωτονωβελισσιμος and αρχων των αρχοντων. Marash was captured in 1104 by Joscelin de Courtenay[113], and according to Matthew of Edessa Thatoul retired to live in Constantinople[114].] m ---. The name of Taphnuz's wife is not known. Taphnuz & his wife had one child:

a) [ARDA] (-Constantinople after 1117). William of Tyre records Count Baudouin's second marriage with the daughter of Tafroc, although he does not name her. Albert of Aix records that "Baldewinum frater ducis Godefridi" married "de genere Armenico…filiam…principis et fratris Constentini…Taphnuz" who appointed Baudouin as his heir, dated to late 1098]. According to Murray, her name is not given in any medieval sources but has been applied to her in "modern scholarship". According to Rüdt-Collenberg, Arda was the daughter of Thoros, brother of Constantine Lord of Vaghka and Partzerpert, but the primary source on which this is based has not yet been identified. The marriage was arranged as part of her future husband's policy of integration with the Armenian population after his installation as count of Edessa. Her father promised a dowry of 60,000 bezants on her marriage, of which only 7,000 bezants was paid. She joined her husband in Jerusalem after his accession as king, but was repudiated on the grounds of alleged adultery, and obliged to become a nun at the convent of St Anne at Jerusalem. She was subsequently allowed to join her father in Constantinople where, according to William of Tyre, "she took to evil ways". Her date of death is not known, but she presumably died after 1117 as, according to Albert of Aix, her existence at that date provided her husband with the grounds for repudiating his third wife Adelaida del Vasto.

m (1098, repudiated [1104]) as his second wife, BAUDOUIN de Boulogne Count of Edessa, son of EUSTACHE II Comte de Boulogne & his second wife Ida of Lower Lotharingia (-Al-Arish 2 Apr 1118, bur Jerusalem, Church of the Holy Sepulchre). He was chosen in 1100 to succeeded as BAUDOUIN I King of Jerusalem.

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arda_of_Armenia

Arda (Armenian: Արդա; died after 1116) was the queen of Jerusalem as the 2nd spouse of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem. She was the first Queen consort of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, as Baldwin's brother and predecessor Godfrey of Bouillon was unmarried.

Life

Her name is unrecorded in contemporary sources, but since the 17th century she has been traditionally called Arda. She was the daughter of a minor Armenian noble named Thathoul (or Thoros), lord of Marash. Baldwin married her in 1097 after the death of his first wife, Godehilde, who had travelled with him on the First Crusade. Thoros promised 60,000 bezants as a dowry. This was a politically convenient marriage, as Baldwin was the first Count of Edessa, a crusader state carved out of Armenian territory in Mesopotamia.

Baldwin succeeded his brother as King of Jerusalem in 1100, but Arda did not immediately accompany him south; she travelled by sea and arrived probably in 1101. In 1105 Baldwin had the marriage annulled, supposedly because Arda had been unfaithful, or, according to Guibert of Nogent, because she had been raped by pirates on the way to Jerusalem. In reality, Thoros had paid very little of the dowry, Arda had produced no children, and an Armenian wife was less useful in Jerusalem than in Edessa. Fulcher of Chartres, the chronicler closest to Baldwin, does not mention the matter at all, which likely means that Baldwin had no legitimate reason to annul the marriage. Instead, he simply forced Arda to enter the monastery of Saint Anne. Arda later demanded to be released and went to Constantinople, where her father had fled when his lands were taken over by Edessa.

In 1112 Baldwin sought to marry Adelaide del Vasto, widow of Roger I of Sicily and Regent for Roger II. The marriage was arranged, although Baldwin was legally still married to Arda. Patriarch Arnulf of Chocques was deposed for having supported the marriage, but was reinstated by Pope Paschal II in 1116, on condition that the marriage was annulled; Baldwin agreed and then attempted to bring Arda back from Constantinople. Arda never returned, and Baldwin died in 1118. The dates of Arda's birth and death are unknown.