Alice of Antioch

Who is Alice of Antioch?

Alice of Jerusalem was a Princess of Jerusalem. She later became Princess of Antioch.

Alice was the second daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Morphia of Melitene. She had three sisters. She was an aunt of Kings Baldwin III and Amalric I.

Baldwin II had become regent of Antioch after the defeat of the principality at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis in 1119. In 1126, the 18-year old Bohemond, son of Bohemond I, the first prince of Antioch, arrived to claim his inheritance. Immediately after the principality was handed over to him, Bohemond was married to Alice; the marriage was likely part of the negotiations prior to Bohemond's arrival.

In 1130 Bohemond was killed in battle with the Danishmends, and Baldwin returned to Antioch to assume the regency, but Alice wanted the city for herself. She attempted to make an alliance with Zengi, the Seljuk atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo, offering to marry her daughter to a Muslim prince. The messenger sent by Alice to Zengi was captured on the way by Baldwin, and was tortured and executed.