Hélvis (Ramla) de Hierges (1110 - abt. 1158)

Born 1110 in Ramla, Jaffa, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem

Wife of Barisan (Puiset) Ibelin — married about 1122 (to 1151) in Ramla, Jaffa, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem

Descendants

Died about 1158 at about age 48 in Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem

Biography

Hélvis Ramla was a member of the aristocracy in Europe.

Hélvis (Elizabeth) de Ramla was born in 1100 CE in the Levantine city of Ramla, near Jaffa, in the Crusader (Latin) Kingdom of Jerusalem, in the Holy Land. She was the oldest child and daughter of Baudouin de Ramla, formerly Baudouin de Hestrut, Comte de Flandres, who was given the city and castle of Ramla, captured from the Moslems in 1106, as a reward for his service to Baudouin I, King of Jerusalem, during the First Crusade. Her mother was Étiennette (Stéphanie) de Naplouse. She was a Flemish/French noblewoman who joined the First Crusade. Hélvis' parents separated & annulled their marriage about 1120 and Étiennette remarried to Crusader knight, Guy de Milly, having had 2 sons with him before his death in 1126.^[1]

Hélvis de Ramla was married at 12 or 13 years old to Barisan ("Balian") Le Puiset, supposedly the brother of a Viscount of Chartres in France, who had joined the First Crusade after 1110 CE.^[2] The couple first lived in Mirabel, near Jaffa, where Balian was the Constable (Connétable) for its Crusader Count, then moved to Ibelin, a strategic castle controlling the route to Egypt, built by Fulk I, Crusader King of Jerusalem, in 1141 CE. As it was his most-important possession, Balian became Lord "Balian d'Ibelin".

In 1148 CE, on the death of Hélvis' brother without a direct heir, her husband Balian d'Ibelin became Lord of Ramla. The couple had 5 children: ^[3]

1. Hugues d'Ibelin († 1170), seigneur d'Ibelin et de Ramla
2. Baudouin d'Ibelin († 1187), seigneur de Mirabel, puis de Ramla
3. Balian d'Ibelin († 1193), seigneur de Naplouse et d'Ibelin
4. Ermengarde d'Ibelin († 1160/67), mariée à Elinard de Bures, prince de Galilée et seigneur de Tibérias
5. Stéphanie d'Ibelin († après 1167)

Balian d'Ibelin passed away at Ramla in 1151 CE at about 60 years old. Hélvis (de Ramla) d'Ibelin then married Manasses de Hierges, Constable / Marshal of the Crusader (Latin) Kingdom of Jerusalem. They had no children together. Hélvis died in about 1158, most-likely in Jerusalem, the Holy Land. She was nearly 50 years old.

Balian and Hélvis d'Ibelin founded one of the longest-lasting and important European/Crusader dynasties to live and rule in the Holy Land during the 12-13th Centuries. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Étiennette de Naplouse article (in French) on Fr.Wikipedia
2. ↑ Balian's origins are uncertain but he was a European nobleman and Crusader knight. See: Balian d'Ibelin (mort en 1151) article, in French, on Fr.Wikipedia.
3. ↑ See preceding Note.
4. ↑ The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Dynastic History 1099-1125, by Alan V. Murray, pp. 187-188

• Evelyn, Helen. The History of the Evelyn Family (Eveleigh Nash, London, 1915) The History of the Evelyn Family, page 540