Editing Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem (section)

====Rupture with Baldwin III====
[[File:Baudouin III sermonnant Mélissende.png|thumb|Baldwin III arguing with Melisende, depicted in a 14th-century edition of William of Tyre's ''Historia''|alt=A crowned man gesturing towards an enthroned woman]]
The dispute with the Church over the appointment of her chancellor, Ralph, to the see of Tyre reached its peak by 1149 and became a serious issue for Melisende as rift grew between her and Baldwin.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=131}} To retain the Church as an ally she either dismissed Ralph from the chancery or forced him to resign.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|pp=131–132}} She could not appoint a new chancellor without her co-ruler's consent, however, and the chancery thus collapsed.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|pp=135–136}} Mother and son henceforth employed separate [[scribe]]s, which avoided an open break in their co-reign, but marked an unprecedented division of royal power.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=136}}

The death of her trusted and most important vassal Elinand, prince of Galilee, {{circa}} 1149 was a setback for Melisende.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=136}} After the capture of the count of Edessa in 1150, Baldwin summoned the lords to march with him to Antioch, but those loyal to Melisende refused.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=148}} This was, in Mayer's mind, the queen's attempt to prevent Baldwin from making any military success, and specifically from fulfilling the traditional role of the kings of Jerusalem in protecting the northern crusader states.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|pp=148–149}} Baldwin went anyway with the small force he could muster.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=149}}

Mayer considers it clear from the surviving charters that from 1150 Melisende was preparing for a showdown with Baldwin: she set up her own administrative machinery and gathered the lords loyal to her.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=147}} In 1150 she procured for her cousin and constable, Manasses, the hand of [[Helvis of Ramla]], widow of her supporter Barisan of Ibelin. This angered Barisan's sons, [[Hugh of Ibelin|Hugh]], [[Baldwin of Ibelin|Baldwin]], and [[Balian of Ibelin|Balian]], because it led to them losing land in Ramla.{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=176}} Baldwin, for his part, held Manasses responsible for his estrangement from his mother.{{sfn|Hamilton|1978|p=153}} Melisende further consolidated her position against Baldwin in 1151 when she made her younger son, Amalric, count of Jaffa.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=162}} He became her most important partisan besides the Church.{{sfn|Mayer|1972|p=175}}