Court of Jerusalem to agree to an annulment of his marriage to Agnes of Courtenay, but he successfully appealed to Pope Alexander III to have their children, Sibylla and Baldwin, declared legitimate. Queenship Wishing to restore alliance with the powerful Byzantine Empire, King Amalric took his vassals' advice and sent his butler, Odo of St Amand, and the archbishop of Caesarea, Ernesius, as envoys to Emperor Manuel. Negotiations for Amalric's marriage with one of the emperor's relatives lasted two years. Maria was eventually selected and sent to the Levant. She landed with the butler and the archbishop at Tyre in August. The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Amalric of Nesle, celebrated her marriage to the king at the Cathedral of Tyre on 29 August 1167. Historian Bernard Hamilton concludes that the new queen was neither particularly attractive, as not even her supporters flattered her, nor endowed with an impressive dowry, as her cousin Theodora had been. Maria and her household represented Byzantine interests in the crusader states, but like Theodora in Baldwin III's reign, she had no influence on the government as queen. Mindful of the power enjoyed by their mother and predecessor, Queen Melisende, King Amalric and his brother were keen to avoid sharing authority with their wives. Maria was also disadvantaged by having no son. A daughter who died in infancy was likely born to the queen in 1171. The royal couple's only surviving child was Isabella, born in 1172. There was little affection in the relationship between the queen and her stepson, Baldwin. She proved markedly ambitious, and probably resented Baldwin's precedence over her own progeny in the line of succession. The lack of a son in the royal marriage became troubling as suspicion grew that Baldwin had contracted leprosy, which used to be an incurable and much stigmatised illness. Dowager Maria's husband, Amalric, came down with dysentery in June 1174. On his deathbed, he granted the city of Nablus, formerly held by his mother, to Maria to be held in fief as dower. He died on 11 July. Maria may have taken part in the ensuing discussion about succession to the throne. Having no other son, Amalric was succeeded by 13-year-old Baldwin, who had not yet been formally diagnosed with leprosy. Despite ominous symptoms, he was seen as a better candidate than his slightly older sister, Sibylla, because she was a girl and unmarried. The claim of