She
was initially betrothed (1113) to
William the Aetheling, heir to King
Henry I - they were not married
as he was drowned off the coast
of Normandy (1120). Her father
Fulk undertook his first visit to the
Holy Land (1120) - on his return,
he abdicated and handed over
control of the County of Anjou to
Geoffrey (who had married Maud
by now).Sybilla married Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders - whom she bore a
son Philip. Meanwhile, in the East, her father had married a second time, to
Melisende, daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem (1129) and was soon
crowned King of Jerusalem (1131). Her husband Thierry visited her father
Fulk in Jerusalem (1139). When her husband came East as part of the
Second Crusade, she went with him (1147/1148) - she was part of the
entourage of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who accompanied her first husband,
King Louis VII of France on this same crusade. Sybilla was the
stepdaughter of Queen Melisende of Jerusalem (who was the second wife
of her father Fulk). Her husband Thierry covetted the fief of Damascus but
this lead to quarreling among the crusaders and effectively put an end to
the crusade. Thierry returned to Flanders. Her husband made a third trip to
Palestine (1157) - gained some lands near Antioch. I am uncertain as to
whether Sybilla accompanied her husband back to Flanders and then to
Palestine, but waht is certain is that she refused to return to Europe with
husband (1158). Instead, she stayed on as a nun in abbey of Bethany at
Jerusalem.
On Melisende's death (1161), Sybilla succeeded to her influence in royal
family and the Church till own death. Her husband Thierry made his fourth
pilgrimage to Jerusalem (1154/1165) - he even appealed for a new
crusade (1169). By the time her son Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders
reluctantly came East (1177) as a crusader, both she and her husband
were dead