Eschive d'Ibelin (1253–1312) was ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

Lady of Beirut The Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, created in 1099, was divided into a number of smaller seigneuries. According to the 13th-century jurist John of Ibelin, the four highest crown vassals (referred to as barons) in the kingdom proper ...

in 1282–1312. She was the daughter of

John II of Beirut John of Ibelin (died 1264), often called John II, was the Lord of Beirut from 1254, named after his grandfather John I, the famous "Old Lord of Beirut", and son of Balian of Ibelin, who surrendered Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187. His parents were Ba ...

(died 1264),

lord of Beirut The Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, created in 1099, was divided into a number of smaller seigneuries. According to the 13th-century jurist John of Ibelin, the four highest crown vassals (referred to as barons) in the kingdom proper ...

, and of Alice de la Roche, and a member of the influential

Ibelin family The House of Ibelin was a noble family in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. They rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most important families in the kingdom, holding various high offices and with extensive holding ...

Life

She first married, in 1274, Humphrey de Montfort,

lord of Tyre The Lordship of Tyre was a semi-independent domain in the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1246 to 1291. Background The town of Tyre was an important port on the Palestinian coast of the Fatimid Caliphate in the late 11th century. The town was locate ...

(died 1284).

Lady of Beirut

She became lady of Beirut on the death of her sister Isabelle of Beirut in 1282. After Humphrey's death, she remarried in 1291

Guy of Lusignan Guy of Lusignan (c. 1150 – 18 July 1194) was a French Poitevin knight, son of Hugh VIII of Lusignan and as such born of the House of Lusignan. He was king of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla of Jerusalem, and King o ...

, constable of Cyprus (died 1302). In 1291, Emir ‘Alam al-Din Sanjar al-Shuja‘i al-Mansuri, a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

general under

al-Ashraf Khalil Al-Ashraf Salāh ad-Dīn Khalil ibn Qalawūn ( ar, الملك الأشرف صلاح الدين خليل بن قلاوون; c. 1260s – 14 December 1293) was the eighth Bahri Mamluk sultan, succeeding his father Qalawun. He served from 12 Nove ...

, marched on Beirut, which had only a small garrison. Eschive thought she was secure because she had signed a truce with

Qalawun ( ar, قلاوون الصالحي, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Bahri Mamluk sultan; he ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). Biography and rise to power Qalawun was a Kipchak, ancient Turkic ...

, father of Khalil. Al-Shuja‘i summoned the commanders of the garrison and arrested them. Seeing the commanders arrested, the population fled by sea. Beirut was taken by the Muslims on July 31. Al-Shuja‘i ordered the razing of its walls and castles and turned its cathedral into a mosque.

Claimant to the Duchy of Athens

In 1308, Eschive's cousin

Guy II de la Roche Guy II de la Roche, also known as Guyot or Guidotto (1280 – 5 October 1308), was the Duke of Athens from 1287, the last duke of his family.''The Latins in Greece and the Aegean from the Fourth Crusade to the End of the Middle Ages'', K. M. Se ...

Duke of Athens The Duchy of Athens (Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of th ...

, died without issue, leaving a succession crisis in the duchy. Eschive travelled to the

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottoman ...

in the same year to claim her rights to the duchy of Athens. She was one of the two claimants, as the daughter of Guy's aunt Alice; her rival,

Walter V of Brienne Walter V of Brienne (french: Gautier; – 15 March 1311) was Duke of Athens from 1308 until his death. Being the only son of Hugh of Brienne and Isabella de la Roche, Walter was the heir to large estates in France, the Kingdom of Naples, and the ...

, was the son of Guy's aunt

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

, a younger sister of Alice. Upon her return journey from Morea, Eschive was shipwrecked. Since Athens was a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

of the

Principality of Achaea The Principality of Achaea () or Principality of Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire, which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom o ...

, the decision was in the hands of

Philip I of Taranto Philip I of Taranto (10 November 1278 – 26 December 1331), of the Angevin house, was titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople (as Philip II) by right of his wife Catherine of Valois–Courtenay, Despot of Romania, King of Albania, Prince of Acha ...

Prince of Achaea The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). Though more or less autonomous, the principality was never a fully independent s ...

, and his suzerain and elder brother

Robert of Naples Robert of Anjou ( it, Roberto d'Angiò), known as Robert the Wise ( it, Roberto il Saggio; 1276 – 20 January 1343), was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Ita ...

. The two referred the question to the High Court of Achaea in 1309, which met at

Glarentza Glarentza ( el, Γλαρέντζα), also known as or Clarenia, Clarence, or Chiarenza, was a medieval town located near the site of modern Kyllini in Elis, at the westernmost point of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Founded in th ...

and declared Walter the heir on the pragmatic grounds that he was male and an active soldier, better suited to defend the Duchy. The disappointed Eschive thereupon appealed to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

before the altar of St Francis at Glarentza, asking that Walter and the judges die without heirs of the body if they had wrongly judged against her. Eschive in fact outlived Walter, who was killed at the

Battle of Halmyros The Battle of Halmyros, known by earlier scholars as the Battle of the Cephissus or Battle of Orchomenos, was fought on 15 March 1311, between the forces of the Frankish Duchy of Athens and its vassals under Walter of Brienne against the merc ...

in 1311, but died the following year in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

and was buried there.

Issue

With Humphrey de Montfort,

(died 1284), they had: * Three sons and one daughter, all who died young * Amaury de Montfort (died 1304) * Rupen de Montfort (died 1313) With

, constable of Cyprus (died 1302), they had: * Hugh IV (1295–1359) king of Cyprus, married firstly Maria of Ibelin, then Alice of Ibelin * Isabelle de Lusignan (born 1298), who in 1322 married Eudes de Dampierre (died 1330)

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eschive D'ibelin (1253-1312) 1253 births 1312 deaths People of the Kingdom of Cyprus Women of the Crusader states House of Ibelin History of Beirut Women of the Duchy of Athens 13th-century women rulers 14th-century women rulers