Guy of Ibelin (Fr: ''Guy d'Ibelin'') (died 29 March 1367) was the dominican bishop of Limassol,

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

from 27 April 1357 until his death. He belonged to the noble Cypriot

house of Ibelin 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 holdin ...

, closely linked by intermarriage with the

kings of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (french: Royaume de Chypre, la, Regnum Cypri) was a state that existed between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan. It comprised not only the island of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on the Anat ...

. His father Balian of Ibelin (d. 28 October 1333),

Lord of Arsuf 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 ...

, was a direct descendant of the first Balian of Ibelin, an important

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

r. His mother, Margaret of Ibelin, continued to hold the title Lady of Arsuf after her husband's death. In the second half of the fourteenth century the fortunes of the house of Ibelin were in decline, as the once-powerful family became extinct. Guy's brother Philip became the last Ibelin to hold the title Lord of Arsuf. He was executed in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

in late 1373 for taking part in the assassination of King Peter I of Cyprus in 1369; King

James I of Cyprus James I (french: Jacques de Lusignan; 1334 – September 9, 1398) was the youngest son of King Hugh IV of Cyprus and by 1369 held the title "Constable of Jerusalem." When his nephew Peter II died in 1382, James became King of Cyprus. James was als ...

subsequently bestowed the title on John of Neviles, viscount of Nicosia, in 1389. Instead of receiving a

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

, the normal path for a younger son of a high aristocratic family to join the church and enjoy the comfortable life of an ecclesiastical nobleman, Guy chose to join the austere

dominican order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

, perhaps in the same monastery 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 ...

where he was later laid to rest. Two years after his elevation to bishop in 1357, he was the presiding bishop at the coronation of Peter I in the cathedral of St Sophia, Nicosia. It appears that he took part in the campaign to capture Alexandria in 1365, before succumbing to illness in his mansion in Nicosia in 1367. Guy bequeathed 20,000 bezants towards the construction of the cathedral of St Nicholas in Limassol. A detailed inventory of his belongings survives him; although his main residence, in addition to his three rural estates, was not furnished in an opulent manner, – Turkish carpets and cushions typical of the Latin orient replacing courtly tapestries – he still indulged in hunting, the favourite pastime of the nobility, having three falconers in his service, a modest number for the time.

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References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibelin, Guy Of, Bishop of Limassol 14th-century births 1367 deaths Guy Christians of the Crusades 14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Cyprus Members of the Dominican Order Dominican bishops