Isabella of Cyprus (died in 1264) was a Cypriotic princess. She was the regent of

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...

on behalf of her nephew King Hugh II in 1263-1264.

Family

Isabella was the daughter of Hugh I, king of Cyprus, and

Alice of Champagne Alice of Champagne (french: Alix; 1193 – 1246) was the queen consort of Cyprus from 1210 to 1218, regent of Cyprus from 1218 to 1223, and of Jerusalem from 1243 to 1246. She was the eldest daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and Count Hen ...

, regent of Jerusalem. She married

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, the youngest son of Prince

Bohemond IV of Antioch Bohemond IV of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the One-Eyed (french: Bohémond le Borgne; 1175–1233), was Count of Tripoli from 1187 to 1233, and Prince of Antioch from 1201 to 1216 and from 1219 to 1233. He was the younger son of Bohemond III ...

, 1233. The union was suggested by John of Ibelin, Isabella's granduncle and the leading nobleman of the

, when he reconciled with Henry's father following the

War of the Lombards The War of the Lombards (1228–1243) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Cyprus between the "Lombards" (also called the imperialists), the representatives of the Emperor Frederick II, largely from Lombardy, and th ...

. Isabella and Henry had two children,

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

and

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

. Along with her son she raised her nephew

Hugh of Brienne Hugh, Count of Brienne and Lecce ( 1240 – 9 August 1296) was the second surviving son of Count Walter IV of Brienne and Marie de Lusignan of Cyprus. Life His father, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon in Palestine, was murdered in 1244 in Cairo, and ...

, son of her deceased elder sister

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

Regency

Isabella's brother, King

Henry I of Cyprus Henry I of Cyprus, nicknamed the Fat (french: Henri de Lusignan; 3 May 1217 – 18 January 1253 at Nicosia) was King of Cyprus from 1218 to 1253. He was the son of Hugh I of Cyprus and Alice of Champagne. When his father Hugh I died on January 1 ...

, died in 1253. He was succeeded by his minor son, King Hugh II. Hugh was then regarded as

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

of King

Conrad III of Jerusalem Conrad III (25 March 1252 – 29 October 1268), called ''the Younger'' or ''the Boy'', but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (german: link=no, Konradin, it, Corradino), was the last direct heir of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was Duke ...

, who lived in Europe, and was entitled to rule the mainland kingdom too as

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

. But since Hugh also required a regent on the account of his minority, it was his mother,

Plaisance of Antioch Plaisance of Antioch (1235/1236 or ca. 1235 – September 27/22, 1261) was Queen of Cyprus by marriage to King Henry I. She served as regent of the kingdoms of Cyprus and Jerusalem for their son, King Hugh II, in 1254–1261 and 1258–1261 r ...

, who governed. Queen Plaisance died in 1261. As the young king's only surviving aunt and closest relative, Isabella was entitled to be the next regent of Cyprus. She stood aside and allowed her son, Hugh of Antioch, to take up the regency. Hugh of Brienne, though son of the elder aunt, did not counter his claim. In 1264 he said the reason was his respect for his aunt who raised him. The right to exercise regency of Jerusalem on behalf of the minor regent remained unclaimed by his family until 1263. Isabella stepped forward only after the

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

ruler of Egypt,

Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...

, attacked

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

, the seat of the royal government. She then came to Acre with her husband, Henry. The law stated that the claimant to

bailli A bailiff (french: bailli, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in h ...

age had to bring their ward when appearing before the

High Court of Jerusalem {{inline, date=May 2017 The Haute Cour ( en, High Court) was the feudal council of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was sometimes also called the ''curia generalis'', the ''curia regis'', or, rarely, the ''parlement''. Composition of the court The H ...

. Since Isabella failed to do so, the High Court restricted her rule and refused to do

homage Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to: History *Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance *Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts *Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...

and

fealty An oath of fealty, from the Latin ''fidelitas'' (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Definition In medieval Europe, the swearing of fealty took the form of an oath made by a vassal, or subordinate, to his lord. "Fea ...

to her. She then returned to Cyprus, leaving Henry to act on her behalf. She died in 1264, likely in the latter half of the year.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Isabella Of Antioch 13th-century births 1264 deaths 13th-century people of the Kingdom of Jerusalem 13th-century women rulers 13th-century viceregal rulers People of the Kingdom of Cyprus Women of the Crusader states Regents of Jerusalem Year of birth uncertain Daughters of kings