Marie of Lusignan (1273 –

Tortosa Tortosa (; ) is the capital of the ''Catalonia/Comarques, comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buin ...

, April 1319) was a daughter of

Hugh III of Cyprus Hugh III (french: Hugues; – 24 March 1284), also called Hugh of Antioch-Lusignan and the Great, was the king of Cyprus from 1267 and king of Jerusalem from 1268. Born into the family of the princes of Antioch, he effectively ruled as regent ...

and his wife Isabella of Ibelin. She was

Queen of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

by her marriage and was a member of the

House of Poitiers-Lusignan The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries dur ...

Life

Barcelona Cathedral Interior - Royal tombs in the Cathedral of Barcelona - The Queens

Marie was the fifth of thirteen children. Her siblings included John II of Jerusalem,

Henry II of Jerusalem Henry II (June 1270 – 31 August 1324) was the last crowned King of Jerusalem (after the fall of Acre on 28 May 1291, this title became empty) and also ruled as King of Cyprus. He was of the Lusignan dynasty. He was the second surviving so ...

and

Amalric, Prince of Tyre Amalric, Lord of Tyre, also called Amalric of Lusignan or Amaury de Lusignan (c. 1272 – June 5, 1310, in Nicosia) was a prince and statesman of the House of Lusignan, a younger son of King Hugh III of Cyprus and Isabella of the House of Ibelin. ...

. Marie remained unmarried for many years; she was recorded as having been present in her brother Amalric's court in 1310. She was however eventually betrothed to

James II of Aragon James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Spanish: ''Jaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just,, an, Chaime lo Chusto, es, Jaime el Justo. was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He ...

in 1315, who had been married twice before and was father to ten legitimate children. As Marie was heiress to

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 ...

, James considered a matrimonial union with her to be politically advantageous. They married by proxy at Santa Sophia,

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 ...

on 15 June 1315 and in person at

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

on 27 November 1315. Marie was already forty-two and the marriage was purely for reasons of state, so James could rule Cyprus on the death of Marie's brother Henry. They had no children. The couple were only married for four years before Marie died in

in April 1319. As Marie did not outlive her brother, James' plans of ruling Cyprus had failed. After Marie's death James complained that she had been too old and had not proved companionable.Letter of King Jaime to the bishop of Tusculum written shortly after Queen Marie's death, cited in Edbury (1994), p. 138 Marie's brother Henry died five years later and was succeeded by their nephew

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 ...

. James remarried a final time to

Elisenda de Montcada Elisenda de Montcada (c. 1292 – 19 June 1364) was queen consort of Aragon as the fourth and last spouse of James II of Aragon. She served as Regent or "Queen-Lieutenant" of Aragon during the absence of her spouse from 1324 until 1327. She w ...

before his death in 1327.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marie Of Lusignan, Queen Of Aragon 1273 births 1319 deaths House of Poitiers-Lusignan Aragonese queen consorts Sardinian queens consort Countesses of Barcelona Daughters of kings