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 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", son of Balian of Ibelin, who surrendered Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187. His parents were Balian ...

(died 1264),

lord of Beirut The Lordship of Beirut was a feudal seigneury in the Kingdom of Jerusalem centered on the city of Beirut (in modern-day Lebanon). The lord of Beirut was one of the most powerful vassals of the king of Jerusalem. In the 12th century the lordship was ...

, and of Alice de la Roche (died 1282), 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 relatively humble beginnings to become one of the most important families in the kingdom, holding various high offices and with exten ...

Early life

Eschive d'Ibelin married 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, Lebanon, Tyre was an important port on the Palestine (region), Palestinian coast of the Fatimid Caliphate in the late ...

in 1274. They had: * Three sons and one daughter, all who died young * Amaury de Montfort (died 1304) * Rupen de Montfort (died 1313)

Lady of Beirut

She became Lady of Beirut on the death of her sister Isabelle of Beirut in 1282, holding the title in her own right. Isabelle had no surviving children. After Humphrey's death in 1284, in 1291 Eschive married

Guy of Lusignan Guy of Lusignan ( 1150 – 18 July 1194) was King of Jerusalem, first as husband and co-ruler of Queen Sibylla from 1186 to 1190 then as disputed ruler from 1190 to 1192. He was also Lord of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194. A French Poitevin kni ...

, 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) In 1291, Emir ‘Alam al-Din Sanjar al-Shuja‘i al-Mansuri, a

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

general under

al-Ashraf Khalil Al-Malik Al-Ashraf Salāh ad-Dīn Khalil ibn Qalawūn (; c. 1260s – 14 December 1293) was the eighth Turkic Bahri dynasty, Bahri Mamluk Sultanate, Mamluk sultan, succeeding his father Qalawun. He served from 12 November 1290 until his assassi ...

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

Qalawun (, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Turkic Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt; he ruled from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). After having risen in power in the Mamluk court and elite circles, Qalawun eventually hel ...

, 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 Muslim forces 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 or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unin ...

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

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

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

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 (; – 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 Peloponnese. H ...

, 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 unincorpo ...

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

fief A fief (; ) 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 overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of the

Principality of Achaea The Principality of Achaea () or Principality of Morea was one of the 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 of Thes ...

, the decision was in the hands of

Philip I of Taranto Philip II (10 November 1278 – 26 December 1331), also known as Philip I of Taranto, was titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople by marriage to Catherine of Valois–Courtenay, Despot of Romania, King of Albania, Prince of Achaea and Taranto. B ...

Prince of Achaea The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states Frankokratia, founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). The principality witnessed various overlords during its more than tw ...

, and his suzerain and elder brother

Robert of Naples Robert of Anjou (), known as Robert the Wise (; 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 Italian politics of his time. He was the thir ...

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

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

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 was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

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 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 Greece, Frankish Duchy of Athens and its vassals under Walter V of Brienn ...

in 1311, but died the following year in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

and was buried there.

References

Sources

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