Mary of Lusignan (French: Marie de Lusignan; before March 1215 – 5 July 1251 or 1253), was the wife of Count

Walter IV of Brienne Walter IV ( (1205–1246) was the count of Brienne from 1205 to 1246. Life Walter was the son of Walter III of Brienne and Elvira of Sicily. Around the time of his birth, his father lost his bid for the Sicilian throne and was killed. His inh ...

and Countess of Brienne from the time of her marriage in 1233 to her husband's death while on

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

in 1244. Mary's parents were King

Hugh I of Cyprus Hugh I (; (Oúgos); 1194/1195 – 10 January 1218) succeeded to the throne of Cyprus on 1 April 1205, underage upon the death of his father Aimery, King of Cyprus and Jerusalem. His mother was Eschiva of Ibelin, heiress of that branch of Ibe ...

and

Alice of Champagne Alice of Champagne (; 1193 – 1246) was the queen consort of Cyprus from 1210 to 1218, regent of Cyprus from 1218 to 1232, and regent of Kingdom of Jerusalem, Jerusalem from 1243 to 1246. She was the eldest daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jer ...

, making her a maternal granddaughter of Queen

Isabella I of Jerusalem Isabella I (1172 – 5 April 1205) was the queen of Jerusalem from 1190 to her death in 1205. She was the daughter of King Amalric of Jerusalem and his second wife, the Byzantine princess Maria Comnena. Isabella was a younger half-sister of ...

. Her two surviving sons were

John, Count of Brienne John, Count of Brienne (c. 1235 – c. 1260) was the eldest son of Walter IV of Brienne and Marie of Cyprus. He inherited the County of Brienne on his father's death in 1246, but preferred to live among his mother's relatives at the court ...

, and

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, ...

Family and betrothal

Mary was born sometime before March 1215, the eldest daughter and child of King Hugh I of Cyprus and Alice of Champagne, the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and

Henry II, Count of Champagne Henry II of Champagne or Henry I of Jerusalem (29 July 1166 – 10 September 1197) was the count of Champagne from 1181 and the king of Jerusalem ''jure uxoris'' from his marriage to Queen Isabella I in 1192 until his death in 1197. Early li ...

. She had a younger sister,

Isabelle Isabel is a female name of Iberian origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheba''). Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...

, and a brother,

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, who succeeded as king upon the death of their father in January 1218. In 1225, Alice married secondly

Bohemond V of Antioch Bohemond V of Antioch (1199 − 17 January 1252)Runciman, ''History of the Crusades, vol. III, p. 278 was ruler of the Principality of Antioch, a Crusader state, from 1233 to his death. He was simultaneously Count of Tripoli. Life Bohemond V ...

, after she and her sister,

Philippa Philippa is a feminine given name meaning "lover of horses" or "horses' friend", from the Greek Philippos, which is derived from ''philein'', meaning to love and ''hippos'', meaning ''horse''. The English masculine form is Philip, which was form ...

had long become embroiled in a bitter dispute with Blanche of Navarre over the county of

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

, which was later known as the Champagne War of Succession. Before 21 July 1229, Mary was betrothed to

Peter I, Duke of Brittany Peter I (; 1187 – 26 May 1250), also known as Peter Mauclerc and Peter of Dreux, reigned as Duke of Brittany alongside his wife Alix, Duchess of Brittany, Alix from 1213 to 1221, and was regent of the Duchy of Brittany, duchy for his minor so ...

, whose wife

Alix of Thouars Alix (also Alis, Alice, and of Thouars; 1200 – 21 October 1221) was Duchess of Brittany from 1203 until her death. She was also Countess of Richmond in the peerage of England. Life Alix was born in 1200. She was the daughter of Con ...

had died in 1221; however, the Pope prohibited the match due to their fourth degree consanguinity.

Marriage and issue

By 1233, Mary married Walter IV, Count of Brienne. The marriage had been arranged by his uncle

John of Brienne John of Brienne ( 1170 – 19–23 March 1237), also known as John I, was the king of Jerusalem from 1210 to 1225 and Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1229 to 1237. He was the youngest son of Erard II of Brienne, a wealthy nobleman in Cham ...

. From the time of her marriage, she was styled Countess of Brienne. Her husband was also the Count of Jaffa and Ascolom, the title of which had been granted to him by his father, Walter III of Brienne in 1221. Together Mary and Walter had: *

(c.1235- 1260/61), married Mary of Enghien; died childless. *

, Count of Brienne and Lecce (c.1240- 9 August 1296), married firstly Isabelle de la Roche, Heiress of Thebes, daughter of

Guy I de la Roche Guy I de la Roche (1205–1263) was the Duke of Athens (from 1225/34), the son and successor of the first duke Othon. After the conquest of Thebes, Othon gave half the city in lordship to Guy. Life Guy's early life is obscure. Since the 18th c ...

, and by whom he had issue; married secondly Helena Komnenos Dukaina, by whom he had one daughter, Joanna of Brienne. * Amaury of Brienne Mary became a widow in October 1244 after Walter was murdered in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. He had been taken prisoner following the Crusader-Syrian defeat at the

Battle of La Forbie A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

where he had led the Crusader Army against the

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian forces. Their eldest son, John succeeded him as Count of Brienne. Mary remained at the Cypriot court and died on 5 July in 1251 or 1253. In 1267, after the death of King Hugh II, Mary's only surviving son Hugh claimed the Cypriot kingdom for himself, but was passed over by the

Haute Cour of Jerusalem The Haute Cour ({{langx, 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 Haute Cour was a ...

in favour of her younger sister Isabella's son, Hugh of Antioch.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mary Of Lusignan, Countess Of Brienne Women from the Crusader states House of Lusignan People from the Kingdom of Cyprus 1210s births 1250s deaths House of Brienne Daughters of kings