Marie Of Lusignan, Queen Of Aragon on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Marie of Lusignan (1273 –
Marie was the fifth of thirteen children. Her siblings included John II of Jerusalem, Henry II of Jerusalem and Amalric, Lord of Tyre.
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 in 1315, who had been married twice before and was father to ten legitimate children.
As Marie was heiress to
Tortosa
Tortosa (, ) is the capital of the '' 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 Buinaca, one of the hi ...
, April 1319) was a daughter of Hugh III of Cyprus and his wife Isabella of Ibelin. She was Queen of Aragon by her marriage and was a member of the House of Poitiers-Lusignan.
Life
Marie was the fifth of thirteen children. Her siblings included John II of Jerusalem, Henry II of Jerusalem and Amalric, Lord of Tyre.
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 in 1315, who had been married twice before and was father to ten legitimate children.
As Marie was heiress to Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, James considered a matrimonial union with her to be politically advantageous. They married by proxy at Santa Sophia, 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 ...
on 15 June 1315 and in person at Girona 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 Tortosa
Tortosa (, ) is the capital of the '' 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 Buinaca, one of the hi ...
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. James remarried a final time to Elisenda de Montcada before his death in 1327.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marie Of Lusignan, Queen Of Aragon 1273 births 1319 deaths House of Poitiers-Lusignan Queens consort of Aragon Queens consort of Sardinia Daughters of kings