Hugh III adopted his mother’s family name of de Lusignan since he inherited Cyprus through her family. This marks the beginning of what historians call the second House of Lusignan.

He is my 18 x great-grandfather.

He was born sometime before 1240, son of Henry of Antioch and Isabelle de Lusignan^{1 2}.

Titles

On 22 September 1261, Hugh became Bailiff of Cyprus after his grandmother, Queen Plaisance, died¹.

In 1261, he became Regent for Hugh II of Cyprus, who was his first cousin³. He took over the regency of the Crown of Jerusalem in 1264 after his mother died³. This is an instance where one person united the crowns of Jerusalem and Cyprus.

When Hugh II died in Nicosia on 5 December 1267 without any heirs, Hugh succeeded him as Hugh III, King of Cyprus on 5 December 1267^{2 3 4}. Cyprus crowned him on 25 December in Santa Sophia, Nicosia^{1 2}.

Since he inherited the kingdom through his mother’s side of the family, he changed his family name to de Lusignan¹. This started the second House of Lusignan. Jerusalem crowned him Titular King of Jerusalem on 24 September 1269 in Tyre¹.

Family

Hugh married Isabella Ibelin in 1255^{1 2}. They received papal dispensation from Pope Alexander IV on 23 January 1255¹.

In total, Hugh and Isabella had nine, or twelve, children¹:

• John, or Jean, who succeeded him as King of Cyprus and Jerusalem.
• Bohemond, or Beymont.
• Henry, or Henri, II of Cyprus, who succeeded his brother John. Dante Alighieri refers to Cyprus in his Paradiso as suffering under “the Beast” as Henry II was known⁵.
• Amaury
• Mary, who became the Queen of Aragon².
• Guy, or Guido, of Cyprus.
• Aimary
• Margaret, or Marguerite, who became the Queen of Armenia².
• Alix, Alice, or Aalis
• Helvis, who became the queen of Armenia².
• There is suggestion there were 3 other daughters:
  • Isabelle
  • Lucie
  • A possible unnamed daughter.

Notable events

In October 1266, Hugh arrived in Acre¹. The Egyptian Sultan Baybars had defeated Armenian Cilicia and was continuing his attacks against crusader garrisons by conquering Galilee. Hugh launched a counter-attack but the Egyptians ambushed him at Safed in present-day Israel and retreated back to Acre¹.

After becoming King of Jerusalem, Hugh became a peacemaker. Together with Edward, son of Henry III of England, he signed a peace treaty on 22 May 1272 with Sultan Baybars in Ceaserea¹.

The Knights Templar didn’t like Hugh and in October 1276 he left for Tyre, and then Cyprus¹.

Death

He died in Tyre on 24⁵ or 27³ March 1284^{2 4 6}. We don’t know how he died although it is possible the Knights Templar poisoned him¹. His family buried him in the Santa Sophia church, Nicosia^{2 3}.

Lineage

Hugh is my 18 x great-grandfather.

References

1. Medieval Lands; Charles Crawley; “Chapter 3 – Kings of Cyprus 1267-1489 (Lusignan-Poitiers)” [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. List of Cypriot sovereigns; Royal Tombs; (Retrieved 2024-05-21) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Medieval Lands; Charles Crawley; “Chapter 2 – Lords of Cyprus 1192-1196, Kings of Cyprus 1196-1267 (Lusignan)” [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia; As observed by author; 2022-04-10[↩][↩]
5. Hugh III, King of Cyprus; Encyclopaedia Britannica; Retrieved 2018-04-18[↩]
6. The Manuscript Torino J.II.9: A late medieval perspective on musical life and culture at the court of the Lusignian kings at Nicosia; Andrée Giselle Simard; University of Akron; 2005-12[↩]