Isabelle was Cypriot nobility who also was the regent of Jerusalem for her nephew.

She is my 19th great-grandmother.

She was born before 1216¹. She was the youngest daughter¹ of Hugh I, King of Cyprus and Alix of Jerusalem¹.

Titles

In 1263, she was appointed the de facto regent of Jerusalem in Acre¹.

Family

In 1233, she married Henry de Poitiers, also known as Henry of Antioch.

This was a marriage of convenience, designed by the powerful Ibelin family². Ibelin negotiated with Bohemond so that once Henry and Isabella married, Henry would obtain great fiefs on Cyprus and, in return, the Ibelin family would get military aid for their own purposes².

Together they had two children:

• Hugh, born sometime before 1240, who went on to become Hugh III, King of Cyprus
• Margaret of Antioch, born in 1244.

Notable events

As part of the de Lusignan family, Isabelle inherited the right to rule over Cyprus. This passed to her son who changed his name to de Lusignan to further cement his claim to the throne. This power move created the second House of Lusignan.

In 1263, she appointed her husband as Bailiff of Jerusalem.

In 1264, she appointed her son as Bailiff of Jerusalem after which she returned to Cyprus.

Death

She died in 1264¹ and while records don’t give a precise date, it is likely to be later than February of that year¹. It is not clear how she died.

She was buried in “la madre chiesa” (“The mother church”) in Nicosia. This is likely to be a reference to Santa Sophia Cathedral in Nicosia. It is neither clear how she died, nor is

Lineage

This person is my 16 x great-grand-mother.

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References

1. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; Charles Crawley; 2022-03-09[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. A History of Cyprus; Sir George Francis Hill; Cambridge University Press; 2010-11[↩][↩]