Amalric de Lusignan or Amaury II de Lusignan, Prince of Tyre (c. 1272 – June 5, 1310, Nicosia), of the Lusignan family, was a son of Hugh III of Cyprus and Isabella of Ibelin. Amalric was at the Fall of Tripoli in 1289, in which he led a company of knights and four galleys from Cyprus.[1] He escaped the siege of Tripoli together with Lucia of Tripoli, and was made Constable of Jerusalem in April, 1289. Amalric also became Lord of Tyre in 1290. He had command of the Accursed Tower at the siege of Acre in 1291, and escaped the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with his brother, King Henry, thus becoming Titular Constable of Jerusalem and Titular Lord of Tyre. In 1292/1293 he married to the Cilician Armenian princess Isabelle, Princess of Armenia (1275-1280 – murdered in Armenia before April 9, 1323) in the city of Nicosia, which allowed him to enjoy close ties with Armenia. In 1300 Amalric entered into combined military operations with the Mongols under Ghazan to retake the Holy Land:
"That year [1300], a message came to Cyprus from Ghazan, king of the Tatars, saying that he would come during the winter, and that he wished that the Frank join him in Armenia (...) Amalric of Lusignan, Constable of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, arrived in November (...) and brought with him 300 knights, and as many or more of the Templars and Hospitallers (...) In February a great admiral of the Tatars, named Cotlesser, came to Antioch with 60,000 horsemen, and requested the visit of the king of Armenia, who came with Guy of Ibelin, Count of Jaffa, and John, lord of Giblet. And when they arrived, Cotelesse told them that Ghazan had met great trouble of wind and cold on his way. Cotlesse raided the land from Haleppo to La Chemelle, and returned to his country without doing more".
—Le Templier de Tyre, Chap 620-622[2]
Henry was unpopular in Cyprus, and with the aid of the Templars and some of the barons, Amalric assumed the titles of "Governor and Rector" and Regent of Cyprus and Titular Regent of Jerusalem on April 26, 1306. The overthrow was not violent; Henry had few supporters, and he was whisked away and confined at Strovolos. Amalric's rule was initially popular. He repaired relations with Venice, Genoa, and the Hospitallers. However, he was compelled to obey the Papal directive to arrest the Templars when that order was suppressed, which resulted in a small uprising in favor of Henry in January 1308. It quickly collapsed, but Amalric was forced to arrest a number of nobles, including Rupen of Montfort, John of Dampierre, and various members of the Ibelin family. In April, two of the Ibelins were exiled to Armenia, and John of Dampierre was mortally wounded by a mob after attempting to communicate with King Henry. In February 1310, Amalric sent Henry into exile in Armenia. Anticipating the presence of Crusaders bound for Rhodes to aid the Hospitallers in conquering the island, Amalric was desperately nervous about his status, which he had never been able to regularize with the Papacy. He was suddenly murdered by Simon of Montolif at Nicosia on June 5, 1310. While the timing of the murder was certainly suspicious, there is no overt evidence to indicate that it was the result of a conspiracy rather than a private quarrel. He was buried at Santa Sophia, at Nicosia. On his death, his brother Aimery was proclaimed Governor of Nicosia; but he was soon defeated and imprisoned, and Henry restored to his throne.
Family
He and Isabella had five sons and one daughter:
- Hugues de Lusignan (d. betw. 1318 & April 9, 1323, Armenia), Lord of Crusoche before 1310, married before 1310 Eschive d'Ibelin (d. aft. March, 1324), widow married ca 1290 to Gautier de Dampierre-sur-Salon, Lady of St. Nicholas and daughter of Philippe d'Ibelin (d. 1304/1305), Constable of Cyprus, and wife, married ca 1253, Simone de Montfaucon or von Mömpelgard, without issue
- Henri de Lusignan (d. murdered bef. April 9, 1323, Armenia), unmarried and without issue
- Guy de Lusignan (d. April 17, 1344, Armenia), King of Armenia as Constantine IV
- Jean de Lusignan (d. murdered August 7, 1343, Armenia), sometime Constable and Regent of Armenia, married before 1340 Sultana of Georgia (after 1343), daughter of Giorgi V "the Magnificent", King of Georgia (1318-1346), died 1346, and had issue, one son and one bastard son:
- Bohemond de Lusignan (died Venice, 1364), Titular King of Armenia in 1363, maybe Patriarch in Cairo
- Leon VI of Armenia (bastard)
- Bohémond de Lusignan (d. murdered April 17, 1344, Armenia), Count of Corcyus, Lord of Korikos (1336), married in 1340 Euphemia of Neghir (1325 – aft. 1381, Jerusalem), daughter of Baldwin of Neghir, Marshal of Armenia (or Baldwin, Marshal of Neghir), without issue, and had a bastard son:
- Barthelemy de Lusignan, Co-Regent of Armenia (died after 1373), unmarried and without issue
- Agnes (Marie) de Lusignan (d. aft. 1309), married c. 1305 or 1305/1306 Leo IV of Armenia (1297 – murdered 1307), without issue
After Amalric's death, his widow and children remained in Armenia; only his daughter would die a natural death, his widow and sons all being murdered at various times.
Notes
References
Peter W. Edbury (1991). The Kingdom of Cyprus and the Crusades. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-45837-4.
