Henry II of Jerusalem
Encyclopedia
Henry II of Jerusalem and Henry II of Cyprus, born Henri de Lusignan (June 1270 – 31 March 1324) was the last ruling and first titular King of Jerusalem
(after the fall of Acre on 28 May 1291, this title became titular) and also ruled as King of Cyprus
as Henry II. He was a Lusignan
dynast.
He was the second surviving son of Hugh III
and succeeded his brother John I
on 20 May 1285; there was some suspicion that Henry had been involved in poisoning John. He was crowned at Santa Sophia
, Nicosia
, 24 June 1285. Charles of Anjou, who contested John's claim to the throne, had died in 1285, allowing Henry to recover Acre from the Angevins
. With a fleet Henry attacked Acre, defended by Charles' lieutenant Hugh Pelerin, and the city was captured on 29 July. Henry had himself crowned King of Jerusalem there on 15 August 1286, but returned to Cyprus and appointed his uncle Philip of Ibelin as Bailiff in his absence. By this time Acre was one of the few coastal cities remaining in the remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
. During his reign the Mameluks captured Tyre, Beirut
, and the rest of the cities, and destroyed the similarly weakened County of Tripoli
in 1289. The final siege of Acre
began on 5 April 1291 with Henry present in the city. He escaped to Cyprus with most of his nobles, and the city fell to Khalil
on 28 May.
Henry continued to rule as King of Cyprus, and continued to claim the kingdom of Jerusalem as well, often planning to recover the former territory on the mainland. He attempted a coordinated military operation in 1299/1300 with Ghazan, the Mongol ilkhan of Persia, when Ghazan invaded Mameluk territory in 1299 (see Franco-Mongol alliance
); he tried to stop Genoese
ships from trading with the Mameluks, hoping to weaken them economically; and he twice wrote to Pope Clement V
asking for a new crusade. His reign in Cyprus was prosperous and wealthy, and he was very much involved with the justice and administration of the kingdom — he had the Haute Cour keep written records for the first time (in Italian
or French
, rather than Latin
), and extended the court's role from a feudal advisory body to a true court responsible for trying and punishing criminals. However, Cyprus was in no position to fulfill his true ambition, the recovery of the Holy Land. He suffered from epilepsy, which at times incapacitated him, and his nobles were unsatisfied with him. He had his brother Guy, the Constable of Cyprus, put to death in 1303 for conspiring against him. In 1306 his brother Amalric, Prince of Tyre
, Constable of Jerusalem, conspired with the Templars
to remove him from power. However, Amalric assumed the title of Governor and Regent of Cyprus, rather than of King. Henry was deposed on 26 April and exiled to Armenia
, where King Oshin of Armenia
was Amalric's brother-in-law. However, upon the murder of Amalric in 1310, Oshin released Henry, who returned to Cyprus and resumed his throne with the aid of the Hospitallers
on 26 August 1310, imprisoning many of Amalric's co-conspirators, including their brother Constable Aimery, brother-in-law Balian II of Ibelin, Prince of Galilee, and other relatives of Balian. In 1313, he oversaw the dissolution of the Templars in Cyprus and the transfer of their property to the Hospitallers.
He married Constanza of Sicily
(1303/1307 – in Cyprus
after 19 June 1344), daughter of Frederick III of Sicily
and Eleanor of Anjou
, at Santa Sophia
, Nicosia
, on 16 October 1317 but they didn't have any children. She later married Leon V of Armenia and Jean de Lusignan
, Titular Prince of Antioch.
Henry died on 31 March 1324 at his Villa in Strovolos
, near Nicosia
, was buried at the Franciscan
Church of Nicosia
and was succeeded by his nephew Hugh IV
.
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
(after the fall of Acre on 28 May 1291, this title became titular) and also ruled as King of Cyprus
Kingdom of Cyprus
The Kingdom of Cyprus was a Crusader kingdom on the island of Cyprus in the high and late Middle Ages, between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan.-History:...
as Henry II. He was a Lusignan
Lusignan
The Lusignan family originated in Poitou near Lusignan in western France in the early 10th century. By the end of the 11th century, they had risen to become the most prominent petty lords in the region from their castle at Lusignan...
dynast.
He was the second surviving son of Hugh III
Hugh III of Cyprus
Hugh III of Cyprus , born Hughues de Poitiers, later Hughues de Lusignan , called the Great, was the King of Cyprus from 1267 and King of Jerusalem from 1268 . He was the son of Henry of Antioch and Isabella of Cyprus, the daughter of Hugh I...
and succeeded his brother John I
John II of Jerusalem
John II of Jerusalem was the eldest son of Hugh III of Cyprus and Isabella of Ibelin. He succeeded his father as King of Cyprus on March 24 and was crowned at Santa Sophia, Nicosia on May 11, 1284. His succession as King of Jerusalem was opposed by Charles of Anjou, who had also disrupted his...
on 20 May 1285; there was some suspicion that Henry had been involved in poisoning John. He was crowned at Santa Sophia
Selimiye Mosque (Nicosia)
Selimiye Mosque or Agia Sofia Cathedral, formerly Cathédrale Sainte Sophie, is located in the Turkish controlled northern part of the walled city of Nicosia. It is the main mosque in the city. It is housed in the largest and oldest surviving gothic church in Cyprus possibly constructed on the site...
, Nicosia
Nicosia
Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...
, 24 June 1285. Charles of Anjou, who contested John's claim to the throne, had died in 1285, allowing Henry to recover Acre from the Angevins
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
. With a fleet Henry attacked Acre, defended by Charles' lieutenant Hugh Pelerin, and the city was captured on 29 July. Henry had himself crowned King of Jerusalem there on 15 August 1286, but returned to Cyprus and appointed his uncle Philip of Ibelin as Bailiff in his absence. By this time Acre was one of the few coastal cities remaining in the remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
. During his reign the Mameluks captured Tyre, Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, and the rest of the cities, and destroyed the similarly weakened County of Tripoli
County of Tripoli
The County of Tripoli was the last Crusader state founded in the Levant, located in what today are parts of western Syria and northern Lebanon, where exists the modern city of Tripoli. The Crusader state was captured and created by Christian forces in 1109, originally held by Bertrand of Toulouse...
in 1289. The final siege of Acre
Siege of Acre (1291)
The Siege of Acre took place in 1291 and resulted in the loss of the Crusader-controlled city of Acre to the Muslims. It is considered one of the most important battles of the time period. Although the crusading movement continued for several more centuries, the capture of the city marked the end...
began on 5 April 1291 with Henry present in the city. He escaped to Cyprus with most of his nobles, and the city fell to Khalil
Khalil
Al-Malik al-Ashraf Salāh al-Dīn Khalil ibn Qalawūn ; was the eighth Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 1290 until his assassination in December, 1293...
on 28 May.
Henry continued to rule as King of Cyprus, and continued to claim the kingdom of Jerusalem as well, often planning to recover the former territory on the mainland. He attempted a coordinated military operation in 1299/1300 with Ghazan, the Mongol ilkhan of Persia, when Ghazan invaded Mameluk territory in 1299 (see Franco-Mongol alliance
Franco-Mongol alliance
Franco-Mongol relations were established in the 13th century, as attempts were made towards forming a Franco-Mongol alliance between the Christian Crusaders and the Mongol Empire against various Muslim empires. Such an alliance would have seemed a logical choice: the Mongols were sympathetic to...
); he tried to stop Genoese
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
ships from trading with the Mameluks, hoping to weaken them economically; and he twice wrote to Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V, born Raymond Bertrand de Got was Pope from 1305 to his death...
asking for a new crusade. His reign in Cyprus was prosperous and wealthy, and he was very much involved with the justice and administration of the kingdom — he had the Haute Cour keep written records for the first time (in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
or French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, rather than Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
), and extended the court's role from a feudal advisory body to a true court responsible for trying and punishing criminals. However, Cyprus was in no position to fulfill his true ambition, the recovery of the Holy Land. He suffered from epilepsy, which at times incapacitated him, and his nobles were unsatisfied with him. He had his brother Guy, the Constable of Cyprus, put to death in 1303 for conspiring against him. In 1306 his brother Amalric, Prince of Tyre
Amalric, Prince of Tyre
Amalric de Lusignan or Amaury II de Lusignan, Prince of Tyre , of the Lusignan family, was a son of Hugh III of Cyprus and Isabella of Ibelin.-Biography:...
, Constable of Jerusalem, conspired with the Templars
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
to remove him from power. However, Amalric assumed the title of Governor and Regent of Cyprus, rather than of King. Henry was deposed on 26 April and exiled to Armenia
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , also known as the Cilician Armenia, Kingdom of Cilician Armenia or New Armenia, was an independent principality formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia...
, where King Oshin of Armenia
Oshin of Armenia
Oshin was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1307 to 1320. He was a member of the Hetoumid-family, the son of Leo II, King of Armenia and Queen Keran....
was Amalric's brother-in-law. However, upon the murder of Amalric in 1310, Oshin released Henry, who returned to Cyprus and resumed his throne with the aid of the Hospitallers
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
on 26 August 1310, imprisoning many of Amalric's co-conspirators, including their brother Constable Aimery, brother-in-law Balian II of Ibelin, Prince of Galilee, and other relatives of Balian. In 1313, he oversaw the dissolution of the Templars in Cyprus and the transfer of their property to the Hospitallers.
He married Constanza of Sicily
Constance of Sicily, Queen of Cyprus
Constance of Sicily was the oldest daughter of Frederick III of Sicily and his wife Eleanor of Anjou. She was married three times. From these marriages she gained various titles such as Queen of Cyprus, nominal Queen of Jerusalem and Queen of Armenia.- Family :Constance was one of the older of the...
(1303/1307 – in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
after 19 June 1344), daughter of Frederick III of Sicily
Frederick III of Sicily
Frederick II was the regent and subsequently King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son of Peter III of Aragon and served in the War of the Sicilian Vespers on behalf of his father and brothers, Alfonso and James...
and Eleanor of Anjou
Eleanor of Anjou
Eleanor of Naples was the Queen consort of Frederick III of Sicily. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou by birth.-Family:She was the third daughter of Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary....
, at Santa Sophia
Selimiye Mosque (Nicosia)
Selimiye Mosque or Agia Sofia Cathedral, formerly Cathédrale Sainte Sophie, is located in the Turkish controlled northern part of the walled city of Nicosia. It is the main mosque in the city. It is housed in the largest and oldest surviving gothic church in Cyprus possibly constructed on the site...
, Nicosia
Nicosia
Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...
, on 16 October 1317 but they didn't have any children. She later married Leon V of Armenia and Jean de Lusignan
John of Lusignan
John of Lusignan , Regent of Cyprus and Titular Prince of Antioch. He was son of King Hugh IV of Cyprus and his second wife, Alix of Ibelin.He married twice, firstly in 1343 to Constance of Sicily John of Lusignan (or Jean de Lusignan) (ca 1329 or 1329/1330–1375), Regent of Cyprus and Titular...
, Titular Prince of Antioch.
Henry died on 31 March 1324 at his Villa in Strovolos
Strovolos
Strovolos is a municipality of Nicosia. With a population of near 70,000, it is the second biggest municipality of Cyprus, after Limassol, and the biggest municipality of Nicosia...
, near Nicosia
Nicosia
Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...
, was buried at the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
Church of Nicosia
Nicosia
Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...
and was succeeded by his nephew Hugh IV
Hugh IV of Cyprus
Hugh IV of Cyprus was King of Cyprus from 31 March 1324 to his abdication, on 24 November 1358 and, nominally, King of Jerusalem, as Hugh II, until his death...
.