Melisende of Lusignan
Encyclopedia
Melisende de Lusignan, Princess of Antioch (1200 Holy Land
- after 1249), was the youngest daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem by her fourth and last marriage to King Amalric II of Jerusalem
. She had a sister Sibylla of Lusignan, a younger brother, Amalric who died as a young child. By her mother's previous marriages, Melisande had three half-sisters, Maria of Montferrat
, who succeeded their mother as queen of Jerusalem on 5 April 1205; Alice of Champagne
, and Philippa of Champagne
.
Melisende protested the succession of her nephew King Henry I of Cyprus
as Regent
of Jerusalem
on the death of her half-sister, Alice in 1246. Alice had been Queen-consort of Cyprus and regent of Jerusalem for Conrad IV of Germany
.
She died sometime after 1249. Upon the childless death of her only surviving daughter, Marie sometime after December 1307, the direct line of Melisende became extinct. Her half-sister Maria's line died out in 1268; however her full sister Sibylla, who married King Leo I of Armenia
, had many descendants, and the direct lines of Alice and Philippa continue in the 21st century; their many descendants include the British Royal Family
.
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
- after 1249), was the youngest daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem by her fourth and last marriage to King Amalric II of Jerusalem
Amalric II of Jerusalem
Amalric II of Jerusalem or Amalric I of Cyprus, born Amalric of Lusignan , King of Jerusalem 1197–1205, was an older brother of Guy of Lusignan....
. She had a sister Sibylla of Lusignan, a younger brother, Amalric who died as a young child. By her mother's previous marriages, Melisande had three half-sisters, Maria of Montferrat
Maria of Montferrat
Maria of Montferrat was Queen of Jerusalem, the daughter of Conrad of Montferrat and Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem...
, who succeeded their mother as queen of Jerusalem on 5 April 1205; Alice of Champagne
Alice of Champagne
Alice of Champagne was the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and her third husband Henry II, Count of Champagne. Alice and her sister Philippa spent part of their life fighting for their father's homeland of Champagne, over another branch of their family...
, and Philippa of Champagne
Philippa of Champagne
Philippa of Champagne, Lady of Ramerupt and of Venizy was the third daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and Henry II, Count of Champagne. She was the wife of Erard de Brienne-Ramerupt who encouraged her in 1216 to claim the county of Champagne which belonged to her cousin Theobald IV, who...
.
Marriage and issue
In January 1218, Melisande married as his second wife, Bohemond IV, Prince of Antioch, son of Bohemond III, Prince of Antioch and Orgueilleuse de Harenc. The marriage produced three daughters:- Isabelle of Antioch (died young)
- Marie of AntiochMary of AntiochMaria of Antioch , daughter of Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch and his second wife Melisende de Lusignan, was the pretender to the throne of Jerusalem from 1269 to 1277...
(died after 10 December 1307), she was childless. - Helvis of Antioch (died young)
Melisende protested the succession of her nephew King Henry I of Cyprus
Henry I of Cyprus
Henry I of Cyprus, nicknamed the Fat, aka Henry of Lusignan or Henri I le Gros de Lusignan was King of Cyprus from 1218 to 1253. He was the son of Hugh I of Cyprus and Alice of Champagne of Jerusalem. When his father Hugh I died on January 10, 1218, the 8-month-old Henry became king...
as Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
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....
on the death of her half-sister, Alice in 1246. Alice had been Queen-consort of Cyprus and regent of Jerusalem for Conrad IV of Germany
Conrad IV of Germany
Conrad IV was king of Jerusalem , of Germany , and of Sicily .-Biography:...
.
She died sometime after 1249. Upon the childless death of her only surviving daughter, Marie sometime after December 1307, the direct line of Melisende became extinct. Her half-sister Maria's line died out in 1268; however her full sister Sibylla, who married King Leo I of Armenia
Leo I of Armenia
Leo I, also Levon I or Leon I, was the fifth lord of Armenian Cilicia or “Lord of the Mountains” ....
, had many descendants, and the direct lines of Alice and Philippa continue in the 21st century; their many descendants include the British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
.