Marie of Lusignan, Queen of Aragon

Marie of Lusignan
Arms as Queen Consort
Queen consort of Aragon
Tenure	1314–1319
Born	1273 Cyprus
Died	April 1319 Tortosa
Spouse	James II of Aragon
House	House of Poitiers Lusignan
Father	Hugh III of Cyprus
Mother	Isabella of Ibelin
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Marie of Lusignan (1273 – Tortosa, April 1319) was a daughter of Hugh III of Cyprus and his wife Isabella of Ibelin. She was Queen consort of Aragon by her marriage and was a member of the House of Lusignan.

Life

Marie was the fifth of thirteen children, her siblings included John II of Jerusalem, Henry II of Jerusalem and Amalric, Prince of Tyre.

Marie's maternal grandparents were Guy of Ibelin, constable of Cyprus and his wife Phillipa Barlais; her paternal grandparents were Henry of Antioch and his wife Isabella of Cyprus and Antioch.

Marie remained unmarried for many years; she was recorded as having been present in her brother, Amalric's court in 1310.^[1] She was however eventually betrothed to James II of Aragon in 1315, who had been married twice before and was father to ten legitimate children.

As Marie was heiress to Cyprus, James considered a matrimonial union with her to be politically advantageous. They married by proxy at Santa Sophia, Nicosia on 15 June 1315 and in person at Girona on 27 November 1315. Marie was already forty-two and the marriage was purely for reasons of state, so James could rule Cyprus on the death of Marie's brother Henry.^[2] They had no children.

The couple were only married for four years before Marie died in Tortosa in April 1319. As Marie did not outlive her brother, James' plans of ruling Cyprus had failed. After Marie's death James complained that she had been too old and had not proved companionable.^[3] Marie's brother Henry died five years later and was succeeded by their nephew Hugh. James remarried a final time to Elisenda de Montcada before his death in 1327.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Marie of Lusignan, Queen of Aragon

Bohemond III de Poitiers, prince of Antioch               Bohemonf IV de Poitiers, prince of Antioch                       Orguilleuse d'Harenc               Henry de Poitiers of Antioch                             Ugo III Embriaco, lord de Giblet               Plaisance Embriaco                       Hugh III de Poitiers, king of Cyprus                                   Aimery de Lusignan, king of Cyprus               Hugh I de Lusignan, king of Cyprus                       Eschiva of Ibelin               Isabella de Lusignan of Cyprus                             Henry II, Count of Champagne               Alice of Champagne                       Isabella I d'Anjou, queen of Jerusalem               Mary de Poitiers of Cyprus                                         Balian of Ibelin               John I of Ibelin, lord of Beirut                       Maria Komnene               Guy of Ibelin, constable of Cyprus                             Guy of Arsuf               Melissende, lady of Arsuf                       Isabella of Ibelin                                   Aimery Berlais                       Phillipa Berlais

References

1. CYPRUS, Medieval Lands
2. Cyprus
3. Letter of King Jaime to the bishop of Tusculum written shortly after Queen Marie's death, cited in Edbury (1994), p. 138