Henry II (Cyprus)

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Coat of arms of Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus

Henry II of Lusignan (* 1271 ; † 1324 in Strovolos , Cyprus) was King of Cyprus from May 20, 1285 to April 26, 1306 and from June 5, 1310 to March 31, 1324 and from August 15, 1286 to 28. May 1291 the last king of Jerusalem .

Life

Rise and Coronation

Heinrich was a son of King Hugo III. (I.) and his wife Isabella von Ibelin . He has suffered from epilepsy since childhood . Heinrich succeeded his brother Johann I (II.) To the throne in 1285 at the age of fifteen - although he was suspected of being involved in his poisoning. Karl von Anjou , who had not recognized Johann's claim to the throne, had died in the same year, which allowed Heinrich to re-take possession of the Acre, administered by Karl's deputy Odo Poilechien : he landed with a fleet on June 4, 1286 in front of the City and was able to take it on July 29th. On August 15, he crowned himself King of Jerusalem, appointed his uncle Baldwin of Ibelin to Bailli and returned to Cyprus.

Loss of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

At that time, Acre was the most important coastal city in the remainder of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1287 the Mamluks conquered Tire and Beirut , and in 1289 the county of Tripoli . The siege of Acon began on April 5, 1291. Heinrich was sick in Cyprus at that time, and his brother Amalrich was in command of the city . When Heinrich had recovered, he came to the aid of the besieged on May 5, 1291 with a fleet of 40 ships, a hundred mounted men and 2,000 foot soldiers and took over the command of the defenders himself. When the Mamluks finally broke through the city wall on May 18 and advanced into the interior of Acon, Heinrich saved himself with Amalrich by ship to Cyprus.

Shortly after the fall of Acon, the last bases of the crusaders on the mainland had to be abandoned. Both the Templars and the Johanniter set up command offices in Cyprus. Her relationship with the Crown was strained.

Consolidation of rule in Cyprus

After the end of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Henry only ruled Cyprus, but continued to claim the other title for himself. For the planned reconquest of his mainland property, he allied himself with Ghazan , the Mongolian Ilkhan of Persia when he attacked the Mamluk Empire in 1299, and with Lesser Armenia . He also tried to get Genoa to stop trading with the Mamluks in order to weaken them economically. When this failed, he gave Pisa and Barcelona trade privileges, which angered the Genoese. The great rival Venice received 1306 trade concessions. Heinrich wrote twice to Pope Clement V asking for another crusade.

Under Henry's rule, Cyprus became wealthy again. He took great care of the island's administration, having the Haute Cour drafting written reports for the first time (more in Italian or French than in Latin ) and expanding its duties from a feudal advisory council to a criminal court. However, the island's resources were insufficient to fulfill his ambition to retake the Holy Land . The nobility became dissatisfied and took offense at the influence of the royal son Philip of Ibelin . The powerful Ibelin family now also seems to have intrigued against the king.

Usurpation by Amalrich

In the spring of 1306 Heinrich fell seriously ill. On April 26th his brother Amalrich seized power with the support of the Templars and took over the rule as "Gubernator et Rector", but had to give his brother the royal dignity. Heinrich did not recognize Amalrich as regent. He initially retired to his Strovolos estate near Nicosia . After recovering from his illness, he moved to Nicosia Castle, which was more secure. Their exact location is still not proven with certainty.

Amalrich had accused his brother of surrounding himself with unsuitable advisers and of neglecting the support of the Armenian allies and in 1307 he sent corresponding letters to Poitou to Pope Clement V. In 1308, he set up a commission to investigate the case, after having received letters from Heinrich had achieved. The commission was active until 1310, but its reports have not survived. It is believed that the ruler so slandered was the model for the "Beast of Limassol and Famagusta " in Dante's Paradiso (Canto 19, 145).

In 1308 Amalrich was able to force Heinrich to recognize his reign. However, his approach became increasingly unpopular. By order of the Pope he had taken part in the suppression of the Templar Order in 1308 , which cost him his most powerful allies. In 1309 Amalrich forced Heinrich to publicly declare him regent, but when this did not calm the situation, sent him as a prisoner to Cilicia in February 1310 . He was with Isabella of Armenia, daughter of King Leo III. married and accordingly had good relations with the Hethumids .

Amalrich was murdered by Simon von Montolif on June 5, 1310. Heinrich was released the following month after lengthy negotiations and took the throne again.

Marriage to Constance of Sicily

In 1319 he married Konstanze, daughter of King Frederick II of Sicily , but the marriage remained childless.

Death and succession

Heinrich died in Strovolos in 1324 and was buried in the Church of St. Francis in Lefkosia. His successor was his nephew Hugo , the son of his late brother Guido. His eldest sister Maria was unhappily married to King James II of Aragon and Sicily , the brother of Frederick II of Sicily, who derived from this a claim to the crowns of Jerusalem and Cyprus.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Edward Peters: Henry II. Of Cyprus, Rex inutilis. A footnote to Decameron 1.9 , in: Speculum 72,3 (1997) 763-775, doi : 10.2307 / 3040761 .
  2. ^ Arthur HS Megaw: Byzantine architecture and decoration in Cyprus. Metropolitan or provincial? In: Dumbarton Oaks Papers . Vol. 28, 1974, pp. 57-88, here p. 80, doi : 10.2307 / 1291355 .
  3. ↑ Elena Lourie: An offer of the suzerainty and escheat of Cyprus to Alphonso III of Aragon by Hugh de Brienne in 1289. In: English Historical Review . Vol. 84, No. 330, 1969, pp. 101-108, doi : 10.1093 / ehr / LXXXIV.CCCXXX.101 .
predecessor Office successor
Johann II./I. King of Jerusalem
1285–1291 		––
Johann II./I. King of Cyprus
1285–1324 		Hugo IV
personal data
SURNAME Henry II
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Jerusalem and King of Cyprus
DATE OF BIRTH 1271
DATE OF DEATH 1324
Place of death Strovolos