Hugo of Brienne

Hugo von Brienne (* around 1240 ; † August 8, 1296 near Lecce ) was a count of Brienne and Lecce . He was the second surviving son of Count Walter IV of Brienne and Maria of Cyprus from the House of Lusignan.

Life

Hugo's father died between 1244 and 1247, whereupon his older brother John I succeeded him in the county of Brienne in France. When Johann also died in 1260/61, Hugo inherited the county and the family's claims in southern Italy, including the Principality of Taranto and the County of Lecce, which had been confiscated in 1205.

In addition, in 1264, as the son of the eldest daughter of Alice of Jerusalem and Hugo I of Cyprus, he claimed the possessions in Cyprus and the reign in the Kingdom of Jerusalem for the underage and absent Konradin von Hohenstaufen (and thus indirectly recognition as a successor), but became passed over by the Haute Cour in favor of his cousin Hugo of Antioch , and then largely withdrew from politics in Outremer . When another cousin, King Hugo II of Cyprus , died in 1267, he was again placed behind the regent Hugo of Antioch, who assumed the throne of Cyprus as Hugo III. climbed (and in 1268 when Hugo I followed in Jerusalem).

Hugo now decided to look for happiness in Europe. He entered the service of Charles of Anjou and helped him from 1266 in the conquest of the Kingdom of Sicily . In 1268 he took part in the battle of Tagliacozzo against Konradin . In the next few years he was appointed captain general of Brindisi , Otranto and Apulia as well as lord of Conversano by Karl von Anjou . He became a staunch supporter of the Angevin cause in Italy, which was rewarded with the return of the county of Lecce in 1269.

After the outbreak of the Sicilian Vespers in 1282, Hugo took part in the fight against Aragón. In the naval battle in the Gulf of Naples on June 5, 1284, he was captured as well as Prince Charles of Salerno . For his release he passed his rights to the Cypriot throne to King Alfonso III in 1289 . from Aragón . Hugo finally fell in the battle of Gagliano in 1296 outside the walls of the city of Lecce , fighting against Roger of Lauria .

family

Hugo's first wife since 1277 was Isabella, the daughter of Guido I. de la Roche , Duke of Athens , from whom he had two children:

• Walter V of Brienne († 1311), Duke of Athens
• Agnes von Brienne, ∞ Johann, Count of Joigny

His second wife was from 1291 Helena Komnena Dukaina of Epirus-Neopatras, heir to Lamia and Larisa. With her he had a daughter:

• Johanna von Brienne, ∞ Niccolò Sanudo , Duke of Naxos .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Ferdinand Gregorovius : Years of Wandering in Italy. CH Beck, Munich 1997, ISBN 3406428037 , p. 717. ( books.google.com )
2. ^ ^{A b} Ferdinand Gregorovius: History of the city of Athens in the Middle Ages (complete edition). Jazzybee Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8496-4078-1 , ( books.google.com )

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann I.	Count of Brienne 1261–1296	Walter V.