Isabella from Beirut

Family tree of Isabella of Beirut

Isabella of Beirut (* in the 13th century ; † 1282 ) was the mistress of Beirut . She came from the noble family Ibelin .

She was the eldest daughter of Johann (II.) Von Ibelin († 1264), Lord of Beirut and Alice of Athens († after 1277). She was betrothed or married to Hugo II of Cyprus as a child in 1255 , but his early death in 1267 prevented the consummation of the marriage.

After her father's death in 1264, she inherited Beirut . With Beirut, her great-grandfather had taken over a fiefdom at the beginning of the century, which was so destroyed "that neither the Templars and Hospitallers nor a single baron from all of Syria wanted it." In the meantime, however, it had become one of the most important Cities of the remaining crusader states .

Isabella had become a widow as a virgin, but apparently didn't stay that way for long. Steven Runciman speaks of her “well-known unchaste way of life”, an interesting indication of the freedom that a high-ranking heiress possessed during this time. Her relationship with Julian of Sidon was considered an open scandal, and a papal bull finally admonished her to remarry. According to the law ( Assises de Jerusalem , recorded by Isabella's great-grandfather, another John of Ibelin ), the marriage of heiresses between the ages of 12 and 60 was under the control of their liege lord ( servise de mariage ). The main purpose of this was to ensure that there was a husband who fulfilled the military fiefdom obligations. A violation of this rule resulted in the loss of the fiefdom for a year and a day ( Livre au Roi ; Ralf von Tiberias ), while a marriage without permission could mean the loss of the fief for the duration of the marriage. Apparently, the feudal lord's consent to a marriage could also be achieved with larger monetary payments, but the Ibelins' family was powerful enough that Isabella did not have to fear any interference from the King of Cyprus, like Beatrix von Courtenay .

In 1272 she married the Englishman Hamo le Strange from the retinue of Prince Edward of England , certainly without Hugo's consent , but who died in 1274. On the death bed he placed Isabella under the protection of the Mamluk sultan Baibars . King Hugo IV had Isabella kidnapped to Cyprus, where he wanted to force her to marry again. After the assisses he could summon her to the high court, which gave her the choice between three possible husbands, who had to be of the same rank or the rank of her deceased husband ( Livre des Philipp von Novara ). However, Baibars demanded her release before the island's high court and was proved right. Hugo had Isabella to be brought back to Beirut, and Baibars provided a Mamluk bodyguard for her. She married twice more, namely Nicolas l'Aleman , titular lord of Caesarea († 1277) and Wilhelm Barlais († 1305/06).

When Isabella died in 1282, her sister Eschiva von Ibelin , wife of Humfried von Montfort , inherited Beirut. After his death she married Guido von Lusignan . In 1291 Beirut fell to the Mamluks under Sultan Chalil .

literature

• Peter W. Edbury: Kingdoms of the Crusaders. From Jerusalem to Cyprus (= Variorum Collected Studies Series. 653). Ashgate, Aldershot 1999, ISBN 0-86078-792-3 .
• Wipertus-Hugo Rudt de Collenberg: Les Ibelin aux XIII ^e et XIV ^e siècles. Généalogie compilée principalement selon les registres du Vatican. In: Κέντρου Επιστημονικών Ερευνών. Επετηρίς. 9, 1977/1979, ZDB -ID 442840-7 , pp. 117-265.
• Jonathan Riley-Smith: The feudal nobility and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1174-1277. Macmillan, London et al. 1973, ISBN 0-333-06379-1 .
• Steven Runciman : History of the Crusades. Special edition in one volume without references to sources and literature, 14. – 17. Thousands of the total print run. Beck, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-406-02527-7 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann II.	Lady of Beirut 1264–1282	Eschiva (and Humfried von Montfort )