King of Cyprus (1205-1218).
As Hugh was only nine years old on the death of his father, King Aimery (1197-1205), the regency of Cyprus passed to Walter of Montbeliard, husband of Hugh’s elder sister Bur-gundia. In 1210 Walter oversaw Hugh’s marriage to Alice, the daughter of Henry of Champagne, lord of Jerusalem (d. 1197). However, when Hugh came of age later that year he accused Walter of incompetence and embezzlement. Walter sought refuge with his cousin John of Brienne, king of Jerusalem (1212-1225), whose relations with Cyprus remained tense for several years. In the war over the succession to the principality of Antioch then raging, John of Brienne supported Bohemund IV and the Templars, whereas Hugh supported the Hospitallers and King Leon I of Cilicia, the husband of Hugh’s half-sister Sibyl. However, with papal encouragement Hugh was reconciled with John of Brienne sufficiently to participate in the opening campaign of the Fifth Crusade in Galilee (autumn 1217). Shortly afterward, one of the leading crusaders, King Andrew II of Hungary, decided to return home, and Hugh accompanied him as far as Tripoli (mod. Trablous, Lebanon), where he died suddenly on 10 January 1218.
-Kristian Molin
Bibliography
Edbury, Peter, The Kingdom of Cyprus and the Crusades, 1191-1374 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1991).
Hill, George, A History of Cyprus, 4 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1940-1952).
Mas Latrie, Louis de, Histoire de I’tle de Chypre sous le regne des princes de la maison de Lusignan, 3 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie Imperiale, 1852-1861).
World History
