v50_0179 - COUNTY OF LA MARCHE - HUGH XI Denier

COUNTY OF LA MARCHE - GUY OF LUSIGNAN

(1159-1194)

He is the sixth son of Hugues VIII the Elder, Lord of Lusignan and Count of La Marche and Bourgogne de Rançon. In 1180 he married Sibyl of Jerusalem and became count of Jaffa and Ascalon. His brother, Baudouin, king of Jerusalem, suffering from leprosy, entrusted him with the regency of the kingdom from 1182 then withdrew from him for not having attacked Saladin's troops. Baudouin dies and his nephew becomes king of Jerusalem before dying in turn in September 1186 in Saint-Jean-d'Acre. Guy de Lusignan then became king of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 and, after having suffered several defeats and having been captured and then freed by Saladin, he became a "king without a kingdom" no longer being recognized by the barons. In 1190, Sibyl of Jerusalem died during the siege of Saint-Jean-d'Acre and Guy de Lusignan, becoming a widower, lost his rights to the throne of Jerusalem. However, he succeeded in keeping his title until 1192, but finally had to leave the kingdom of Jerusalem to Conrad of Montferrat and received the title of king of Cyprus from the hands of Richard the Lionheart. He died in Cyprus in April 1194 leaving his new kingdom to his brother Amaury II.