Helvis was a child-bride at 12 to her step-brother to keep things in the family.

She is my 15th great-grandmother.

She was born in 1353¹. She is the daughter of Philipp Herzog von Braunschweig-Grubenhagen, Constable of Jerusalem and Alisia de Dampierre². It is logical to conclude she was born in Jerusalem.

Titles

In May³ 1385, they crowned her Queen consort of Cyprus in the cathedral of St Sophia, Nicosia⁴.

Family

On 15 May 1365, she married her step-brother James^{5 6}. Pope Urban V signed a Papal dispensation on 15 May 1365⁷.

The marriage took place in a debtors’ prison in Genoa, known as “La Mal Paga”⁸. Since it is close to the Vatican, it’s likely they married soon after the Pope approved it.

King Jacques I & his wife had 11 children^{9 10}:

• An unnamed daughter, born in 1372
• Janus, who went on to be King Janus I.
• Philippe, who went on to be the Constable of Cyprus.
• Eudes, who went on to be the Count of Tripoli.
• Hugh, who went on to be the Archbishop of Nicosia.
• Henri, who went on to be the Titular Prince of Galilee.
• Maria, who went on to the Queen of Naples.
• Isabelle
• Eschiva
• Agnes
• Guy

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Notable events

While her husband was in prison, Genoa forced her into manual labour before they allowed her to join him¹¹. There is no mention of what this would have meant.

Death

Records list her death in 1422^{12 13} as a result of the plague that hit Cyprus¹⁴. They buried her in St Nicholas Church, Nicosia^{15 16 17}.

Lineage

This person is my 15th great-grandmother.

References

1. Brunswick; Charles Cawley; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-05-28) [↩]
2. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-05-28) [↩]
3. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-05-28) [↩]
4. List of Cypriot sovereigns; Royal Tombs; (Retrieved 2024-05-21) [↩]
5. List of Cypriot sovereigns; Royal Tombs; (Retrieved 2024-05-21) [↩]
6. The Manuscript Torino J.II.9: A late medieval perspective on musical life and culture at the court of the Lusignian kings at Nicosia; Andrée Giselle Simard; University of Akron; 2005-12[↩]
7. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-05-28) [↩]
8. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-05-28) [↩]
9. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-05-28) [↩]
10. List of Cypriot sovereigns; Royal Tombs; (Retrieved 2024-05-21) [↩]
11. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-05-28) [↩]
12. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-05-28) [↩]
13. The Manuscript Torino J.II.9: A late medieval perspective on musical life and culture at the court of the Lusignian kings at Nicosia; Andrée Giselle Simard; University of Akron; 2005-12[↩]
14. The Manuscript Torino J.II.9: A late medieval perspective on musical life and culture at the court of the Lusignian kings at Nicosia; Andrée Giselle Simard; University of Akron; 2005-12[↩]
15. Brunswick; Charles Cawley; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-05-28) [↩]
16. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; (Retrieved 2024-05-28) [↩]
17. List of Cypriot sovereigns; Royal Tombs; (Retrieved 2024-05-21) [↩]