Hugh III adopted his mother’s family name of de Lusignan since he inherited Cyprus through her family. This marks the beginning of what historians call the second House of Lusignan.

He is my 18 x great-grandfather.

He was born sometime before 1240, son of Henry of Antioch and Isabelle de Lusignan1.

Titles

On 22 September 1261, Hugh was appointed Bailiff of Cyprus after his grandmother, Queen Plaisance, died2.

In 1261, he became Regent for Hugh II of Cyprus, who was his first cousin1. He took over the regency of the Crown of Jerusalem in 1264 after his mother died1. This is an instance where one person united the crowns of Jerusalem and Cyprus.

When Hugh II died in Nicosia on 5 December 1267 without any heirs, Hugh succeeded him as Hugh III, King of Cyprus on 5 December 12671 3. Cyprus crowned him on 25 December in Santa Sophia, Nicosia2.

The family crest for the de Lusignan family
The de Lusignan family crest.

Since he inherited the kingdom through his mother’s side of the family, he changed his family name to de Lusignan2. This started the second House of Lusignan. Jerusalem crowned him Titular King of Jerusalem on 24 September 1269 in Tyre2.

Family

Hugh married Isabella Ibelin in 12552. They received papal dispensation from Pope Alexander IV on 23 January 12552.

In total, Hugh and Isabella had nine, or twelve, children2:

  • John, or Jean, who succeeded him as King of Cyprus and Jerusalem.
  • Bohemond, or Beymont.
  • Henry, or Henri, II of Cyprus, who succeeded his brother John. Dante Alighieri refers to Cyprus in his Paradiso as suffering under “the Beast” as Henry II was known5.
  • Amaury
  • Mary
  • Guy, or Guido, of Cyprus.
  • Aimary
  • Margaret, or Marguerite
  • Alix, Alice, or Aalis
  • Helvis
  • There is suggestion there were 3 other daughters:
    • Isabelle
    • Lucie
    • A possible unnamed daughter.
A map of the Crusader states in 1190
A map of the Crusader states in 1190
By MapMaster CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable events

In October 1266, Hugh arrived in Acre2. The Egyptian Sultan Baybars had defeated Armenian Cilicia and was continuing his attacks against crusader garrisons by conquering Galilee. Hugh launched a counter-attack but the Egyptians ambushed him at Safed in present-day Israel and retreated back to Acre2.

After becoming King of Jerusalem, Hugh became a peacemaker. Together with Edward, son of Henry III of England, he signed a peace treaty on 22 May 1272 with Sultan Baybars in Ceaserea2.

The Knights Templar didn’t like Hugh and in October 1276 he left for Tyre, and then Cyprus2.

Death

He died in Tyre on 244 or 271 March 12843. We don’t know how he died although it is possible the Knights Templar poisoned him2. His family buried him in the Santa Sophia church, Nicosia1.

Lineage

Hugh is my 18 x great-grandfather.

  1. Medieval Lands; Charles Crawley; “Chapter 2 – Lords of Cyprus 1192-1196, Kings of Cyprus 1196-1267 (Lusignan)” [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  2. Medieval Lands; Charles Crawley; “Chapter 3 – Kings of Cyprus 1267-1489 (Lusignan-Poitiers)” [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  3. Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia; As observed by author; 2022-04-10[↩][↩]
  4. Hugh III, King of Cyprus; Encyclopaedia Britannica; Retrieved 2018-04-18[↩]