Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Hugh IV of Cyprus
Hugh IV (1293/1296 – 10 October 1359) was King of Cyprus from 31 March 1324 to his abdication, on 24 November 1358 and, nominally, King of Jerusalem, as Hugh II, until his death. The son of Guy, Constable of Cyprus (son of Hugh III of Cyprus), and Eschiva of Ibelin, Hugh succeeded his father as Constable of Cyprus in 1318, and later succeeded to the throne of Cyprus on the death of his uncle Henry II, since Henry II had no sons. He was a member of the House of Poitiers-Lusignan.
The Kingdom of Cyprus reached the peak of its power and prosperity during the reigns of Hugh IV and Peter I.
Hugh was the son of Guy, a brother of King Henry II of Cyprus, and Eschiva, a member of the Ibelin family who had lost her lordship of Beirut to the Egyptian Mamluks shortly before marrying Guy in 1291. Hugh was three years old when his father died and was raised in the household of his uncle the king. In 1306 Henry was forced to relinquish effective power to the eldest of his brothers, Amalric, who was his heir presumptive. Amalric was found murdered in 1310, paving the way for Henry's restoration.
By the early 1310s, Henry was over forty, unmarried, and unlikely to have children. His last surviving brother, Aimery, in theory, stood to succeed him but was imprisoned for aiding Amalric from 1310 until his death in 1316. In 1318 the king made Hugh the constable of Cyprus, as Guy had once been. Rather than any of the sons of his brothers Amalric and Guy, the eldest of the king's sisters, Maria, was the presumed heir until her death in 1322. She and Henry were both married into the Aragonese royal family, but neither had children. By the end of his reign Henry probably intended, though there is no concrete evidence, to be succeeded by Hugh. Henry's surviving siblings, Alice and Helvis, however, had a stronger claim in law, as they were more closely related to Henry than Hugh was.
On 31 March 1324, when King Henry died, a hurried assembly of liege men swore to protect Hugh's rights against any challengers. As Henry's only male relative remaining in the kingdom, Hugh was an obvious candidate to become the new king. Henry was buried on 1 April, and at the meeting of the High Court the next day, Hugh claimed the throne. His spokesman laid out arguments for a male successor, either misunderstanding or deliberately misrepresenting earlier precedents. The vassals accepted Hugh's claim in preference to his aunts Alice and Helvis. Hugh was crowned king of Cyprus on 15 April at the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Nicosia. From Henry he also inherited the claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the last piece of which had been lost to Muslims in 1291. Since the city of Tyre (in modern-day Lebanon), where the kings of Jerusalem were traditionally crowned, had also been conquered, Hugh received the crown of Jerusalem in Famagusta, deemed the best alternative by the vassals and the clergy. Hugh thus inaugurated a new custom among the Cypriot kings.
One of Hugh's first acts upon his accession was having the High Court declare the forfeiture of the fiefs of all the vassals who had resisted his predecessor's restoration. Henry had kept them imprisoned since 1318, but Hugh decided to confiscate their land and release them. His goal may have been depriving his uncle Amalric's supporters of means to plot on behalf of Amalric's sons. In 1325 Hugh attempted to heal the rift between his family, the Lusignans, and the Ibelins, who had opposed Henry, through arranged marriages.
Hugh's first wife was Maria of Ibelin, daughter of Guy, the titular count of Jaffa. Hugh and Maria had a son, Guy. In 1318, after her death, Hugh obtained a papal dispensation to marry her distant kinswoman Alice of Ibelin, with whom he had at least eight children, of whom five reached adulthood. Having plenty of children enabled Hugh to forge dynastic links with Western European rulers, which his predecessors had little luck achieving.
In January 1330 Hugh had Guy marry Maria, daughter of Duke Louis I of Bourbon. Louis belonged to a cadet branch of the French Capetian dynasty and was thoroughly involved in the French plans for a crusade to recover the Holy Land. Hugh hoped that the marriage would strengthen his chances of gaining control over the Holy Land, especially against the claims of the Capetian House of Anjou, who had disputed the Lusignans' claim to the throne of Jerusalem since the 1270s. The outbreak of France's Hundred Years' War with England in 1337 put an end to Louis's hopes to lead a crusade. Guy began taking part in state affairs in the late 1330s and was made constable of Cyprus, but died in 1343.
Hub AI
Hugh IV of Cyprus AI simulator
(@Hugh IV of Cyprus_simulator)
Hugh IV of Cyprus
Hugh IV (1293/1296 – 10 October 1359) was King of Cyprus from 31 March 1324 to his abdication, on 24 November 1358 and, nominally, King of Jerusalem, as Hugh II, until his death. The son of Guy, Constable of Cyprus (son of Hugh III of Cyprus), and Eschiva of Ibelin, Hugh succeeded his father as Constable of Cyprus in 1318, and later succeeded to the throne of Cyprus on the death of his uncle Henry II, since Henry II had no sons. He was a member of the House of Poitiers-Lusignan.
The Kingdom of Cyprus reached the peak of its power and prosperity during the reigns of Hugh IV and Peter I.
Hugh was the son of Guy, a brother of King Henry II of Cyprus, and Eschiva, a member of the Ibelin family who had lost her lordship of Beirut to the Egyptian Mamluks shortly before marrying Guy in 1291. Hugh was three years old when his father died and was raised in the household of his uncle the king. In 1306 Henry was forced to relinquish effective power to the eldest of his brothers, Amalric, who was his heir presumptive. Amalric was found murdered in 1310, paving the way for Henry's restoration.
By the early 1310s, Henry was over forty, unmarried, and unlikely to have children. His last surviving brother, Aimery, in theory, stood to succeed him but was imprisoned for aiding Amalric from 1310 until his death in 1316. In 1318 the king made Hugh the constable of Cyprus, as Guy had once been. Rather than any of the sons of his brothers Amalric and Guy, the eldest of the king's sisters, Maria, was the presumed heir until her death in 1322. She and Henry were both married into the Aragonese royal family, but neither had children. By the end of his reign Henry probably intended, though there is no concrete evidence, to be succeeded by Hugh. Henry's surviving siblings, Alice and Helvis, however, had a stronger claim in law, as they were more closely related to Henry than Hugh was.
On 31 March 1324, when King Henry died, a hurried assembly of liege men swore to protect Hugh's rights against any challengers. As Henry's only male relative remaining in the kingdom, Hugh was an obvious candidate to become the new king. Henry was buried on 1 April, and at the meeting of the High Court the next day, Hugh claimed the throne. His spokesman laid out arguments for a male successor, either misunderstanding or deliberately misrepresenting earlier precedents. The vassals accepted Hugh's claim in preference to his aunts Alice and Helvis. Hugh was crowned king of Cyprus on 15 April at the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Nicosia. From Henry he also inherited the claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the last piece of which had been lost to Muslims in 1291. Since the city of Tyre (in modern-day Lebanon), where the kings of Jerusalem were traditionally crowned, had also been conquered, Hugh received the crown of Jerusalem in Famagusta, deemed the best alternative by the vassals and the clergy. Hugh thus inaugurated a new custom among the Cypriot kings.
One of Hugh's first acts upon his accession was having the High Court declare the forfeiture of the fiefs of all the vassals who had resisted his predecessor's restoration. Henry had kept them imprisoned since 1318, but Hugh decided to confiscate their land and release them. His goal may have been depriving his uncle Amalric's supporters of means to plot on behalf of Amalric's sons. In 1325 Hugh attempted to heal the rift between his family, the Lusignans, and the Ibelins, who had opposed Henry, through arranged marriages.
Hugh's first wife was Maria of Ibelin, daughter of Guy, the titular count of Jaffa. Hugh and Maria had a son, Guy. In 1318, after her death, Hugh obtained a papal dispensation to marry her distant kinswoman Alice of Ibelin, with whom he had at least eight children, of whom five reached adulthood. Having plenty of children enabled Hugh to forge dynastic links with Western European rulers, which his predecessors had little luck achieving.
In January 1330 Hugh had Guy marry Maria, daughter of Duke Louis I of Bourbon. Louis belonged to a cadet branch of the French Capetian dynasty and was thoroughly involved in the French plans for a crusade to recover the Holy Land. Hugh hoped that the marriage would strengthen his chances of gaining control over the Holy Land, especially against the claims of the Capetian House of Anjou, who had disputed the Lusignans' claim to the throne of Jerusalem since the 1270s. The outbreak of France's Hundred Years' War with England in 1337 put an end to Louis's hopes to lead a crusade. Guy began taking part in state affairs in the late 1330s and was made constable of Cyprus, but died in 1343.