Guy I de Lusignan, King of Jerusalem^{[1, 2]}

- 1194

• Name	Guy I de Lusignan
  		Crusaders First (1095–1099); Second (1147–1149); Third or the Kings' Crusade (1189–1192); Forth (1202–1204); Fifth (1213–1221); Sixth (1228); Barons' (1239); Seventh (1248-1254); Eighth (1270); and Ninth (1271-1272).
  		Arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
  Suffix	King of Jerusalem
  Born		France, 1180
  Gender	Male
  Military	Apr 1168	Poitou, France
  	Aquitanean Campaign
  	King Henry II moved against Guy and his brother Geoffrey because of their incessant raiding in Aquitaine. That April the brothers waylaid the entourage of Queen Eleanor somewhere outside of Poitiers in hopes of collecting hostages. The Earl of Salisbury was killed in the skirmishing and his nephew, John Marshal, was severely wounded and captured. Eleanor escaped. [3]
  Military	4 Jul 1187	Hattin, Israel   [6, 7, 8, 9]
  	Battle of Hattin or the Horns of Hattin
  	"The Muslim armies under Saladin captured or killed the vast majority of the Crusader forces, removing their capability to wage war. As a direct result of the battle, Muslims once again became the eminent military power in the Holy Land, re-conquering Jerusalem and several other Crusader-held cities. These Christian defeats prompted the Third Crusade, which began two years after the Battle of Hattin." [4] Saladin held Guy until June 1188. [5]
  		Crusader States, ca. 1190 After the Battle of Hattin
  		Battle of the Horns of Hattin At Hattin, Saladin won the decisive victory that ultimately resulted in the fall of Jerusalem (2 Oct 1187) and the confinement of Frankish power to the enclaves of Tyre, Tripoli and Antioch. As for the battle itself, King Guy was baited out of his staging point at Saffuriya by an attack on Tiberias and then outflanked and surrounded by a superior force in the waterless plateau around an ancient volcano known as the Horns of Hattin. Raymond III of Tripoli, Balian of Ibelin, and Reynaud of Sidon fled the field, abandoning Guy to his fate.
  Military	28 Aug 1189	Acre, Israel   [10]
  	Siege of Acre begins.
  		Siege of Acre The seige of Acre (August 28, 1189 to July 12, 1191) was the focal point of the Third Crusade. After his release by Saladin, King Guy of Jerusalem led an expedition from Tyre, stationing his meager force on the high ground of Mount Torn just outside the port city of Acre. From this small beginning Guy's numbers began to swell as the western contingents sailed in. Saladin squandered an opportunity to break the cordon on 4 Oct 1189 after a Latin advance lost formation to loot the Abuyyid camp. News of Barbarossa imminent approach then resulted in a cautious division of Abuyyid forces to meet the northern threat. With the arrival of Richard and Philip Augustus in the summer of 1191, the balance swung decisively in the favor the Latins. The city was surrendered, 12 Jul 1191. It would remain in Christian hands until overrun by the Mamluks, 18 May 1291.
  Military	1 Jun 1190	Cyprus   [11]
  	Conquest of Cyprus
  	Guy joined King Richard's campaign to conquer Cyprus and captured Isaac Comnenus's daughter at Kyrenia. (Lusignan was locked in a power struggle with Comnenus's in-law, the count of Montferrat, for control of the kingdom of Jerusalem. And both men served as proxies for the wider conflict between the kings of England and France.) Greek rule on the island collapsed. Richard sold off his new fief to the Templars, who, finding it troublesome, sold it to the Lusignans, who held it until 1472.
  Military	7 Sep 1191	Arsuf, Israel   [12]
  		Battle of Arsuf and the First Jerusalem Campaign On 22 Aug 1191, Richard marched his army out of Acre, bound for Jaffa. Saladin shadowed Richard to the Rochetaille River and then moved his army into position to block Richard's advance. Richard managed to maintain formation nearly to Arsulf as he moved through the attacking Ayyubids; however, the rearguard of Hospitallers finally lost patience and wheeled about, breaking ranks. This was not the charge that was planned but Richard was now committed. Saladin was defeated in a rout. Jaffa was occupied on 10 Sep 1191. In anticipation of Richard's next move, Saladin razed Ascalon. But Richard also found his strategic plans to cut Saladin's lines of communication with Egypt trumped by the expectations of his army: they wanted to be in the Holy City by Christmas. Unable to keep his army in winter quarters just outside of Jerusalem, Richard retired with a much reduced force to Ascalon.
  Title	1192	Cyprus
  	Lord of Cyprus
  	In 1191, Richard I took the island of Cyprus from the Byzantines, clapped their ruler in silver chains and installed the Templars in his place. This arrangement didn't suit the inhabitants, who found their new masters too demanding and rebelled. The order passed ownership to Guy de Lusignan. "Guy was adrift following the death of Sibylla and the subsequent loss of his crown. Marginalized by Conrad of Montferrat in a poisonous factional conflict, there was a certain attraction in removing him from the Latin mainland." [13] "Fortunately Richard was in a position to compensate Guy in magnificent style. He had earlier sold Cyprus to the Templars, but they were happy to renegotiate. According to the later Old French Continuation the Templars had so far paid 40 per cent of the purchase price of 100,000 bezants and their attempt to raise the rest of the money by imposing dues of the Greek Cypriot population had provoked a rebellion. It looked as through Cyprus was going to be more trouble than it was worth. If Richard were already thinking about transferring Cyprus to Guy, this was the moment to act. (The implication of the plan for a marriage between al-Adil and Joan is that Richard must have been thinking about appropriate potential compensation for Guy for several months.) Guy reimbursed the Templars the 40,000 bezants and in return received Cyprus; perhaps he acknowledged that he owed Richard the balance of 60,000 marks. If so, both probably assumed that it was unlikely ever to be paid. In that case, from Richard's point of view, he had in effect given Cyprus to Guy. The Lusignans were to ruled Cyprus for the next 300 years, until 1489." [14]
  Died	1194
  Buried	Nicosia, Cyprus
  Person ID	I14843	Dickinson
  Last Modified	7 Dec 2017

  
  

  Father	Huges VIII de Lusignan, Seigneur de Lusignan,   d. After 1164, Palestine
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Bourgogne de Rancon,   d. After 11 Apr 1169
  Relationship	Birth
  Married	Before 1147
  Family ID	F4625	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Sibylle of Jerusalem, Queen of Jerusalem,   b. ca. 1160,   d. Autumn 1190, Acre, Israel  (Age ~ 30 years)
  Married	Apr 1180  [15, 16, 17]
  Children	1. Alice de Lusignan,   d. 1190, Acre, Israel  [Birth]   2. Marie Lusignan,   d. 1190  [Birth]
  Last Modified	8 Nov 2017
  Family ID	F6026	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Military - Battle of Hattin or the Horns of Hattin - 4 Jul 1187 - Hattin, Israel Military - Siege of Acre begins. - 28 Aug 1189 - Acre, Israel Military - Conquest of Cyprus - 1 Jun 1190 - Cyprus Military - 7 Sep 1191 - Arsuf, Israel Title - Lord of Cyprus - 1192 - Cyprus Buried - - Nicosia, Cyprus  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S336463] Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families, Charles Cawley, (Online: The Foundation for Medieval Genealogy at http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/, 20XX), http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/AQUITAINE%20NOBILITY.htm#GuyKingJerusalemdied1194 and http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/CYPRUS.htm#GuyIJerusalem. [S336470] Wikipedia, (Online: https://en.wikipedia.org), "Guy of Lusignan," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_of_Lusignan. [S421] The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones, Thomas Asbridge, (New York: HarperCollins, 2014), 79ff. [S336470] Wikipedia, (Online: https://en.wikipedia.org), quoted from "Battle of Hattin" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hattin. [S422] Richard I (English Monarchs Series), John Gillingham, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 147. [S419] God's Wolf: The Life Of The Most Notorious Of All Crusaders, Reynald de Chatillon, Jeffrey Lee, (London: Atlantic Books, 2016), 254ff. [S420] The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land, Thomas Asbridge, (New York: HarperCollins, 2010), 343ff. [S359] The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors, Dan Jones, (New York: Viking, 2017), 158ff. [S422] Richard I (English Monarchs Series), John Gillingham, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 85-6. [S420] The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land, Thomas Asbridge, (New York: HarperCollins, 2010), 400. [S422] Richard I (English Monarchs Series), John Gillingham, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 152. [S422] Richard I (English Monarchs Series), John Gillingham, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 175-8. [S359] The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors, Dan Jones, (New York: Viking, 2017), 191. [S422] Richard I (English Monarchs Series), John Gillingham, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 196-7. [S419] God's Wolf: The Life Of The Most Notorious Of All Crusaders, Reynald de Chatillon, Jeffrey Lee, (London: Atlantic Books, 2016), 186. William of Tyre noted that Lusignan was "an obscure man, wholly incapable and indiscreet." [S420] The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land, Thomas Asbridge, (New York: HarperCollins, 2010), 323. "In part Baldwin's choice was governed by necessity, as Guy was the only unmarried adult male of sufficiently high birth then present in Palestine. Guy's connection with Poitou - a region ruled by Angevin King Henry II of England - may also have been a factor, for with Capetian France in disarray, England's importance as an ally was increased." [S421] The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones, Thomas Asbridge, (New York: HarperCollins, 2014), 163.