Amalric, Prince of Tyre

Amalric de Lusignan or Amaury II de Lusignan, Prince of Tyre (c. 1272 – June 5, 1310, Nicosia), of the Lusignan family, was a son of Hugh III of Cyprus and Isabella of Ibelin.

Amalric was at the Fall of Tripoli in 1289, in which he led a company of knights and four galleys from Cyprus. [Runciman, p.406] He escaped the siege of Tripoli together with Lucia of Tripoli, and was made Constable of Jerusalem in April, 1289.

Amalric also became Lord of Tyre in 1290. He had command of the Accursed Tower at the siege of Acre in 1291, and escaped the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with his brother, King Henry, thus becoming Titular Constable of Jerusalem and Titular Lord of Tyre.

In 1292/1293 he married to the Cilician Armenian princess Isabelle, Princess of Armenia (1275-1280 – murdered in Armenia before April 9, 1323) in the city of Nicosia, which allowed him to enjoy close ties with Armenia.

In 1300 Amalric entered into combined military operations with the Mongols under Ghazan to retake the Holy Land. ["More serious was the expedition led in 1300, in response to another appeal by Ghazan, by the king's brother Amaury, titular Lord of Tyre and Constable of the kingdom of Jerusalem- the first attempt since 1291 to restore the Latin settlement in the Holy Land, and to coordinate military activity with the Ilkhan's forces. The Templar Master, Jacques de Molay, seems to have been particularly enthousiastic about the campaign" Peter Jackson, "The Mongols and the West", p.171] He occupied the island of Ruad expecting to join forces with the Mongols, who however did not manage to accomplish their offensive: ["At the head of a combined force of Cypriot knights and Templars, Amaury occupied the small island of Ruad (Arwad), off the coast near Tortosa; but Qutlugh Shah's army did not appear and the Cypriots withdrew.", Jackson, p.171]

Henry was unpopular in Cyprus, and with the aid of the Templars and some of the barons, Amalric assumed the titles of "Governor and Rector" and Regent of Cyprus and Titular Regent of Jerusalem on April 26, 1306. The overthrow was not violent; Henry had few supporters, and he was whisked away and confined at Strovolos.

Amalric's rule was initially popular. He repaired relations with Venice, Genoa, and the Hospitallers.

However, he was compelled to obey the Papal directive to arrest the Templars when that order was suppressed, which resulted in a small uprising in favor of Henry in January 1308. It quickly collapsed, but Amalric was forced to arrest a number of nobles, including Rupen of Montfort, John of Dampierre, and various members of the Ibelin family. In April, two of the Ibelins were exiled to Armenia, and John of Dampierre was mortally wounded by a mob after attempting to communicate with King Henry. In February 1310, Amalric sent Henry into exile in Armenia. Anticipating the presence of Crusaders bound for Rhodes to aid the Hospitallers in conquering the island, Amalric was desperately nervous about his status, which he had never been able to regularize with the Papacy. He was suddenly murdered by Simon of Montolif at Nicosia on June 5, 1310. While the timing of the murder was certainly suspicious, there is no overt evidence to indicate that it was the result of a conspiracy rather than a private quarrel. He was buried at Santa Sophia, at Nicosia.

On his death, his brother Aimery was proclaimed Governor of Nicosia; but he was soon defeated and imprisoned, and Henry restored to his throne.

Family

He and Isabella had five sons and one daughter:
* Hugues de Lusignan (d. betw. 1318 & April 9, 1323, Armenia), Lord of Crusoche before 1310, married before 1310 Eschive d'Ibelin (d. aft. March, 1324), widow married ca 1290 to Gautier de Dampierre-sur-Salon, Lady of St. Nicholas and daughter of Philippe d'Ibelin (d. 1304/1305), Constable of Cyprus, and wife, married ca 1253, Simone de Montfaucon or von Mömpelgard, without issue
* Henri de Lusignan (d. murdered bef. April 9, 1323, Armenia), unmarried and without issue
* Guy de Lusignan (d. April 17, 1344, Armenia), King of Armenia as Constantine IV
* Jean de Lusignan (d. murdered August 7, 1343, Armenia), sometime Constable and Regent of Armenia, married before 1340 Sultana of Georgia (after 1343), daughter of Giorgi V "the Magnificent", King of Georgia (1318-1346), died 1346, and had issue, one son and one bastard son:
** Bohemond de Lusignan (died Venice, 1364), Titular King of Armenia in 1363, maybe Patriarch in Cairo
** Leon VI of Armenia (bastard)
* Bohémond de Lusignan (d. murdered April 17, 1344, Armenia), Count of Corcyus, Lord of Korikos (1336), married in 1340 Euphemia of Neghir (1325 – aft. 1381, Jerusalem), daughter of Baldwin of Neghir, Marshal of Armenia (or Baldwin, Marshal of Neghir), without issue, and had a bastard son:
** Barthelemy de Lusignan, Co-Regent of Armenia (died after 1373), unmarried and without issue
* Agnes (Marie) de Lusignan (d. aft. 1309), married c. 1305 or 1305/1306 Leo III of Armenia (1297 – murdered 1307), without issue

After Amalric's death, his widow and children remained in Armenia; only his daughter would die a natural death, his widow and sons all being murdered at various times.

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