Hugh I

Hugh I of Jerusalem (he was already Hugh III of Cyprus, and was also known as Hugh of Antioch and Hugh de Lusignan) took the regency of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1264, on the death of his mother Isabella. He succeeded to the throne of Cyprus in 1267, on the death of the teenage king Hugh, and when, in the next year, Conradin, the absentee king of Jerusalem, also died, Hugh advanced his own claim to the throne.

He was challenged by Maria of Antioch, who claimed the title based on proximity of blood to Conradin and descent from Amalric I, but the Palestine barons elected Hugh as King, and Maria, having spent years attempting to gain support for her cause in Europe, finally sold her claim to the King of Naples in 1269, an act ratified by the Pope in 1277.

Hugh spent 8 years in Palestine (Jerusalem the city had long been lost to the Muslims) but found the faction politics not to his taste and returned to Cyprus in 1276. He left Balian of Ibelin as his bailiff but within a year Angevin forces had expelled him, and seized the kingdom.

Hugh was married to Isabella of Ibelin, and they had 11 children: John succeeded Hugh as king of Jerusalem, being succeeded in turn by Henry (the intervening son, Bohemond, died at a young age); Amalric, who became Regent in Cyprus, being succeeded by his brothers Aimery and Guy; and daughters Mary (married James II of Aragon), Margaret (married the king of Armenia), Alice (married Balian of Ibelin), Helvis (married another king of Armenia) and Isabelle (who married a third king of Armenia).

Hugh died in 1284CE.