Marie of Lusignan, Queen of Aragon

Marie of Lusignan
Arms as Queen Consort
Queen consort of Aragon
Tenure	1314–1319
Spouse	James II of Aragon
House	House of Lusignan
Father	Hugh III of Cyprus
Mother	Isabella of Ibelin
Born	1273 Cyprus
Died	April 1319 Tortosa
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Marie of Lusignan (1273 – Tortosa, April 1319) was a daughter of Hugh III of Cyprus and his wife Isabella of Ibelin. She was Queen consort of Aragon by her marriage and was a member of the House of Lusignan.

Life

Marie was the fifth of thirteen children, her siblings included John II of Jerusalem, Henry II of Jerusalem and Amalric, Prince of Tyre.

Marie's maternal grandparents were Guy of Ibelin, constable of Cyprus and his wife Phillipa Barlais; her paternal grandparents were Henry of Antioch and his wife Isabella of Cyprus and Antioch.

Marie did not marry for a many years; she was recorded as having been present in her brother, Amalric's court in 1310.^[1] She was however eventually betrothed to James II of Aragon in 1315, who had been married twice before and was father to ten legitimate children.

James understood that Marie was heiress to Cyprus and was still unmarried. They married by proxy at Santa Sophia, Nicosia on 15 June 1315 and in person at Girona on 27 November 1315. Marie was already forty-two and the marriage was purely for political reasons, so James could rule Cyprus on the death of Marie's brother Henry.^[2] They had no children.

The couple were only married for four years before Marie died in Tortosa in April 1319. As Marie did not outlive her brother, James' plans of ruling Cyprus had failed. After Marie's death James complained that she had been too old and had not proved companionable.^[3] Marie's brother Henry died five years later and was succeeded by their nephew Hugh. James remarried a final time to Elisenda de Montcada before his death in 1327.

References

1. ^ CYPRUS, Medieval Lands
2. ^ Cyprus
3. ^ Letter of King Jaime to the bishop of Tusculum written shortly after Queen Marie's death, cited in Edbury (1994), p. 138

Marie of Lusignan, Queen of Aragon House of Lusignan Born: 1273 Died: April 1319
Royal titles
Preceded by Blanche of Anjou	Queen consort of Aragon 1314–1319	Succeeded by Elisenda of Montcada
	Countess consort of Barcelona, Girona, Osona and Besalú 1315–1319
	Queen consort of Valencia 1315–1319
	Queen consort of Sardinia and Corsica 1315–1319

Persondata
Name	Marie Of Lusignan, Queen Of Aragon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1273
Place of birth	Cyprus
Date of death	1319
Place of death	Tortosa