Isabella of Brienne

Isabella of Brienne (died 1360) was Countess of Lecce and Conversano, claimant to the Duchy of Athens and Kingdom of Jerusalem, etc.

She was daughter of Walter V of Brienne, Duke of Athens etc, who was killed at the Battle of Halmyros near Thebes, Greece, in 1311. As the granddaughter of Hugh of Brienne, Count of Lecce etc, she was a descendant of the Kings of Jerusalem and of Cyprus.

Her father's life was largely spent in Greece, where he tried to win back his mother's inheritance, the Duchy of Athens. When he was killed, Isabella's mother Joan de Chatillon (died 1354), daughter of count of Porcien, fled with her two young children to France. The impoverished family was not able to provide better, and Isabella married a Walloon knight, Walter III of Enghien.

Her brother Walter VI of Brienne gradually gained better positions, and by allying with the Angevin kings of Naples, recovered some Italian fiefs. As constable of France, he was killed in the battle of Poitiers in 1356. He had also been Lord of Florence, Marshal of France, Count of Lecce, Conversano etc. He was an ally of the Angevins of Naples, and participated their policies in Italy. His children died young, both with his first wife Margherita of Anjou-Tarent and his second, his distant kinswoman Jeanne de Brienne. His sister Isabella's children therefore succeeded to his possessions and claims.

Isabella survived her brother, whom she succeeded, and died 1360. Her husband Walter of Enghien had died in 1345.

For a few years, she was Countess of Lecce and Brienne etc, as well as titular Duchess of Athens and of other claimed titles. Since her eldest son Gauthier had died before her brother, her heir was her second son Sohier of Enghien. She allowed her inherited lands to be divided between her numerous children during her own lifetime.

Her children:
# Walter of Enghien (June 5, 1322 – November 18, 1340)
# Isabeau of Enghien (d. December 28, 1357), Abbess of Flines
# Sohier of Enghien (d. March 21, 1364), Count of Brienne, titular Duke of Athens.
# John of Enghien, (d. 1380), Count of Lecce and Lord of Castro
# Marguerite of Enghien, married Pierre de Préaux
# Louis of Enghien (d. March 17, 1394), Lord (later Count) of Conversano, later Count of Brienne and titular Duke of Athens
# Jacques of Enghien, a canon in Liège
# Guy of Enghien,(d. 1377), Lord of Argos and Nauplia
# Engelbert I of Enghien (c. 1330–February 20, 1403), Lord of Ramerupt, La Follie, and Seneffe
# Françoise of Enghien, married Peter, Count of Montebello
# Jeanne of Enghien, a nun at Flines

Isabella's brother Gauthier had left Greece sometime in the 1340s, and her eldest surviving son Sohier of Enghien apparently was resident lord of Argos and Nauplia from c. 1350. In the division of the inheritance in 1356-60, he received the title of Duke of Athens, and certain rights in Argos-Nauplia. However, her sixth son Guy of Enghien received the lordship of Argos and Nauplia in the division and resided there as the lord from 1356 to 1377. Guy was also sometimes titled Duke of Athens, although the title officially belonged to his elder brother and the latter's son, and they as Dukes of Athens were overlords of Guy and Guy's heirs.

Isabella's fourth son Louis of Enghien, Lord of Conversano, received the (titular) Duchy of Athens in 1381, when his nephew's inheritance was divided.

Guy's daughter Maria d'Enghien, Isabella's granddaughter, married Pietro Cornaro, a Venetian. They sold the lordship to Venice in 1388.

Her main inheritance went, after some interludes, to the children of her third son John of Enghien:
* Peter of Enghien (Peter I), Count of Lecce etc. Died childless in 1384, leaving his sister and her husband Raymond Orsini to succeed.
* Mary of Enghien (Mary II) (1367-1446), Countess of Lecce. Daughter of John and Bianca del Balzo. Mary first married Raimondo del Balzo Orsini, who became Prince of Taranto in her hereditary rights and died in 1405. She later married King Ladislas of Naples in 1406, who died in 1414.