Aimery of Cyprus

Early career

Aimery was born before 1155. He was the son of Hugh VIII of Lusignan, a lord from Poitou, and his wife, Burgundia of Rancon. The House of Lusignan was noted for generations of crusaders who had fought for the Holy Land in the Levant. His great-grandfather, Hugh VI of Lusignan, died in the Battle of Ramla in 1102; Aimery's grandfather, Hugh VII of Lusignan, took part in the Second Crusade. Aimery's father departed for the Levant in 1163, leaving his lands to be governed by Aimery's eldest brother, Hugh Brunus. The elder Hugh was captured by Muslims at the Battle of Harim and died in captivity in the 1160s.

In 1168 Aimery joined a rebellion against his family's suzerain, King Henry II of England. The Lusignan brothers ambushed Henry's wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, as she travelled to Poitiers and killed the leader of her guard, Patrick, earl of Salisbury. Shortly after the rebellion, Aimery left Poitou for the Levant and settled in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was captured in battle by Muslims and held in Damascus. According to a 13th-century tradition, King Amalric of Jerusalem ransomed Aimery; people were fascinated by the similarity of their names and the story entered the folklore of the Latin East.

Aimery secured his position in the Latin East by marrying Eschiva of Ibelin, the elder daughter of the lord of Ramla, Baldwin of Ibelin, one of the most powerful noblemen in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. According to Ernoul, whose reliability in this instance is questionable, Aimery became a lover of King Amalric's former wife, Agnes of Courtenay. Ernoul consistently portrays Agnes unfavorably; his information about her probably came from her rival Maria Komnene, Amalric's second wife. King Amalric died on 11 July 1174 and was succeeded by his and Agnes's thirteen-year-old son, Baldwin IV. Aimery became a member of the royal court with his father-in-law's support. He may have been appointed chamberlain, which would indicate a close relationship with the royal family.

Aimery's youngest brother, Guy, married Baldwin IV's widowed sister, Sibylla, in April 1180. Ernoul writes that Sibylla had promised herself to Aimery's father-in-law, Baldwin of Ibelin, but Aimery had described Guy as a handsome and charming young man to her and her mother, Agnes, and then travelled to Poitou in the winter of 1179/1180 and brought Guy to Jerusalem. Another source, William of Tyre, does not accord to Aimery any role in Guy and Sibylla's marriage. The historian Bernard Hamilton dismisses this account and argues that King Baldwin arranged the match. Because the young king had lepromatous leprosy, Sibylla was his heir presumptive and Guy's marriage to her put him in line to become the next king, much to the dismay of the Ibelins and their allies.

Constableship

Baronial division

By 24 February 1182, Aimery had become constable of Jerusalem, the highest military authority in the kingdom after the King. He may have been granted the office shortly after his predecessor, Humphrey II of Toron, died in April 1179; alternatively, his appointment may have only come around 1181, as the consequence of the growing influence of his brother Guy. Aimery's legal ability may have developed during his long tenure in public office.

In 1183 King Baldwin IV appointed Guy regent. As regent, Guy was also the commander-in-chief of the royal army. Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria, launched a campaign against the kingdom on 29 September. Aimery defeated Saladin's troops in a minor skirmish with the support of his father-in-law, Baldwin, and Baldwin's brother Balian of Ibelin. After the victory, the crusaders' main army could advance as far as a spring near Saladin's camp, forcing him to retreat nine days later. Both William of Tyre and Ernoul were disappointed that the Christian army did not engage the Muslims. During the campaign, it became apparent that other military leaders were unwilling to cooperate with Guy. The ailing king dismissed Guy from regency and had his five-year-old nephew Baldwin V, Sibylla's son from her first marriage, crowned co-king on 20 November 1183.

In early 1185, Baldwin IV decreed that the pope, the Holy Roman emperor and the kings of France and England were to choose between his sister, Sibylla, and half-sister, Isabella, if Baldwin V died before reaching the age of majority. Baldwin IV died in 1185, followed by Baldwin V in mid-1186. Ignoring Baldwin IV's decree and the protests of Guy's opponents, led by Aimery's Ibelin in-laws, Sibylla's partisans proclaimed her queen and she crowned Guy king. Aimery was among Sibylla's supporters. Aimery's father-in-law, Baldwin of Ibelin, left the kingdom rather than pay homage to Guy.

Hattin and the Third Crusade

As constable, Aimery organised the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem into units before the Battle of Hattin, which ended with the decisive victory of Saladin on 4 July 1187. Along with most commanders of the Christian army, Aimery was captured on the battlefield. The victory enabled Saladin to conquer almost all of the Latin East; the only city in the kingdom that remained in Christian hands was Tyre. During the siege of Ascalon, Saladin promised the defenders that he would set free ten persons whom they named if they surrendered. Aimery and Guy were among those whom the defenders named before surrendering on 4 September, but Saladin postponed their release until early 1188. In response to the Christian losses, kings Richard I of England and Philip II of France led the Third Crusade to the Levant. Geoffrey of Lusignan, brother of Aimery and Guy, arrived with this crusade.

In 1189 Guy gathered a force and laid a siege to Acre. Aimery and Geoffrey supported him during the siege. Most barons held that Guy lost his claim to kingship when Sibylla and their daughters died in late 1190, but Aimery remained loyal to his brother. The Ibelins supported Marquis Conrad of Montferrat, the defender of Tyre, who married Sibylla's half-sister, Isabella, in late November. King Richard supported the Lusignans, and made Geoffrey count of Jaffa in 1191. An assembly of the noblemen unanimously declared Conrad the lawful king on 16 April 1192. Conrad was murdered twelve days later, and Isabella hastily married Count Henry II of Champagne, whom the barons had selected to rule the kingdom. To compensate him for the loss of the kingdom, Richard I authorized Guy to purchase the island of Cyprus–which Richard I had conquered from its Byzantine governor, Isaac Komnenos, in May 1191–from the Knights Templar. Guy was to pay 40,000 bezants to Richard, who granted the right to collect the sum to Henry. Guy settled in Cyprus in early May. The Third Crusade ended in September with the Kingdom of Jerusalem regaining a narrow strip of land along the coast of Palestine from Jaffa to Tyre. Saladin, the crusaders' greatest enemy, died in March 1193.

Aimery remained in the Kingdom of Jerusalem as constable. When Geoffrey returned to France, Aimery claimed Jaffa. He paid homage to Isabella, but apparently not to her new husband, Henry, who doubted his loyalty. In May 1193, Henry discovered that the Pisan merchants had been plotting to deliver Tyre to Guy and clamped down on them. Aimery intervened on behalf of the Pisans and Henry had him imprisoned in the citadel of Acre. Aimery insisted that Henry had no right to imprison a vassal and constable, while Henry refused to recognize Aimery's constableship and denied that Aimery was his vassal. In exchange for Aimery's freedom, Henry demanded that Guy surrender Cyprus. Despite his long association with his unpopular brother, Aimery was well-liked by the barons, who–together with the grand masters of the Templars and the Hospitallers–prevailed on Henry to release him. After regaining his freedom, Aimery followed the example of the other Lusignan partisans and left for the kingdom for Cyprus, abandoning both his office and the fief of Jaffa. Henry then granted the constableship to Isabella's half-brother, John of Ibelin.

Reign

Lord of Cyprus

Guy made Aimery constable of Cyprus. He died in late 1194, having bequeathed Cyprus to Geoffrey. Richard had granted Cyprus to Guy for life, but neither the English king nor his nephew Henry of Champagne, to whom he had transferred his rights, claimed the reversion. Geoffrey showed no interest in ruling in the Latin East and had already returned to Poitou. Guy's vassals elected Aimery to be their new lord. Henry demanded, as the ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, to be consulted about the succession in Cyprus, but was ignored.

Upon succeeding his brother, Aimery realized that the treasury was almost empty because Guy had granted most landed property on the island to his supporters. He summoned his vassals to an assembly. After pointing out that each of them was richer than him, he persuaded them one by one "either by force, or by friendship, or by agreement" to surrender some of their rents and lands. By the end of his reign, the revenues of Cyprus had increased to at least 200,000 bezants. Aimery continued Guy's work on the island's fortresses. Guy's entourage, including Rainier of Gibelet, became part of Aimery's court in Cyprus. They were joined by new arrivals, many of whom were Aimery's fellow Poitevins, including Aimery of Rivet, who became seneschal, and Reynald Barlais.

When Aimery assumed the rule over Cyprus, the island only had Greek Orthodox bishops. In 1195 Aimery dispatched the archdeacon of Laodicea, known only by the initial B., to Pope Celestine III, to request the establishment of a Latin Church hierarchy on Cyprus. This was probably seen as a condition for raising Cyprus to the status of a kingdom. To be recognized as a king, a ruler had to receive a crown from either an emperor or the Pope. At about the same the archdeacon of Laodicea left for Rome, Aimery dispatched his vassal Rainier of Gibelet to Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, who was preparing to lead a new crusade. Aimery proposed acknowledging the Emperor's suzerainty if the Emperor recognized him as king. He was prompted by the concern that the Byzantines would attempt to recover Cyprus; additionally, obtaining a crown would enhance his prestige, secure Cyprus for his descendants, and quash any suggestions that the island should be considered dependent on the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Aimery's envoy Rainier of Gibelet swore loyalty to Henry VI on behalf of Aimery in Gelnhausen in October 1195. The Emperor promised that he would personally crown Aimery and tasked the archbishops of Brindisi and Trani with delivering a golden sceptre to Aimery. Henry VI's envoys landed in Cyprus in April or May 1196. Aimery may have adopted the title of king around that time, as Pope Celestine had styled him as king in a letter in December 1196. At that time the Pope set up the archbishopric of Nicosia, of which the first incumbent was Aimery's chancellor, Alan, and the suffragan dioceses of Paphos, Limassol, and Famagusta. Aimery's coronation was postponed to allow Henry VI to arrive.

Kingship

A rebellion in Sicily and a subsequent illness prevented Emperor Henry VI's departure to the Latin East. His chancellor, Conrad of Querfurt, bishop of Hildesheim, set sail ahead of him. Conrad crowned Aimery in Nicosia in September 1197 and received homage from the newly made king. Henry VI died that month and the Holy Roman Empire was plunged into a long succession war, leaving Aimery without the alliance he had desired. Henry of Champagne also died in September, having fallen from a window of his palace in Acre, only weeks after reconciling with Aimery. Aimery's garrison at Jaffa was not able to resist the Ayyubid attack and Jaffa was lost again shortly after Henry of Champagne's death. This was the first instance of a king of Cyprus intervening militarily on behalf of the mainland kingdom.

Immediately after the death of Henry of Champagne, the barons of Jerusalem demanded that his widow, Isabella, seek a fourth husband, who would rule the kingdom.The aristocratic-yet-impoverished seneschal of Jerusalem, Ralph of Saint-Omer, was a candidate, but the masters of the military orders opposed him vehemently. Archbishop Conrad of Mainz arrived in Acre on 20 September and proposed that the throne should be offered to Aimery. Aimery would have been an attractive candidate because of his Cypriot resources, and the Germans likely appreciated that he was an imperial vassal. Since Aimery's first wife, Eschiva, had recently died, he was free to marry Isabella. Archbishop Joscius of Tyre led the negotiations. Patriarch Aymar of Jerusalem initially complained that the marriage would be uncanonical. The marriage, or at least a betrothal, was celebrated in October.

Sensing an opportunity while the Ayyubids were preoccupied with Jaffa, Aimery assisted the German and Brabancon crusaders commanded by Duke Henry I of Brabant in recovering Beirut and Sidon in October 1197. Sidon had been destroyed by the time they arrived, and they captured Beirut on 21 October after forcing the Ayyubid ruler of Damascus, al-Adil I, to withdraw. Toron was besieged in November. The patriarch withdrew his objections to the marriage of Aimery and Isabella and crowned them in January 1198. When news of Emperor Henry VI's death reached the Levant, the Germans decided to return home, and the siege of Toron was abandoned on 2 February. The Germans left behind a new military order, the Teutonic Knights, to whom Aimery granted the Gate of St Nicholas in Acre on the condition that they return it at the King's request. Pope Celestine III's successor, Innocent III, immediately began preaching a new crusade.

Legacy

The historian Mary Nickerson Hardwicke describes Aimery as a "self-assured, politically astute, sometimes hard, seldom sentimentally indulgent" ruler. His reign was a period of peace and consolidation, and he laid the foundations for the prosperity that Cyprus enjoyed under his successors. For the historian Steven Runciman, Aimery was "not a great king", but "had a political wisdom that was very valuable". Runciman underlines that Aimery succeeded in preserving the mainland kingdom's monarchy; Hardwicke notes that he failed to strengthen it, although "it was not his fault".

Among those who knew him, Aimery inspired little affection but commanded respect. The lawyers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem held him in high esteem. One of them, John of Ibelin, emphasized that Aimery had governed both Cyprus and Jerusalem "well and wisely" until his death.