Hugh III of Cyprus
Born into the family of the princes of Antioch, he effectively ruled as regent for underage kings Hugh II of Cyprus and Conrad III of Jerusalem for several years.
Prevailing over the claims of his cousin Hugh of Brienne, he succeeded both young monarchs upon their deaths and appeared poised to be an effective political and military leader.
Marital alliances brought to him steadfast loyalty of the most powerful noble families, the Ibelins and the Montforts, but his efforts on the mainland were doomed to failure by the hostility of the Venetian merchants and the Knights Templar.
Most problematically, Hugh's right to the throne of Jerusalem was challenged by his aunt Maria of Antioch, who sold her claim to Charles I of Anjou in 1277.
After two unsuccessful attempts to regain Acre, Hugh died in Tyre, a mainland city held by the loyal Montforts.
[2] Isabella was the sister of King Henry I of Cyprus, while Hugh's father was the youngest son of Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch.
The High Court of Jerusalem ruled that, since the contenders were equally close relatives of the young king, the elder of them should have priority, and that was Hugh of Antioch.
His army, however, came too late to prevent the Mamluk ruler of Egypt, Baibars, from conquering Caesarea Maritima, Arsur, Haifa, Safed, Toron, and Chastel Neuf.
[19] She insisted that she had the better claim to regency due to being a nearer relative of Conrad; whereas Hugh was a great-grandchild of their common ancestor, Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem, Maria was a grandchild.
Earlier in 1268 Baibars had conquered Jaffa, Beaufort, and Antioch, which prompted the High Court to rule in Hugh's favour.
[27] At that time, the English prince Edward took a small army of about 1,000 men on a a crusade to the Latin East, arriving in Acre on 9 May 1271.
[28] Baibars' failed attack on their island had disturbed Cypriot knights, who refused Hugh's summons to serve on the mainland.
[26] Her husband, Hamo le Strange, distrusted King Hugh and put her and her fief under Baibar's protection on his deathbed in 1273.
[34] He only won a minor diplomatic victory when he negotiated with Baibars a truce covering Latakia, preserving the last remnant of the Principality of Antioch.
[35] Hugh succeeded in mending the rifts between his lay vassals, the Ibelins and the Montforts, but the merchants of Venice and Genoa were irreconcilable.
[37] The Templars and the Teutonic Knights objected to his own rapprochement with Philip of Montfort, while the commune of Acre resented the renewed royal involvement in its affairs and the favour shown to Tyre.
[38] As the ruler of Sicily and brother of the celebrated crusader King Louis IX of France, he rivalled what Hugh could offer militarily and diplomatically.
[41] The Templars and the Venetians were pleased to see him go, but the decision stunned the Hospitallers, the Teutonic Knights, and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Thomas of Lentino.
Within weeks Charles's representative Roger of San Severino arrived in Acre to claim government, facing no opposition from Hugh.
[42] The holders of the most important lordships, John of Tyre and Isabella of Beirut, continued to recognize Hugh as their legitimate king.
[46] Though restricted since 1277 in his ability to support the mainland against the Mamluks, Hugh may have planned to assist the Mongols in their attempted invasion of the Mamluk-held Levant.
[16] 1282 saw the recall of Roger of San Severino due to a major uprising on Sicily against Charles,[16] as well as the death of Isabella of Beirut and the consequent passing of her lordship to her sister, Eschiva, whose husband, Humphrey of Montfort, was a close friend of Hugh's.
[10] Charles's new bailli in Acre, Odo Poilechien, had just concluded a truce with the Mamluks, and Hugh may have feared their intervention if he attacked.
