Mary's parents were King Hugh I of Cyprus and Alice of Champagne, making her a maternal granddaughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem.
She had a younger sister, Isabelle, and a brother, Henry,[3] who succeeded as king upon the death of their father in January 1218.
Before 21 July 1229, Mary was betrothed to Peter I, Duke of Brittany, whose wife Alix of Thouars had died in 1221; however, the Pope prohibited the match due to their fourth degree consanguinity.
Her husband was also the Count of Jaffa and Ascolom, the title of which had been granted to him by his father, Walter III of Brienne in 1221.
He had been taken prisoner following the Crusader-Syrian defeat at the Battle of La Forbie where he had led the Crusader Army against the Egyptian forces.