Alice of Champagne | |
---|---|
![]() Alice's arrival at Acre | |
Queen consort of Cyprus | |
Tenure | 1210–1218 |
Predecessor | Isabella I of Jerusalem |
Successor | Alice of Montferrat |
Regent of Cyprus (absent from Cyprus from 1224) | |
Tenure | 1218–1232 |
Monarch | Henry I |
Regent of Jerusalem Contested by Emperor Frederick II | |
Tenure | 1243–1246 |
Monarch | Conrad II |
Co-regent | Ralph of Nesle (1243) |
Countess of Jaffa | |
Tenure | 1210–1233 |
Predecessor | Aimery of Lusignan |
Successor | Walter of Brienne |
Born | c. 1193 |
Died | 1246 (aged 52–53) |
Spouses | Hugh I, King of Cyprus Bohemond V, Prince of Antioch Ralph of Nesle |
Issue | Mary Isabella Henry I, King of Cyprus |
House | |
Father | Henry II, Count of Champagne |
Mother | Isabella I, Queen of Jerusalem |
Alice of Champagne (French: Alix; c. 1193 – 1246) was the queen consort of Cyprus from 1210 to 1218, regent of Cyprus from 1218 to 1232, and regent of Jerusalem from 1243 to 1246. She was the eldest daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and Count Henry II of Champagne. In 1210, Alice married her stepbrother King Hugh I of Cyprus, receiving the County of Jaffa as her dowry. After her husband's death in 1218, she assumed the regency for their infant son, King Henry I, but her maternal uncle Philip of Ibelin became the actual head of state administration as bailli (governor).
Alice began seeking contacts within her father's counties in France to bolster her claim to Champagne and Brie against her cousin, Theobald IV, but the kings of France never acknowledged her claim. After a dispute with Philip of Ibelin, she left the island in 1223. She married Bohemond, heir apparent to the Principality of Antioch and the County of Tripoli, but their marriage was annulled on grounds of consanguinity—they were too closely related according to canon law. In 1229, she laid claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the infant Conrad (the son of her niece Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem and the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II) who was absent from the kingdom, but the High Court of Jerusalem rejected her claim. When her son reached the age of majority in 1232, Alice abdicated her regency and departed for France to claim Champagne and Brie. She subsequently renounced her claim and returned to the Holy Land.
In 1240, she married Raoul of Nesle who was about half of her age at the time. The High Court of Jerusalem proclaimed Alice and her husband regents for Conrad in 1243, but their power was only nominal. Raoul of Nesle left the kingdom, and Alice, before the end of the year. Alice retained the regency until her death in 1246.
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search