Sibylla | |
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![]() Detail of a 13th-century miniature | |
Queen of Jerusalem | |
Reign | 1186–1190 |
Coronation | 1186 |
Predecessor | Baldwin V |
Successor | Isabella I |
Co-sovereign | Guy |
Born | c. 1159 |
Died | 25 July 1190 (aged 30–31) Acre |
Spouse | |
Issue | Baldwin V of Jerusalem |
House | House of Anjou |
Father | Amalric of Jerusalem |
Mother | Agnes of Courtenay |
Sibylla (Old French: Sibyl; c. 1159 – 25 July 1190) was the queen of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1190. She reigned alongside her husband Guy of Lusignan, to whom she was unwaveringly attached despite his unpopularity among the barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Sibylla was the eldest daughter of King Amalric and the only daughter of Agnes of Courtenay. Her father died in 1174, making her heir presumptive to her younger brother, King Baldwin IV. When it became clear that 13-year-old Baldwin had contracted leprosy, the matter of Sibylla's marriage became urgent. The regent, Count Raymond III of Tripoli, arranged for her to marry William Longsword of Montferrat in late 1176, but within a year William died, leaving her pregnant and in possession of the County of Jaffa and Ascalon.
Shortly after giving birth to a son, Baldwin, Sibylla came to be associated with her brother in public acts, thereby being designated as next in line to the throne. Sibylla's second marriage, to Guy of Lusignan, was arranged in 1180 by her brother. Likely done to foil a coup planned by Raymond, the marriage deeply divided the nobility. By 1183, King Baldwin had become completely disabled as well as disillusioned with Guy's character and ability to lead. In order to prevent Guy's accession to the throne, he had Sibylla's son crowned as co-king and attempted to separate Sibylla from Guy, but she refused.
Sibylla's brother, Baldwin IV, died in 1185, having named Raymond to rule as regent for Baldwin V instead of Sibylla or Guy. The boy king died the next year, and Sibylla moved quickly to claim the throne against Raymond's ambitions. She agreed to her supporters' demand to set Guy aside on the condition that she could choose her next husband. At her coronation in mid-September 1186, she outwitted her supporters by choosing Guy and crowning him herself. Saladin took advantage of the discord in the kingdom to invade in 1187, reducing the Kingdom of Jerusalem to a single city, Tyre. Sibylla visited her husband, who had been taken captive at the decisive Battle of Hattin, and procured from Saladin his release. She died, along with their daughters, of an epidemic outside Acre while Guy was besieging it.
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