This is a list of Kings of Jerusalem, from 1099 to 1291, as well as claimants to the title up to the present day.
Contents
1Kings of Jerusalem, 1099-1291
2Claimants to the throne of Jerusalem
2.1Potential claimants today
2.2Lines of succession in several claims
2.2.1Cypriot claimants
2.2.2Neapolitan claimants
2.2.3Other historic claims
3References
4See also
Kings of Jerusalem, 1099-1291
The Kingdom of Jerusalem had its origins in the First Crusade, when Godfrey of Bouillon took the title Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri, "Protector of the Holy Sepulcher", in 1099 and was crowned in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The following year, his brother Baldwin I of Jerusalem was the first to use the title "king" and the first to be crowned in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem itself. The actual title of the early Kings of Jerusalem was "Rex Latinitas Ierosolimitanus", or other variations meaning "King of the Latins of Jerusalem" - they did not pretend to rule over the native Christian, Muslim, or Jewish populations.
The kingship of Jerusalem was partially elected and partially hereditary. During the height of the kingdom in the mid-12th century there was a royal family and a relatively clear line of succession. Nevertheless the king was elected, or at least recognized, by the Haute Cour. In the Haute Cour the king was considered primus inter pares ("first among equals"), and in his absence his duties were performed by his seneschal.
The royal palace was located in the Citadel in the Tower of David. The Kingdom of Jerusalem introduced French feudal structures to the Levant: the king personally held several fiefs incorporated into the royal domain (these varied from king to king). He was also responsible for leading the kingdom into battle, although this duty could be passed to the constable. While several contemporary European states were moving towards centralized monarchies, the king of Jerusalem was continually losing power to the strongest of his barons. This was partially due to the young age of many of the kings, and the frequency of regents from the ranks of the nobles.
After the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, the capital of the Kingdom was moved to Acre, where it remained until 1291, although coronations took place in Tyre. In this period the kingship was often simply a nominal position, held by a European ruler who never lived in Acre. When young Conrad III (known as Conradin) was king and living in Southern Germany, his father's second cousin Hugh of Brienne claimed the regency of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (and, indirectly, his place in the succession) in 1264 as senior heir of Alice of Jerusalem, second daughter of Queen Isabella I, being the son of their eldest daughter, but was passed over by the Haute Cour in favor of his cousin Hugh of Antioch, the future Hugh III of Cyprus and I of Jerusalem. After Conrad III's execution by Charles I of Sicily in 1268, the kingship was held by the Lusignan family, simultaneously kings of Cyprus. However, Charles I of Sicily purchased the rights of one of the heirs of the kingdom in 1277. In that year, he sent Roger of Sanseverino to the East as his bailiff. Roger captured Acre and obtained a forced homage from the barons. Roger was recalled in 1282 due to the Sicilian Vespers and left Odo Poilechien in his stead; his resources and authority was minimal, and he was ejected by Henry II of Cyprus when he arrived from Cyprus for his coronation as King of Jerusalem. Acre was captured by the Mamluks in 1291, eliminating the crusader presence in the east.
Jerusalem lost in 1187; Sybilla died in 1190, but Guy refused to cede crown; kingship disputed until 1192, after which kings ruled over a narrow coastal strip
Count Hugh of Brienne claimed the regency of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (and, indirectly, his place in the succession) in 1264 as senior heir of Alice of Jerusalem, second daughter of Queen Isabella I, and Hugh I of Cyprus, being the son of their eldest daughter, but was passed over by the Haute Cour in favor of his cousin Hugh of Antioch, the future Hugh III of Cyprus and I of Jerusalem. The Brienne line continues, but has afterwards taken next to no part in affairs in Outremer.
After the end of the kingdom, Henry II of Cyprus continued to use the title "King of Jerusalem." After his death the title was claimed by his direct heirs, the Kings of Cyprus.
The title was also continuously used by the Angevin Kings of Naples, whose founder, Charles of Anjou, had bought a claim to the throne from Mary of Antioch. Thereafter, this claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem was treated as a tributary of the crown of Naples, which often changed hands by testament or conquest rather than direct inheritance. As Naples was a papal fief, the Popes often endorsed the title of King of Jerusalem as well as of Naples, and the history of these claims is that of the Neapolitan Kingdom.
Over the years, many European rulers claimed to be the rightful heirs to one of these claims. None of these, however, have actually ruled over a part of the Kingdom.
Potential claimants today
There are several potential claimants today on the basis of (disputed) inheritance of the title. None of these have, or claim, any power in the area of the former Kingdom.
Juan Carlos I, current King of Spain, who actively uses the title.
Charlotte I 1458–1485 (d. 1487) m. 1459 her cousin Louis of Savoy (d. 1482) In 1460, Charlotte was dispossessed of Cyprus by her illegitimate half-brother James. However, she maintained her claims until 1485, when she resigned them to the next legitimate heir, Charles I of Savoy.
Cypriot illegitimate claimants
James II 1460–1473 (illegitimate, usurped Cyprus from his half-sister Charlotte)
Charles II 1490–1496 On the death of Charles, the Duchy of Savoy passed to his heir-male Philip, and the Dukes of Savoy continued to claim Jerusalem. However, there was never historically a bar on female succession to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Savoyard heirs-general
Charles' heirs-general do not appear to have used the title King of Jerusalem or ever asserted a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The current heir-general is either Charles-Antoine Lamoral, Prince de Ligne de la Trémoïlle or Elisabeth, Princess of Urach.
Mary of Antioch claimed the throne of Jerusalem from 1269 to 1277. She was the daughter of Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch and his second wife Melisende of Cyprus. Melisende was the youngest daughter of Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem and her fourth husband King-Consort Amalric II of Jerusalem. Since Mary was, at the time of the death of Conradin, the only living grandchild of Queen Isabella, she claimed the throne on basis of proximity in blood to the Kings of Jerusalem. Denied by the Haute Cour, she went to Rome and sold her rights, with papal blessing and confirmation, to Charles of Anjou in 1277. Thereafter, this claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem was treated also as tributary to the crown of Naples, which often changed hands by testament or conquest rather than direct inheritance.
Charles I 1277–1285; acquired title with approval of the Pope in 1277
Jadwiga of Poland (d. 1399), sister, childless, left her rights to her husband king Ladislas Jagello of Lithuania and Poland; after her death, the heir-general was her distant cousin and her family's enemy's widow
Margaret of Durazzo (d. 1412), Dowager Queen of Hungary, Sicily and Jerusalem
Anne of Laval, ancestress of La Tremoille, her issue also heirs of rights of Frederick IV of Naples
Robert 1309–1343, third but eldest surviving son, who succeeded in Naples superseding the rights of his eldest brother's heirs
Joan I 1343–1382. Joan left her kingdom by testament to Louis I of Anjou, whom she had previously adopted as heir, but she was ousted and soon murdered by Charles of Durazzo, the heir male of her house.
Joan II 1414–1435 Joan left her kingdom by testament to René of Anjou, of the junior line. She had previously adopted (and subsequently repudiated the adoption) her kinsman Alfonso V of Aragon and Sicily, who launched a conquest to have Naples. However, her heir general in Jerusalem, Sicily, Hungary etc was her distant cousin Charles VII of France, see above
René I 1434–1480 united the claims of junior and senior lines. However, in 1441, control of the Kingdom of Naples was lost to Alfonso V of Aragon, who also claimed the Kingdom of Jerusalem thereby. In addition, while René was succeeded in Bar by his grandson René of Vaudemont, René's nephew and heir male Charles IV of Anjou claimed the kingdoms of Sicily and Jerusalem, and he then testamented them to his cousin Louis XI of France. In 1494 Charles VIII of France also claimed the Kingdom of Naples and Jerusalem as the great-grandson of Louis II of Anjou and launched his conquest.
Angevin-Lorraine claimants
Yolande 1480–1483, Titular Queen of Jerusalem, Sicily, Aragon etc
René II 1480–1508, Titular King of Jerusalem, Sicily and Aragon etc. (did not adopt the title until 1493)
Charles V 1483–1498 — In 1495, Charles VIII of France had conquered Naples and was crowned as king. He died 1498, leaving his sister Anne of Beaujeu as his heir-general, and his second cousin Louis XII of France as his heir male. After Anne of France, the heir-general was Anne of Laval, great-granddaughter of Louis XI's eldest surviving sister. See above (Cyprus claim)
Louis V 1498–1515 took up the claim, although he was heir-male of Charles and lacked close descent from the main Neapolitan lines (he was a descendant of the eldest daughter of Charles II of Naples). He succeeded in conquering part of Naples 1500–1504. No other French king has adopted the title [1].
Frederick 1496–1501, uncle, during whose reign the Neapolitan lands were invaded by the alliance of Louis XII of France, who claimed the succession, and Ferdinand II of Aragon, who succeeded in driving out both Frederick and Louis by 1504. Frederick's heirs exercised the claim afterwards as puppets of France for several decades, when it was convenient for the French policies; his current heir is the Prince de Ligne de la Trémoïlle aforementioned.
Ferdinand 1504–1516 (by conquest, and Papal enfeoffment) - the heir of original Aragonese claims of Constance Manfredi of Sicily and Peter III of Aragon
Philip IV 1700–1734 (by testament), during whose reign the Kingdom of Naples was lost in 1707 to Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and 1713 the island of Sicily (later that of Sardinia) to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy who also was given the title King of Jerusalem (see above the Savoyard succession).
Charles VI 1711–1740, who lost the Kingdom of Naples in 1734 to a Bourbon prince, the future Charles III of Spain, and renounced his claims, retaining his titles to Naples and Jerusalem during his lifetime.
Charles of Bourbon 1734–1788 Charles was obliged by treaty to prevent the union of the crowns of Spain and the Two Sicilies, and so resigned the Two Sicilies to his son Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. However, the Kings of Spain continued to use the titles of the Two Sicilies and Jerusalem.
Two Sicilies claimants (Ferdinand's father and older brother took the Jerusalem title, but it was nominally attached to the crown of Naples since Charles I)
Hugh of Brienne and his heirs represent the senior heirs-general to the Kingdom, although they never pressed the claim after Hugh's rejection by the Haute Cour. His current heir-general is Charles-Antoine Lamoral, aforementioned, who calls himself the Prince de Ligne de la Trémoïlle.
According to E.P. Karnovick (1886)[1], there was a colonel named Prince de Lusignan in the Russian service, allowed to be called the titular King of Cyprus and Jerusalem by Zsar Nicholas I. He would claimed to be descended from Christobul de Lusignan, who had served in the Greek army under the Byzantine empire and was alleged descended from one of the Cypriot House of Lusignan who moved to Egypt and on to St Petersburg in Russia. The Zsar Nicholas I allowed the Colonel Lusignan's nobility to be matriculated as a Russian noble, that is a person holding an office which ennobled him. [2] The colonel was probably known as Louis Christian de Lusignan. [3]
References
^ Evgenii Petrovich Karnovich (1823-1885) Rodovye prozvaniya I tituly v Rossii (Family Names and Titles in Russia) St Peterburgh 1886
^ Cecil R. Humphery-Smith, Princes of Lusignan page 5 The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies 2004.
^ In the issue No. 180 of the Peterburgskiy Listok (Petersburg List) Newspaper July 3-15, 1884, a list of deceased in St Petersburg between June 11 and June 18 was found. There was a record for Louis Christian de Lusignan, colonel(retired). In the same newspaper issue No. 172 June 25-July 7, 1884, the following article was published: " The deceased who was buried therby on Smolensk graveyard on July 23, was a titled King of Cyprus and Jerusalem and Armenia, descendant of one of the protector of God's Casket, colonel of the Russian service, Louis de Lusignan."
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