The coats of arms, flags, and badges of the House of Lusignan, royal family in the Levant during the Crusades.
The coats of arms, flags, and badges of the House of Lusignan, royal family in the Levant during the Crusades.
Including attributed arms.
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 885–1192 | Lords of Lusignan Barry of ten argent and azure Motto: Pour loyauté maintenir "To maintain loyalty" [1] |
 | 1192–1393 | Lords of Lusignan, Counts of La Marche, and Angoulême Barry silver and azure eight rooms, a lion gules armed langued and crowned with gold stitching on the whole. |
 | 1221–1250 | Personal Arms of Hugh XI [2] Barry silver and azure, charged with six cubs reds brochants, posed three, two and one. |
 | 1250–1270 | Personal Arms of Hugh XII Barry silver and azure, charged with six cubs gold brochants, posed three, two and one. |
  | ?-1274 | Personal Arms of Geoffroy I of Lusignan (Jarnac) (c. 1223/24-b. 1274), lord of Jarnac, Château-Larcher and Châteauneuf 1. Barry silver and azure, charged with a lion rampant-brochant gules, debruised by a four-point label gules (according to his 1246 seal). 2. Barry silver and azure, charged with a lion rampant-brochant gules (according to his 1248 and 1269 seals). |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 12th-13th Century | Lords of Cognac Barry silver and azure eight parts, the label Gules. |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 12th-13th Century | Lords of Lezay Barry silver and azure, nine martlets in orle gules surmounted to fair canton gules . |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 12th-13th Century | Geoffroy I and II of Lusignan (Vouvant), lords of Vouvant and Mervent Barry of ten argent and azure a lion counter-rampant gules. Motto: QVI PLVS MORTIS CONPTEMTOR QVAM LEO FORTIS "Who fears death less than lion's strength." [3] |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 13th Century | Counts of Eu and Lords of Issoudun Raoul Ier, first lord of Issoudun and count of Eu, was the younger brother of Hugh IX of Lusignan. Barry of ten argent and azure a label of three points gules |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 10th-12th Century | Lords of Rochefoucauld Barry of ten argent and azure three chevrons that in chief couped gules |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 11th-15th Century | Lords of Parthenay and Retz Barry of ten argent and azure a bend gules |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 1225–1247 | Guillaume de Lusignan Personal arms of Guillaume de Lusignan, uterine half brother of King Henry III Barry of ten argent and azure a label of five points gules on each point three lions. Supported with a wyvern on each side. [6] |
 | 1247–1324 | Lords of Valencia, Earls of Pembroke and Wexford Guillaume de Lusignan, known as William de Valence, moved with his brothers and sister to England the request of their half brother King Henry III. Henry made William the Earl of Pembroke. Barry of ten Argent and Azure an orle of martlets Gules |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 1313–1389 | Earls of Pembroke Quarterly, 1 and 4, or, a maunch gules (for Hastings); 2 and 3, barruly argent and azure, an orle of martlets (for Valence) |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
  | 1159–1268 | Kings of Jerusalem Personal arms of Guy de Lusignan, then used as the arms of the Lusignan Kings of Jerusalem after his death until 1268. [3] Quarterly, 1 and 4 in blue with the silver cross and 2 and 3 barry silver and azure eight rooms, a lion rampant, armed, langued and crowned with gold stitching on the whole. |
 | 1335–1385 | Prince of Galilee Quarterly, 1 and 4 in silver, a cross of gold, between four crosses of the same and 2 and 3 barry silver and azure eight rooms, a lion gules armed langued and crowned with gold stitching on the whole. |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
| | 1194–1268 | Kings of Cyprus The kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus split following the death of Guy until they were reunited in 1268 by King Hugh III of Cyprus. Barry silver and azure eight rooms, a lion gules armed langued and crowned with gold stitching on the whole. |
 | 1268–1393 | Kings of Cyprus and Jerusalem Quarterly, 1 and 4 in silver, a cross of gold, between four crosses of the same and 2 and 3 barry silver and azure eight rooms, a lion gules armed langued and crowned with gold stitching on the whole. |
 | 1314–1319 | Queen of Aragon |
| Blazon | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 1342–1382 | Kings of Armenia Advantage of both, 1 gold lion rampant, armed, langued and crowned azure, 2 silver, a cross of gold, between four crosses of the same and 3 barry money and azure eight rooms, a lion rampant, armed, langued and crowned with gold stitching on the whole. Motto: Pour loyauté maintenir "To maintain loyalty" [7] |
 | 1393– | Kings of Armenia, Cyprus, and Jerusalem. Quartered, 1 in silver, a cross of gold, between four crosses of the same, 2 barry silver and azure eight rooms, a lion rampant, armed, langued and crowned with gold , stitching on the whole, 3 gold lion rampant, armed, langued and crowned azure and 4 silver lion rampant, armed, langued and crowned with gold. Motto: Pour loyauté maintenir "To maintain loyalty" |
| Flag | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 12th-14th Centuries | Flag of Lusignan Kings of Cyprus [8] [9] Flag from Kyrenia Castle. The fleur-de-lis symbolised the Lusignan's French ancestry and the cross symbolized Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre. |
| Flag | Period | Description |
 | 14th Century | Flag of Lusignan Kings of Armenia |
Roses, lions, dragons and mermaids were Lusignan symbols and heraldic elements. [10]
Charlotte was the Queen of Cyprus from 1458 until 1464. She was the eldest and only surviving daughter of King John II of Cyprus and Helena Palaiologina. At the age of 14, she succeeded to the Cypriot throne upon the death of her father. Her illegitimate half-brother, James, challenged her right to the crown. With the support of the Egyptians, he forced her to flee the island in 1463, and he was later crowned king. She made a military attempt to regain her throne, but was unsuccessful, and died childless in Rome.
James II was the penultimate King of Cyprus (usurper), reigning from 1460/1464 until his death.
Angoulême (L'Angoumois) in western France was part of the Carolingian Empire as the kingdom of Aquitaine. Under Charlemagne's successors, the local Count of Angoulême was independent and was not united with the French crown until 1308. By the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny (1360) the Angoumois, then ruled by the Counts of Angoulême, was ceded as English territory to Edward III. In 1371 it became a fief of the Duke of Berry, before passing to Louis I, Duke of Orleans, both of whom were cadets of the French royal family. From then on it was held by cadets of the Valois House of Orleans, until Francis, Count of Angoulême, became King of France in 1515. Angoumois was definitively incorporated into the French crown lands, as a duchy.
The House of Lusignan was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries during the Middle Ages. It also had great influence in England and France.
The House of Ibelin was a noble family in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. They rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most important families in the kingdom, holding various high offices and with extensive holdings in the Holy Land and Cyprus. The family disappeared after the fall of the Kingdom of Cyprus in the 15th century.
Hugh X de Lusignan, Hugh V of La Marche or Hugh I of Angoulême was Seigneur de Lusignan and Count of La Marche in November 1219 and was Count of Angoulême by marriage. He was the son of Hugh IX.
Henri-Paul Motte was a French painter from Paris, who specialised in history painting and historical genre.
Louis of Savoy, Count of Geneva from 1460, became King of Cyprus in 1459 upon his second marriage to Charlotte of Cyprus, reigning together with and in the right of his wife until 1464. He was the second son and namesake of Louis, Duke of Savoy and his wife, Anne of Lusignan, daughter of King Janus of Cyprus.
La reine de Chypre is an 1841 grand opera in five acts composed by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.
Jean Barthélémy Richard was a French historian, who specialized in medieval history. He was an authority on the Crusades, and his work on the Latin missions in Asia has been qualified as "unsurpassed". Richard was a member of the Institut de France. He was President of the prestigious Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 2002. He was born in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France in February 1921. Richard died in January 2021, two weeks shy of his 100th birthday.
Hugh XI de Lusignan, Hugh VI of La Marche or Hugh II of Angoulême was a 13th-century French nobleman. He succeeded his mother Isabelle of Angoulême, former queen of England, as Count of Angoulême in 1246. He likewise succeeded his father Hugh X as Count of La Marche in 1249. Hugh XI was the half-brother of King Henry III of England.
Guy of Ibelin (1286–1308), Lord of Nicosia, was the son of Balian of Ibelin, seneschal of the kingdom of Cyprus, and of Alice of Lampron.
Guy of Ibelin was seneschal of Cyprus from 1318 and a burgher of Venice from 30 December 1334. He was the son of Philip of Ibelin (1253–1318), previous seneschal of Cyprus and Jerusalem by his second wife Maria Embriaco of Giblet. He was evidently held in high regard by King Hugh IV of Cyprus, since he is named in a royal decree from 1329 as a "magnificus vir" , in charge of four newly created priesthoods in the cathedral of Nicosia.
Joan was Countess of Toulouse from 1249 until her death. She was the only child of Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse by his first wife Sancha of Aragon.
Panagia Apsinthiotissa or Absinthiotissa is a Greek Orthodox monastery located at the southern foot of the Pentadaktylos range in the Republic of Cyprus. The nearest settlements are Sychari and Vouno. The site presently falls within the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in Girne District.
Jacques Edouard Guerlain was a French perfumer, the third and most famous of the Guerlain family. One of the most prolific and influential perfumers of the 20th century, over eighty of Guerlain's perfumes remain known, though certain estimates suggest he composed some four hundred. Among his greatest fragrances are L’Heure Bleue (1912), Mitsouko (1919) and Shalimar (1925). Though his work earned him universal renown, a considerable fortune and honours such as that of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, Guerlain avoided public attention, never once granting an interview. As a result, relatively little is known of his creative process or personal life.
The Point of Sangomar is a sand spit located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Saloum Delta, which marks the end of the Petite Côte west of Senegal.
Marc Bonnehée was a French opera singer who sang leading baritone roles at the Paris Opera (1853–1864) and at the Opéra de Toulouse.
Philippe Maidenberg is a French, Paris-based architect, interior designer and furnishing designer.
Louis de Mas Latrie was a 19th-century French historian.