Burgundia of Cyprus

Burgundia of Cyprus (French : Bourgogne) was a member of the House of Lusignan who was the heir presumptive to the Kingdom of Cyprus between 1205 and 1214 or 1215.

Burgundia was the elder daughter of Aimery of Lusignan and his first wife, Eschiva of Ibelin. ^[1] Her parents married in the 1170s. ^[2] In 1194 her father became the ruler of Kingdom of Cyprus and in 1197 its first king. ^[3] Eschiva and her children were abducted by a pirate named Canaqui from a seaside village called Paradhisi, where the queen had gone to recuperate from an illness. They were promptly released thanks to an intervention from the lord of Armenian Cilicia, Leo I. ^[4]

In older historiography Burgundia was said to have married and divorced Count Raymond VI of Toulouse, but is now thought to have been confused with the Byzantine "damsel of Cyprus", who did marry Raymond. ^[5] Burgundia's husband was Walter of Montbéliard, a crusader whom her father had appointed constable of Cyprus. ^[6] This marriage took place after October 1200. ^[7]

Because two of her brothers–Guy and John–died young, Burgundia became the heir presumptive when her father died and her sole surviving brother, the young Hugh I, became king of Cyprus. ^{[1] [8]} Because Burgundia was first in line to the throne, her husband, Walter of Montbéliard, took up the government of the kingdom in Hugh's name as regent. ^[9] Burgundia and Walter had a son, Odo, and a daughter, Eschiva. ^[10] Walter made numerous enemies among the nobles of Cyprus during his regency. In 1210 Burgundia's brother reached the age of majority and Walter's regency ended. After the king demanded that he render account of his regency, Walter fled with his family and riches to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, then ruled by Walter's cousin John of Brienne. ^{[11] [12]}

Burgundia would have been displaced as heir presumptive by the birth of her niece Maria in 1214 or 1215. ^[13] The date of Burgundia's death is not known. ^[14]

References

Citations

1. Warner 2025, p. 30.
2. Edbury 1997, pp. 30–31.
3. Edbury 1997, p. 25.
4. Ghazarian 2018, p. 144.
5. Collenberg 1983, p. 168.
6. Edbury 1997, p. 27.
7. Edbury 1991, p. 144.
8. Edbury 1991, p. 42.
9. Edbury 1997, p. 30.
10. Collenberg 1983, p. 75.
11. Edbury 1997, pp. 32–33.
12. Furber 1969, p. 605.
13. Warner 2025, p. 31.
14. Mayer 1984, p. 142.

Bibliography

• Collenberg, Wipertus-Hugo Rudt de (1983). Familles de l'Orient latin, XIIe-XIVe siècles (in French). Variorum Reprints. ISBN   978-0-86078-124-0 . Retrieved 22 August 2025.
• Edbury, Peter W. (1991). The Kingdom of Cyprus and the Crusades, 1191-1374. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-45837-5 . Retrieved 23 August 2025.
• Edbury, Peter W. (1997). John of Ibelin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Boydell Press. ISBN   0851157033.
• Furber, Elizabeth Chapin (1969). "The Kingdom of Cyprus, 1191-1291". In Setton, Kenneth M.; Wolff, Robert Lee; Hazard, Harry W. (eds.). A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Later Crusades, 1189-1311. The University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 599–629. ISBN   0-299-04844-6.
• Ghazarian, Jacob (24 October 2018). The Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia During the Crusades: The Integration of Cilician Armenians with the Latins, 1080-1393. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-136-12418-1 . Retrieved 23 August 2025.
• Mayer, Hans Eberhard (1984). "John of Jaffa, His Opponents, and His Fiefs". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 128 (2). American Philosophical Society: 134–163. ISSN   0003-049X. JSTOR   986227 . Retrieved 31 August 2025.
• Warner, Kathryn (28 February 2025). Crusaders and Kings of Jerusalem: The Beaumonts. Pen and Sword History. ISBN   978-1-5267-7636-5 . Retrieved 22 August 2025.