Eschiva of Montbéliard

Eschiva of Montbéliard (c. 1206 – c. 1239)[1] was a Cypriot noblewoman. She was related to the reigning Lusignan dynasty and, by marriage, to the prominent Ibelin family of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. She inherited substantial lands in the Kingdom of Cyprus and was lady of Beirut in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. She defended Buffavento Castle in the War of the Lombards.

Family

Eschiva was the daughter of Burgundia of Lusignan, daughter of King Aimery of Cyprus, and Walter of Montbéliard, who ruled the Kingdom of Cyprus as regent on behalf of Burgundia's brother King Hugh I.[2] Walter and Burgundia fled Cyprus with their household in 1205 after Hugh reached the age of majority and demanded money from Walter. The family settled in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, ruled by Walter's cousin John of Brienne. Walter died in 1212 and Eschiva inherited substantial lands in Cyprus from him.[3][4]

Eschiva's kinship with the rulers of the Latin East[2]
Baldwin of IbelinAmalric of JerusalemMaria KomneneBalian of Ibelin
Eschiva of IbelinAimery of CyprusIsabella I of JerusalemJohn of Ibelin
Walter of MontbéliardBurgundia of CyprusHugh I of CyprusAlice of ChampagneMaria of MontferratJohn of BrienneBalian of Ibelin
Eschiva of MontbéliardHenry I of CyprusFrederick II of GermanyIsabella II of Jerusalem

Eschiva's properties made her a desirable bride. Her first husband was Gerard of Montagu, nephew of the archbishop of Nicosia, Eustorge of Montagu.[5] They had a daughter, Alice (who married John of Caesarea).[2] He was killed in the War of the Lombards in 1229.[5] Roughly the next year, Eschiva contracted a clandestine marriage with Balian of Ibelin, to whom she was related within the prohibited degrees. The archbishop of Nicosia consequently excommunicated both Eschiva and Balian, but Balian intimidated him and a dispensation for their marriage was eventually granted.[6] Eschiva and Balian's children were John, Hugh, and Isabella (wife of Henry I Embriaco).[2]

War

The War of the Lombards saw the supporters of Emperor Frederick II wage a war against the House of Ibelin for control of Cyprus during the minority of King Hugh I's successor, King Henry I. In 1232, Frederick's army attacked the lordship of Beirut, the fief which Eschiva's father-in-law John of Ibelin held in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. When the Ibelin partisans left Cyprus to defend Beirut, the Imperialists seized the opportunity and overran the island, capturing all fortresses but Buffavento and Dieudamour. The kin of the Ibelin men fighting on the mainland scrambled for shelter: some in churches and monasteries, some in caves and mountains. Eschiva took her children to the Knights Hospitaller, and then left them and her fief to go to Buffavento. She arrived disguised as a Franciscan monk and found the fortress held for the king by an old knight, Guinart of Conches. Eschiva brought ample provisions to the fortress and defended it against the Imperialists.[7][8][9]

John of Ibelin died in 1236. Balian, his eldest son and Eschiva's husband, became lord of Beirut.[10] Eschiva was lady of Beirut.[11]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Mersch 2019, p. 19.
  2. ^ a b c d Runciman 1989, Appendix III: Genealogical trees (1).
  3. ^ Edbury 1991, pp. 44–46.
  4. ^ Hill 2010, pp. 77–78.
  5. ^ a b Edbury 1991, pp. 60–61.
  6. ^ Edbury 1991, pp. 60–61, 70.
  7. ^ Hill 2010, pp. 113–114.
  8. ^ Edbury 1991, p. 64.
  9. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 198.
  10. ^ Edbury 1991, p. 70.
  11. ^ Runciman 1989, p. 511.

Sources

  • Edbury, Peter W. (1991). The Kingdom of Cyprus and the Crusades, 1191-1374. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-26876-1.
  • Hill, George Francis (2010). A History of Cyprus, Volume II. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-02063-3.
  • Mersch, Margit (2019). "Cypriot Noblewomen and Mendicants". In Jaspert, Nikolas (ed.). Queens, Princesses and Mendicants: Close Relations in a European Perspective. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-643-91092-9. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  • Runciman, Steven (1989). A History of the Crusades. Vol. III: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-06163-6.
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