Aimery of Jerusalem

Aimery
Seal of Aimery as King of Cyprus and Jerusalem
Lord of Cyprus
Reign	1194–1196
Predecessor	Guy of Lusignan
Successor	Himself as King of Cyprus
King of Cyprus
Reign	1196–1205
Coronation	September 1197
Predecessor	Himself as Lord of Cyprus
Successor	Hugh I
King of Jerusalem together with Isabella I
Reign	1197–1205
Coronation	January 1198
Predecessor	Isabella I
Successor	Isabella I
Born	c. 1153
Died	1 April 1205 (aged 51–52)
Spouse	Eschiva of Ibelin Isabella I of Jerusalem
Issue more...	Burgundia Helvis Hugh I of Cyprus Sybilla Melisende
House	House of Lusignan
Father	Hugh VIII of Lusignan
Mother	Burgondia of Rancon

Aimery of Lusignan (Latin: Aimericus; before 1155 – 1 April 1205), erroneously referred to as Amalric or Amaury in earlier scholarship, was the first King of Cyprus from 1196 to 1205. He was also King of Jerusalem by virtue of being the husband of the queen, Isabella I of Jerusalem, from 1197 to 1205. He was the younger son of Hugh VIII of Lusignan, a nobleman in Poitou. After participating in a rebellion against Henry II of England in 1168, he went to the Holy Land and settled in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

His marriage to Eschiva of Ibelin (whose father, Baldwin of Ibelin was an influential nobleman) strengthened his position in the kingdom. His younger brother, Guy of Lusignan, married Sibylla, the sister of and heir to Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. Baldwin made Aimery Constable of Jerusalem around 1180. He was one of the commanders of the Christian army in the Battle of Hattin, which ended with decisive defeat at the hands of the army of Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria, on 4 July 1187.

Aimery supported his brother, Guy, even after Guy had lost his claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem according to most barons of the realm, because of the death of Sibylla and their two daughters. The new king of Jerusalem, Henry of Champagne, arrested him for a short period. After his release, he retired to Jaffa which was the fief of his elder brother, Geoffrey of Lusignan, who had left the Holy Land.