View source for Maria of Montferrat

{{Short description|Queen of Jerusalem from 1205 to 1212}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name        = Maria
| image = JanBrienne.jpg
| caption         = Coronation of Maria and John, 13th-century miniature
| succession  = [[Queen of Jerusalem]]<br><small>with [[John of Brienne|John]] (1210–1212)</small>
| reign       = April 1205 – 1212
| coronation  = 3 October 1210, [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]]
| predecessor = [[Isabella I of Jerusalem|Isabella I]]
| successor   = [[Isabella II of Jerusalem|Isabella II]]
| spouse      = {{marriage|[[John of Brienne]]|1210}}
| house       = [[House of Aleramici|Aleramici]]
| issue       = [[Isabella II of Jerusalem]]
| father      = [[Conrad of Montferrat]]
| mother      = [[Isabella I of Jerusalem]]
| birth_date  = 1192
| birth_place = [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]]
| death_date  = {{death year and age|1212|1192}}
| death_place = 
}}
'''Maria of Montferrat''' (1192–1212) was the [[queen of Jerusalem]] from 1205 until her death. Her parents were [[Isabella I of Jerusalem|Isabella I]] and her second husband, [[Conrad of Montferrat]]. Maria succeeded her mother under the [[regency]] of her half-uncle [[John of Ibelin, the Old Lord of Beirut|John of Ibelin]]. After him [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|the kingdom]] was ruled on Maria's behalf by her husband, [[John of Brienne]], whom she married in 1210. She died giving birth to her successor, [[Isabella II of Jerusalem|Isabella II]].

==Childhood==
Maria was born in 1192 in [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] to Queen [[Isabella I of Jerusalem]]. She was named after her maternal grandmother, [[Maria Komnene, Queen of Jerusalem|Maria Komnene]].{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=32}} Maria's father was Isabella's second husband, Marquis [[Conrad of Montferrat]], and Maria was known as ''La Marquise'' after him.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=94}} Conrad was assassinated on 28 April 1192.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=64}} Isabella was pregnant at the time, but Maria may have been born before her father's death.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=66}}

Within a week of Conrad's death, Isabella married Count [[Henry II of Champagne]], who had had some misgivings because Isabella might be succeeded by Conrad's child.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=65}} Henry wanted to be on good terms with [[Aimery of Cyprus]]. Maria, his stepdaughter, and [[Alice of Champagne|Alice]] and [[Philippa of Champagne|Philippa]], his daughters with Isabella, were therefore betrothed to Aimery's sons Guy, John, and [[Hugh I of Cyprus|Hugh]], but Guy and John died young and only Alice's betrothal to Hugh materialized into a marriage.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=84}} Henry fell from a window to his death on 10 September 1197.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=93}} Maria's next stepfather was King Aimery.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=94}} The surviving children of this marriage, Queen Isabella's final, were two daughters, [[Sibylla of Cyprus|Sibylla]] and [[Melisende of Cyprus|Melisende]], and so Maria remained her mother's heir presumptive.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=95}}

==Reign==
Queen Isabella I died shortly after King Aimery in April 1205, two months after the death of their infant son.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=103-104}} Five daughters survived Isabella and the eldest of them, 13-year-old Maria, succeeded to the throne of Jerusalem, while the crown of Cyprus passed to Maria's stepbrother Hugh I. [[John of Ibelin, the Old Lord of Beirut|John of Ibelin]] was made [[regent]]; he was the half-brother of Isabella, who may have nominated him on her deathbed, and held the [[Lordship of Beirut]], the richest [[fief]] in the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]].{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=104}} John ruled peacefully on Maria's behalf for three years.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=132}}

A search for a husband began in 1208.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=132}} The plan to have the queen marry King [[Peter II of Aragon]] failed.{{sfn|Perry|2018|p=49}} King [[Philip II of France]] was visited by the [[Latin Catholic Diocese of Acre|bishop of Acre]], [[Florent (archbishop of Arles)|Florent]], and the [[lord of Caesarea]], [[Aymar de Lairon]], who asked him to find a capable candidate. The task proved difficult, and only in 1210 the king declared the search successful; an impoverished and aged knight, [[John of Brienne]], had accepted. John arrived in [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], the capital of the kingdom due to the [[Siege of Jerusalem (1187)|fall of Jerusalem]] to the Muslims in 1187, on 13 September 1210. The [[Latin patriarch of Jerusalem]], [[Albert of Vercelli]], pronounced Maria and John married the next day. Their [[coronation]] was held in the [[Crusader Cathedral of Tyre|Cathedral of Tyre]] on 3 October.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=133}}

Queen Maria died after giving birth to a daughter, [[Isabella II of Jerusalem|Isabella II]], in 1212. Though John had been a prudent king during their marriage, Maria's death cast doubt on his future role. Isabella inherited Maria's kingdom, while John continued to rule it on the infant's behalf.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=134}} Maria's line became extinct in 1268 with the death of her great-grandson [[Conrad III of Jerusalem|Conrad III]], and the kingdom passed to the descendants of her sister Alice.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=328}}

== References ==
{{commons category|Maria of Jerusalem}}
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last=Perry |first=Guy |year=2018 |title=The Briennes: The Rise and Fall of a Champenois Dynasty in the Age of the Crusades, c. 950–1356 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-19690-2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Runciman |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Runciman |year=1989 |title=A History of the Crusades, Volume III: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-06163-6 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Aleramici|Aleramici dynasty]]|summer|1192|c.|1212}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Isabella I of Jerusalem|Isabella I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Queen of Jerusalem]]|years=1205–1212|regent1=[[John of Brienne|John]]|years1=1210-1212}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Isabella II of Jerusalem|Isabella II]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Jerusalem Monarchs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Of Montferrat}}
[[Category:1192 births]]
[[Category:1212 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century monarchs of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:13th-century queens regnant]]
[[Category:Queens regnant of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:13th-century Italian women]]
[[Category:Medieval child monarchs]]
[[Category:Aleramici]]
[[Category:Deaths in childbirth]]
[[Category:Daughters of queens regnant]]
[[Category:Daughters of kings]]