Maria of Montferrat

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The coronation of Maria of Montferrat and John of Brienne, from a late 13C MS of the Histoire d'Outremer, painted in Acre. (Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence)

Maria of Montferrat, Queen of Jerusalem (1192 – 1212) was the daughter of Conrad of Montferrat and Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem. Her father was murdered on 28 April 1192 in Tyre by the Hashshashin. Her mother married Henry II of Champagne on 5 May, when already noticeably pregnant (The Old French Continuation of William of Tyre and Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani remarked on this). Maria was thus born posthumously.

On her mother's death in 1205, Maria became Queen of Jerusalem, aged thirteen. Her mother's half-brother John of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut, acted as regent for Maria.

On September 14, 1210, Maria married John of Brienne (c. 1150–1237) in Acre in an arranged marriage. Their daughter Yolande of Jerusalem (also known as Isabella) was born in 1212, but Maria died shortly after, probably from puerperal fever. John became regent for his daughter Yolande, now Queen of Jerusalem.

Maria's line died out in 1268, when her great-grandson Conrad III of Jerusalem was executed in Southern Italy. After that, her next half-sister's (Alice of Champagne's) descendants became heirs-general of Queen Isabella of Jerusalem.

[edit] Ancestors