Editing Guy of Lusignan (section)

==Background==
Guy was a member of the [[House of Lusignan]].{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=25}} The family's holdings were in [[Poitou]], which was a part of King [[Henry II of England]]'s territories within the [[Kingdom of France]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=156}} Guy was the youngest son of [[Hugh VIII of Lusignan]] and Bourgogne of Rancon.{{sfn|Bennett|2021|p=106}} Both the Lusignans and the Rancons had a long history of involvement in the [[crusades]], starting with the participation of Guy's great-grandfather [[Hugh VI of Lusignan]] at the [[1102 Battle of Ramla]]. Guy's father{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=25}} and maternal uncle Geoffrey the Poitevin both took part in the [[Second Crusade]].{{sfn|Bennett|2021|p=106}}

In 1168, Guy and his brothers, in an attempt to capture Eleanor of Aquitaine, ambushed and killed [[Patrick, 1st Earl of Salisbury]], governor of [[Poitou]], who was returning from a [[Camino de Santiago|pilgrimage to Santiago of Compostela]]. They captured Patrick's nephew [[William the Marshal]], then a knight-errant serving in his uncle's household, and allowed him to be ransomed by Eleanor, but were banished from Poitou by their overlord, [[Richard I of England|Richard I, Duke of Aquitaine]].

Guy went to Jerusalem at some date between 1173 and 1180,<ref>Hamilton (2000) p. 157 and notes 127 and 128</ref> initially as a pilgrim or Crusader. He may have arrived with the French Crusaders of 1179.<ref>Hamilton (2000) p. 157 and note 126</ref> In 1174, his older brother [[Aimery of Cyprus|Aimery]] had married the daughter of [[Baldwin of Ibelin]] and entered court circles. Amalric had also obtained the patronage of King [[Baldwin IV]] and of his mother [[Agnes of Courtenay]] who held the [[County of Jaffa and Ascalon]] and was married to [[Reginald of Sidon]]. He was appointed Agnes's Constable in Jaffa and later [[Officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem#Constables|Constable]] of the Kingdom. Later, hostile rumours alleged he was Agnes's lover, but this is questionable. It is likely that his promotions were aimed at weaning him away from the political orbit of the [[Ibelin family]], who were associated with [[Raymond III of Tripoli]], [[Amalric I]]'s cousin and the former [[Officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem#Bailiffs|''bailli'' or regent]]. Amalric of Lusignan's success likely facilitated Guy's social and political advancement whenever he arrived.
[[File:Guy Sibyla.jpg|thumb|Marriage of Sibylla and Guy]]
Raymond of Tripoli and his ally [[Bohemond III of Antioch]] were preparing to invade the kingdom to force the king to give his older sister [[Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem|Sibylla]] in marriage to [[Baldwin of Ibelin]], Amalric's father-in-law. Guy and Sibylla were hastily married at [[Eastertide]] in April 1180 to prevent this coup. By his marriage, Guy also became [[Count of Jaffa and Ascalon]] in April 1180, and [[Officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem#Bailiffs|bailiff of Jerusalem]]. He and Sibylla had two daughters, Alix and Maria. Sibylla already had one child, a son from her first marriage to [[William of Montferrat, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon|William of Montferrat]].

The mid-thirteenth century ''Old French Continuation of [[William of Tyre]]'' (attributed to [[Ernoul]]) claims that Agnes advised her son to marry Sibylla to Guy and that Amalric had brought Guy to Jerusalem specifically for him to marry Sibylla. However, this is improbable: given the speed with which the marriage was arranged, Guy must have already been in the kingdom when the decision was made. With the new king of France, [[Philip II of France|Philip II]], a minor, the chief hope of external aid was Baldwin's first cousin Henry II, who owed the pope a [[penitential pilgrimage]] on account of the [[Thomas Becket]] affair. Guy was a [[vassal]] of Richard and Henry II, and as a formerly rebellious vassal, it was in their interests to keep him overseas.

Early in 1182, as his health markedly declined, Baldwin IV named Guy regent. However, he and [[Raynald of Châtillon]] made provocations against [[Saladin]] during two years of truce. But his military hesitance at the [[siege of Kerak]] disillusioned the king with him. Throughout late 1183 and 1184, Baldwin IV tried to have his sister's marriage to Guy annulled, showing that Baldwin still held his sister in some favour. Baldwin IV wanted a loyal brother-in-law and was frustrated by Guy's disobedience. Sibylla was in Ascalon with her husband. Unsuccessful in prying his sister and close heir away from Guy, the king, and the ''Haute Cour'' altered the succession, placing [[Baldwin V]], Sibylla's son from her first marriage, in precedence over Sibylla, and decreeing a process to choose the monarch afterwards between Sibylla and Isabella (whom Baldwin and the Haute Cour thus recognized as at least equally entitled to succession as Sibylla). However, she was not excluded from the succession herself. Guy kept a low profile from 1183 until his wife became Queen in 1186.