Editing Aimery of Cyprus (section)

== Reign ==

=== Lord of Cyprus ===

Guy died in May 1194, and bequeathed Cyprus to his elder brother, Geoffrey. However Geoffrey had already returned to Poitou, thus Guy's vassals elected Aimery their new lord.{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=29}} Henry of Champagne demanded the right to be consulted about the succession in Cyprus, but the Cypriote noblemen ignored him. Around the same time, Henry replaced Aimery with [[John, Old Lord of Beirut|John of Ibelin]] as constable of Jerusalem.{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=84}}

Aimery realized that the treasury of Cyprus was almost empty because his brother had granted most landed property on the island to his supporters, according to Ernoul.{{sfn|Furber|1969|p=604}} He summoned his vassals to an assembly.{{sfn|Furber|1969|p=604}} After emphasizing that each of them owned more land than he had, he persuaded them one by one "either by force, or by friendship, or by agreement" to surrender some of their rents and lands.{{sfn|Furber|1969|p=604}}

[[File:Kaiser Heinrich VI. im Codex Manesse.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A young bearded man sitting on a throne|[[Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI]], who authorized the coronation of Aimery in exchange after Aimery acknowledged his suzerainty]]

Aimery dispatched an embassy to [[Pope Celestine III]], asking him to set up Roman Catholic [[Diocese|dioceses]] in Cyprus.{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=29}} He also sent his representative, [[Rainier of Gibelet]], to the Holy Roman Emperor, [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]], proposing that he would acknowledge the emperor's suzerainty, if the emperor sent a royal crown to him.{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=85}} Aimery primarily wanted to secure the emperor's assistance against a potential [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] invasion of Cyprus,{{sfn|Furber|1969|p=604}} but he also wanted to strengthen his own legitimacy as king.{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=31}} Rainier of Gibelet swore loyalty to Henry VI on behalf of Aimery in [[Gelnhausen]] in October 1196.{{sfn|Lock|2006|p=80}} The emperor who had decided to lead a crusade to the Holy Land promised that he would personally crown Aimery king. He dispatched the archbishops of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brindisi-Ostuni|Brindisi]] and [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie|Trani]] to take a golden [[sceptre]] to Aimery as a symbol of his right to rule Cyprus.{{sfn|Johnson|1969|p=119}}

=== King of Cyprus ===

Henry VI's two envoys landed in Cyprus in April or May 1196. Aimery may have adopted the title of king around that time, because Pope Celestine styled him as king already in a letter in December 1196.{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=31}}{{sfn|Hardwicke|1969|p=528}} In the same month, the Pope set up a [[Roman Catholic archdiocese in Nicosia]] with three [[suffragan bishop]]s in [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Famagusta|Famagusta]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nemosia|Limassol]] and [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Paphos|Paphos]].{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=31}} The [[Church of Cyprus|Greek Orthodox bishops]] were not expelled, but their property and income were seized by the new Catholic prelates.{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=86}}

Henry VI's [[Archchancellor|chancellor]], [[Conrad of Querfurt|Conrad]], [[Bishop of Hildesheim]], crowned Aimery king in [[Nicosia]] in September 1197.{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=31}}{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=85}} Aimery did [[Homage (feudal)|homage]] to the chancellor.{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=85}} The noblemen who owned fiefs in both Cyprus and the Kingdom of Jerusalem wanted to bring about a reconciliation between Aimery and Henry of Champagne.{{sfn|Hardwicke|1969|p=525}} One of them, [[Baldwin of Beisan]], Constable of Cyprus, persuaded King Henry to visit Cyprus in early 1197.{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=84}}{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=32}} The two kings made peace, agreeing that Aimery's three sons were to marry Henry's three daughters. Henry also renounced the debt that Aimery still owed to him for Cyprus and allowed Aimery to garrison his troops at Jaffa. Aimery sent [[Reynald Barlais]] to take possession of Jaffa. Aimery again used the title of Constable of Jerusalem in November 1197, which suggests that he had also recovered that office as a consequence of his treaty with Henry.{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=32}}

=== King of two realms ===

Henry of Champagne fell from the window in his palace and died in Acre on 10 September 1197. The aristocratic-yet-impoverished [[Raoul of Saint Omer]] was one of the possible candidates to succeed him, but the grand masters of the military orders opposed him vehemently. A few days later, [[Al-Adil I]], the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, occupied Jaffa.{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=93}}

[[File:Omfroi isabela.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A young man in a long cloth, with a woman on his right and a priest on his left|Marriage of Aimery's second wife [[Isabella I of Jerusalem]] and her first husband, [[Humphrey IV of Toron]]]]

[[Conrad of Wittelsbach]], the [[archbishop of Mainz]], who arrived to Acre on 20 September, was the first to propose that the crown should be offered to Aimery. Since Aimery's first wife had died, he could marry the widowed queen of Jerusalem, Isabella I.{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=94}} Although [[Aymar the Monk|Aymar]], the [[Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem|patriarch of Jerusalem]], stated that the marriage would be uncanonical, [[Joscius, archbishop of Tyre]], started negotiations with Aimery who accepted the offer. The patriarch also withdrew his objections and crowned Aimery and Isabella in Tyre in January 1198.{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=33}}{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|pp=94–95}}

The [[Cypriot Army]] fought for the Kingdom of Jerusalem during Aimery's rule, but otherwise, he administered his two realms separately.{{sfn|Edbury|1994|p=33}} Even before his coronation, Aimery united his forces with the German crusaders who were under the command of Duke [[Henry I of Brabant]] to launch a campaign against the Ayyubid troops. They forced Al-Adil to withdraw and captured [[Beirut]] on 21 October. He laid siege to [[Toron]], but he had to lift the siege on 2 February, because the German crusaders decided to return to the Holy Roman Empire after learning that Emperor Henry VI had died.{{sfn|Hardwicke|1969|p=530}}

Aimery was riding at Tyre when four German knights attacked him in March 1198.{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|pp=95–96}} His retainers rescued him and captured the four knights. Aimery accused Raoul of Saint Omer of hiring the assailants and sentenced him to banishment without a trial by his peers. At Raoul's demand, the case was submitted to the High Court of Jerusalem which held that Aimery had unlawfully banished Raoul. Nevertheless, Raoul voluntarily left the kingdom and settled in [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]], because he knew that he had lost Aimery's goodwill.{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=96}}

Aimery signed a truce with Al-Adil on 1 July 1198, securing the possession of the coast from Acre as far as to [[Antioch]] for the crusaders for five years and eight months.{{sfn|Lock|2006|p=81}}{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=98}} The Byzantine emperor, [[Alexios III Angelos]], did not abandon the idea of recovering Cyprus. He promised that he would help a new crusade if [[Pope Innocent III]] excommunicated Aimery to enable a Byzantine invasion in 1201, but Innocent refused him, stating that the Byzantines had lost their right to Cyprus when Richard I conquered the island in 1191.{{sfn|Furber|1969|p=608}}

Aimery kept the peace with the Muslims, even when [[Reynald II of Dampierre]], who arrived at the head of 300 French crusaders, demanded that he launch a campaign against the Muslims in early 1202. After Aimery reminded him that more than 300 soldiers were needed to wage war against the Ayyubids, Reynald left the Kingdom of Jerusalem for the [[Principality of Antioch]]. An Egyptian emir seized a fortress near Sidon and made plundering raids against the neighbouring territory. As Al-Adil failed to force the emir to respect the truce, Aimery's fleet seized 20 Egyptian ships and he invaded Al-Adil's realm. In retaliation, Al-Adil's son, [[Al-Mu'azzam Isa]] plundered the region of Acre. In May 1204, Aimery's fleet sacked a small town in the [[Nile Delta]] in Egypt. The envoys of Aimery and Al-Adil signed a new truce for six years in September 1204. Al-Adil ceded Jaffa and [[Ramleh]] to the Kingdom of Jerusalem and simplified the Christian pilgrims' visits to Jerusalem and [[Nazareth]].{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=103}}{{sfn|Hardwicke|1969|p=531}}{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=102}}{{sfn|Lock|2006|p=86}}

After eating an excess of [[white mullet]], Aimery fell seriously ill. He died after a short illness on 1 April 1205. His six-year-old son, [[Hugh I of Cyprus|Hugh I]], succeeded him in Cyprus; and Queen Isabella ruled the Kingdom of Jerusalem until her own death four days later.{{sfn|Runciman|1989b|p=103}}{{sfn|Lock|2006|p=87}}