Amalric, Prince of Tyre

Amalric de Lusignan or Amaury II de Lusignan, Prince of Tyre (c. 1272 – June 5, 1310, in Nicosia), of the Lusignan family, was a son of Hugh III of Cyprus and Isabella of Ibelin.

Life

Amalric was at the Fall of Tripoli in 1289, in which he led a company of knights and four galleys from Cyprus. He escaped the siege of Tripoli together with Lucia of Tripoli, and was made Constable of Jerusalem in April 1289.

In 1290, he became Lord of Tyre. He was the officer in command of the Accursed Tower at the siege of Acre in 1291, and escaped the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with his brother, King Henry, thus becoming Titular Constable of Jerusalem and Titular Lord of Tyre.

In 1300 Amalric attempted combined military operations with the Mongols under Ghazan to retake the Holy Land. He and other Cypriots occupied the island of Ruad, but the Mongols did not appear and the Westerners withdrew, eventually losing the island entirely in the Siege of Ruad.

When his brother Henry became unpopular in Cyprus, Amalric overthrew him with the aid of the Knights Templar and some of the barons, assuming the titles of "Governor and Rector" and Regent of Cyprus and Titular Regent of Jerusalem on April 26, 1306. The overthrow was not violent; Henry had few supporters, and was simply taken away and confined at Strovolos.