Alice of Champagne
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Queen Alice of Cyprus, born Alice of Jerusalem or Alice de Champagne (1196–1246) was the daughter of Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem and Count Henry II of Champagne (Henry I of Jerusalem). She became, by virtue of marriage, Queen Alice of Cyprus, by which name she is best known.
Alice's grandmother Maria Comnena, dowager queen of Jerusalem, conducted the marriage negotiations on behalf of 12-year-old with Cyprus in 1208, and arranged her wedding to Hugh I of Cyprus. Blanche of Navarre, Regent and Countess of Champagne, widow of Alice's paternal uncle, provided the dowry for Alice.
She married thrice. With her first husband Hugh I of Cyprus she had three children:
- Maria (died c. 1252), who married Walter IV of Brienne. Their son Hugh of Brienne claimed the regency of Jerusalem in 1264, but was passed over by the Haute Cour in favor of his cousin Hugh III of Cyprus. He was later an ally of Charles of Anjou. This claim fell to his son Walter V of Brienne, Duke of Athens, and his descendants.
- Isabella, who married Henry of Antioch, and who was the mother of Hugh III of Cyprus.
- Henry I, who became King of Cyprus on his father's death in 1218. Alice acted as regent.
In 1223 Alice married Bohemund V of Antioch, which was dissolved by annulment, and later she married Raoul of Soissons.
From 1243 to 1246 she served as regent of Jerusalem for Conrad IV of Germany, her half-sister Maria's grandson.
