Count Hugh Lusignan LA MARCHE, IX

   Other names for Hugh were Hugues, "The Brown", "Le Brun" and LA MARCHE Count.

   Ancestral File Number: HPGM-JR. User ID: 315891640.

   General Notes:

"Le Brun", "The Brown", Count of LA MARCHE.

BOOK
The Political History of England, Vol II, George Burton Adams Longmans Green and Co, 1905, Ch XIX, p397:
[1200] "...[John] sent off an embassy to ask for a daughter of the king of Portugal. In the meantime he went on a progressthrough the French lands which had been secured to him by treaty with Philip, and met the beautiful Isabel, daughter of the Count of Angouleme, then twelve years of age, and determined to marry her out of hand. The fact that she was already betrothed to Hugh `the Brown,' son and heir of his own vassal the Count of La Marche, and that she was then living in the household of her intended father-in-law, made no more difference to him than his own embassy to Portugal. It seems possibleindeed that it was in the very castle of the Count of La Marche that the plan was formed. Isabel's father also did not hesitate in the choice of sons-in-law, and his daughter having been brought home, she was at once married to John. An act ofthis kind was a most flagrant violation of the feudal contract, nor was the moral blunder saved from being a political one by the fact that the injured house was that of the Lusignans, great barons and long turbulent and unruly vassals of Aquitaine. John had given them now a legal right of appeal to his suzerain and a moral justification of rebellion..."

Ch XXI, p430: [1214] "...John returned to the field, attacked the Lusig- nans, took their castles, and forced them to submit.The Count of La Marche was the Hugh the Brown from whom years before he had stolen his bride, Isabel of Angouleme, and now he proposed to strengthen the new-made alliance by giving to Hugh's eldest son Isabel's daughter Joanna..."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol VI, p397, Lusignan: "Noble family of Poitou (a province of western France) that provided numerous crusaders and kings of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Lesser Armenia. A branch of the family became counts of La Marche and Angouleme and played a role in precipitating the baronial revolt in England against King Henry III. The castle of Lusignan is associated with the medieval legend of Melusine.
"Hugh (Hugues) I, Lord of Lusignan, was a vassal of thecounts of Poitiers in the 10th century. Early members of the family participated in the crusades; but it was Hugh VIII's sons who established the family fortunes.
"Hugh VIII's eldest son and successor, Hugh IX the Brown (died 1219), held countship of La Marche. In 1200 his fiancee, Isabella of Angouleme, was taken for wife by his feudal lord, King John of England. This outrage caused Hugh to turn to the King of France, Philip II Augustus, forming an alliance that culminated in John's loss of his continental possessions.
"John, in an attempt to pacify Hugh, gave his daughter Joan as fiancee to Hugh X (died 1249), but the marriage never took place. Instead, after John's death, Hugh X married his widow, Isabella, in1220..."

A History of the Plantagenets, Vol I, The Conquering Family, Thomas B Costain, 1949, Doubleday & Co, p203:
"The parents had betrothed Isabella to Hugh of Lusignan, a handsome young knight who was called Le Brun, of the Brown, son of the formidable Count of Marche. The girl had been sent to one of his castles for the same reason that princesses were conveyed early to the country of the man they were to marry. She was content with her lot, being as much in love with thefine, upstanding Hugh as one of her egocentric nature could be. Hugh the Brown was completely enamored of her and was urging that she had now reached the age to marry.
"Having concluded peace with Philip, the newly crowned King of England decided he would follow his mother's advice and make a royal processional through his western dominions. She had mentioned in particular the wisdom of forming an alliance with the Count of Marche. His first stop was Angouleme to receive the homage of Count Adhemar. The count and his wife, an ambitious pair, wanted to make the best possible impression on the new head of the Angevin empire...They arranged for their daughter to pay them a visit during the time that John was there... "Unfortunately for all concerned, the shrewd parents of the radiant little coquette observed how deeply the King was smitten. They would rather have the King of England as a son-in-law than the comparatively humble Hugh the Brown. Isabella seems to have agreed with this view of things, even though her personal preference was for the handsome Hugh rather than the thickset John.
"The upshot was that Hugh of Lusignan and his brother, the Count of Eu, were sent to England to leada foray along the western marches...The only purpose the campaign served was to afford time for the wedding arrangements to be made...
"Hugh the Brown came back from England to find that his Bathsheba had been stolen in his absence. He issued a furious challenge to his successful rival to meet him in mortal combat. John accepted but said he would appoint a champion to fight in his place, his life being too important to risk in a personal quarrel. The slighted Count of Lusignanprotested angrily that he would fight John himself or no one. The case split the Angevin world wide open, and it was plain to the least discerning eye that the King's action had shaken the loyalty of the nobility he must depend on in any futuretrouble with France..."

A History of The Plantagenets, Vol II, The Magnificent Century, Thomas B Costain, 1951, Doubleday & Co, p46:
"...Hugh of Lusignan, who was now the Count of La Marche. In his disappointment over the fair Isabella,handsome Hugh le Brun (the Brown) had remained without a wife, and it was through sentimental regard for his old sweetheart that he had accepted Joanna as he future bride in return for assistance to John in one of the latter's abortive campaigns in France. The child was being educated in one of his castles.
"Count Hugh was away crusading when Isabella arrived. The Lusignans had played an important part in the struggle for the Holy City, and one of them had been King of Jerusalem. Hugh returned before the end of her visit, browner than ever, and he realized at once that his love for her had not lessened with the years..."
"They were married without waiting for the consent of the King's Council in England..."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol VI, p397, Lusignan: "Noble family of Poitou (a province of western France) that provided numerous crusaders and kings of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Lesser Armenia. A branch of the family became counts ofLa Marche and Angouleme and played a role in precipitating the baronial revolt in England against King Henry III. The castle of Lusignan is associated with the medieval legend of Melusine.
"Hugh (Hugues) I, Lord of Lusignan, was a vassalof the counts of Poitiers in the 10th century. Early members of the family participated in the crusades; but it was Hugh VIII's sons who established the family fortunes.
"Hugh VIII's eldest son and successor, Hugh IX the Brown (died 1219),held countship of La Marche. In 1200 his fiancee, Isabella of Angouleme, was taken for wife by his feudal lord, King John of England. This outrage caused Hugh to turn to the King of France, Philip II Augustus, forming an alliance that culminated in John's loss of his continental possessions.
"John, in an attempt to pacify Hugh, gave his daughter Joan as fiancee to hugh X (died 1249), but the marriage never took place. Instead, after John's death, Hugh X married his widow, Isabella, in 1220. Hugh and Isabella fluctuated in their loyalty to John's successor (Isabella's son), Henry III. When Louis IX of France franted Poitou as a countship to his brother Alphonse, Hugh at first supported him. Isabella's anger caused a change of mind and, eventually, brought about a disastrous revolt supported by Henry III. In this revolt Hugh lost his principal strongholds, but Louis IX pardoned the Lusignans, and they swore loyalty again.
"Nine children were born to Isabella and Hugh X, five of whom went to England at the invitation of their half brother, Henry III. There they were rewarded with lands, riches, and distinctions at the expense of the English barons, who eventually revolted against Henry and forced the exile of the Lusignan borthers from England in 1258...
"Two other sons of Hugh VIII became kings of Jerusalem and Cyprus. Guy, through his marriage to Sibly, the sister of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, got the kingdom in 1186 but lost his capital city in wars with the Muslims (1187) and finally exchanged his empty title for the sovereignty of Cyprus (1192).
"Guy's brother Amalric II (Died 1 Apr 1205) succeeded to the crown of Cyprus and became king of Jerusalem in 1197 by marrying Sybil's sister Isabella after the death of her two previous husbands. Amalric was the founder of a dynasty of sovereigns of Cyprus...His descendants after 1269 regularly enjoyed the title of King of Jerusalem..."

FAMILY SEARCH
Ancestral File v4.19 HPGM-JR.

   Marriage Information: