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Henry II of Jerusalem
Henry II of Jerusalem (died 1324) was the last king of Jerusalem and at the same time ruled as King of Cyprus.
He was the first son of Hugh I and succeeded his brother John II in 1286; there was some suspicion that Henry had been involved in poisoning John. Charles of Anjou, who contested John's claim to the throne, had died in 1285, allowing Henry to recover Acre from the Angevins. With a fleet Henry attacked Acre, defended by Charles' lieutenant Hugh Pelerin, and the city was captured on July 29. Henry had himself crowned there on August 15, but returned to Cyprus and appointed his uncle Philip of Ibelin as bailiff in his absence. By this time Acre was one of the few coastal cities remaining in the remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. During his reign the Mameluks captured Tyre, Beirut, and the rest of the cities, and destroyed the similarly weakened County of Tripoli in 1287. The final siege of Acre began on April 5, 1291 with Henry present in the city. He escaped to Cyprus with most of his nobles, and the city fell on May 28.
Henry continued to rule as King of Cyprus, and continued to claim the kingdom of Jerusalem as well, often planning to recover the former territory on the mainland. He allied with Ghazan, the Mongol ilkhan of Persia, when Ghazan invaded Mamluk territory in 1299; he tried to stop Genoan ships from trading with the Mamluks, hoping to weaken them economically; and he twice wrote to Pope Clement V asking for a new crusade. His reign in Cyprus was prosperous and wealthy, and he was very much involved with the justice and administration of the kingdom - he had the Haute Cour keep written records for the first time (in Italian or French, rather than Latin), and extended the court's role from a feudal advisory body to a true court responsible for trying and punishing criminals. However, Cyprus was in no position to fulfill his true ambition, the recovery of the Holy Land. His nobles were unsatisfied with him, and in 1306 he was overthrown by his brother Amalric of Tyre . He was exiled to Armenia in 1310, but he was not friendly with the Armenians and returned to Cyprus when Amalric died later that year.
Henry died in 1324 and was succeeded by his nephew Hugh IV.
| Preceded by: John II | King of Cyprus | Succeeded by: Amalric Hugh IV |
| King of Jerusalem | (none) |
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