Henri II DE CHAMPAGNE comte de Champagne (1181-1197)

   General Notes:

King of Jerusalem (1192-97)

In 1190 Henry left for the East, after having his barons swear to recognize his younger brother Thibaut as his successor should he fail to return. He joined the Third Crusade, arriving ahead of his uncles, King Philip II of France and King Richard I of England. Initially, he was one of the leaders of the French contingent at the siege of Acre before Philip's arrival. He is said to have been a member of the group involved in the abduction of Isabella of Jerusalem, to get her to consent to a divorce from Humphrey IV of Toron so that she could be married to Conrad of Montferrat. Henry was related to Conrad through both his maternal grandparents. According to Baha al-Din, he was wounded at Acre on 15 November.

Later on in the campaign, Henry shifted his allegiances to Richard. In April 1192, King Richard sent Henry as his representative from Acre to Tyre, to inform Conrad of Montferrat of his election as King of Jerusalem. Henry then returned to Acre. A few days later, Conrad was murdered by two Hashshashin. Henry came back to Tyre two days later, ostensibly to help organise Conrad's coronation, but found that a funeral was being prepared instead. He was immediately betrothed to the newly-widowed - and pregnant - Queen Isabella of Jerusalem. They were married just eight days after Conrad's death....

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   Marriage Information:

Henri married Isabelle D' ANJOU Queen of Jerusalem, daughter of Amaury (Amalric) I D' ANJOU King of Jerusalem (1162-1174) and Maria KOMNENE of Byzantium, Lady of Nauplia, on 5 May 1192 in Acre, Palestine. (Isabelle D' ANJOU Queen of Jerusalem was born in 1170 and died before May 1206.)