Kings of Jerusalem

This is a list of Kings of Jerusalem, from 1099 to 1291, as well as claimants to the title up to the present day.

Lines of succession in several claims

Italics indicate individuals who did not themselves use the title of "King of Jerusalem".

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Cypriot claimants

• Henry II (1285) 1291–1324
• Hugh 1324–1359
• Peter I 1359–1369
• Peter II 1369–1382
• James I 1382–1398
• Janus 1398–1432
• Jean 1432–1458
• Charlotte I 1458–1485 (d. 1487) m. 1459 her cousin Louis of Savoy (d. 1482) In 1460, Charlotte was dispossessed of Cyprus by her illegitimate half-brother James. However, she maintained her claims until 1485, when she resigned them to the next legitimate heir, Charles I of Savoy.
• # Cypriot illegitimate claimants
• #* James II 1460–1473 (illegitimate, usurped Cyprus from his half-sister Charlotte)
• #* James III 1473–1474
• #* Catherine 1474–1489 (wife and widow of James II)
• #* Catherine surrendered her rights to the Republic of Venice in 1489.
• # Savoyard claimants
• #* Charles I 1482–1490
• #* Charles II 1490–1496 On the death of Charles, the Duchy of Savoy passed to his heir-male Philip, and the Dukes of Savoy continued to claim Jerusalem. However, there was never historically a bar on female succession to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
• #*# Savoyard heirs-general
• #*#* Charles' heirs-general do not appear to have used the title King of Jerusalem or ever asserted a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The current heir-general is either Jean-Charles Lamoral, Prince de Ligne de la Trémoïlle or Elisabeth, Princess of Urach.
• #*# Savoyard heirs-male
• #*#* Philip 1496–1497
• #*#* Philibert 1497–1504
• #*#* Charles III 1504–1553
• #*#* Emmanuel Philibert 1553–1580
• #*#* Charles Emmanuel I 1580–1630
• #*#* Victor Amadeus I 1630–1637 (assumed the title of "King of Cyprus" only in 1632)
• #*#* Charles Emmanuel II 1637–1675
• #*#* Victor Amadeus II of Savoy 1675–1730 (assumed the title 1713, in conjunction with his brief reign as King of Sicily)
• #*#* Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia 1730–1773
• #*#* Victor Amadeus III 1773–1796
• #*#* Charles Emmanuel IV 1796–1819
• #*#* Victor Emmanuel I 1819–1821
• #*#* Charles Felix 1821–1831
• #*#* Charles Albert 1831–1849
• #*#* Victor Emmanuel II 1849–1878
• #*#* Humbert I 1878–1900
• #*#* Victor Emmanuel III 1900–1946
• #*#* Humbert II 1946–1983
• #*#* Victor Emmanuel IV 1983–present

Neapolitan claimants

Mary of Antioch claimed the throne of Jerusalem from 1269 to 1277. She was the daughter of Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch and his second wife Melisende of Cyprus. Melisende was the youngest daughter of Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem and her fourth husband King-Consort Amalric II of Jerusalem. Since Mary was, at the time of the death of Conradin, the only living grandchild of Queen Isabella, she claimed the throne on basis of proximity in blood to the Kings of Jerusalem. Denied by the Haute Cour, she went to Rome and sold her rights, with papal blessing and confirmation, to Charles of Anjou in 1277. Thereafter, this claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem was treated also as tributary to the crown of Naples, which often changed hands by testament or conquest rather than direct inheritance.

Related Topics:
Mary of Antioch - 1269 - 1277 - Bohemond IV of Antioch - Melisende of Cyprus - Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem - Amalric II of Jerusalem - Conradin - Proximity in blood - Haute Cour - Charles of Anjou

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• Charles I 1277–1285; acquired title with approval of the Pope in 1277
• Charles II 1285–1309
• Charles Robert, king of Hungary, son of his eldest, predeceased son
• Louis I of Hungary, king of Hungary and also of Poland, made a claim to Jerusalem and Sicily
• Mary I of Hungary, childless, her kingdoms were kept by her husband, the future Emperor Sigismund
• Jadwiga of Poland (d. 1399), sister, childless, left her rights to her husband king Ladislas Jagello of Lithuania and Poland; after her death, the heir-general was her distant cousin and her family's enemy's widow
• Margaret of Durazzo (d. 1412), Dowager Queen of Hungary, Sicily and Jerusalem
• Ladislas of Naples
• Joanna of Durazzo, after whose death, the heir-general of the line of Charles I of Sicily was:
• Charles VII of France
• Louis XI of France
• Charles VIII of France, conquered Naples 1495 and assumed the title
• Anne of Beaujeu, Duchess of Bourbon
• Anne of Laval, ancestress of La Tremoille, her issue also heirs of rights of Frederick IV of Naples
• Robert 1309–1343, third but eldest surviving son, who succeeded in Naples superseding the rights of his eldest brother's heirs
• Joan I 1343–1382. Joan left her kingdom by testament to Louis I of Anjou, whom she had previously adopted as heir, but she was ousted and soon murdered by Charles of Durazzo, the heir male of her house.
• # Senior Angevin claimants
• #* Charles III (the Durazzo prince) 1382–1386
• #* Ladislas 1386–1414
• #* Joan II 1414–1435 Joan left her kingdom by testament to René of Anjou, of the junior line. She had previously adopted (and subsequently repudiated the adoption) her kinsman Alfonso V of Aragon and Sicily, who launched a conquest to have Naples. However, her heir general in Jerusalem, Sicily, Hungary etc was her distant cousin Charles VII of France, see above
• # Junior Angevin claimants
• #* Louis I 1382–1384
• #* Louis II 1384–1417
• #* Louis III 1417–1434
• René I 1434–1480 united the claims of junior and senior lines. However, in 1441, control of the Kingdom of Naples was lost to Alfonso V of Aragon, who also claimed the Kingdom of Jerusalem thereby. In addition, while René was succeeded in Bar by his grandson René of Vaudemont, René's nephew and heir male Charles IV of Anjou claimed the kingdoms of Sicily and Jerusalem, and he then testamented them to his cousin Louis XI of France. In 1494 Charles VIII of France also claimed the Kingdom of Naples and Jerusalem as the great-grandson of Louis II of Anjou and launched his conquest.
• # Angevin-Lorraine claimants
• #* Yolande 1480–1483, Titular Queen of Jerusalem, Sicily, Aragon etc
• #* René II 1480–1508, Titular King of Jerusalem, Sicily and Aragon etc. (did not adopt the title until 1493)
• #* Anthony 1508–1544
• #* Francis I 1544–1545
• #* Charles 1545–1608
• #* Henry 1608–1624
• #* Nicoletta 1624–1657, and her husband Charles
• #* Ferdinand I Philip 1657–1659
• #* Charles Leopold 1659–1690
• #* Leopold I Joseph 1679–1729, resumed the title in 1700
• #* Francis II Stephen 1729–1765
• #* Joseph 1765–1790
• #* Leopold II 1790–1792
• #* Francis III 1792–1835
• #* Ferdinand 1835–1875
• #* Francis Joseph 1875–1916
• #* Charles 1916–1922
• #* Otto 1922–present
• # French claimants
• #* Charles IV 1480–1481, heir male of René, Titular King of Jerusalem and Sicily
• #* Louis 1481–1483, first cousin, by testament
• #* Charles V 1483–1498 — In 1495, Charles VIII of France had conquered Naples and was crowned as king. He died 1498, leaving his sister Anne of Beaujeu as his heir-general, and his second cousin Louis XII of France as his heir male. After Anne of Beaujeu, the heir-general was Anne of Laval, great-granddaughter of Louis XI's eldest surviving sister. See above (Cyprus claim)
• #* Louis V 1498–1515 took up the claim, although he was heir-male of Charles and lacked close descent from the main Neapolitan lines (he was a descendant of the eldest daughter of Charles II of Naples). He succeeded in conquering part of Naples 1500–1504. No other French king has adopted the title http://heraldica.org/topics/national/jerusale.htm.
• # Aragonese claimants
• #* Alfonso I 1442–1458 by conquest of Naples
• #* Ferdinand I 1458–1494, natural son, by testament
• #* Alfonso II 1494–1495
• #* Ferdinand II 1495–1496, who lost briefly to Charles VIII of France. His heiress general was his sister Isabella of Naples
• #* Frederick 1496–1501, uncle, during whose reign the Neapolitan lands were invaded by the alliance of Louis XII of France, who claimed the succession, and Ferdinand II of Aragon, who succeeded in driving out both Frederick and Louis by 1504. Frederick's heirs exercised the claim afterwards as puppets of France for several decades, when it was convenient for the French policies; his current heir is the Prince de Ligne de la Trémoïlle aforementioned.
• #* Ferdinand 1504–1516 (by conquest, and Papal enfeoffment) - the heir of original Aragonese claims of Constance Manfredi of Sicily and Peter III of Aragon
• #* Charles 1516–1556
• #* Philip I 1556–1598
• #* Philip II 1598–1621
• #* Philip III 1621–1665
• #* Charles 1665–1700
• #* Philip IV 1700–1734 (by testament), during whose reign the Kingdom of Naples was lost in 1707 to Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and 1713 the island of Sicily (later that of Sardinia) to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy who also was given the title King of Jerusalem (see above the Savoyard succession).
• #*# Habsburg claimants
• #*#* Joseph 1707–1711
• #*#* Charles VI 1711–1740, who lost the Kingdom of Naples in 1734 to a Bourbon prince, the future Charles III of Spain, and renounced his claims, retaining his titles to Naples and Jerusalem during his lifetime.
• #* Charles of Bourbon 1734–1788 Charles was obliged by treaty to prevent the union of the crowns of Spain and the Two Sicilies, and so resigned the Two Sicilies to his son Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. However, the Kings of Spain continued to use the titles of the Two Sicilies and Jerusalem.
• #*# Two Sicilies claimants (Ferdinand's father and older brother took the Jerusalem title)
• #*#* Ferdinand 1759–1825
• #*#* Francis I 1825–1830
• #*#* Ferdinand 1830–1859
• #*#* Francis II 1859–1894
• #*#* Alfonso (Count of Caserta) 1894–1934
• #*#* Ferdinand 1934–1960
• #*#* Alfonso (Duke of Calabria) 1960–1964
• #*#* Charles 1964–present
• #*# Spanish claimants
• #*#* Charles 1788–1819
• #*#* Ferdinand 1819–1833
• #*#* Isabella 1833–1904
• #*#* Alfonso 1904–1941
• #*#* Juan 1941–1977
• #*#* Juan Carlos 1977–present

Other Claims

• Hugh of Brienne and his heirs represent the senior heirs-general to the Kingdom, although they never pressed the claim after Hugh's rejection by the Haute Cour. His current heir-general is the Prince de Ligne de la Trémoïlle aforementioned.
• Frederick of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringia, briefly used the title after the death of Conradin in 1268, as grandson of Frederick II, who had crowned himself King of Jerusalem in his own right. This claim was never recognized in Outremer or elsewhere.