Maria of Antioch ( 1220 – 1307) was a claimant to the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1268 to 1277. In 1267 she laid claim to govern the kingdom as regent in the name of the absentee King Conrad III. Her legal case was solid, resting on the proximity of blood to the king, but she was rejected by the High Court of Jerusalem in favor of Hugh III of Cyprus. When Conrad died in 1268, she demanded to be crowned as his successor. Spurned yet again for Hugh, she moved to Europe and eventually sold her claim to Charles I of Anjou. Family Maria was born 1220. She was the daughter of Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch and his second wife, Melisende of Lusignan. Through her mother, Maria was the granddaughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and King Aimery of Cyprus. After the death of her mother's half-sister Alice of Champagne in 1246, Melisende put forward a claim to the regency of the Kingdom of Jerusalem as the closest relative of the minor and absent King Conrad II, but was rejected in favor of King Henry I of Cyprus, Alice's son. Maria's older half-brother Henry married Isabella, daughter of Alice and sister of Henry I of Cyprus, and the couple had a son, Hugh. Maria never married and had no children. High Court cases In the 1260s, the thrones of the kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus were occupied by two underage kings, Conrad III and Hugh II, respectively. They were descended from Maria of Montferrat and Alice of Champagne, older half-sisters of Maria of Antioch's mother, respectively. Conrad lived in Europe, and so the regency of Jerusalem was nominally vested into Hugh II. But since Hugh II was a minor too, the regency was exercised first by his mother, Plaisance of Antioch, who died in 1261, and then by his aunt Isabella, who died in 1264. The right to exercise the regency of Jerusalem on behalf of the young king of Cyprus was then disputed between his cousins Hugh of Brienne and Isabella's son Hugh of Antioch, with the latter being selected by the High Court of Jerusalem. Hugh II died in 1267, and was succeeded as king of Cyprus by Hugh of Antioch (Hugh III). In addition to the throne of Cyprus, Hugh III claimed the regency of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the High Court was prepared to accept him. But when he sailed in May 1268 to Acre, the capital of what remained of that Crusader state, he found his claim challenged by his aunt Maria, who was then in her forties.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Not who you're looking for? Others named Maria of Antioch: Byzantine Empress

Overview

Maria of Antioch ( 1220 – 1307) was a claimant to the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1268 to 1277. In 1267 she laid claim to govern the kingdom as regent in the name of the absentee King Conrad III. Her legal case was solid, resting on the proximity of blood to the king, but she was rejected by the High Court of Jerusalem in favor of Hugh III of Cyprus. When Conrad died in 1268, she demanded to be crowned as his successor. Spurned yet again for Hugh, she moved to Europe and eventually sold her claim to Charles I of Anjou. Family Maria was born 1220. She was the daughter of Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch and his second wife, Melisende of Lusignan. Through her mother, Maria was the granddaughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and King Aimery of Cyprus. After the death of her mother's half-sister Alice of Champagne in 1246, Melisende put forward a claim to the regency of the Kingdom of Jerusalem as the closest relative of the minor and absent King Conrad II, but was rejected in favor of King Henry I of Cyprus, Alice's son. Maria's older half-brother Henry married Isabella, daughter of Alice and sister of Henry I of Cyprus, and the couple had a son, Hugh. Maria never married and had no children. High Court cases In the 1260s, the thrones of the kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus were occupied by two underage kings, Conrad III and Hugh II, respectively. They were descended from Maria of Montferrat and Alice of Champagne, older half-sisters of Maria of Antioch's mother, respectively. Conrad lived in Europe, and so the regency of Jerusalem was nominally vested into Hugh II. But since Hugh II was a minor too, the regency was exercised first by his mother, Plaisance of Antioch, who died in 1261, and then by his aunt Isabella, who died in 1264. The right to exercise the regency of Jerusalem on behalf of the young king of Cyprus was then disputed between his cousins Hugh of Brienne and Isabella's son Hugh of Antioch, with the latter being selected by the High Court of Jerusalem. Hugh II died in 1267, and was succeeded as king of Cyprus by Hugh of Antioch (Hugh III). In addition to the throne of Cyprus, Hugh III claimed the regency of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the High Court was prepared to accept him. But when he sailed in May 1268 to Acre, the capital of what remained of that Crusader state, he found his claim challenged by his aunt Maria, who was then in her forties.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Maria of Antioch ( 1220 – 1307) was a claimant to the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1268 to 1277. In 1267 she laid claim to govern the kingdom as regent in the name of the absentee King Conrad III. Her legal case was solid, resting on the proximity of blood to the king, but she was rejected by the High Court of Jerusalem in favor of Hugh III of Cyprus. When Conrad died in 1268, she demanded to be crowned as his successor. Spurned yet again for Hugh, she moved to Europe and eventually sold her claim to Charles I of Anjou.