GUY

born c. 1129 died 1194 byname Guy Of Lusignan, French Gui, or Guy, De Lusignan king of Jerusalem who lost that crusader kingdom in wars against the Muslims. In 1180 he married Sibyl, sister of the leprous Baldwin IV, king of Jerusalem. When Baldwin died in 1185, Sibyl's son by a previous marriage, the six-year-old Baldwin V, inherited the crown. But the child died in 1186, possibly poisoned by Guy. Sibyl then became queen and, announcing her intention to choose the most worthy noble to be her husband and king, divorced Guy, only to choose him again as king and husband. War broke out with Saladin (113793), sultan of Egypt and Syria, and, when the city of Tiberiade fell in 1187, Guy resolved to deliver it. His troops were defeated at Hattin (near Tiberiade) by Saladin's superior forces. Guy himself was captured, along with many other nobles, but was released when he ceded the town of Ascalon (Ashkelon), a port in Palestine. Jerusalem fell to Saladin on Oct. 2, 1187, ending the kingdom founded by Godfrey of Bouillon during the First Crusade (109699). The fall of Jerusalem provoked a new crusade from Europe (the Third Crusade, 118992). While awaiting this aid, Guy, despite a vow not to war against Saladin, besieged Saint-Jean-d'Acre (Akko), though unsuccessfully. After Sibyl died in 1190, Guy and Conrad de Montferrat, husband of Sibyl's sister Isabella, fought over the now empty throne. In 1192 Guy ceded the title to the English king Richard I the Lion-Heart in exchange for sovereignty over the island of Cyprus. born c. 1225 died March 7, 1305, Compigne, Fr. also called Guy Of Dampierre, French Gui De Dampierre, Dutch Gwijde Van Dampierre count of Flanders (from 1278) and margrave of Namur (Namen). He was the son of Margaret, countess of Flanders and Hainaut. The government of Guy of Dampierre was unfortunate. It was in the interest of the Flemish weavers to be on good terms with England, the wool-producing country, and Guy entered into an alliance with the English king Edward I against France. This led to the invasion and conquest of Flanders by the French king Philip IV the Fair in 1300. Guy with his sons and the leading Flemish nobles were taken as prisoners to Paris, and Flanders was ruled as a French dependency. The Flemish rose in rebellion, however; a French garrison at Bruges was massacred on May 19, 1302, and on the following July 11 a French army of invasion was defeated near Courtrai. The aged Guy died in captivity before the French recognized the independence of Flanders in the Treaty of Athis-sur-Orge (1305).