Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem

Sibylla (Old French: Sibyl; c. 1159 – 1190) was the queen of Jerusalem from 1186 until her death in 1190. She reigned alongside her husband Guy of Lusignan, whom she continued to support despite his unpopularity among the barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Sibylla was the eldest daughter of King Amalric and the only daughter of his first wife, Agnes of Courtenay. Her father died in 1174, making her heir presumptive to her younger brother, King Baldwin IV; when it became clear that the 13-year-old king had contracted leprosy, the matter of Sibylla's marriage became urgent. The regent, Count Raymond III of Tripoli, arranged for her to marry William Longsword of Montferrat in late 1176, but within a year, William died, leaving her pregnant and in possession of the County of Jaffa and Ascalon.

Shortly after giving birth to a son, Baldwin, Sibylla came to be associated with her brother in public acts, thereby being designated as next in line to the throne. Sibylla's brother arranged her second marriage to Guy of Lusignan in 1180, likely to foil a coup planned by Raymond III of Tripoli and Bohemond III of Antioch. The couple had four daughters, but their marriage deeply divided the nobility. By 1183, King Baldwin had become completely incapacitated by his disease as well as disillusioned with Guy's character and inability to lead. To prevent Guy's accession to the throne, Baldwin had Sibylla's son crowned as co-king and attempted to separate Sibylla from Guy, but the couple refused to show up at court.

Baldwin IV died in 1185, having named Raymond to rule as regent for Baldwin V instead of Sibylla or Guy. The boy king died the next year, and Sibylla moved quickly to claim the throne against Raymond's ambitions. She agreed to her supporters' demand to set Guy aside on the condition that she could choose her next husband, and outwitted them at her coronation in mid-September 1186 by choosing to remarry Guy and crown him herself. Saladin took advantage of the discord in the kingdom to invade in 1187, reducing the Kingdom of Jerusalem to a single city, Tyre. Sibylla visited her husband, who had been taken captive at the decisive Battle of Hattin, and procured from Saladin his release. While Guy was besieging Acre, Sibylla and their daughters died in 1190 of an epidemic outside Acre.