Maria de Bourbon

Maria was the daughter of the French Duke of Louis I de Bourbon and Maria d'Aven . On November 29, 1328 , Mary was engaged to the titular prince of Galilee, Guy de Lusignan, the son of King of Cyprus Hugo IV and Maria d'Ibelin . December 20, 1328 the wedding took place by proxy; in June 1329, Mary arrived in Cyprus and on January 31, 1330, Mary and Guy married in person. In 1335, their son Hugo de Lusignan was born. In 1343, Mary's husband died, but before 1346 she was forbidden to leave Cyprus.

In 1346, Mary and her son went into exile, and in 1347 settled in Naples at the court of Queen Giovanna I. On September 9, 1347, Mary married Robert , Prince of Tarentum and Achaea, who was also the titular emperor of Constantinople; in the Kingdom of Naples he was captain-general .

On November 3, 1347, the Hungarian king Louis I the Great invaded the Kingdom of Naples to avenge the murder of Queen Jovanna by her first husband, Andrew , brother of Louis. Unlike the queen, Robert did not leave Naples and was arrested by Louis. In 1348, fearing a plague epidemic, Louis returned to Hungary, taking with him Robert, who returned to Naples to his wife only in March 1352.

In 1353, Robert launched a campaign to conquer the Ionian Islands , and by 1354 established control over Corfu , Kefalonia, and Zakynthos . Returning to Naples, Robert transferred the property of Mary to Corfu, Kefalonia and the castle of Kalamata in the Achaean principality. In 1359, Mary also received the barony of Vostitsa and Nivelets.

On October 10, 1359, the Cypriot king Hugo IV died, and his third son Peter succeeded him. However, Hugo de Lusignan, relying on the fact that his father was the elder brother of Peter, disputed this inheritance. Claims were rejected, but Peter appointed Hugo an annual pension of 50 thousand gold.

September 10, 1364 Robert Tarentsky died; due to the absence of children, his younger brother Philip II of Tarents became his official heir. Maria challenged this inheritance - by 1364 she owned 16 castles in Achaea and, thus, controlled a significant part of the principality. As a candidate for the throne of Achaea, she proposed her son Hugo, who in 1365 received the title of Prince of Galilee from the Cypriot King Peter. In 1366, Hugo invaded the Peloponnese with 12 thousand mercenaries, starting a civil war.

On January 17, 1369, the Cypriot king Peter I was killed by three of his own knights. He was succeeded by his son Peter II , but Hugo, seeing his chance, threw the Peloponnese and went to Cyprus. Mary proposed to wage war in Greece until 1370, but, being unable to achieve victory, sold her rights to Philip II for 6 thousand gold; the barony of Vostitsa and Nivelets were sold by her to Raniero Achchayoli , the future duke of Athens, but she left herself only Kalamata.

Hugo de Lusignan died in 1385 with no children, so her nephew Louis II de Bourbon became Maria’s heir after her death in 1387.

In 1330, Maria married Guy de Lusignan. From this marriage they had one son:

• Hugo (1335–1385)

In 1347, Mary married a second time to Robert Tarentsky . They had no children.