Isabella was a member of the influential
Ibelin family. Her maternal grandfather was the Duke of Athens,
Guy I de la Roche. Upon her father's death, she inherited the Ibelin family palace in Beirut and the leadership of the
fief. It was part of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem but had an independent treaty from 1261 with
Baibars, leader of the
Mamluk Sultanate. In 1265, the young Isabella was betrothed to the young
Hugh II,
king of Cyprus (1252–1267), but he died before the marriage was consummated. She then ruled independently, and as Lady of Beirut had friendly relations with the Mamluks, negotiating her own new 10-year truce with Baibars on May 9, 1269. She had an affair with the impetuous
Julian of Sidon (d. 1275), and her "notorious lack of chastity" (possibly) prompted the
official letter Audi filia et from
Pope Clement IV, urging her to marry. In 1272, at the age of 20, she married
Haymo Létrange (the Foreigner), a wealthy lord from the
Welsh Marches, a companion of the future English king
Edward I, who was part of
Lord Edward's crusade. The marriage was short though, as Haymo died in 1273. While on his deathbed, he put Isabella and Beirut under the unusual protection of Baibars. King
Hugh III of Cyprus wanted to use Isabella's status as a wealthy heiress to
choose a new husband for her, to attract another distinguished knight to the fight in the Holy Land. Hugh forcibly took Isabella to
Cyprus to arrange a new marriage, leaving her mother Alice de la Roche as regent of Beirut. Isabella resisted and received the support of both Baibars and the
Knights Templar. The matter was brought to the
Jerusalem High Court and became a political dispute during the Crusades as to who had lordship over the lady of Beirut, Hugh or the Baibars. The High Court ruled in favor of Baibars, and Mamluk guards were assigned to Isabella's protection. After Baibars's death in 1277, Isabella married twice more, to
Nicolas l'Alleman,
lord of Caesarea, and then to
William Barlais (d. 1304). ==References==