It is unclear when exactly Margaret inherited her fief. Her father died between 1238 and 1241, but she is not recorded as lady until 1249. In his
Assizes of Jerusalem, the jurist
John of Ibelin records that his cousin, the lord of Caesarea, refused the
bailliage of Jerusalem in 1243, and instead the
Haute Cour gave it to Queen
Alice of Cyprus. Since her father was dead, this is probably a reference to her husband,
John Aleman, indicating that she was already ruling Caesarea by then. In April 1249, Margaret and John sold six
casalia to the
Teutonic Knights. In 1253 they sold
Al-Damun near Acre to the
Hospitallers for 12,000
besants. In 1255 they also sold the Hospitallers everything they owned in Acre as well as the
casalia of
Chasteillon and Rout. On this occasion they were accepted into the lay
confraternity of the order as
confrater and
consoror. Some of the money from the sales to the Hospitallers was used to pay the dower of John's sister-in-law. Margaret's eldest son and heir, Hugh, died in a riding accident in 1264. Her second son,
Nicholas, succeeded her. She had one other son named Thomas. The date of Margaret's death is unknown; she is never mentioned after 1255. Her son was in power by 1277. ==Notes==