Person Page 451

Stephanie of Armenia (after 1195 – June 1220), also known as Rita, was the only child of Leo I, King of Armenia by his first wife Isabelle, whose origins are uncertain.[1] She was a member of the Rubenid dynasty.

[edit] Early Life and FamilyStephanie was brought up by her paternal grandmother Rita of Barbaron.[2] Stephanie was around ten years old when her mother died, who had not born Leo any more children after Stephanie.

Stephanie's maternal family is disputed. It is believe that Stephanie's mother was a niece of Sybille, wife of Bohemond III of Antioch.[3] Others [4] believe that her mother was of Austrian and German origins.

Stephanie's paternal grandparents were Stephen of Armenia and the previously mentioned Rita. Stephen was son of Leo I, Prince of Armenia.

Around 1210 Stephanie's father remarried to Sibylla, daughter of Isabella I of Jerusalem. From this marriage Stephanie gained a half-sister, Isabelle.

[edit] Later lifeIn April 1214, Stephanie married John of Brienne. John had only recently lost his first wife Mary of Jerusalem, who was a sister of Stephanie's stepmother Sibylla. Stephanie became stepmother to John's daughter who later became Isabella II of Jerusalem. Stephanie herself gave birth in 1216 to a son named John.[5]

In May, 1219 Stephanie's father died. He had made the barons swear an oath of allegiance to his great-nephew Raymond-Roupen, who became his heir. However on his death bed King Leo changed the succession. He made his daughter Isabelle [6] his heir and released the barons from their oath of allegiance. Stephanie was still alive at the time and would have had more right because she was the older daughter. Also, Stephanie had her son John.

Stephanie's husband, John pressed the claim on behalf of his wife.[7] Raymond-Roupen also pressed his claim on the throne.

John left the Fifth Crusade in February 1220 intending to visit Armenia to press Stephanie's and their son's claim. However, in June 1220 Stephanie died followed not long after by her four-year old son. John of Brienne had no longer a claim on the throne of Armenia.[8][9]

Raymond-Roupen was captured and ended his days in prison in 1222. This left Isabelle as the sole heir of Armenia. She ruled from 1219–1252 and was succeeded by her son Leo II, King of Armenia.

Richard de Camville (died 1191) was an English crusader knight, and one of Richard the Lionheart's senior commanders during the Third Crusade. In June 1190, at Chinon, he was, with 3 others, put in charge of King Richard's fleet sailing for the Holy Land.[1] In 1191 he was appointed governor of Cyprus, jointly with Robert of Thornham. He died later in the same year at the Siege of Acre.[1][2][3]

He was the son of another Richard de Camville (died 1176), an Anglo-Norman landowner, and Millicent, a kinswoman of Adeliza of Louvain, the second wife of King Henry I.[4] The family probably originated from Canville-les-Deux-Églises (Canvilla 1149, Camvilla 1153) in Normandy. He had at least one child, Gerard de Camville.

In England, his holdings included land at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire,[4] Blackland, Wiltshire,[3] and Speen (possibly posthumously)[5] and Avington,[6] both in Berkshire.