Eschiva of Montbéliard
Eschiva of Montbéliard was a Cypriot noblewoman. She was related to the reigning Lusignan dynasty and, by marriage, to the prominent Ibelin family of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. She inherited substantial lands in the Kingdom of Cyprus and was lady of Beirut in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. She defended Buffavento Castle in the War of the Lombards.
Family
Eschiva was the daughter of Burgundia of Lusignan, daughter of King Aimery of Cyprus, and Walter of Montbéliard, who ruled the Kingdom of Cyprus as regent on behalf of Burgundia's brother King Hugh I. Walter and Burgundia fled Cyprus with their household in 1205 after Hugh reached the age of majority and demanded money from Walter. The family settled in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, ruled by Walter's cousin John of Brienne. Walter died in 1212 and Eschiva inherited substantial lands in Cyprus from him.Eschiva's properties made her a desirable bride. Her first husband was Gerard of Montagu, nephew of the archbishop of Nicosia, Eustorge of Montagu. They had a daughter, Alice. He was killed in the War of the Lombards in 1229. Roughly the next year, Eschiva contracted a clandestine marriage with Balian of Ibelin, to whom she was related within the prohibited degrees. The archbishop of Nicosia consequently excommunicated both Eschiva and Balian, but Balian intimidated him and a dispensation for their marriage was eventually granted. Eschiva and Balian's children were John, Hugh, and Isabella.
War
The War of the Lombards saw the supporters of Emperor Frederick II wage a war against the House of Ibelin for control of Cyprus during the minority of King Hugh I's successor, King Henry I. In 1232, Frederick's army attacked the lordship of Beirut, the fief which Eschiva's father-in-law John of Ibelin held in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. When the Ibelin partisans left Cyprus to defend Beirut, the Imperialists seized the opportunity and overran the island, capturing all fortresses but Buffavento and Dieudamour. The kin of the Ibelin men fighting on the mainland scrambled for shelter: some in churches and monasteries, some in caves and mountains. Eschiva took her children to the Knights Hospitaller, and then left them and her fief to go to Buffavento. She arrived disguised as a Franciscan monk and found the fortress held for the king by an old knight, Guinart of Conches. Eschiva brought ample provisions to the fortress and defended it against the Imperialists.John of Ibelin died in 1236. Balian, his eldest son and Eschiva's husband, became lord of Beirut. Eschiva was lady of Beirut.