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Agnes of Montfaucon, Conrad I of Montferrat, Count Erard II of Brienne, Duke Leopold V of Austria, Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa, Emperor Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor, Jean of Brienne, Judith of Babenberg, King Louis VII of the Franks, King of Sicily, Maria of Montferrat, Marquess William V of Montferrat, Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem, Queen of Jerusalem
Isabella II (1212 – May 4, 1228), also known as Yolande of Brienne, was a Princesses of French origin, the daughter of Maria, the Queen-Regnant of Jerusalem, and her husband, John of Brienne. She was reigning Queen of Jerusalem from 1212 until her death in 1228. By marriage to Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor, Isabella also became Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Sicily and Germany.
Queen Isabella II was born in Andria, in the southern Italian Kingdom of Sicily. She was the only child of Maria of Montferrat, Queen of Jerusalem, and Jean of Brienne, the youngest of the four sons of Count Erard II of Brienne and Agnes of Montfaucon.
Maria of Montferrat was the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem by her second husband Conrad I of Montferrat and heiress, on her mother’s death, of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Conrad I of Montferrat was the second son of Marquess Guillaume V of Montferrat, “the Elder”, and his wife Judith of Babenberg. Conrad was a first cousin of Friedrich I Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, as well as King Louis VII of the Franks and Duke Leopold V of Austria. Friedrich I Barbarossa was the grandfather of Emperor Friedrich II.
Maria died shortly after giving birth to Isabella II in 1212, possibly by puerperal fever. Because of this, Isabella II was proclaimed Queen of Jerusalem when she was only a few days old. Because her father Jean did not have a direct claim on the throne, he ruled as Regent.
Marriage with Friedrich II
During a meeting between Johann of Brienne, Pope Honorius III and Emperor Friedrich II in the city of Ferentino in 1223, Isabella’s fate was decided: Friedrich accepted to finally go to the Crusade, but only as the legitimate King of Jerusalem, and this was only possible if he agreed to take the young Queen Isabella II as his wife (at this time, Friedrich was a widower).
This was planned by the Pope, who hoped by this bond to attach the Emperor firmly to the Sixth Crusade. The betrothal was confirmed, but the Emperor still delayed his departure until August 1225, when he and Isabella were married by proxy in the City of Acre. Days later, Isabella II was crowned as Queen of Jerusalem.
Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem arrived in Italy with twenty galleys sent by Emperor Friedrich II to bring her to her father and married in person to Friedrich II in the cathedral of Brindisi, on November 9, 1225.
During the ceremony, Emperor Friedrich II declared himself King of Jerusalem and immediately saw to it that his new father-in-law Jean of Brienne, the current Regent of Jerusalem, was dispossessed and his rights transferred to him. The contemporary chronicles described the exotic wedding celebrations, which took place in the Castle of Oria, and the indignant reaction of her father Jean of Brienne, now without royal authority.
Death
After the wedding, Queen Isabella II was kept in seclusion by her husband, in Palermo. She was aged 14, and Emperor Friedrich II was 31. In November 1226, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter (referred to by some sources as Margaret); the baby died in August 1227. On April 25, 1228 Isabella gave birth to her second child, a son, Conrad, in Andria, Bari, but a few days later, on May 4th she died following childbirth complications. She was buried in the Andria Cathedral.