Maria of Antioch (pretender)

Maria of Antioch
Pretender Regent of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Reign1268-1277
Bornc. 1220
Died1307
HousePoitiers
FatherBohemond IV of Antioch
MotherMelisende of Lusignan

Maria of Antioch (c. 1220 – 1307) was a claimant to the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1268 to 1277. In 1267 she laid claim to govern the kingdom as regent in the name of the absentee King Conrad III. Her legal case was solid, resting on the proximity of blood to the king, but she was rejected by the High Court of Jerusalem in favor of Hugh III of Cyprus. When Conrad died in 1268, she demanded to be crowned as his successor. Spurned yet again for Hugh, she moved to Europe and eventually sold her claim to Charles I of Anjou.