
Louisa de Lusignan was a 12th century French Hospitaller crusader knight who fought in the Levant during the Crusades. She served at the Battle of Hattin and in the Siege of Acre, but she decided to remain in the Holy Land after falling in love with the Christian Ayyubid soldier Issa al-Awwam.
Biography[]

Louisa in Acre
Louisa de Lusignan was born in the Kingdom of France to a Christian family, and she joined the Knights Hospitaller and served in the Holy Land. In 1185, she visited England, where she met King Richard the Lionheart and Queen Berengaria of Navarre and entertained the royal household's children. In 1187, just before the Battle of Hattin, she was caught bathing in Lake Tiberias by the Ayyubid soldier Issa al-Awwam, and she revealed that she was a crusader and had him turn around as she got dressed. She then shot him in the shoulder with an arrow and told him that it was a message to the Muslims, and she warned him that, the next time they met, she would shoot him in the heart. Sure enough, she was captured in the ensuing battle, and Issa decided to make her a household servant with the intent of marrying her; she was surprised to discover that Issa was a fellow Christian. Louisa refused to serve as his slave, and she joined the other ransomed crusader knights in leaving the city, despite Issa's attempts to convince her that the Arab Christians were better Christians than the European invaders (as the Europeans only sought profit, saw religion as a trade, and tried to take what he believed was not rightfully theirs). This last conversation persuaded Louisa to retire from fighting and devote her life to nursing instead. Louisa later served at the Siege of Acre, where she took care of Issa after he was wounded by her fellow Crusaders. Upon seeing him near death, she had a change of heart about him. When Richard the Lionheart's army made peace with Saladin, she decided to stay behind and join Issa rather than ride off with the crusading army.