The House of Lusignan was a royal house of German origin.
The Château de Lusignan ( in Lusignan , Vienne département , France ) was the ancestral seat of the House of Lusignan , Poitevin Marcher Lords , who distinguished themselves in the First Crusade and became the royal family of the Kingdom of Jerusalem , the Kingdom of Cyprus , and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia . The House of Lusignan ( [ ˈluːzᵻnjɒn ] ) was a royal house of French origin , which ruled much of Europe and the Levant , including the kingdoms of Jerusalem , Cyprus , and Armenia , from the 12th through the 15th centuries during the Middle Ages . The family originated in Poitou , near Lusignan in western France , in the early 10th century . By the end of the 11th century , the family had risen to become the most prominent petty lords in the region from their castle at Lusignan .