John of Ibelin often called John II, was the Lord of Beirut from 1254, named after his grandfather John I

John of Ibelin, the Old Lord of Beirut

John of Ibelin , called the Old Lord of Beirut, was a powerful crusader noble in the 13th century, one of the best known representatives of the influential Ibelin family...

, the famous "Old Lord of Beirut". His parents were Balian of Ibelin

Balian of Beirut

Balian of Ibelin was the Lord of Beirut, the second of his family, from 1236, and a son of the famous "Old Lord" John of Ibelin, by his second wife Melisende of Arsuf. From his father he assumed the leadership of the nobility in the War of the Lombards, fought against the agents of the Emperor...

 and Eschiva de Montfaucon, daughter of Walter de Montfaucon de Montbéliard and Bourgogne de Lusignan of Cyprus.

In 1258, by "manipulat[ing] the complex regency laws", John and his compatriot John of Jaffa, succeeded in aligning the feudatories of Jerusalem

Vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

The Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, created in 1099, was divided into a number of smaller seigneuries.-Introduction:According to the 13th century jurist John of Ibelin the four highest barons in the kingdom proper were:* the Count of Jaffa and Ascalon...

 with the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

 against that of Genoa

Republic of Genoa

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

 in the War of Saint Sabas

War of Saint Sabas

The War of Saint Sabas or San Saba was a conflict between the Mediterranean maritime republics of Genoa and Venice .The war began when the Venetians were evicted from Tyre in 1256 and war grew out of a dispute concerning land in Acre then...

. He took part in a very large raid alongside the Templars

Knights Templar

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

 into Galilee

Galilee

Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

 in 1260. They were defeated at the camp near Tiberias in a route by some Turcomen

Turkmen people

The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...

 and John was taken captive along with John of Gibelet, James Vidal, and Thomas Bérard

Thomas Bérard

Thomas Bérard was the 20th Grand Master of the Knights Templar, from 1256 to 1273. He wrote several letters to the King Henry III of England describing miserable situation in the Holy Land. He initiated cooperation with other two military orders since there had been much rivalry among them before...

, Grand Master of the Knights Templar. His ransom alone was 20,000 bezants.

He married Alice de la Roche sur l'Ognon

Alice de la Roche

Alice de la Roche, Lady of Beirut, Regent of Beirut was the wife of John II of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut, in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. She was a daughter of Guy I, Lord of Athens. Alice is sometimes referred to as Alice of Athens...

, by whom he had two daughters: Isabelle d'Ibelin and Eschive d'Ibelin

Eschive d'Ibelin (1253-1312)

Eschive d'Ibelin was the daughter of Jean d'Ibelin , lord of Beirut, and of Alice de la Roche sur l'Ognon.She became lady of Beirut on the death of her sister Isabelle d'Ibelin in 1282.-Marriages and children:...

.