John II of Cyprus
{{Short description|King of Cyprus from 1432 to 1458}}
{{infobox royalty
| name = John II
| succession = King of Cyprus
| reign = 29 June 1432 – 28 July 1458
| predecessor = Janus
| successor = Charlotte
| house = Poitiers-Lusignan
| father = Janus, King of Cyprus
| mother = Charlotte of Bourbon
| spouse = Amadea Palaiologina of Montferrat
Helena Palaiologina
| issue = {{plainlist|
- King James II (illeg.)
- Queen Charlotte
- Princess Cleopha}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1418|5|16|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|1458|7|28|1418|5|16|df=y}}
| death_place =
}}
John II or III of Cyprus (16 May 1418 – 28 July 1458) was the King of Cyprus and Armenia and also titular King of Jerusalem from 1432 to 1458. He was previously a titular Prince of Antioch.
History
Born 16 May 1418 in Nicosia, John was the son of king Janus of Cyprus and Charlotte of Bourbon.{{sfn|Murray|2006|p=687}} In May, sometime between 1435 and 1440, he married Amadea Palaiologina of Monferrato, daughter of John Jacob Palaiologos, Marquess of Montferrat. They had no children. His second wife, a distant relative of his first, was Helena Palaiologina,{{sfn|Samson|Demetriou|2015|p=9}} only child and daughter of Theodore II Palaiologos, Despot of the Morea, and his wife Cleofa Malatesta
By his second marriage he had:
- Charlotte, Queen of Cyprus, married Prince John of Antioch.{{sfn|Boustronios|2005|p=48}} She died childless
- Cleopha of Lusignan, died young
John died in Nicosia on 28 July 1458 and his daughter Charlotte succeeded to the throne. During his rule, Corycus, the only Cypriot stronghold in mainland Anatolia, was lost to the Karamanids in 1448.
John had an illegitimate son by Marietta de Patras{{sfn|Letts|2017|p=252}}
- James II, King of Cyprus{{sfn|Letts|2017|p=252}}
John appointed James, Archbishop of Nicosia at the age of 16. James did not prove ideal archbishop material, and was stripped of his title after murdering the royal chamberlain. His father eventually forgave him and restored him to the Archbishopric. James and Helena were enemies, vying for influence over John. After Helena died in 1458, it appeared that John would appoint James as his successor, but John died before he could make it so.
File:Coat of Arms of the House of Lusignan (Kings of Armenia).svg
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book |title=A Narrative of the Chronicle of Cyprus: 1456-1489 |first=Georgios |last=Boustronios |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2005 }}
- {{cite book |title=The Pilgrimage of Arnold Von Harff, Knight, from Cologne: Through Italy, Syria, Egypt, Arabia, Ethiopia, Nubia, Palestine, Turkey, France and Spain, which He Accomplished in the Years 1496-1499 |editor-first=Malcolm |editor-last=Letts |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2017 }}
- {{cite book |title=The Crusades: An Encyclopedia |volume=2 |editor-first=Alan V. |editor-last=Murray |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2006 }}
- {{cite book |title=Music in Cyprus |editor-first1=Jim |editor-last1=Samson |editor-first2=Nicoletta |editor-last2=Demetriou |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Limited |year=2015 }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef | rows=2| before = Janus }}
{{s-ttl | title = King of Cyprus
| years = 1432–1458 }}
{{s-aft | rows=2| after = Charlotte }}
|-
{{s-tul | title = King of Jerusalem
King of Armenian Cilicia
| years = 1432–1458 }}
{{s-end}}
{{Cypriot Monarchs}}
{{Antioch Monarchs}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:John 02 Of Cyprus}}
Category:Kings of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
Category:15th-century Cypriot people