James II of Cyprus

James II of Cyprus (* 1440, † July 10, 1473 ) was from 1463 to 1473 King of Cyprus.

He was the illegitimate son of King John II and Marietta of Patras.

He was the favorite of his father, in 1456, 16 years old, made ​​him archbishop of Nicosia. After Jacob had murdered the king's eunuchs, that he was deposed and fled to Rhodes. His father forgave him and gave him back the Archdiocese.

1458 his father died and his half-sister Charlotte became Queen of Cyprus. 1460 Jacob called the throne of her and laid siege to her and her husband for three years in the castle of Kyrenia. When Charlotte fled to Rome in 1463, Jacob was crowned king.

He was married to the Venetian Caterina Cornaro, but died a few months after the wedding. There were rumors he had been poisoned by Venetian agents, possibly from relatives of Catherine. When his posthumously born son, Jacob, died before completing his first year of life, Catherine was first regent and then the last queen of Cyprus. In 1489 she was forced to abdicate in Venice; Cyprus was therefore up to the conquest by the Ottomans in 1571, a Venetian colony.

James II left an illegitimate son, Eugene Matteo de Armenia (1474-1523), Baron of Baccari ( Tel - Baqqar ) in Malta.

Fiction

The power struggle between Jacob and Charlotte is a central topic in Dorothy Dunnett's novel game of scorpions.

• King (Cyprus)
• Titular (Armenia )
• Roman Catholic Bishop ( 15th Century )
• House Auvergne Poitou
• House of Lusignan
• Born in the 15th century
• Died 1473
• Man