Kingdom of Cyprus - Pretenders of The Kingdom of Cyprus

Pretenders of The Kingdom of Cyprus

• Eugene Matteo de Armenia (148?–1523), said by his own progeny to have been an illegitimate son of King James II of Cyprus and if born in the 1480s he was quite a posthumous specimen, alleged to have moved to Sicily then Malta, founder of the family of Baron di Baccari (Tal-Baqqar).
• Charlotte (d 1487) and Louis (d 1482), queen and king-consort, continued as pretenders, Charlotte renounced 1482 in favor of:
• Charles I of Savoy (1482–90), legitimate great-grandson of Janus of Cyprus, son of a first cousin of Charlotte, second cousin of James III, nephew of Louis
• Charles II of Savoy (1490–96)
• Yolande Louise of Savoy (1496–99) and Philibert II of Savoy (d 1504)
  • Philip II of Savoy (1496–97), father of Philibert II, great-uncle of Charles II and of Yolande Louise, first cousin of Charlotte, grandson of Janus of Cyprus.
• and several others. The rights diverted de jure, but were claimed by the male line. See further under Cypriot claimants under Kings of Jerusalem. By 1476, the various claims were so diverse and weak that various monarchs sought former Cypriot queens to cede them their rights. Even the Republic of Venice briefly entertained the idea of setting up Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, the brother-in-law of England's King Edward IV (who was secretly negotiating a marriage to the Scottish princess Cecilia on Anthony's behalf), as a claimant by purchasing the rights of former Cypriot queens Charlotte and Catarina Cornaro. A convention in Venice of 1476 declared "Anthony Arnite" heir to the combined kingdom of Jerusalem-Cyprus but this came to nought when Anthony died before even his marriage to the sister of James Stewart, King of Scots could be celebrated, and the former Cypriot queens ceded their rights elsewhere. Charlotte to the Italian house of Savoy and Catarina Cornaro to the Republic of Venice which asserted its claim to the kingdom as a republic, without even a candidate for king.