King Jean, or John, II was King of Cyprus who left an illegitimate heir which caused the reign of Kings of Cyprus to die out at the hands of the Venetians.

He is my 13 x great-grandfather.

Jean, or John, was born on Monday, 16 May 1414 in Nicosia, Cyprus^{1 2}. He was the son of King Janus of Cyprus and Charlotte of Bourbon^{1 2 3}.

He was an effeminate man, and tall for his age². His legs were so fat, his ankles were the same size as his thighs².

Titles

On Sunday, 12 May 1416, he became Prince of Antioch¹.

On Tuesday, 14 August 1432^{2 3 4 5}, he succeeded his father as King Jean II of Cyprus. Brother Solomon crowned him on Friday, 24 August in Santa Sophia, Nicosia⁵.

Family

He married Amadea Palaiologina of Montferrat by proxy on 23 December 1437² or on Friday, 17 April 1440^{1 3}. She later travelled to Cyprus, on 27 May 1440², and they married in person on Sunday, 3 July 1440^{1 2 5} in the Hagia Sophia in Nicosia.

Amadea died after two months on Sunday, 13 September 1440^{1 2}.

John II married the Greek Helena Palaiologina, daughter of the despot of Morea⁴, in 1441⁴ or on Thursday, 3 February 1442^{1 3 5}. Together, they had two daughters¹:

• Charlotte, who married Prince John of Portugal, the Duke of Coimbra⁴.
• Cleopha who died in infancy.

John II also had an illegitimate son, James, by Mary or Marietta from Patras^{1 2}.

Morea was the medieval name for the Peloponnesian peninsula, which is also where Patras is. John must have had a thing for women from this part of the world!

Death

He died in Nicosia, Cyprus on Saturday, 24 July¹ or Monday, 26 July^{1 2} or Wednesday, 28 July 1458^{1 3 4 6 5}.

We don’t know why he died but he was of unsound mind towards the end of his life¹. They held his funeral on 3 August². They buried him in the Nicosia Dominican Church^{1 3}.

Lineage

Jean is my 13 x great-grandfather.

Get in touch!

Do you have any other information about this person? Would you like to ask me something about my research? I’d love to hear from you!

References

1. Medieval Lands; Charles Crawley; (Retrieved 2018-04-25) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. A History of Cyprus; Sir George Francis Hill; Cambridge University Press; 2010-11[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. List of Cypriot sovereigns; Royal Tombs; (Retrieved 2024-05-21) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia; As observed by author; 2022-04-10[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
5. The Manuscript Torino J.II.9: A late medieval perspective on musical life and culture at the court of the Lusignian kings at Nicosia; Andrée Giselle Simard; University of Akron; 2005-12[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
6. Cipro Veneziano; Evangelia Skoufari; Rome; 2011 [↩]