Marieta de Patras was the Greek lover of King John II of Cyprus. She bore him a son who reigned as King James III of Cyprus. She died in Padua after Venetian nobles kept her in captivity so they could control Cyprus.
She is my 13 x great-grandmother.
Marieta, also referred to as Mariette, Marietta, Mary or Marie, was born in Patras, Greece1 2. There are no records to show when she was born or who her family was. The lack of records suggests she was not born to a noble family. We don’t know her family name either.
Family
There are so few records of her that I cannot tell anything about her family except for her connection to King Jean. The earliest mention of Marieta is from 14411, when she was already Jean’s lover.
She gave birth to James II of Cyprus in 1438, 1439 or 14402 or 14412. Since James was illegitimate, she raised him until he became of age2.
Notable events
Cypriot chronicler Florio Bustron describes Marieta as “a beautiful and wise woman” and records her as King Jean’s mistress in 14411. It appears she was already in Cyprus at this time.
On 3 February 1442, King John married his second wife Helena Paloaiologina. When Helena heard about Marieta, and the pregnancy, she ordered Marietta’s nose be cut off1. Some records claim that Helena bit her nose off herself out of jealousy2. After this, Marieta became known as Coomutene or “crop nosed”2.
Since her son fought his half-sister to gain the throne, it is reasonable to conclude she lived a good life under first Jean’s, then James’ protection.
When James died on 6 July 1473, Venetian nobles took Marietta to Venice and then Padua. On 22 January 1479, the Venetian Council of Ten decided to place Marietta under the control of magister puerorum regiorum Christopher Mutius1.
Death
She died in Padua, Italy on 12 April 1503. She is buried in the church of Saint Augustine’s in Padua. Her epitaph records Marieta mater quondam Jacobi Cypri Regis (‘Marieta, once the mother of King James of Cyprus’)1.
Lineage
She is my 13 x great-grandmother.
