John II or
III of Cyprus (
Nicosia, May 16, 1414 –
Nicosia, July 28, 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. In May, 1435/1440 he married Aimee or Amadea Palaeologus of Montferrat (August 3, 1429 –
Nicosia, September 13, 1440), Queen of Cyprus, Titular Queen of Jerusalem and Armenia, daughter of
John Jacob,
Marquess of Montferrat, without issue. His second wife, a distant relative of his first one, married in
Nicosia, 1441 or February 3, 1442 was
Helena Palaiologina (1428 – April 11, 1458), only child and daughter of
Theodore II Palaeologus,
Despot of Morea and his wife
Cleofa Malatesta. Theodore was a son of
Eastern Roman Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus and
Helena Dragaš and the brother of the last two
Eastern Roman Emperor,
John VIII Palaeologus and
Constantine XI Palaeologus. By his second marriage he had two daughters:
- Cleopha de Lusignan, died young
Upon the death of John II, his only surviving legitimate child
Charlotte succeeded to the throne.
John had an illegitimate son by Marietta de Patras,
James, whom he appointed Archbishopic of
Nicosia at the young 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 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.
He was the last direct legitimate male descendant of
Raymond of Antioch, an illegitimate son of
William IX of Aquitaine.
Category:1458 deathsCategory:Roman Catholic monarchsCategory:Kings of CyprusCategory:Monarchs of ArmeniaCategory:Claimant Kings of JerusalemCategory:1418 birthsde:Johann II. (Zypern)fr:Jean II de Chypreit:Giovanni II di Cipronl:Jan II van Cypruspl:Jan II Cypryjskiru:Иоанн II (король Кипра)
