Janus of Cyprus

Janus of Cyprus was a King of Cyprus and the titular King of Armenian Cilicia and Jerusalem. He was born in captivity in Genoa.

He is one of my maternal 14 x great-grandfathers.

Janus was born in the prison called ‘La Mal Paga’ in Genoa, Italy sometime in 1374 or 1375¹. He was the son of James I of Cyprus and Helvis of Brunswick-Grubenhagen² ³.

Titles

In 1392 he succeeded as titular Prince of Antioch⁴.

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On Monday, 11 November 1399, they crowned Janus King of Cyprus and Armenia and titular King of Jerusalem in Nicosia’s Saint Sophia Cathedral⁵.

Family

Sometime in 1400 he married the Milanese Eloisa Visconti⁶. He annulled the marriage between 1407 and 1409⁷ ⁸ ⁹.

A photo of the Siberia Gate - Genoa, Italy — *Siberia Gate, near the Mala Paga prison – Genoa, Italy*

On Wednesday, 2 August 1409, he married Charlotte de Bourbon by proxy. She was the daughter of Jean de Bourbon and his wife Catherine Countess de Vendôme. They married in person at the Santa Sophia Cathedral in Nicosia on Sunday, 25 August 1411¹⁰ ¹¹.

Janus and Charlotte had six children of their own¹²:

James of Lusignan, who died before 1416.
John, who became King John II of Cyprus.
Anne of Lusignan, who married the Duke of Savoy.
Mary of Lusignan, who died in 1437.
Twins, born on 7 November 1415 but there is no record of their name.

Charlotte died of the plague on Tuesday, 15 January 1422 and they buried her in the Dominican church in Nicosia, Cyprus¹³.

He had a further 3 children out-of-wedlock¹⁴(there is no record of the mother):

A photo of the Crucifixion fresco in the Lusignan Chapelle Royale Ayia Ekaterina in Pyrga, Cyprus — *King Janus I de Lusignan and Queen Charlotte de Bourbon – from the Crucifixion fresco in the Lusignan Chapelle Royale Ayia Ekaterina in Pyrga, Cyprus*

Aloysius of Lusignan, who became Grand Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
Guy of Lusignan, who the Pope legitimised on 13 July 1428.
Caterina of Lusignan, who married Galceran Suárez de los Cernadilla in 1427.

Notable events

Before he was born, the Genoese had taken his parents captive in Rhodes. Janus, and each of his 11 siblings, were all born in prison in Genoa. His mother named him Janus after the god of the same name who, according to legend, founded Genoa.

A photo of the stained glass in the chapel of Vendôme - Chartres, France — *The stained glass in the chapel of Vendôme – Chartres, France*

They left him in Genoa while his parents travelled to Cyprus with two of his brothers. He stayed in prison until 1390 while his father negotiated with the Genoese¹⁵.

As King, he tried to take back the Cypriot city of Famagusta which was under Genoese control¹⁶. Their power in Europe had begun to fade so Janus tried to take advantage of the changing power dynamics¹⁷. In 1402 he assembled a fleet to besiege Famagusta¹⁸. Hostilities ended when the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitallier mediated a truce¹⁹. Both parties decided to raid Muslim controlled countries instead²⁰.

The Genoese remained in Cyprus until Janus’ great-grandson, King James the Bastard, expelled them.

A photo of the Mala Paga walls - Genoa, Italy — *The Mala Paga walls – Genoa, Italy*

Cyprus was an awful place in Janus’ reign. In 1408, there were plagues of locusts which affected agriculture and led to rebellions²¹.

Besides these disasters, the island was still a haven for pirates who Janus could not stop. Muslims attacked Cyprus to eradicate the pirates, as did the Sultan of Egypt. In 1425, the Egyptian Marmeluk fleet appeared off the coast of Cyprus and ravaged Larnaca and Limassol on the southern coast²² ²³. In 1426, a larger force attacked and the Egyptians marched on Nicosia²⁴ ²⁵. Janus met them at Kherokitia where they fought on Friday, 7 July 1426²⁶ ²⁷ ²⁸.

The Egyptians captured King Janus and took him to Cairo in captivity²⁹ ³⁰. On Tuesday, 11 July 1426, they sacked Nicosia. The attackers destroyed every building, stole all they could and burnt the city down³¹.

They released Janus after 10 months when the Knights of St John negotiated for his freedom³² ³³ ³⁴. In return, Janus had to promise an enormous payment, an annual tribute to Egypt and recognise the Sultan’s suzerainty³⁵ ³⁶ ³⁷.

Given the awful situation in Cyprus, it’s strange to see that Cairo received “an enormous payment”. This happened because the Cornaro family – a noble Venetian family – continued its strategic plan to buy influence with Cypriot royalty. They lent him the money for this³⁸, adding on to huge sums they’d already given to Janus’ uncle, the late King Peter I.

Representations in art

In 1417, his father-in-law immortalised him in the stained glass window of Chartres’ cathedral’s chapel of Vendôme.

In 1421, he ordered the construction of the royal chapel of St Catherine in the village of Pyrga, Cyprus³⁹. He and his wife, Charlotte, are depicted kneeling before the Crucifixion in a fresco painted on the east wall of the chapel⁴⁰. The painting contains lots of imagery related to the royal house of Lusignan⁴¹.

A photo of the chapel of Vendôme - Chartres, France — *The chapel of Vendôme – Chartres, France*

Death

Janus died on Thursday, 28 June 1432⁴² ⁴³ ⁴⁴. He was ill and had a stroke which had left him paralysed in bed for a whole year, causing rumours of poisoning⁴⁵.

On 30 June 1432⁴⁶, they buried him at the monasterio delli Predicatori, i.e., the Dominican Church in Cyprus⁴⁷ ⁴⁸.