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 my 14 x great-grandfather.

Janus was born in the prison called ‘La Mal Paga’ in Genoa, Italy sometime in 1374 or 1375. He was the son of James I of Cyprus and Helvis of Brunswick-Grubenhagen1.

Titles

In 1392 he succeeded as titular Prince of Antioch1.

On Monday, 11 November 1399, Janus was crowned King of Cyprus and Armenia and titular King of Jerusalem in Nicosia’s Saint Sophia Cathedral2.

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

Family

Sometime in 1400 he married the Milanese Eloisa Visconti. This marriage was annulled between 1407 and 14091 2.

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 1411.

Janus and Charlotte had six children of their own3:

  • 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 is buried in the Dominican church in Nicosia, Cyprus1.

He had a further 3 children out-of-wedlock1(there is no record of the mother):

  • Aloysius of Lusignan, who became Grand Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
  • Guy of Lusignan, who was legitimised by the Pope on 13 July 1428.
  • Caterina of Lusignan, who married Galceran Suárez de los Cernadilla in 1427.
King Janus of Cyprus and his wife Charlotte
By Rama

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.

He was left 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 Genoese1.

As King, he tried to take back the Cypriot city of Famagusta which was under Genoese control. Their power in Europe had begun to fade so Janus tried to take advantage of the changing power dynamics. In 1402 he assembled a fleet to besiege Famagusta. Hostilities ended when the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitallier mediated a truce. Both parties decided to raid Muslim controlled countries instead2.

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

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

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

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 coast. In 1426, a larger force attacked and the Egyptians marched on Nicosia. Janus met them at Kherokitia where they fought on Friday, 7 July 14261 2.

The Egyptians captured King Janus and took him to Cairo in captivity1 2. On Tuesday, 11 July 1426, Nicosia was sacked. The attackers destroyed every building, stole all they could and burnt the city down2.

Janus was released after 10 months when the Knights of St John negotiated for his freedom on promise of an enormous payment, an annual tribute to Egypt and recognition of the suzerainty of the Sultan1 2.

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 this4, adding on to huge sums they’d already given to Janus’ uncle, the late King Peter I.

Death

Janus died on Thursday, 28 June 1432. We don’t know how he died.

They buried him at the monasterio delli Predicatori, i.e., the Dominican Church in Cyprus5.

Lineage

He is my 14 x great-grandfather.

  1. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; Charles Crawley; (Retrieved 2018-10-01) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  2. Reign of Janus, The; Cyprus History; (Retrieved 2018-10-23) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  3. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; Charles Crawley; (Retrieved 2018-10-01) [↩]
  4. Cipro Veneziano; Evangelia Skoufari; Rome; 2011 [↩]
  5. Cyprus; Medieval Lands; Charles Cawley; (Retrieved 2018-10-01) [↩]