Mother Catherine of Vendome | Name Charlotte Bourbon, | |
 | ||
Tenure 25 August 1411 – 15 January 1422 Burial Royal Monastery of Saint Dominic's, Nicosia Issue Jacques de Lusignan
John II of Cyprus
Unnamed twins
Anne de Lusignan
Marie de Lusignan House House of Bourbon
House of Lusignan, by marriage Father John I, Count of La Marche Died January 15, 1422, Nicosia, Cyprus Spouse Janus of Cyprus (m. 1409–1422) Children Anne of Cyprus, John II of Cyprus Parents Catherine of Vendome, John I, Count of La Marche Grandchildren Charlotte of Savoy, Bona of Savoy Similar People Anne of Cyprus, Antipope Felix V, Charlotte of Savoy, Bona of Savoy | ||
Charlotte de Bourbon (1388 – 15 January 1422) was the Queen consort of Cyprus and titular Queen consort of Armenia and Jerusalem through her marriage to King Janus of Cyprus. She was his second wife and the mother of his six legitimate children, which included King John II and Anne de Lusignan. It was Charlotte's influence which was instrumental in the revival of French culture at the royal court in Nicosia.
Contents
Family
Charlotte was born in France in 1388, one of the seven children of John I, Count of La Marche and Catherine de Vendôme. She had three brothers and three sisters. These were: James II, Count of La Marche, Louis, Count of Vendôme, Jean de Bourbon, Seigneur de Carency and de Duisant, Anne, Countess of Montpensier, Marie de Bourbon, Dame de Bréhencourt, and Isabelle de Bourbon. She also had an illegitimate half-brother by her father's relationship with a mistress.
Charlotte's paternal grandparents were James I, Count of La Marche and Jeanne de Châtillon, and her maternal grandparents were Jean VI, Count of Vendôme and Jeanne of Ponthieu.
Marriage and issue
On 25 August 1411, at Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Nicosia, Cyprus, Charlotte married as his second wife, King Janus of Cyprus and Armenia and titular King of Jerusalem. He was the son of King James I of Cyprus and Helvis of Brunswick-Grubenhagen. Janus and Charlotte had been married by proxy on 2 August 1409 in Melun, France. A document dated 10 January 1409 (Old Style) (which was actually 19 January 1410 New Style), records the arrangements for Charlotte's voyage from Venice to Cyprus. The chronicle of Amadi records the arrival in Cyprus of damisella Carlotta de Borbon, moglie de re Zegno and her marriage on 25 August 1411. Charlotte's lavish retinue which accompanied her to Cyprus included many musicians.
Janus was a member of the prominent and extensive Lusignan dynasty, which was also his family name. He had divorced his first wife, Anglesia Visconti several years earlier, and that marriage had not produced any children.
The marriage of Janus and Charlotte was described as a "cornerstone in the revitalisation of French culture in the Lusignan court that characterised Janus's rule". Following her marriage, she immediately established a socièté courtoise at the royal court at Nicosia, where French literature and music flourished.
Together Janus and Charlotte had six children:
King Janus had three illegitimate children by an unnamed mistress.
Charlotte died on 15 January 1422 of the plague. She was buried in the Royal Monastery of Saint Dominic's in Nicosia. Her many descendants included Queen Charlotte of Cyprus, Queen Jeanne III of Navarre; French Kings Charles VIII, Francis I, Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX, Henry III, Henry IV and the subsequent Bourbon kings; Anne of France, and Mary, Queen of Scots. She is also an ancestress of the current British Royal Family.