New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-03-18

Lusignan died in poverty at Milan, leaving an only
son named Michael. Michael earned a precarious
living as a waiter at Milan and at Florence. ana
repeatedly endeavored to ameliOrate his lot by
marrying some rich woman. About ten years ago
he addressed to the head of the marriage-llcense
bureau at the New York city hall, a remarkable
letter inviting the assistance of that official In
securing a rich American wife for "a prince OF
royal blood, Prince Michael de Luslgnan. Prince
OF Armenia, Cyprus. and Jerusalem; Comte de III
Marche, hfty-seven years of age, and without a
fortune His matrimonial designs were as fruit-
less in America as they were abroad, however,
ana he died in October, 1912, at Petrograd, In the
Oboukofsky hospital, in the utmost poverty ana
obscurity, and without leaving any heir.
With him there disappeared the sole and only per-
son who in modern times has ever been ofhclaly'
if enormously, recognized by any foreign govern
ment as entitled to bear the name of Luslgnah.
More than questionable as was his own status, he
was never tired of denouncing the soi-disahl
Prince Guy de Lusignan of Paris. and the latter's
son Leon, rs utter frauds.
With regard to this Prince Guy de Lusignan,
who persuaded a number of credulous English
and Americans into a belief in the authenticity
of his claims, and induced them to accept the
bogus orders of knighthoOd which he conferred
upon them, his real name was kalfajan. lie was
the son of an Armenian stone mason. and was ed
ucated by public charity at the Armenian mon
astery OF San LaZZaro, ut Venice.
In Paris he first gave out that he was a grandson
of the great Napoleon's famous Mameluke.
Roustan, and subsequently blossomed forth as Guy
de Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, Cyprus and Ar
menia. 1t was previous TO this that he had sue
ceeded in winning the hand and fortune of the
wealthy widow of one of the great French art
dealers. After her death, he married a rich Eng
lishwoman named Broadley; and it was on the
strength of the money thus acquired that he
adopted his royal titles and founded his ridicu.
lous orders of knighthood. These last were the
Order of Melusine. named after the legendary
ancestress of the real Lusignan family, and the
Order of st. Catherine of Mount Sinai, which was
restricted to women, and which this self-style1
King of Jerusalem had the impotence to confer
upon Miss Clara Barton, then head of the Ameri-
can Red Cross.
No sketch of the Kings of Jerusalem, past and
present, bogus and authentic, would be complete
without a mention of the dethrOned Kaiser's extra
ordinary pretensiOns TO the title. He boldly as
sumed it on the occasion of his theatrical entry
into Jerusalem in 1898. when he rode into the Holy
City arrayed in the white mantle of the crusader
sovereigns, and carrying their emblem, a cross.
In the almost b~lasphemous sermons that he
preached on the Mount of Olives and In the
Lutheran church at jerusalem, he emphasized his
claim to the kingly title once held by Frederick
II of the old German empire. At home, how
ever. he never included it in the official list Of
his multifarlOuS nOnOrS as pef1nin hulSef anu
autocrat of Prussia.
The former Kaiser was not content TO ascribe
his rights in the matter to descent from one Of
the medieval rulers of Jerusalem. He goes back
IN an epoch much more remote-to King David
of the Old Testament, whom he claims as an an
cestor. Hanging in a conspicuous position In his
uorl,room in the Neues Palais at Potsdam is, or
,ros n huge and beautifully framed genealogical
,rae showing the name of King David ut the root
o,d ,bot of the Emperor william at the top. Ac-
cordinp TO this tree, the dethrOned Kaiser Is de-
scended from King David through the eldest
1orchter of Zedekiah, who, with her sister. fled
90 Ireland in charge of the Prophet jeremiah. to
he married to Heremon. King Of Ulster.
This genealogical tree is the work of a clergy
NAN Of the Church Of England. named Glover.
10 devoted most of his life to the study of gene
alocv In 1869 he wrote to Queen Victoria. inform
- her that he had discovered her to be descended
60 an unbroken line from King David. The queen
IN, for him TO come to Windsor, and to his
orn.zement Informed him that what he thought
A.. had been the first to discover had been known
60 herself and to her late husband. the Prince
Consort, for many years.
II Is quite natural that victorias grandson, the
former Kaiser, with his intense, If somewhat curl.
ous. religious ideas, should have been deeply In
terested in this family tree. Soon after his &C.
cession to the throne of Germany he requested
his grandmother to let him have a copy. which
was sent to him handsomely engrossed and gorge.
ously framed. Its contemplation naturally tended
sovereignty.