The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1921-03-17

the Latin Emperors of COnStantinOpie had as
sumed the title of King Of Jerusalem as a herl-
tage Of his consort a princess of Navarro and
descendant of Godfrey de BouillOn
No less than four other princes besides the Ger
man Emperor Frederick II were indebted for their
title Of King of Jerusalem to their marriages with
heircsses Of the first Crusader sovereign. one oil
these fOur-JOhn of Brienne-has already been
mentioned; the other three were Henry II or
Navarro, FouIques, Duke of Anjou, and Guy de
Lusignan. Each Of the four transmitted the THU
lar sovereignty Of Jerusalem to his descendants,
Guy de Lusignan even went further, for he ac-
tually coded it In due form to the English CRU
sader monarch Richard Occur de Lion, In ll92
in exchange for the throne Of the island OF Cy-
prus Later, with utter disregard for his plighted
word he took advantage of Richards captivity In
Austria to resume the title of King of Jerusalem
which was used by all his successors on the throne
Of Cyprus.
The Lusgnan princes relgned prosperousIy in
Cyprus for nearly three hundred years, and in the
fourteenth century their house also furnished five
kings to the throne of Armenia. Their rule ended
in 14S9, when Caterlna Cornaro widow Of James
II Of Cyprus, coded her kingdom to the republic
Of Venice The remainder of her life was spent
in retirement at Asolo, In Nenetla, and with her
death the royal line of Lusignan became extinct
James ii Of Cyprus was also Duke Of Savoy
and 1t Is through him that the house Of Savoy
which now holds the throne of Italy, inherited
its claim to the title Of King of Jerusalem.
The family OF Luslgnan has had Il Yong and
checkered history 1t took its name from the town
md castle Of Lusignan, in the French department
Of Nienne, about a dozen miles to the southeast
of Potiers Both the castle and the family were
founded, according to tradition, by the fairy Mel
usnc, of the Forest Of Broceande who with
the magician Merlin figures so largely in medieval
romance and in the traditions Of French chivary
Descended from the ancient Kings Of Brittany
Aleuslue married Raymond sovereign Count of
Poltou and the children born of this union be-
cana known as the Sieurs de Lusgnan
A later s'icur de LuSlgnan, Guy by name mar
rlcd Sybil only daughter and heircss Of Amaury
one of the crusader Kings Of Jerusalem, and on
the occasion Of his wedding he was created Count
of Jana and of Ascalon. On the death Of his
fathcr-lu.law, this Guy de Lusignan was pro-
clnmcd ana crowned King of Jerusalem; hut In
1887 he was defeated by the Sultan Saladn in the
battle Of Tiberius, was taken prisoner and was
obliged to surrender Jerusalem to the Saracens
few years later, as has already been related
he became King of Cyprus.
While his descendants ruled In Cyprus the
LusIgnans who had remained in France lost both
power and prestige, and were deprived Of their
pctty domlnions. Finally the family became ex
tlnct. at any rate, in the male line.
During the reign of Nicholas | Of Russia some
Armenian agtators on the lookout for a man
who could serve preender, TO form the nu
clcus Of nationalist movement found an nd
venturer named Klenko, who wont to boast
that he had in his veins the blood Of the former
LusIgnan rulers of Cyprus of Jerusalem and Of
Armenia. They dubbed him Louis de Lusgnan
Prince OF Armenia Cyprus, and Jerusalem They
conct ct ID parchments endowing him with n nedi
gre, that traced his descent to Guy de Lusqnon
the crusader sovereign.
II suited RussIa's policy Mt the time to coun
tenance his pretensions, Klenko alias Lou,s de
Luslgnan, was invested by the Gar with the
rank of colonel in the Russian army, ana hailed
ms rrlnce-not King-of Armenia Cyprus and
Jerusalem But later the Gar declined TO have
anything further to do with him. This Louis do