Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1921-03-18

the Latin Emperors of ConstantinopIe, had as
sumed the title of King of Jerusalem as heri-
tage of his consort, a princess of Navarro and q
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
heiresses Of the first Crusader sovereign. One OF
these four-John Of Brienne-has already Deen
mentioned; the other three Henry IL OF
Navarro FOulques, Duke of Anjou, and Guy de
Iusignan. Each of the four transmitted the THU
lar sovereignty Of Jerusalem to his descendants
Guy de Lusignan even went further, for he &C
tually coded it in due form to the English Cru
sader monarch, Richard Occur de Lion, in 1872,
in exchange for the throne of the island of Cy-
prus. Later, with utter disregard for his pighted
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 Lusignan princes reigned prosperously 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 1889, when Caterina 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 Venetia, and with her
death the royal line of Lusignan became extinct
James II of Cyprus was also Duke of Savoy,
and it 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 Lusgnan has had hong and
checkered history. 1t took its name from the town
and castle of Lusignan, in the French department
of Vienne, about dozen miles to the southeast
of Potiers. Both the castle and the family were
founded according to tradition, by the fairy Mel
usine of the Forest of Broceliande, who with
the magician Merlin figures so largely in medieval
romance and in the traditions of French chivalry.
Descended from the ancient Kings of Brittany,
Melusine married Raymond, sovereign Count of
Poitou and the children born of this union be-
came known the Sieurs de Lusignan.
A later Sieur de Lusignan, Guy by name, mar
ried Sybil, only daughter and heress of Amaury,
one Of the crusader Kings of Jerusalem, and
the occasion of his wedding he was created Count
of Jaffa and of Ascalon. On the death of his
father-in-law, this Guy de Lusignan was pro-
claimed and crowned King of Jerusalem; but in
1857 he was defeated by the Sultan Saladin in the
battle of Liberals, taken prisoner, and was
obliged to surrender Jerusalem to the Saracens.
a few years later, 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
petty dominons Finally the family became ex-.
tinct at any rate, in the male line.
During the reign of Nicholas I of Russia some
Armenian agitators, the lookout for man
who could serve as pretender, to form the nu-
ceus of a nationalist movement, found an adj
yenturer named KenkO who was wont to boast
that he had in his veins the blood of the former
Lusgnan rulers of Cyprus, of Jerusalem and Of
Armenia They dubbed him Louis de Lusignan
Prince of Armenia, Cyprus, and Jerusalem They
concocted parchments endOwing him with q pedi.
gree that traced his descent to Guy de Lusignan,
the crusader sovereign.
It suited Russia's policy, at the time, to coun.
tenance his pretensions. Klenko, alias Louis de
Lusgnan was invested by the Gar with the
rank of colonel in the Russian army, and hailed
as Prince-not King-Of Armenia, Cyprus and
Jerusalem. But later the Car declined to have
anything further tc do with him. This Louis de