Note 261 — BOOK THE SEVENTH.

The title of the Venetians to the kingdom of Cyprus rested on the following grounds. Catharine Cornaro, the sister of Marco Cornaro, a Venetian gentleman, had married Jacopo de Lusignan, King of Cyprus, on condition that the republic of Venice should adopt her as a daughter. Two years after his marriage, on the 6th of June, 1473, the King of Cyprus died, leaving his widow pregnant of a son, who died in infancy. The Venetians thus became guardians of the kingdom, and soon rendered themselves odious to the Cypriotes, who made several attempts to shake off their yoke, but in vain. In consequence of these revolts and of a report that the queen was about to contract a new marriage, the Venetians resolved to take full possession of Cyprus: they accordingly declared that, by the decease of the heir to the crown, the queen had inherited the rights of her son, and that the republic in its turn would succeed to the rights of the queen, as she was a daughter of St. Mark. This decision was conveyed to Catherine, with orders that she should come at once to Venice, and deliver up the reins of government into the hands of the Venetians. She obeyed; and on the 26th of February, 1489, the standard of St. Mark floated over the palace of Famagosta and all the fortresses of the island.—Sismondi, x. 398.