1. Artemide Aste
  2. Artemide LVII (30 Aprile - 1 Maggio 2022)
  3. Oriente Latino
The Last Ruler of Lusignan Kingdom
Lot 730:
Cyprus. Catherine Cornaro, Second Sole Reign (1474-1489). AR Gros, third type. D/ Queen standing facing on small throne, holds scepter in right, crucifer orb in left hand; to left, S; to right P. R/ Cross of Jerusalem, square in center. Malloy 171; Schl. -; cf. pl. VII, 26; Metcalf -; cf. 813. AR. 3.42 g. 25.00 mm. RR. Very rare. Unusual complete flan, fully readable. Good VF. Caterina became monarch when James III died in August 1474 before his first birthday, probably from illness, even if it was rumored that he had been poisoned by Venice or Charlotte's partisans. The kingdom had long since declined, and had been a tributary state of the Mameluks since 1426. Under Caterina, who ruled Cyprus from 1474 to 1489, the island was controlled by Venetian merchants. In 1488 the republic, fearing that Sultan Bayezid II intended to attack Cyprus, and having also discovered a plot to marry Caterina to Alfonso II of Naples decided to recall the queen to Venice and formally annex the island. On 14 March 1489 she was forced to abdicate and sell the administration of the country to the Republic of Venice. The last Crusader state became a colony of Venice, and as compensation, Catherine was allowed to retain the title of queen and was made lady of Asolo, a county on the Terraferma of the Republic of Venice in the Veneto region, in 1489. Asolo soon gained a reputation as a court of literary and artistic distinction, mainly as a result of it being the fictitious setting for Pietro Bembo's platonic dialogues on love, Gli Asolani. Caterina lived in Asolo until 1509, when the League of Cambrai sacked the town, then fled to Venice where she lived for another year, dying on July 10, 1510.
Start price € 3000
Current price € 4800
Bids: 10
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