(254)

Louis de Savoie
Comte de Genevois
(1436–82)

Biographical

Comte de Genevois 1460–82†
King Consort of Cyprus 1459–60
King Consort of Jerusalem 1459–60
King Consort of Armenia 1459–60

Louis went to Cyprus for the coronation of his wife, Charlotte, and was crowned there with her at Nicosia. Dominated by his wife, he was unpopular with the people and was considered weak. After Charlotte was deposed by her brother, Jacques de Lusignan, the couple fled to Kyrenia. The Genovese intervened to protect the couple, but the Venetians sided with Jacques. Charlotte and Louis pleaded for help from the Knights of Rhodes and Pope Pius II, but received little support. Charlotte went to Savoy in 1462, where her father-in-law, Louis I, made attempts to recover the throne. Louis remained at Kyrenia to fight with the resistance against Jacques, but in 1464, he fled in the face of defeat. With Venetian support, Jacques was crowned king. Louis subsequently made little effort to regain the throne. After his death, Charlotte continued the struggle, but was unsuccessful. In 1485 she ceded her claim to the throne to Charles I, duke of Savoy. In vain the Savoy family spent vast sums of money in its attempt to recover Cyprus for Louis, but was left with only a claim to the throne, and the incorporation of the emblem of Cyprus into their coat-of-arms. Louis and Charlotte had one unnamed son who was born and died in 1464.

Place of birth: Geneva
Place of second marriage: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Place of death: Ripaille

Son of Louis I, duc de Savoie and Princess Anne of Cyprus. He was married firstly to Princess Annabelle of Scotland from 1447 to 1448, and to Charlotte de Lusignan, Queen of Cyprus in 1459, with issue.

© 2024 The Universal Compendium