Juan Tafures or Tafurer (died after 1477) was a Catalan adventurer in the mid fifteenth century. Owner of a merchant ship, Juan landed at

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

in July 1457 when James de Lusignan, bastard son of

John II of Cyprus John II or III of Cyprus (16 May 1418 – 28 July 1458) was the King of Cyprus and Armenia and also titular King of Jerusalem from 1432 to 1458. He was previously a titular Prince of Antioch. History Born 16 May 1418 in Nicosia, John was the ...

and

Archbishop of Nicosia The Latin Catholic archdiocese of Nicosia was created during the Crusades, Crusades (1095-1487) in Cyprus; later becoming titular. According to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' 31 Latin archbishops served beginning in 1196, shortly after the conquest ...

, was fleeing his father, for he had murdered the royal

Chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

. Juan gave him ship to

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

. Juan then joined in with him, now deprived of the archbishopric, in his fight against

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

for the throne of Cyprus. They reconquered the island by September 1460. An intimate of the new king, James became master of the royal household and captain of

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...

. In 1469, James named him

Count of Tripoli The count of Tripoli was the ruler of the County of Tripoli, a crusader state from 1102 through 1289. Of the four major crusader states in the Levant, Tripoli was created last. The history of the counts of Tripoli began with Raymond IV of Toulou ...

, a titular dignity, since Tripoli was under the control of the

Mamluks Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...

. It was with this latter title that he appears in 1473 executing the will of the king. Under the reign of James' successor,

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

, Juan violently led the opposition to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. He managed to escape their grasp, but his family was carted off to Venice (1477). After that date, his fate is unknown.

References

Counts of Tripoli {{europe-noble-stub