Marietta de Patras (died 12 April 1503) was the Greek mistress of King John II of Cyprus and the mother of his illegitimate son King

James II of Cyprus James II (french: Jacques; c. 1438/1439 or c. 1440 – 10 July 1473) was the penultimate King of Cyprus (usurper), reigning from 1463 until his death. Archbishop of Nicosia James was born in Nicosia as the illegitimate son of John II of Cypru ...

. Shortly after King John's marriage to

Helena Palaiologina Helena Palaiologina ( el, ; 3 February 1428 – 11 April 1458) was a Byzantine princess of the Palaiologos family, who became Queen of Cyprus and Armenia, titular Queen consort of Jerusalem, and Princess of Antioch through her marriage to King ...

, the new Queen ordered that Marietta's nose be cut off.Charles Cawley, ''Medieval Lands, Cyprus'' Following the death of her son, she was taken 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 ...

where she was kept in semi-captivity.

King's mistress

Marietta was born on an unknown date in

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. It is not known when she arrived in

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 ...

, however, she became the mistress of King John II of Cyprus before 1438. The ''Chronicle'' of

Florio Bustron Florio Bustron (1500s - post-1568, perhaps 1570), was a 16th century administrator, jurist and historian. Florio became a prominent administrative figure when Cyprus was under Venetian rule. He came from a family possibly of Syrian origin, with ...

describes her as having been "very beautiful and prudent". Together King John and Marietta had one son, King

(1439/1440- 10 July 1473), who reigned in 1463-1473. He married

Catherine Cornaro Catherine Cornaro ( el, Αικατερίνη Κορνάρο, vec, Catarina Corner) (25 November 1454 – 10 July 1510) was the last monarch of the Kingdom of Cyprus, also holding the titles of the Queen of Jerusalem and Armenia. She was queen ...

in 1472, by whom he had one posthumous son,

James III of Cyprus James III of Cyprus (or Jacques III de Lusignan) (6 July 1473 – 26 August 1474) was the only child by the marriage of James II of Cyprus and Catherine Cornaro. He died in mysterious circumstances as an infant, leaving his mother as the last Q ...

; he also had four illegitimate children by an unnamed mistress. In February 1442, King John married his second wife, the fourteen-year-old

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

princess Helena Palaiologina. His first wife

Amadea Palaiologina of Monferrato Amadea Palaiologina of Monferrato (1418–1440), was a queen consort of Cyprus, wife of king John II of Cyprus. Amadea was the daughter of John Jacob, Marquess of Montferrat and Joanna of Savoy, daughter of Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy. On 3 July 1 ...

had died childless in September 1440. Upon being apprised of the existence of Marietta and her son, Queen Helena ordered that Marietta's nose was to be cut off. Queen Helena continued her enmity towards James. In 1456, he was appointed

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaori ...

, an act which enraged her. When he murdered Iacopo Urri, the Royal Chamberlain on 1 April 1457 and escaped to the island of

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 S ...

after having been removed from office, the King pardoned him and restored him to his

archbishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

which further angered the Queen. In 1458, both King John and Queen Helena died. The crown of Cyprus passed to John's only surviving daughter by Helena,

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, who reigned as

Queen regnant A queen regnant (plural: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank and title to a king, who reigns '' suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a "kingdom"; as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigni ...

. James, however, challenged her right to occupy the throne, and with the help of the

Mameluk 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'') ...

Sultan of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, James forced Charlotte to flee Cyprus, and in 1463, he was crowned king. In 1468, King James gave Marietta the villages of

Pano Kivides Pano Kivides ( gr, Πάνω Κυβίδες) is a village in the Limassol District of Cyprus, located 10 km north of Erimi Erimi is a village lying partly in the Limassol District of Cyprus and partly in the British Overseas Territory of Akrot ...

Lysos Lysos ( gr, Λυσός) is a village in Cyprus, about 36 kilometres from Paphos. The population was 160 in 2001. Being the largest in area of the villages of Cyprus, Lysos covers an area of approximately 10,000 acres in the province of Paphos. Bui ...

Peristerona Peristerona (Greek: Περιστερώνα) is a large village about 32 kilometres west of the capital Nicosia, on the foothills of the Troodos Mountain range in the Morphou basin. It is built on the west bank of the river that bears the same na ...

, and Pelathousa as gifts.''Pano Kivides Community Council, History'', retrieved on 19 June 2009

Captivity in Venice

When James died on 10 July 1473, Marietta was taken to Venice and thence to

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, where she was placed in semi-captivity. A decision of the

Council of Ten The Council of Ten ( it, Consiglio dei Dieci; vec, Consejo de i Diexe), or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to i ...

of Venice dated 22 January 1479 records that Marietta was placed under the control of ''magister puerorum regiorum'' Christopher Mutius. Marietta herself died on 12 April 1503 at Padua. She was buried in the church of Saint Augustine's. An epitaph records the death of ''Marieta mater quondam Jacobi Cypri Regis''. Through her son's illegitimate children, she has numerous descendants in the 21st century.

References

;Sources * Charles Cawley,
Medieval Lands, Cyprus
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Patras, Marietta De 1503 deaths 15th-century Greek people People of the Kingdom of Cyprus Royal mistresses People from Patras Year of birth unknown 15th-century Greek women