Catherine Cornaro

Catherine Cornaro was Queen of Cyprus from 1474 - 1489.

Married to James III, she became Queen when James died in 1474. The kingdom had long since declined, and had been a tributary state of the Mameluks from 1426. Under Catherine, the island was controlled by Venetian merchants, and in 1489 she was forced to abdicate. The last Crusader State became a colony of Venice, and Catherine, the last ruler from the Lusignan dynasty, died in 1510.