Queen Charlotte of Cyprus lost her throne to her father's illegitimate son and signed her crowns of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia over to Savoy

King John II of Cyprus died in July 1458, and the Cypriot nobility backed his legitimate daughter, Charlotte. On 10 October 1458 her marriage to Louis of Savoy was concluded. Her half-brother James, the late king's illegitimate son, went to Cairo and won the support of the Mamluk sultan Inal, who sent a fleet of 80 ships and 650 royal guards. In late summer 1460 James landed near Famagusta and proclaimed himself King James II. The Mamluks took the main cities. Charlotte and her husband held the royal fortress of Kyrenia until about 1463, while she sailed to Rhodes to ask the Knights Hospitaller for help. She then went into exile in Rome and Rhodes. James II ruled until his death in 1473. His widow, Caterina Cornaro, held the island until 1489, when she handed it to the Republic of Venice. On 25 February 1485 Charlotte ceded her rights to Charles I, Duke of Savoy, her husband's nephew, and his heirs. The deed was signed in St Peter's in the Vatican, and a copy is in the State Archives in Turin. Her titles included the crown of Armenia, which had passed to the Cypriot kings from Levon V (story 10). She died in Rome in 1487. Venice kept its claim to Cyprus until 1797. The House of Savoy, later kings of Sardinia and of Italy, added the arms of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia to its own and used the title King of Jerusalem, Cyprus and Armenia until 1946.