Valentina Visconti, Queen of Cyprus

Valentina Visconti
Queen consort of Cyprus
Tenure	1378–1382
Born	Milan, Italy
Died	1393
Spouse	Peter II of Cyprus
House	House of Visconti (by birth) House of Lusignan (by marriage)
Father	Bernabò Visconti
Mother	Beatrice Regina della Scala

Valentina Visconti (died 1393) was a noblewoman, the daughter of Bernabò Visconti and his wife Beatrice Regina della Scala. She was Queen consort of Cyprus and titular Queen consort of Jerusalem.

Early life and family

Valentina was born in Milan and was the eleventh of seventeen children of a cruel and ruthless despot, and an implacable enemy of the Catholic Church.

Marriage

In 1363, King Peter I of Cyprus was visiting Milan, Valentina's father Bernabò promised Peter that his daughter would marry Peter's son the future Peter II of Cyprus. The first choice of Peter's marriage would have been to a daughter of John V Palaiologos; this suggestion was rejected for political reasons, since the Latins did not encourage the marriage of Peter to a Greek princess. The justification that was given to the Palaiologos messengers was that the king was busy with the dangers that threatened Cyprus because of the Genoese invasion of the island.

In 1373, Valentina was about to leave to Milan for Cyprus to marry Peter, but the wedding had to be postponed because of fighting between Cyprus and the Genoese.

In September 1377, the marriage was performed by proxy.^[1] The bride left Milan the following year.

Peter and Valentina had one daughter who died at the age of two in Nicosia in 1382.^[2]

It is known that Valentina did not get along with her mother-in-law Eleanor of Aragon ^[3] due to her being involved in many issues and scandals.

To prevent more problems between the two Peter had Eleanor sent back to her homeland of Catalonia, which she protested.

Widowhood

On 13 October 1382, Valentina was widowed. Cyprus tried to obtain a regent for their daughter and thus the government of the kingdom, and Valentina wished to take up this post. Even her mother-in-law Eleanor of Aragon had been regent to Peter when he was a minor. However, Valentina's daughter died along with all hopes of a regency. Cyprus should have gone to his sister Margaret and her children but it instead went to Peter's uncle, James I.

Some sources report that Valentina remarried in 1383, taking as her second husband a Count Galeazzo ^[4]

Queen Valentina died in 1393.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Valentina Visconti, Queen of Cyprus

Teobaldo Visconti               Matteo I Visconti, Lord of Milan                       Anastasia Pirovana               Stefano Visconti, Lord of Milan                             Squarcina Borri               Violante Bonacosa Borri                       Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan                                   Brancaleone Doria               Barnabo Doria, Captain of Genoa                       Caterina Zancha               Valentina Doria                             Federico Fieschi, Lord of Genoa               Eliana Fieschi                       Chiara N.               Valentina Visconti                                         Alberto I della Scala, Lord of Verona               Alboino I della Scala, Lord of Verona                       Verde di Salizzole               Mastino II della Scala                             Gilberto III da Correggio, Lord of Parma               Beatrice da Correggio                       Elena Malaspina               Beatrice Regina della Scala                                   Marsiglio III da Carrara               Jacopo I da Carrara                       N.N. di Carturo               Taddea da Carrara                             Pietro Gradenigo, Doge of Venice               Anna Gradenigo                       Tommasina Morosini

References

1. Marek, Miroslav. "Visconti 2". Genealogy.EU. External link in |publisher= (help)
2. Marek, Miroslav. "Poitou 3". Genealogy.EU. External link in |publisher= (help)
3. Cawley, Charles, MILAN, Medieval Lands, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, retrieved August 2012,
4. Visconti 2