CORNARO, CATERINA

(1454-1510)

   Venetian-born queen of Cyprus. Descended from one of the most ancient Venetian noble families and also from the Comnenus dynasty that ruled Trebizond on the Black Sea, in 1472 she married James II, king of Cyprus. Her husband died not long after the wedding, and their infant son died a year later. Since her husband was the last representative of the Lusignan dynasty, Caterina then ruled the island as queen. Several of the powers active in the eastern Mediterranean longed to annex this strategic island. In 1489 Venice browbeat her into ceding the island and accepting the Italian town of Asolo in exchange. As ruler of Asolo, she introduced a number of reforms, commissioned palaces and works of art, and gathered a court circle noted for its poets. The humanist Pietro Bembo made this court the setting for his dialogues on love, Gli Asolani / The Asolans.