[December 18] Alfonso II, king of Naples

Parents: Ferdinand I, king of Naples, and Isabella of Taranto
Date of Birth: 4 November 1448
House: Trastámara
Spouse(s): Ippolita Maria, daughter of Francesco I, duke of Milan, and Bianca Maria of Milan
Predecessor: Ferdinando I
Reign: 1494 – 1495
Brief: Though barely considered a ruler of Naples, the long regency he held during his father's late illness gave Alfonso considerable power and influence. A close relative to the kings of Aragón, Alfonso was also the direct heir to the Brienne claim to the kingdom of Jerusalem, which fell to him in 1465. Unfortunately, by the time Alfonso ascended the throne in 1494, he had little to show for it. The Papacy had been attempting to annex Naples for centuries and the constant warfare had drained the accounts in Naples. When Ferdinando I died, King Charles VIII of France was already marching south to invade and claim the land, which had been offered to him by Pope Alexander VI. Alexander VI reasserted his faith in Alfonso soon after, though, but it was too late: Charles was already at the doorstep of Naples. Alfonso's fleet and army were destroyed and the king fled, abdicating in favor of his son, Ferdinando II. The retired king died in a monastery later that year. Though his reign was short, Alfonso was a patron of the arts while he served as crown prince and his palace heavily influenced Charles when he briefly occupied the city.

Date of Death: 18 December 1495

Successor: Ferdinando II

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Magnus I, king of Sweden (1290)

[September 11] Melisende, queen of Jerusalem

Parents: Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem, and Morphia of Melitene
House: Rethel-Boulogne
Born: 1105
Spouse(s): Fulk V, count of Anjou & Maine
Predecessor: Baldwin II

Reign: 1131 – 1153

Date of Death: 11 September 1161

Successor: Baldwin III

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Béla I, king of Hungary (1063)
• Go-Mizunoo, emperor of Japan (1680)
• Peter VII, patriarch of Alexandria (2004)

[September 9] Jacques I, king of Cyprus

Parents: Hugues IV, king of Cyprus, and Alix of Ibelin
House: Poitiers-Lusignan
Born: 1334
Spouse(s): Helvis, daughter of Philip of Brunswick and Helisia of Dampierre

Predecessor: Peter II

Reign: 1382 – 1398

Date of Death: 9 September 1398

Successor: Janus

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Olaf I, king of Norway (1000)
• William I, king of England (1087)
• Duarte I, king of Portugal (1438)
• Chenghua, emperor of China (1487)
• Francis II, duke of Brittany (1488)
• James IV, king of Scots (1513)
• Nakagawa Hidenari, daimyo in Japan (1676)

[January 17] Peter I, king of Cyprus

The Assassination of Peter I, king of Cyprus

Parents: Hugh IV, king of Cyprus, and Alix of Ibelin

Date of Birth: 9 October 1328

Royal House: Lusignan

Spouse: Eschive de Montfort, then Eleanor of Aragon-Gandia

Reign: 1358 – 1369

Other Titles Claimed: King of Jerusalem, Latin King of Armenia, Count of Tripoli
Predecessor: Hugh IV, king of Cyprus

Summary: Despite a rocky childhood, Peter became king of a country well-suited to striking the Muslim Middle-East with little threat of counter-attack. He began his life of warfare against the Turks who were attempting to destroy the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, the rulers of which were closely related to Peter. This action unified the Turks against Cyprus and they attempted to invade the island in 1361. This attack, in turn, brought the help of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes, a small Papal force, and some Catholic pirates to the aide of Cyprus. The counter-attack succeeded and Cyprus became the dominant power on the southern coast of Anatolia for the next decade.

Things went ill from this point forward. Peter went to Europe in the hope of allying the Catholic powers together in another crusade to liberate the Holy Land. Not only did his plan not work, but Cyprus fell under a massive epidemic while he was away. Thousands of people died and the Turks took this as an opportunity to raid Cyprus and pillage the island. Meanwhile, Peter managed to gather a small force of crusaders to invade Alexandria, only to sack the city and incur the wrath of the Sultan of Egypt. Christians in the Holy Land became targets of attack and the pope convinced Peter to make amends with the Egyptian sultan. Through this all, Peter accomplished little. Most of his attempts to capture the Holy Land, Anatolia, and North Africa were initially successful but he could not hold them. All of these campaigns cost money that he did not have. His attacks also threatened the economic welfare of Cyprus, which was a major trading post in the east Mediterranean. Soon after being made king of Latin Armenia, Peter discovered that his wife had been unfaithful to him while he was away in Europe. He attacked his entire royal court and, in response, was assassinated by three of his own knights while in bed.

Date of Death: 17 January 1369

Successor: Peter II, king of Cyprus


Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Theodosius I, emperor of Rome (395)
• Feodor I, tsar of Russia (1598)
• Ferdinand IV, grand duke of Tuscany (1908)
• Olav V, king of Norway (1991)