Iakovos I of Cyprus

James I (; 1334 – September 9, 1398) was the youngest son of King Hugh IV of Cyprus and by 1369 held the title "Constable of Jerusalem." When his nephew Peter II died in 1382, he became King of Cyprus. James was also crowned King of Jerusalem in 1389 and assumed the title of King of Armenia in 1393, which was formally given to him in 1396. James was the third son of Hugh IV of Cyprus and his second wife, Alix of Ibelin. His older half-brother was Guy, Prince of Galilee (1320–43), and his two brothers were Peter I, King of Cyprus (1328–1369), and John of Lusignan, Prince of Antioch (1329–1375). Before becoming king, James had other offices and was known for his resistance against the Genoese invasion of Cyprus. Nobleman When his father King Hugh IV died in 1359, his eldest brother, Peter I, took the throne and reigned for 10 years, until he was murdered in 1369. Peter's heir, his only son, Peter II, was about 14 at that time. James's second brother, John, titular Prince of Antioch, Constable of Cyprus, as the eldest living son of Hugh IV, was regent for three years during the minority of Peter II, who was crowned in January of 1372. During the regency, Peter I's widow Eleanor of Aragon, to avenge her husband's murder, invited the Genoese to invade Cyprus. Since the Genoese had commercial and financial interests in Cyprus that they wanted to protect and exploit, they invaded the island in April 1373. After achieving the takeover of the well-fortified city of Famagusta, they arrested and held captive Peter II and his mother Eleanor, who had invited them. After they killed the nobles who had murdered Peter I, they wanted to take control of the island. After the end of the war, in 1375, Eleanor succeeded in arranging the murder of her husband's brother John of Lusignan, Prince of Antioch (the former regent), whom she claimed she was responsible for her husband's murder. James, the other brother, was also said to be among the party that murdered his Peter I, but by this time he had was in prison in Genoa.