Caterina Cornaro, (or rather Caterina Corner), daughter of Marco Cornaro and Fiorenza Crispo, belonged to one of the twelve tribune houses, an ancient and noble family whose name seems to date back to the "Gens Cornelia".
At the age of 14 he was married by proxy to James II Lusignan, king of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia, a union of great importance for the Serenissima that in the event of the king's death, a fundamental domination over the whole Eastern Mediterranean.
In 1472 Caterina finally sailed to Cyprus, where the formal ceremony took place in the capital Famagusta. Only a year later, however, she remained a widow of her husband, leaving the inheritance of the kingdom to her and her unborn child.
In the following years his reign was the object of two conspiracies, always by the Spanish faction interested in freeing the island from the cumbersome Venetian presence. Woman of great character also opposed the Venetians who wanted to force her to hand over Cyprus in their hands: Caterina opposed and resisted for 16 years, until in 1489 the Republic of Venice forced her to abdicate. On 14 March 1489 he sailed from Cyprus, handing over the island to the Venetian Republic, but maintaining the title and rank of queen. When she returned to Venice, she won the lordship on Asolo, where in her golden exile she gave life to a literary court frequented by the most illustrious humanists of the period.
In 1509, following the invasion of the Asolo territory by the Lega dei Cambrai, Caterina had to flee by taking refuge in Venice, where she died on 10 July 1510.