after Melusine, legendary fairy wife of Raymond de Forez, founder of the house of Lusignan. Order of the Sword of Cyprus or Silence Purportedly founded in 1195 by Guy de Lusignan for the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Order of Saint Blaise of Armenia Not revived by the self-styled prince, but reputed to have been awarded by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in the twelfth century. Saint Blaise was the family's patron saint. Castles and palaces France Jerusalem Cyprus Armenian Cilicia In mythology Melusine According to European folklore the House of Lusignan was founded by the faerie Melusine. In the legend Melusine was exiled from Avalon and doomed to turn into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. One day a prince, Raymondin of Poitou, came across her in the woods. He had just killed his uncle in a hunting accident and was distraught. Melusine helped him with this, and he later returned seeking her out. He proposed marriage, and she agreed on the condition that she be left alone every Saturday. Raymondin agreed, and together they had ten children, founding the dynasty. They built the Château de Lusignan in 15 days, naming it after Melusine. One day Raymondin's brothers asked why she disappeared every Saturday, and Raymondin said that it was a condition of their marriage. One brother spied through the door, and saw Melusine bathing. She was a serpent, or according to some sources, a mermaid, from waist down. He told Raymondin of this, and when Melusine was confronted she wept at the betrayal, turned into a dragon, and flew away. She would fly over the castle whenever a new Lusignan became lord. It is for this reason that a mermaid is the Lusignan crest and dragons were their supporters. These symbols also adorned the family's various castles. The House of Plantagenet also claims shared ancestry from Melusine. In popular culture King Peter I of Cyprus is mentioned in The Canterbury Tales. Melusine, the mythological founder of the family, is used as the logo for Starbucks. Kingdom of Heaven centers on the Battle of Hattin and capture of Jerusalem, with Marton Csokas playing Guy de Lusignan. La reine de Chypre, 1841 opera by Fromental Halévy. Guy de Lusignan is a main character in Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. Thomas Aquinas's political treatise, On Kingship, was written for King Hugh III of Cyprus. Sir Walter Scott, in Minstrelsy of the