Kingdom of Cyprus | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1192–1489 | |||||||||||||
 Royal banner of Janus of Cyprus (15th century) | |||||||||||||
 Cities ofmedieval Cyprus (1192–1489) | |||||||||||||
| Status | IndependentChristian kingdom[2] (1192–1198/1268–1372) Tributary state of theArmenian Kingdom of Cilicia (1198–1229) Tributary state of theHoly Roman Empire (1229–1268) Tributary state of theRepublic of Genoa (1372–1426) Tributary state of theMamluk Sultanate (1426–1489) | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Nicosia | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Latin[2](official/ceremonial) Greek (native language) Old French[2](popular) Italian French Arabic Armenian | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Catholic Christianity (State religion)[3] Greek Orthodox Christianity (popular) | ||||||||||||
| Government | Feudalmonarchy[2] | ||||||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||||||
• 1192–1194 | Guy of Lusignan (first)[2] | ||||||||||||
• 1474–1489 | Catherine Cornaro (last) | ||||||||||||
| Legislature | Haute Cour | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages[2] | ||||||||||||
• Established | 1192 | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1489 | ||||||||||||
| Currency | French denier,gros | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Today part of | Cyprus,Mersin Province (Turkey) | ||||||||||||
Part ofa series on the |
|---|
| History ofCyprus |
 |
History by topic |
 Cyprus portal |
TheKingdom of Cyprus (French:Royaume de Chypre;Latin:Regnum Cypri) was a medieval kingdom of theCrusader states that existed between 1192 and 1489.[2] Initially ruled as anindependentChristian kingdom, it was established by the FrenchHouse of Lusignan after theThird Crusade.[2] It comprised not only the entireisland of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on theAnatolian mainland:Antalya between 1361 and 1373, andCorycus between 1361 and 1448.
After thedivision of the Roman Empire into an eastern half and awestern half, Cyprus came under the rule of theEastern Roman Empire. At that time, itsbishop, while still subject to theChristian Church, was madeautocephalous by theFirst Council of Ephesus in 431.
TheArabMuslims invaded Cyprus in force in the 650s, but in 688, theByzantine emperorJustinian II and theUmayyad caliphʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān reached an unprecedented agreement. For the next 300 years, Cyprus was ruled jointly by both the Arabs and the Byzantines as acondominium, despite the nearly constant warfare between the two parties on the mainland. The Byzantines recovered control over the island for short periods thereafter, but thestatus quo was always restored.
This period lasted until the year 965, whenNiketas Chalkoutzes conquered the island for a resurgent Byzantium. In 1185, the last Byzantine governor of Cyprus,Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus from a minor line of the Imperial house, rose in rebellion, and attempted to seize the throne. His attempted coup was unsuccessful, but Komnenos was able to retain control of the island. Byzantine actions against Komnenos failed because he enjoyed the support ofWilliam II of Sicily. The Byzantine emperor had an agreement with thesultan of Egypt to close Cypriot harbours to theCrusaders.
The island of Cyprus was conquered in 1191 by KingRichard I of England during theThird Crusade, fromIsaac Komnenos, an upstart local governor, Byzantine Prince and self-proclaimedEmperor of theByzantine Empire.[2] TheEnglish King did not intend to conquer the island until his fleet was scattered by a storm en route to thesiege of Acre (1189–1191). The three ships were wrecked and sank in sight of the port ofLimassol.[4] The shipwrecked survivors were taken prisoner by Komnenos and when a ship bearing King Richard's sisterJoan and brideBerengaria entered the port, Komnenos refused their request to disembark for fresh water.[5] King Richard and the rest of his fleet arrived shortly afterwards. Upon hearing of the imprisonment of his shipwrecked comrades and the insults offered to his bride and sister, King Richard met Komnenos in battle. There were rumours that Komnenos was secretly in agreement withSaladin in order to protect himself from his enemies, the Angelos family, the ruling family in the Byzantine capital ofConstantinople.[4]
Control of the island of Cyprus would give King Richard an extremely valuable strategic base to launch further Crusade operations. The English army engaged the Cypriots on the shores of Limassol with English archers and heavily armored knights. Komnenos and the remainder of the army escaped to the hills during nightfall, but King Richard and his troops tracked the Cypriot ruler down and raided his camp before dawn. Komnenos escaped again with a small number of men. The next day, many Cypriot nobles came to King Richard to swear fealty.[4]
Fearing treachery at the hands of the new invaders, Komnenos fled after making this pledge to King Richard and escaped to the stronghold of Kantara. Some weeks after King Richard's marriage to his bride in Limassol on 12 May 1191, Komnenos attempted an escape by boat to the mainland but he was apprehended atCape St. Andrea and later imprisoned in the castle of Markappos in Syria, where he died shortly afterwards, still in captivity.[4] Meanwhile, King Richard resumed his journey toAcre and, with much needed respite, new funds and reinforcements, set sail for the Holy Land accompanied by the King of Jerusalem,Guy of Lusignan and other high ranking nobles. The English king left garrisons in the towns and castles of the island before he departed and the island itself was left in charge of Richard of Canville and Robert of Thornham.[6]
Richard confiscated the property of those Cypriots who had fought against him. He also imposed a 50%capital levy on the island in return for confirming its laws and customs. He also ordered Cypriot men to shave their beards. There was a rebellion led by a relative of Isaac's, but it was crushed byRobert of Thornham, who hanged the leader. Richard rebuked Robert for this execution, since executing a man who claimed to be king was an affront to royal dignity. Some details of the brief English period on Cyprus can be found in theChronicle of Meaux Abbey, possibly derived from Robert of Thornham, who had a relationship with the abbey.[7]
When KingRichard I of England realized that Cyprus would prove to be a difficult territory to maintain and oversee whilst launching offensives in the Holy Land, he sold it to theKnights Templar for a fee of 100,000bezants, 40,000 of which was to be paid immediately, while the remainder was to be paid in installments.[4] One of the greatest military orders of medieval times, the Knights Templar were renowned for their remarkable financial power and vast holdings of land and property throughout Europe and the East. Their severity of rule in Cyprus quickly incurred the hatred of the native population. On Easter Day in 1192, the Cypriots attempted a massacre of their Templar rulers; however, due to prior knowledge of the attack and limited numbers of troops, the Knights had taken refuge in their stronghold at Nicosia. A siege ensued and the Templars, realizing their dire circumstances and their besiegers' reluctance to bargain, sallied out into the streets at dawn one morning, taking the Cypriots completely by surprise. The subsequent slaughter was merciless and widespread and though Templar rule was restored following the event, the military order was reluctant to continue rule and allegedly begged King Richard to take Cyprus back. King Richard took them up on the offer and the Templars returned to Syria, retaining but a few holdings on the island.[8] A small minority Roman Catholic population of the island was mainly confined to some coastal cities, such asFamagusta, as well as inlandNicosia, the traditional capital. Roman Catholics kept the reins of power and control, while the Orthodox inhabitants lived in the countryside; this was much the same as the arrangement in theKingdom of Jerusalem. The independentEastern OrthodoxChurch of Cyprus, with its own Archbishop and subject to no patriarch, was allowed to remain on the island, but theRoman CatholicLatin Church largely displaced it in stature and holding property.
In the meantime, the hereditary queen of Jerusalem, Sybilla, had died, and opposition to the rule of her husband, king consortGuy of Lusignan, greatly increased to the point that he was ousted from his claim to the crown of Jerusalem.[4] Since Guy was a long-time vassal of King Richard, the English king looked to strike two birds with one stone; by offering Guy de Lusignan the lordship of the kingdom of Cyprus, he allowed his friend the opportunity to save face and keep some sort of power in the East whilst simultaneously ridding himself of a troublesome fief. It is unclear whether King Richard gave him the territory or sold it and it is highly unlikely that King Richard was ever paid, even if a deal was struck.[4]
In 1194, Guy de Lusignan died without any heirs and so his older brother, Aimery, became KingAimery of Cyprus, a crown and title which was approved in 1196 byHenry VI, Holy Roman Emperor.[4]
After the death of Aimery of Lusignan, the Kingdom continually passed to a series of young boys who grew up as king. TheIbelin family, which had held much power in Jerusalem prior its downfall, acted as regents during these early years. In 1229, one of the Ibelin regents was forced out of power byFrederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, who brought the struggle between theGuelphs and Ghibellines to the island. Frederick's supporters were defeated in this struggle by 1232 from the Cypriot forces in theBattle of Agridi, although it lasted longer in theKingdom of Jerusalem and in theHoly Roman Empire. Frederick'sHohenstaufen descendants continued to rule as kings of Jerusalem until 1268 whenHugh III of Cyprus claimed the title and its territory of Acre for himself upon the death ofConrad III of Jerusalem, thus uniting the two kingdoms. The territory in Palestine was finally lost whileHenry II was king in 1291, but the kings of Cyprus continued to claim the title.
Like Jerusalem, Cyprus had anHaute Cour (High Court), although it was less powerful than it had been in Jerusalem. The island was richer and more feudal than Jerusalem, so the king had more personal wealth and could afford to ignore the Haute Cour. The most important vassal family was the multi-branchHouse of Ibelin. However, the king was often in conflict with theItalian merchants, especially because Cyprus had become the center of European trade withAfrica andAsia after thefall of Acre in 1291.
The kingdom eventually came to be dominated more and more in the 14th century by theGenoese merchants, under the leadership of theRepublic of Genoa. Cyprus therefore sided with theAvignon Papacy in theGreat Schism, in the hope that theFrench would be able to drive out the Genoese. TheMameluks then made the kingdom atributary state in 1426; the remaining monarchs gradually lost almost all independence, until 1489 when the last queen,Catherine Cornaro, was forced to sell the island toVenice.[9]
The economy of Cyprus remained primarily agrarian during the Lusignan period. Simultaneously, though, the island grew in importance in the trade network connecting Western Europe and the Middle East, serving as an "entrepôt". This led to an increase in demand on Cypriot products (most importantly sugar, but also wine, wheat, oil, carobs) abroad, and the agrarian economy became more export-oriented. This allowed Cyprus to become more prosperous relative to the Byzantine period, fuelling the development of the harbour ofFamagusta and the capitalNicosia, enabling the construction of architectural works that survive to this day. Whilst the development of these two eclipsed the other towns, towns such asLimassol,Paphos andKyrenia did take some part in the changing economic environment. Limassol, in particular, became a port for the export of agricultural products and served as a stopover for Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. The relative prosperity encouraged migration to Cyprus from the West (Genoa,Venice,Provence,Catalonia) andthe East. The Latin immigrants participated in the economic life as merchants, artisans, shipwrights, ship captains and tavern keepers, and as such had an outsize share in the economy.[10]
During this period, new industries also emerged in Cyprus.Cypriot pottery developed particular characteristics, and was exported to the Crusader States until theFall of Acre in 1291. In the late 13th and early 14th industries, the textile industry developed, with new textile dyeing workshops being set up in Nicosia, and Cypriotsamites andcamlets having increasing demand in the West and the East. Famagusta became a hub for shipbuilding. These developments prompted the arrival of representatives from Florentine banking houses, such as thePeruzzi and theBardi family. The growth of the industry as well as the labour-intensive production of sugar and wine resulted in a demand for slaves, and slave markets existed in Nicosia and Famagusta.[10]
Cypriot society in the Lusignan period was multi-ethnic, with OrthodoxGreek Cypriots making up the majority of the population.Greeks constituted the majority of the population in the rural areas, where they were either serfs (paroikoi) or free tenants (francomati). The population increased until the middle of the fourteenth century, but theBlack Death in 1347-48 resulted in the loss of one fifth to one third of the population. Repeated outbreaks prevented population recovery into the fifteenth century.[11] In the 14th century it was common for Cypriot nobility to receive their education inConstantinople.[12]
Cyprus during this period had a vibrant court culture, in which popular pastimes of the day were practised in a similar fashion to other European Christian societies. Music, poetry and other arts were enjoyed by both the aristocracy and middle ranks of society, as well as pursuits such as hunting.[13]
The Roman Catholic Latins never exceeded a quarter of the island's population and were concentrated in the cities. Frankish knights and aristocracy mostly lived inNicosia, whilst Italians were concentrated inFamagusta. The losses suffered by theCrusader States in the 1270s and 1280s and the finalFall of Acre in 1291 triggered an influx of Latin immigrants from the Levant, as Italian, Aragonese and Provençal trading cities relocated their merchants to Cyprus.Maronites,Armenians and Syrians were concentrated in the foothills ofPentadaktylos and coastal plains. There was a system of ethnic discrimination and social stratification in place. However, with the majority of the population being Greeks, the Frankish nobility set up a system that would accommodate a certain degree of Greek autonomy, for instance maintaining Greek ecclesiastical courts open to the consultation of "wise and prominent men", thus practically forming secular Greek forms that exercised a form of judicial autonomy. TheGreek Cypriot dialect was used as the lingua franca on the island and legal texts were translated into the vernacular, like theAssizes of Jerusalem. This relative autonomy meant that there were no rebellions of ethnic character in the Lusignan period. Whilst Greek historiography has traditionally seen a peasant revolt in 1426–1427 as a nationalistic uprising, this was an unsystematic series of riots of pillaging by segments of the Greek peasant population and Spanish mercenaries following the Mamluk invasion, the capture ofKing Janus and the political vacuum that ensued.[11]
| Picture | Name | Lifespan | Reign Start | Reign End | Notes | Regent(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Guy | c. 1150–18 July 1194 (aged 43–44) | 1192 | 18 July 1194 | Son ofHugh VIII of Lusignan. | |
 | Aimery | c. 1153–1 April 1205 (aged 51–52) | 18 July 1194 | 1 April 1205 | Son ofHugh VIII of Lusignan. | |
 | Hugh I | 1194/5–10 January 1218 (aged 22–23) | 1 April 1205 | 10 January 1218 | Son of Aimery. | Walter of Montbéliard (1205–1210) |
 | Henry I Henry the Fat | 3 May 1217 – 18 January 1253 (aged 35) | 10 January 1218 | 18 January 1253 | Son of Hugh I. | |
| Hugh II | 1252/3–1267 (aged 14) | 18 January 1253 | December 1267 | Son of Henry I. | Plaisance of Antioch (1253–1261) Hugh of Antioch-Lusignan (1261–1267) | |
| Hugh III Hugh the Great | c. 1235–24 March 1284 (aged 48–49) | December 1267 | 24 March 1284 | Son ofHenry of Antioch. Nephew of Henry I. | ||
| John I | c. 1268–20 May 1285 (aged 17) | 24 March 1284 | 20 May 1285 | Son of Hugh III. | ||
.jpg) | Henry II | June 1270–31 March 1324 (aged 53) | 20 May 1285 | 31 March 1324 | Son of Hugh III. | Amalric (1306–1310) |
| Hugh IV | c. 1295–24 November 1358 (aged 62–63) | 31 March 1324 | 24 November 1358 | Son ofGuy of Poitiers-Lusignan. Nephew of Henry II. | ||
.jpg) | Peter I | 9 October 1328 – 17 January 1369 (aged 40) | 24 November 1358 | 17 January 1369 | Son of Hugh IV. | |
| Peter II Peter the Fat | c. 1354 or 1357–13 October 1382 (aged 24–27) | 17 January 1369 | 13 October 1382 | Son of Peter I. | ||
 | James I | 1334–9 September 1398 (aged 63–64) | 13 October 1382 | 9 September 1398 | Son of Hugh IV. | |
.jpg) | Janus | 1375–29 June 1432 (aged 56–57) | 9 September 1398 | 29 June 1432 | Son of James I. | |
| John II | 16 May 1418 – 28 July 1458 (aged 40) | 29 June 1432 | 28 July 1458 | Son of Janus. | ||
 | Charlotte | 28 June 1444 – 16 July 1487 (aged 43) | 28 July 1458 | 1464 | Daughter of John II. Co-ruler with her husband Louis (1459–1464). | |
 | Louis | June 1436–April 1482 (aged 45) | 7 October 1459 | 1464 | Son ofLouis, Duke of Savoy. Co-ruler with his wife Charlotte. | |
| James II | c. 1438/9–10 July 1473 (aged 34–36) | 1464 | 10 July 1473 | Illegitimate son of John II. | ||
| James III | 6 August 1473 – 26 August 1474 (aged 1) | 6 August 1473 | 26 August 1474 | Son of James II and Catherine Cornaro. | Catherine Cornaro | |
 | Catherine | 25 November 1454 – 10 July 1510 (aged 55) | 26 August 1474 | 26 February 1489 | Daughter ofMarco Cornaro. Wife of James II and mother of James III. |
By 1476, the various claims were so diverse and weak that various monarchs sought former Cypriot queens to cede them their rights. Even theRepublic of Venice briefly entertained the idea of setting upAnthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, the brother-in-law of England'sKing Edward IV (who was secretly negotiating a marriage to the Scottish princess Cecilia on Anthony's behalf), as a claimant by purchasing the rights of former Cypriot queens Charlotte and Catarina Cornaro. A convention in Venice of 1476 declared "Anthony Arnite" heir to the combined kingdom of Jerusalem-Cyprus but this came to nought when Anthony died before even his marriage to the sister of James Stewart, King of Scots could be celebrated, and the former Cypriot queens ceded their rights elsewhere: Charlotte to the Italian house of Savoy and Catarina Cornaro to the Most Serene Republic of Venice which asserted its claim to the kingdom as part of the republic, without even a candidate for king.
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
During the period of Frankish rule, Catholicism became the official religion of the island
Media related toKingdom of Cyprus at Wikimedia Commons| Levant |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Greece | ||
| Prussia andLivonia | ||
