Kingdom of Cyprus
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2008-07-09T04:45:44Z
JackofOz
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/* List of Kings of Cyprus */ 2 of these "kings" were in fact queens
{{Infobox Former Country
|native_name = Βασίλειο της Κύπρου
|common_name = Cyprus
|conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Cyprus
|
|continent = Europe
|government_type = Monarchy
|year_start = 1192
|year_end = 1489
|
|p1 = Byzantine Empire
|flag_p1 = Flag of PalaeologusEmperor.svg
|s1 = Republic of Venice
|flag_s1 = Flag of Most Serene Republic of Venice.svg
|image_coat = Armoiries Chypre.svg
|
|capital = [[Famagusta]]
|common_languages = [[French language|French]]<br>[[Greek language|Greek]]
|religion = [[Catholicism|Latin Christianity]]<br>[[Greek Christianity]]
}}
The '''Kingdom of Cyprus''' was a [[Crusader kingdom]] on the island of [[Cyprus]] in the high and late [[Middle Ages]], between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French [[House of Lusignan]].
==History==
The island was conquered from [[Isaac Comnenus of Cyprus|Isaac Comnenus]], an upstart local governor and self-proclaimed [[Byzantine Empire|emperor]] claiming the Empire of Constantinople, in [[1191]] by King [[Richard I of England]] during the [[Third Crusade]]. Richard then sold it to the [[Knights Templar]], who in turn sold it to King-Consort [[Guy of Lusignan|Guy of Jerusalem]], of the [[House of Lusignan]], in [[1192]] after the failure of Richard's crusade and when Guy was going dispossessed from his late wife's kingdom. His brother and successor, [[Amalric I of Cyprus]], received the royal crown and title from [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor]]. A small minority Roman Catholic population of the island was mainly confined to some coastal cities, such as [[Famagusta]], as well as inland [[Nicosia]], the traditional capital. Roman Catholics kept the reins of power and control, while the [[Greeks|Greek]] inhabitants lived in the countryside; this was much the same as the arrangement in the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]]. The independent [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[Cypriot Orthodox Church|Church of Cyprus]], with its own archbishop and subject to no patriarch, was allowed to remain on the island, but the [[Catholicism|Latin Church]] largely displaced it in stature and holding property.
[[Image:CoinKingdomOfCyprus13thCentury.jpg|thumb|200px|Coin of the kingdom of Cyprus, 13th century.]]
After the death of Amalric of Lusignan, the Kingdom continually passed to a series of young boys who grew up as king. The [[Ibelin]] 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 by [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor]], who brought the struggle between the [[Guelphs and Ghibellines]] to the island. Frederick's supporters were defeated in this struggle by [[1233]], although it lasted longer in [[Palestine]] and in [[Europe]]. Frederick's [[Hohenstaufen]] descendants continued to rule as kings of Jerusalem until [[1268]] when [[Hugh I of Jerusalem|Hugh III of Cyprus]] claimed the title and its territory of Acre for himself upon the death of [[Conrad III of Jerusalem]], thus uniting the two kingdoms. The territory in Palestine was finally lost while [[Henry II of Jerusalem|Henry II]] was king in [[1291]], but the kings of Cyprus continued to claim the title.
Like Jerusalem, Cyprus had a ''Haute 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-branch House of [[Ibelin]]. However, the king was often in conflict with the [[Italy|Italian]] merchants, especially because Cyprus had become the centre of European trade with [[Africa]] and [[Asia]] after the [[Siege of Acre (1291)|fall of Acre]] in 1291.
The kingdom eventually came to be dominated more and more in the [[14th century]] by the [[Genoa|Genoese]] merchants. Cyprus therefore sided with the [[Avignon Papacy]] in the [[Western Schism|Great Schism]], in the hope that the [[France|French]] would be able to drive out the Italians. The [[Mameluks]] then made the kingdom a tributary 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 to [[Venice]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-33828/Cyprus "Cyprus], ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', accessed May 2007.</ref>
=== List of Monarchs of Cyprus ===
{{History of Cyprus}}
*[[Guy of Lusignan]] ([[1192]]-[[1194]])
*[[Amalric II of Jerusalem|Amalric of Lusignan]] ([[1194]]-[[1205]]) (Amaury)
*[[Hugh I of Cyprus|Hugh I]] ([[1205]]-[[1218]])
*[[Henry I of Cyprus|Henry I]] ([[1218]]-[[1253]]) (Le Gros)
*[[Hugh II of Cyprus|Hugh II]] ([[1253]]-[[1267]]) (Huguet)
*[[Hugh I of Jerusalem|Hugh III]] ([[1267]]-[[1284]])
*[[John II of Jerusalem|John I]] ([[1284]]-[[1285]])
*[[Henry II of Jerusalem|Henry II]] ([[1285]]-[[1324]])
**[[Amalric of Tyre]] ([[1306]]-[[1310]]), Regent and usurper
*[[Hugh IV of Cyprus|Hugh IV]] ([[1324]]-[[1359]])
*[[Peter I of Cyprus|Peter I]] ([[1359]]-[[1369]])
*[[Peter II of Cyprus|Peter II]] ([[1369]]-[[1382]]) (Perrin)
*[[James I of Cyprus|James I]] ([[1382]]-[[1398]])
*[[Janus of Cyprus|Janus]] ([[1398]]-[[1432]])
*[[John II of Cyprus|John II]] ([[1432]]-[[1458]])
*[[Charlotte of Cyprus|Charlotte]] ([[1458]]-[[1464]]) and 1459-1464 with her husband [[Louis of Savoy]]
*[[James II of Cyprus|James II]] ([[1464]]-[[1473]]) (Jacques le Bâtard)
*[[James III of Cyprus|James III]] ([[1473]]-[[1474]])
*[[Catherine Cornaro]] ([[1474]]-[[1489]])
==Pretenders of the Kingdom of Cyprus==
[[Image:LusignanPlateEarly14thCentury.JPG|thumb|Plate of the [[House of Lusignan]], with coat of arms at the center. Early 14th century, [[Cyprus]]. [[Louvre Museum]].]]
[[Image:CyprusGlazedCeramic14thCentury.jpg|thumb|Glazed ceramics, Cyprus, 14th century.]]
*Eugene Matteo de Armenia (148?-1523), said by his own progeny to have been an illegitimate son of King [[James II of Cyprus]] and if born in the 1480s he was quite a posthumous specimen, alleged to have moved to Sicily then Malta, founder of the family of [[Barons di Baccari|Baron di Baccari (Tal-Baqqar)]].
*Charlotte (d 1487) and Louis (d 1482), queen and king-consort, continued as pretenders, Charlotte renounced 1482 (in favor of:)
*[[Charles I of Savoy]] (1482-90), legitimate great-grandson of Janus of Cyprus, son of a first cousin of Charlotte, second cousin of James III, nephew of Louis
*[[Charles II of Savoy]] (1490-96)
*[[Yolande Louise of Savoy]] (1496-99) and [[Philibert II of Savoy]] (d 1504)
**[[Philip II of Savoy]] (1496-97), father of Philibert II, great-uncle of Charles II and of Yolande Louise, first cousin of Charlotte, grandson of Janus of Cyprus.
*and several others. The rights diverted ''de jure'', but were claimed by the male line. See further under [[Kings of Jerusalem#Cypriot claimants|Cypriot claimants under Kings of Jerusalem]]. By 1476, the various claims were so diverse and weak that various monarchs sought former Cypriot queens to cede them their rights. Even the Republic of Venice briefly entertained the idea of setting up [[Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers]], the brother-in-law of England's [[Edward IV of England | King 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 Republic of Venice which asserted its claim to the kingdom as a republic, without even a candidate for king.
==Notes==
<div class="references-small"><references/></div>
==See also==
*[[Officers of the Kingdom of Cyprus|Grand Officers of the Kingdom of Cyprus]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Cyprus| ]]
[[Category:Kings of Cyprus| ]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of Asia|Cyprus, Kingdom of]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of Europe|Cyprus, Kingdom of]]
[[Category:1192 establishments]]
[[Category:15th century disestablishments]]
[[cs:Království kyperské]]
[[de:Liste der Staatsoberhäupter von Zypern]]
[[el:Βασίλειο της Κύπρου]]
[[es:Reino de Chipre]]
[[fr:Royaume de Chypre]]
[[he:ממלכת קפריסין]]
[[it:Regno di Cipro]]
[[ko:키프로스 왕국]]
[[nl:Lijst van koningen van Cyprus]]
[[ja:キプロス王国]]
[[pl:Królestwo Cypru]]
[[pt:Reino do Chipre]]
[[ru:Кипрское королевство]]
[[sv:Kungadömet Cypern]]