Chapter 5 Starting Point of the Genoese Thalassocracy in Cyprus: An Unpublished Roll of Knights and Squires Imprisoned in Famagusta in 1374
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Abstract
Sources refer to the cession of Famagusta in 1374 to the Genoese in exchange for the release of King Peter II of Lusignan. The treaty stipulated payment by the Crown of Cyprus to the Superb, which also demanded to be indemnified for its military operations in order to overcome the maritime influence of Venice. A series of hostages had to warrant the peaceful intentions of the Cypriot people toward the Genoese community for years to come. The names of these hostages have been preserved in the chronicle of Leontios Machairas and a Bavarian copy of the Assizes of Jerusalem. Significantly, these testimonies are complemented by an unpublished manuscript housed in the Faculty of Medicine at Montpellier, which contains the names of 55 captives who were imprisoned in Famagusta before their transfer to Genoa. Indeed, the list provides the names of several knights of the royal hostel who were captured during the conquest of Famagusta by the Genoese, including Admiral Janot of Soissons, a victim of the destruction wrought by the Genoese at the beginning of their Levantine thalassocracy.