Cyprus

Society and Culture 1191-1374

Series: 

This volume is the only scholarly work in English examining the multicultural society of the Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus during the first two centuries of Frankish rule following the conquest of the Byzantine island during the Third Crusade.
In this global synthesis based on original research, often in manuscripts, six chapters by acknowledged experts treat the main ethnic groups – Greeks and Franks – and the economy, religion, literature, and art of a frontier society between Byzantium, the papacy, the Crusader States, and the Islamic world.
Cyprus, also home to Armenians, Syrians (Maronites, Melkites, Jacobites, Nestorians), Jews, Muslims, and others, offers an excellent opportunity to study the fascinating issues of identity construction, acculturation, and assimilation in a ethnically and religiously diverse society.

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Angel Nicolaou-Konnari, Ph.D. (1999), Cardiff, teaches medieval history at the University of Cyprus. Besides the recent diplomatic edition of the Chronicle of Leontios Makhairas (2003), she is currently completing research on The Encounter of Greeks and Franks in 13th-Century Cyprus.
Chris Schabel, Ph.D. (1994), Iowa, is Assistant Professor of Medieval History at the University of Cyprus. He has published extensively on Frankish Cyprus and on the intellectual history of the later Middle Ages, including Theology at Paris 1316-1345 (2000).
'The book is primarily intended for the non-specialist [...] but thanks to the comprehensive bibliography and numerous explanatory notes it offers a dependable insight into the actual Forschungsstand as well for experts. This highly recommendable volume makes an excellent starting (and returning) point for those who want to learn more about the best part of Cyprus history [...] As such it promises to be a standard reference book in years to come.'
Slobodan Ilic, Journal of Cyprus Studies 11.1, 2005.
'Parmi les nombreuses publications concernant l’histoire médiévale chypriote, le volume dirigé par Angel Nicolaou-Konnari et Chris Schabel tient une place de choix par la qualité des contributions données... Au bout du compte, l’ouvrage d’Angel Nikolaou-Konnari et Chris Schabel livre une synthèse importante et laisse entrevoir l’intérêt que susciterait le prolongement de ces travaux jusqu’à la conquête ottomane...'
Philippe Trélat, Cahiers du Centre d'Etudes Chypriotes 35 (2005)
'The essays presented in this important collection give us a better understanding of Frankish Cyprus as a meeting point of cross-cultural influences...'
J. Bronstein, American Historical Review 112.4 (2007), pp. 1248a-9b
"...Beim hier anzuzeigenden Sammelband handelt es sich um ein Werk, in dem sechs profilierte Vertreter der mediävistischen 'Zypernforschung' für die Zeit bis zur erzwungenen Abtretung eines Teils der zu einem Königsreich der fränkischen Lusignan gewordenen Insel an die Genuesen in sechs Beiträgen, die sich erfreulicherweise aufeinander beziehen, einen Eindruck vermitteln von den verschiedenen Facetten sozialer, rechtlichter, wirtschaflicher und religiöskirchlicher Realität sowie vom kulturellen Leben im Kreutzfahrerkönigreich Zypern, soweit sich diese aus der schriftlichen, keineswegs auf literarische Zeugnisse beschränkten Überlieferung und aus den auf uns gekommenen Kunstwerken rekonstruieren lassen... Insgesamt steht mit diesem Band ein vorzügliches, den aktuellen Forschungsstand zusammenfassendes Arbeitsinstrument zur Verfügung..."
Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 64.1 (2008), pp. 406-8, M.-L. Favreau-Lilie
"...The result of a collaborative effort between six of the world’s leading scholars of medieval Cyprus, this book is a well-synthesised, up-to-date and detailed introduction to the social, cultural and religious history of Crusader Cyprus... The arguments and themes of the chapters often overlap and never contradict each other. Each in its own way, they contribute to the one overarching assertion that never under the reign of the Lusignan were the Cypriots a truly and entirely segregated society. Furthermore, they also illustrate that the traditional nationalist mantra that Greek perseverance in the face of violent western oppression played a pivotal role in the shaping of a distinctive Cypriot identity should be dismissed or at the very least revaluated... It is a very good book and one that cannot be ignored by anyone seriously concerned about society and religion in Cyprus or indeed the history of religious and cultural dialogue and exchange at the time of the crusades in general..."
Al-Masãq 20.2 (2008), pp. 245-7, J.G. Schenk
Preface .. vii
Sponsor’s Preface .. ix
List of Contributors .. xi
Genealogical Tables .. xiii
Map of Frankish Cyprus .. xvi

Introduction .. 1

Greeks .. 13
Angel Nicolaou-Konnari

Franks .. 63
Peter W. Edbury

Economy .. 103
Nicholas Coureas

Religion .. 157
Chris Schabel

Literature .. 219
Gilles Grivaud

Art .. 285
Annemarie Weyl Carr

Figures
Bibliography
Index
All those interested in Byzantine and Modern Greek history, Crusades, medieval Mediterranean commerce, Greek-Latin Church relations, medieval law and historiography, Byzantine and Crusader art, and ethnic identity and cultural assimilation.
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