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'''Cyprus''' is an island in the Eastern Mediterranean.

After the division of the [[Roman Empire]], Cyprus fell under the rule of [[Byzantium]].  It was invaded by [[Arabic]] warriors around 688[[CE]], but the then-[[Emperor]], Justinian II, came to an agreement with the [[Muslim]] caliph Abd Al-Malik that the two powers should govern the island jointly.  This lasted for three centurues, despite the fact that the two parties [[war]]red almost continuously on the mainland of Asia Minor.

In 965 Byzantium flexed its muscles and reconquered Cyprus, installing governors.  In 1185 Isaac Comnenus, then [[governor]], and himself a scion of a minor Byzantine [[royal]] line, rose in rebellion and tried to seize the [[throne]] by having himself declared Emperor by a pet [[Patriarch]].  He failed, but Byzantine reprisals came to little more than nothing when  a [[Sicily|Scicilian]] [[pirate]], Megareites, captured the troop[[ship]]s shortly after they'd landed the Imperial [[army]] (one of whose generals was elderly, and the other blind).  In fact, a major reason for the invasion was the promise of the Byzantine Emperor to the [[Egypt|Egyptian]] sultan to close the Cypriot ports to the [[fleet]]s of the [[Second Crusade]].

One of the Crusader leaders, [[Richard I|Richard the Lionheart]], took exception both to this attitude on the part of the Emperor, and to reports he had received that Comnenus was a tyrant.  He landed on Cyprus, seeking (he said) his sister Joanna and his bride-to-be, Berengaria of Navarre, who had been shipwrecked there after a storm.  As a sideline he defeated Comnenus, before [[marriage|marrying]] Berengaria in Limassol [[cathedral]] (who he then took to Palestine on crusade, before sending her back to [[Europe]]).  He left troops on the island, and Comnenus in custody (in [[silver]] chains because he had sworn that he would not be chained in [[iron]]).  Later, retreating from [[Jerusalem]], [[Richard I|Richard]] repented of the idea of holding Cyprus (it was a long way from [[England]], after all), and sold it to the [[Knights Templar]].

They, however, found the local [[populace]] unsympathetic and, retaining the right to garrison troops there (under whose guidance and command a healthy trade in [[sugar]] and in Commanderia [[wine]] was established), they sold governance on, to Guy de Lusignan, who established there a [[Kingdom]], which was later to shelter the last remnants of the [[King]]s of Jerusalem.  Toward the end of the [[15th century|fifteenth century]], [[Venice]] coveted the strategic location, and begen a series of attacks, culminating in a(nother) deal -- this time, that the Cypriot [[Queen]] Catherine would leave them the island in her will.  Which she did and they took over in 1489.

In turn the [[Turkey|Turks]] invaded and took over in 1570 and three years later, the [[Pope]]'s efforts having failed to secure a [[Christian]] coalition to recover the island, the Venetians abandoned it.  The Turks (wisely) gave land in Cyprus to their [[soldier]]s, on the condition that they settled there, whilst establishing local self-[[government]] for the [[Greece|Greek]] and Orthodox communities, and the isle of Aphrodite achieved a degree of peace for the rest of the [[medieval]] [[period]].

''This article was originally adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] page on the [[wikipedia:History_of_Cyprus|history of Cyprus]].''

[[category:Kingdoms (medieval)]][[category:places]][[category:countries]]