COLLEGE - LIMASSOLBUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

History of CyprusLecture 9

The Frankish Period 1192-1489.

The Feudalism in Cyprus.

The new system of administration.

Guy de Lusignan organized the system of administration once and for all.

He divided the fiefdoms into two categories:

Those with an annual income of 400 Byzants, which he divided among his senior knights who were obliged to follow him in war;

To those with an annual income of 300 Byzants which were divided among the nobles and people of lower rank.

Among these, there were also those who responded to his invitation and came to settle in Cyprus from Syria, Palestine and Armenia who, by coming also strengthened the island’s defense forces.

Fiefs could not be expropriated and were passed on only to legal heirs or through marriage.

If the owner died without heirs then the fief went back to the king.

If Cypriots left the island, and there were many who fled the Frankish oppression, then their land went to the king who organized new fiefdoms.

The church fiefs were formed after church property was taken over.

The king was the supreme political and military chief but his authority could be limited by the nobles.

He was described as the grand noble of the order of the sword.

Knights had the duty to defend Christendom and fight its enemies and to protect the Sepulcher of the Lord.

Minting of coins was the exclusive privilege of the king himself.

The Upper House met the king and his representative and it was made up of knights and feudal lords who were at least 25 years old.

It had great powers, including executive, legislative and judicial powers and it approved the ascention of the king to the throne, even though succession was hereditary. It could also appoint a regent if the legal king was under 15 years of age.

The upper house dealt with all the domestic and foreign affairs and made decisions on peace or war.

It had the power to judge all cases brought before it by the nobles, with the exception of those dealing with religious violations which were dealt with by the Low or Nether House.

This house was made up of citizens who were appointed by the king.

It met under a viscount (knight) and its authority was judicial in cases not involving nobles.

The Low House also dealt with disputes or differences between nobles and people of a lower class, or religious infractions.

The officials were chosen from among thecitizens: Seneschal : a senior official, master of the

royal palace who administered and organized court ceremonies. He was also in charge of the maintenance of the forts, and generally he did represent the king in his absence in judiciary and military matters.

Constable: chief in the army in time of war and handle the affairs of mercenaries.

One general was also appointed by the king to be under constable’s orders.

A chamberlain stood by the king at ceremonies.

The viscount who he held the post of governor and chief of police in towns and chaired the meetings of the Lower Houses.

The positions of admiral, chancellor and Constables were considered interior.

Nobles: knight and feudal lords.

The class of citizens, made up of industrial magnates and the merchants.

The subordinates, the Vassals who paid an annual tax of 48 Byzants, as well as the one third of their produce. They were obligated to work for free on the land of their master twice a week. They were slaves with no privileges at all.

The Knights Templars and the Knights of Saint John gained great power and very great influence because of their military orders.

The Knights had also granted them many privileges. They had the right to maintain their own Castles as their contribution to the island’s security and for their assistance in war operations off the island.

The two orders had castles at Chirokitia and at Gastria and their holdings included lands in Paphos, Limassol, and Nicosia as well as in other parts of the island.

Distribution of justice was based on what was known as the Assizes.

Originally these were the laws enacted and

applied to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. After the Lusignan acquired Cyprus, they

amended these laws into a strong legal code for Cyprus.

The amendment was carried out on the basis of local customs as well as on the Byzantine laws in force until that time, that is, they were based on Roman Law.

Their final form was drafted by a legal expert, John d’ Ibeline, under King Hugh the Second.

Guy de Lusignan was only interested in two things: to overcome the mistrust of the Cypriots towards foreigners, and to repair the castles in the town and to build other defensive works.

He feared that the emperor of Byzantium would try to the expansion and adornment of the town of Limassol where a large number of European merchants had settled.

He granted to these merchants a number of privileges.

Guy de Lusignan died childless, before he was crowned king.

The Upper House proclaimed Guy’s younger brother Aimery as his successor.

Aimery sought to expand and strengthen his power and authority.

In the face of the German Emperor Henry the Sixth, he found an ally and a supporter.

Henry sought the support of Cyprus for a new Crusade that he was preparing.

Aimery’s coronation took place in Nicosia in the presence of a representative of the ally emperor in 1197 A.D.

The domination of the Franks was established on this date, and it continued up to their end.

A decision by king Aimery to set up the Latin Church in Cyprus proved to be a very serious development as a result of after effects.

At Aimery’s request, Pope Celestinus the Third did issue a papal Bull on 20 February 1196 thus establishing a Latin Archbishop of Cyprus with his see in Nicosia.

He was to be assisted by three Bishops appointed for Paphos, Limassol, and Famagusta.

The Upper House then furnished financial assistance to these three Bishop’s thrones by usurping lands and properties of the Orthodox Church.

It also established the Dekati, a special tax on produce, under which one tenth of produce was paid as a tax.

Aimery married the widowed Queen of Jerusalem one year after his coronation.

He was crowned the King of Jerusalem at Ptolemais.

He had to shoulder new obligations. He had to liberate Jerusalem from the Turks. His participation in the Third Crusade, in an effort

to liberate Jerusalem, and his absence from Cyprus, offered the opportunity to Emperor of Byzantium Alexios the Third, to try and retake the island but he failed.

Aimery died one year later leaving his under-

age son Hugh as successor.

Upon his death the Crowns of Cyprus and Jerusalem were separated.

According to the Assizes the Upper House had to appoint a Regent until the king came of age.

It appointed the husband of Guy’s older sister, Gautier de Mopmeliard.

His first act was to put into effect an old agreement between Aimery and Henry of Champagne under which 14-year old Guy was married to Henry’s daughter Alice.

Knights had the right to marry at that early age.

Two years later, Guy was crowned the King

of Cyprus in 1210 A.D.

Guy proved to be a very active king. He took part in the Fifth Crusade, leading

his army to Ptolemais and to Tripoli, where in the 1218 A.D. he suddenly died.

It was during his reign that Latin Archbishop Albert laid the foundation stone for the Saint Sophia Cathedal in Nicosia.

It remained one of the most representative

examples of Gothic architecture in Cyprus.

With the capture of the island by the Turks in 1571 A.D. it was converted into a mosque and remains as such up to this day.

Henry’s uncle Philip Ibeline ruled the state. He granted large scale privileges to the Genoese

who were masters of a strong and large fleet. He wanted to gain their alliance to liberate the

Holy Land. These privileges included: exemption from taxes on all their goods; they were given their own judges, except in

cases of murder, theft and treason;

Certain town quarters in the towns of Limassol and Famagusta.

On becoming of age the king ratified these privileges and signed an alliance with the Genoese in 1233 A.D.

Georgiades, C. P., History of Cyprus, 2nd Edition 1993.