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Cyprus Byzantine Rule
By the time Constantine accepted Christianity for
himself, the
new religion was probably already predominant on Cyprus,
owing
basically to the early missionary work of Paul, Barnabas,
and Mark.
Earthquakes in the early fourth century created havoc on
the
island, and drought seriously damaged the economy.
However, the
most significant event of the century was the struggle of
the
Church of Cyprus to maintain its independence from the
patriarchs
of Antioch. Three bishops represented Cyprus at the first
Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. At the second council
(Sardica, 343), there were twelve Cypriot bishops,
indicating a
great increase in the number of communicants in the
intervening
years.
A major struggle concerning the status of the Church of
Cyprus
occurred at the third council, at Ephesus, in 431. The
powerful
patriarch of Antioch argued forcefully that the small
Cypriot
church belonged in his jurisdiction, but the Cypriot
bishops held
their ground, and the council decided in their favor.
Antioch still
did not relinquish its claim, however, and it was not
until after
the discovery of the tomb of Saint Barnabas containing a
copy of
the Gospel of St. Matthew allegedly placed there by the
apostle
Mark that Emperor Zeno intervened and settled the issue.
The Church
of Cyprus was confirmed as being auto cephalous, that is,
ecclesiastically autonomous, enjoying the privilege of
electing and
consecrating its own bishops and archbishops and ranking
equally
with the churches of Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and
Constantinople.
Except for the religious disputes, a period of calm
prevailed
on Cyprus during the early Byzantine centuries. The social
structure was rigid and codified in law. Under a law
issued by
Constantine, tenant farmers were made serfs and forbidden
to leave
the land on which they were born. A later law allowed
runaways to
be returned in chains and punished. Administration was
highly
centralized, with government officials responsible
directly to the
emperor. The wealthy landlord and merchant classes
retained their
age-old privileges. The connection between church and
state grew
closer. The pervasive organization and authority of the
church,
however, sometimes benefited the common man by interceding
in cases
of abuse of power by public officials or wealthy persons.
During
the fifth and sixth centuries, the level of prosperity
permitted
the construction of major cathedrals in several of the
island's
cities and towns. Salamis, renamed Constantia, again
became the
capital and witnessed another era of greatness.
Archaeologists have
uncovered an enormous fourth century basilica at the site.
The peace that many generations of Cypriots enjoyed
during the
middle centuries of the first millennium A.D. was
shattered by Arab
attacks during the reign of Byzantine emperor Constans II
(641-68).
Sometime between 647 and 649, Muawiyah, the amir of Syria
(later
caliph of the Muslim empire), led a 1,700-ship invasion
fleet
against Cyprus. Constantia was sacked and most of its
population
massacred. Muawiyah's destructive raid was only the first
of a long
series of attacks over the next 300 years. Many were
merely quick
piratical raids, but others were large-scale attacks in
which many
Cypriots were slaughtered and great wealth carried off or
destroyed. No Byzantine churches survived the Muslim
attacks. In
A.D. 965, General Nicephorus Phocas (later emperor),
leading the
Byzantine imperial forces, drove the Arabs out of Crete
and Cilicia
and scored a series of victories on land and sea that led
to the
liberation of Cyprus after more than three centuries of
constant
turmoil.
The pitiable condition of the Cypriots during the three
centuries of the Arab wars can only be imagined. Thousands
upon
thousands were killed, and other thousands were carried
off into
slavery. Death and destruction, rape and rampage were the
heritage
of unnumbered generations. Many cities and towns were
destroyed,
never to be rebuilt.
In the twelfth century Isaac Comnenos, a Byzantine
governor,
set himself up in the capital as the emperor of Cyprus,
and the
authorities in Constantinople were either too weak or too
busy to
do anything about the usurper. When an imperial fleet was
eventually sent against Cyprus, Comnenos was prepared and,
in
league with Sicilian pirates, defeated the fleet and
retained
control of the island. Comnenos, a tyrant and murderer,
was
unlamented when swept from power by the king of England,
Richard I
the Lion-Heart.
After wintering in Sicily, Richard set sail en route to
the
Holy Land as a leader of the Third Crusade. But in April
1191 his
fleet was scattered by storms off Cyprus. Two ships were
wrecked
off the southern coast, and a third, carrying Richard's
fiancée
Berengaria of Navarre, sought shelter in Lemesos
(Limassol). The
wrecked ships were plundered and the survivors robbed by
the forces
of Comnenos, and the party of the bride-to-be was
prevented from
obtaining provisions and fresh water. When Richard arrived
and
learned of these affronts, he took time out from
crusading, first
to marry Berengaria in the chapel of the fortress at
Lemesos and
then to capture Cyprus and depose Comnenos. The capture of
Cyprus,
seemingly a footnote to history, actually proved
beneficial to the
crusaders whose foothold in the Holy Land had almost been
eliminated by the Muslim commander Saladin. Cyprus became
a
strategically important logistic base and was used as such
for the
next 100 years.
When Richard defeated Comnenos, he extracted a huge
bounty from
the Cypriots. He then appointed officials to administer
Cyprus,
left a small garrison to enforce his rule, and sailed on
to the
Holy Land. A short time later, the Cypriots revolted
against their
new overlords. Although the revolt was quickly put down,
Richard
decided that the island was too much of a burden, so he
sold it to
the Knights Templars, a Frankish military order whose
grand master
was a member of Richard's coterie. Their oppressive,
tyrannical
rule made that of the avaricious Comnenos seem mild in
comparison.
The people again rebelled and suffered a massacre, but
their
persistence led the Templars, convinced that they would
have no
peace on Cyprus, to depart. Control of the island was
turned over
to Guy de Lusignan, the controversial ruler of the
Latin
(see Glossary) kingdom of Jerusalem, who evidently agreed to
pay Richard
the amount still owed him by the Templars. More than 800
years of
Byzantine rule ended as the Frankish Lusignan dynasty
established
a Western feudal system on Cyprus.
Data as of January 1991
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