This paper aims to assess the political and cultural status of the island of Cyprus as the only place within the Mediterranean where Christian heirs of Romans and Muslims shared the local tax revenue to create a buffer zone between two empires.
Two hegemonies, one island: Cyprus as a ‘Middle Ground’ between the Byzantines and the Arabs (650-850 A.D.)
May 20, 2015 By
Sodomy and the Knights Templar
January 26, 2014 By
In this article, I will analyze testimony relevant to the charges of the Inquisition that members of the order of Knights Templar throughout Christendom practiced homosexual acts of various sorts from illicit kisses to sodomy.
The Greek Church of Cyprus under Latin Rule
July 7, 2013 By
When Western Europeans took over the island of Cyprus in 1191, did it lead to religious turmoil between the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches?
Cross relationships between Cyprus and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Teutonic Military Order Tradition
April 1, 2013 By
This article will shed new light on the relationships and connections that developed between members of the Teutonic Order based in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and various elements of the population on the island of Cyprus.
Female Dress in Cyprus during the Medieval Period
November 11, 2012 By
Cyprus offers ample evidence for the way people dressed in medieval times. Such testimony is preserved in a variety of media: frescoes, icons, effigial slabs and manuscripts.
Cultural Interactions in Cyprus 1191-1571: Byzantine and Italian Art
October 27, 2012 By
Cyprus was one of the most important ports of the Byzantine Empire, and became even more significant for the control of the Eastern Mediterranean after the conquest of Asia Minor by the Seljuk Turks following the fall of Manzikert in 1071.
Ship Construction in Cyprus 1325-6
July 27, 2011 By
Ship Construction in Cyprus 1325-6 By Sarah Arenson TROPIS Symposia Proceedings, Vol.2 (1987) Introduction: Our knowledge of ship construction in the Middle Ages has been widened considerably since underwater archaeology became a scientific discipline. Nevertheless, the data supplied by wrecks and other material evidence, such as illustrations, coins and seals, are hardly matched by the […]
Saint Peter and Paul Church (Sinan Pasha Mosque), Famagusta: A Forgotten Gothic Moment in Northern Cyprus
July 27, 2011 By
Saint Peter and Paul Church (Sinan Pasha Mosque), Famagusta: A Forgotten Gothic Moment in Northern Cyprus Walsh, Michael Inferno, Volume IX, 2004 Abstract When Pope Urban II called the Council of Clermont in 1095, and in so doing ordered the start of the Crusades to the Holy Land, it was neither obvious nor predictable what […]
The Templar Trials: Did the System Work?
July 25, 2011 By
Although the trials in general were held with enormous personal expenditures and by obviously careful observation of procedural rules, the ’system did not really work’; it was undermined by the dynamics of a legal instrument (that is, torture), which in the end was based on the use of violence.
The role of castles in the political and military history of the Crusader States and the Levant 1187 to 1380
July 18, 2011 By
This thesis deals with the various functions of Latin and Armenian fortifications in Cilician Armenia, Greece, Cyprus, Syria and Palestine between 1187 and c.1380.
Architectural Styles and Ethnic Identity in Medieval to Modern Cyprus
June 5, 2011 By
Architectural Styles and Ethnic Identity in Medieval to Modern Cyprus By Michael Given Archaeological perspectives on the transmission and transformation of culture in the Eastern Mediterranean, edited by Joanne Clarke (Oxbow Books, 2005) Abstract: Archaeologists and art historians have often attempted to identify ethnic groups by means of specific stylistic traits in their art and […]
Patrons and painters on Cyprus : the frescoes in the Royal Chapel at Pyrga
April 25, 2010 By
Patrons and painters on Cyprus : the frescoes in the Royal Chapel at Pyrga By Jens T. Wollesen Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. 2010 ISBN: 978–0–88844–169–0 The fresco decoration of the Royal Chapel in Pyrga on Cyprus is usually dated 1421. The coat of arms featuring the Cross of Jerusalem and the lion rampant […]
Why Minorities Were Neither Tolerated nor Discriminated Against in the Middle Ages
January 20, 2010 By
Discrimination and tolerance are asymmetrical concepts in present day usage. Tolerance has a positive meaning and denotes the attitude of a majority that accepts deviant forms of reasoning or behaviour practiced by a minority.
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