v35_0487 - CHYPRE - ROYAUME DE CHYPRE - PIERRE Ier Gros c. 1359-1369 Famagouste

CYPRUS - KINGDOM OF CYPRUS - PIERRE I

(1359-1369)

Cyprus, a Byzantine possession, was quasi-autonomous until the third crusade when Richard the Lionheart seized it in 1191. The following year, he sold it to Guy de Lusignan, the last king of Jerusalem in title, who had been driven from the Holy Land after the defeat of Hattin in 1187 against Saladin and the siege of Acre the previous year. The island was to remain in the hands of the Crusaders until the year 1473. There were two workshops in Cyprus, Famagusta and Nicosia. Pierre I succeeded Hugues IV de Lusignan in 1359. In October 1365 he launched an offensive against Alexandria with contingents from Cyprus, Rhodes and Europe. Peter II took the city and plundered it before leaving it four days later. He was assassinated on January 17, 1369 and his son Pierre II succeeded him under the regency of Jean, brother of Pierre I..