King Henry II of Cyprus, 1285?1324 (Rulers of the Latin East)

This book discusses the Lusignan kingdom of Cyprus and its interactions with Latin Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean under King Henry II (1285–1324). His eventful reign covered the loss of Latin Syria, the emergence of Cyprus and especially Famagusta as a major commercial hub in East–West trade, Cypriot relations with the papacy, the growing involvement of the Italian and French trading cities and of Catalonia in Cyprus and the existential threat faced by the Cilician kingdom of Armenia.

It evaluates how effectively Henry II dealt with these pressing issues, a difficult task because of the highly biased extant evidence for his reign, especially regarding his brother Amaury’s seizure of power (1306–1310). It argues that while not a great monarch, Henry II was no mere cipher but was pro-active in defending the Latin East, in developing Famagusta, in assisting Cilician Armenia, in his dealings with foreign powers and in his relations with the papacy, the military orders and other branches of the Latin Church. Above all, he was dogged in the face of adversity.

This book will appeal to students of Lusignan Cyprus, the Crusades and the Latin East and Mediterranean trade in the later Middle Ages. More specifically, it will interest those examining rulership in medieval multicultural societies, justifications in Western Canon Law for replacing allegedly ineffective rulers, the relations and involvement of the papacy with the Eastern Mediterranean and how Latin military, mendicant and monastic orders functioned within a Latin kingdom where Latins were a minority.

Nicholas Coureas, previously a full-time Senior Researcher and a former Acting Director at the Cyprus Research Centre (1990–2024), is presently Associate Professor in History, Archaeology, Indigenous Studies and Geography at Flinders University, Australia. He is a member of the Académie des Sciences et Lettres de Montpellier, France. His publications on Lusignan Cyprus (1191–1474) include numerous articles and several books, among them three monographs: The Latin Church in Cyprus 1195–1312 (1997), The Latin Church in Cyprus 1313–1378 (2010) and The Burgesses of Lusignan Cyprus 1192–1474 (2020).