Frankish rule

For three centuries Cyprus is ruled by the French house of Lusignan. The island becomes a Western kingdom, with feudal nobility, tournaments and Gothic cathedrals — and at the same time the crusaders’ last foothold once the Holy Land is lost.

Two churches

The Latin church is made official and the Orthodox subordinate. A papal bull of 1260 cut the Greek sees to four, moved the Greek bishops out of the towns into villages and placed them under Latin authority. Orthodoxy did not disappear; it withdrew into the countryside — and that is exactly where churches went on being painted.

The result is a strange and fertile mixture. At Panagia tou Moutoulla, painted in 1280, and at Timios Stavros in Pelendri, Byzantine tradition sits beside Western detail that would never be seen in Constantinople. Agios Ioannis Lampadistis grew over centuries and preserves painting of several ages at once.

Gothic

The Lusignans built as though they were in France. The cathedral of Saint Sophia in Nicosia was begun in 1209 — today it is the Selimiye Mosque. The cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Famagusta went up in the early 14th century — today it is the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque. Both stand whole: the Ottomans added minarets and stripped the furnishings but left the buildings alone.

Bellapais Abbey above Kyrenia is the most complete Gothic structure on the island.

The mountain castles of Saint Hilarion, Buffavento and Kantara turn from Byzantine watch posts into royal residences. Kolossi Castle passes to the Knights Hospitaller; sugar is produced around it, and so is the wine later known as Commandaria.

The fall

Acre fell in 1291 and refugees from across the Levant poured into Famagusta. The city grew so rich that legend credited it with as many churches as there are days in the year. In 1372 the Genoese seize Famagusta; in 1426 the Mamluks defeat King Janus at Choirokoitia and make Cyprus their tributary.

The last ruler is the Venetian Caterina Cornaro. In 1489 she abdicates in favour of Venice, and the island passes to the Venetians.