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Authors: Steven Runciman
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of Saint George at Limassol, and she was crowned Queen
of England by the Bishop of Evreux. Next day the remaining vessels of the
English fleet arrived. Isaac, aware of his danger, moved to Famagusta. The
English followed him there, some of the army going by land and the rest by sea.
The Emperor made no attempt to defend Famagusta but retired to Nicosia. While
Richard rested at Famagusta, envoys reached him from Philip and the Palestinian
lords, urging him to hurry to Palestine. But he replied angrily that he would
not move until he had taken Cyprus, whose importance to them all he emphasized.
One of Philip’s envoys, Pagan of Haifa, was then supposed to have gone to
Isaac, to give him further warning. Isaac sent his wife, a princess of Armenia,
and his daughter to the castle of Kyrenia, and then marched down towards
Famagusta. Richard’s troops met him by the village of Tremithus and defeated
him after a sharp skirmish, in which he was said to have used poisoned arrows.
He fled from the battlefield to Kantara; and Richard entered Nicosia without
opposition. The Cypriot population showed itself indifferent to Isaac’s fate
and was even prepared to help the invaders.
At Nicosia Richard fell ill; and Isaac
hoped that his four great northern castles, Kantara, Buffavento, Saint Hilarion
and Kyrenia, could hold out till Richard tired of the war and sailed away. But
King Guy, in command of Richard’s army, marched on Kyrenia and captured it,
taking the Empress and her child prisoner. He then began to blockade Saint
Hilarion and Buffavento. Bereft of his family, with his subjects apathetic or
hostile, Isaac lost his nerve and made an unconditional surrender. He was taken
before Richard and loaded with silver chains. By the end of May the entire
island was in Richard’s hands.
The booty that Richard obtained was huge.
Isaac had amassed a vast treasure by his extortions; and many of his notables
bought their new master’s good-will by lavish donations. Richard soon made it
clear that his chief interest was money. A fifty per cent capital levy was
taken from every Greek, but in return Richard confirmed the laws and
institutions that had existed in the days of Manuel Comnenus. Latin garrisons
were installed in all the castles of the island, and two Englishmen, Richard of
Camville and Robert of Turnham, were appointed justiciars and given charge of
the administration, till Richard should decide on its ultimate fate. The Greeks
soon found that their pleasure in Isaac’s fall was ill-founded. They had no
more part in their government; and as a symbol of their new subservience they
were ordered to shave off their beards.
1191: Richard reaches the Crusader Camp
To Richard himself the conquest of Cyprus
seemed of value because of the unexpected riches that it brought him. But in
fact it was the most far-sighted and the most enduring of all his achievements
on the Crusade. The possession of Cyprus by the Franks prolonged the life of
their lands on the mainland; and their establishments in the island outlasted
those in Syria by two centuries. But it boded ill for the Greeks. If Crusaders
were ready and able to annex an Orthodox province, would they not be tempted
soon to launch the long desired Holy War against Byzantium?
On s June the English fleet sailed out
from Famagusta for the Syrian coast. The Emperor Isaac was on board, a captive
in King Guy’s charge; and his little daughter was attached to Queen Joanna’s
court, to learn there the Western way of life. King Richard’s first sight of
the Syrian coast was the castle of Marqab. After making the landfall he turned
south, past Tortosa, Jebail and Beirut, and landed on the evening of 6 June
near Tyre. He was refused admission into the town by the garrison, acting on
the orders of Philip and Conrad; so he continued his way by sea to Acre,
watching as he went the glad sight of a great Saracen galley being sunk by his
ships. He arrived in the camp by Acre on 8 June.
To the weary
of England by the Bishop of Evreux. Next day the remaining vessels of the
English fleet arrived. Isaac, aware of his danger, moved to Famagusta. The
English followed him there, some of the army going by land and the rest by sea.
The Emperor made no attempt to defend Famagusta but retired to Nicosia. While
Richard rested at Famagusta, envoys reached him from Philip and the Palestinian
lords, urging him to hurry to Palestine. But he replied angrily that he would
not move until he had taken Cyprus, whose importance to them all he emphasized.
One of Philip’s envoys, Pagan of Haifa, was then supposed to have gone to
Isaac, to give him further warning. Isaac sent his wife, a princess of Armenia,
and his daughter to the castle of Kyrenia, and then marched down towards
Famagusta. Richard’s troops met him by the village of Tremithus and defeated
him after a sharp skirmish, in which he was said to have used poisoned arrows.
He fled from the battlefield to Kantara; and Richard entered Nicosia without
opposition. The Cypriot population showed itself indifferent to Isaac’s fate
and was even prepared to help the invaders.
At Nicosia Richard fell ill; and Isaac
hoped that his four great northern castles, Kantara, Buffavento, Saint Hilarion
and Kyrenia, could hold out till Richard tired of the war and sailed away. But
King Guy, in command of Richard’s army, marched on Kyrenia and captured it,
taking the Empress and her child prisoner. He then began to blockade Saint
Hilarion and Buffavento. Bereft of his family, with his subjects apathetic or
hostile, Isaac lost his nerve and made an unconditional surrender. He was taken
before Richard and loaded with silver chains. By the end of May the entire
island was in Richard’s hands.
The booty that Richard obtained was huge.
Isaac had amassed a vast treasure by his extortions; and many of his notables
bought their new master’s good-will by lavish donations. Richard soon made it
clear that his chief interest was money. A fifty per cent capital levy was
taken from every Greek, but in return Richard confirmed the laws and
institutions that had existed in the days of Manuel Comnenus. Latin garrisons
were installed in all the castles of the island, and two Englishmen, Richard of
Camville and Robert of Turnham, were appointed justiciars and given charge of
the administration, till Richard should decide on its ultimate fate. The Greeks
soon found that their pleasure in Isaac’s fall was ill-founded. They had no
more part in their government; and as a symbol of their new subservience they
were ordered to shave off their beards.
1191: Richard reaches the Crusader Camp
To Richard himself the conquest of Cyprus
seemed of value because of the unexpected riches that it brought him. But in
fact it was the most far-sighted and the most enduring of all his achievements
on the Crusade. The possession of Cyprus by the Franks prolonged the life of
their lands on the mainland; and their establishments in the island outlasted
those in Syria by two centuries. But it boded ill for the Greeks. If Crusaders
were ready and able to annex an Orthodox province, would they not be tempted
soon to launch the long desired Holy War against Byzantium?
On s June the English fleet sailed out
from Famagusta for the Syrian coast. The Emperor Isaac was on board, a captive
in King Guy’s charge; and his little daughter was attached to Queen Joanna’s
court, to learn there the Western way of life. King Richard’s first sight of
the Syrian coast was the castle of Marqab. After making the landfall he turned
south, past Tortosa, Jebail and Beirut, and landed on the evening of 6 June
near Tyre. He was refused admission into the town by the garrison, acting on
the orders of Philip and Conrad; so he continued his way by sea to Acre,
watching as he went the glad sight of a great Saracen galley being sunk by his
ships. He arrived in the camp by Acre on 8 June.
To the weary
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