Politics, Art and Cultural Interaction in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Relations Between Mystras (Mistra) and Cyprus in the 14th and 15th Centuries

Authors : Özge BOZKURTOĞLU

Pages : 409-428

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Publication Date : 2023-06-21

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The Crusades which were launched at the end of the 11th century resulted in a new political diversity in the Mediterranean. Cyprus was captured by Richard I, the king of England. In 1192, he sold the island to Guy of Lusignan who had lost his throne in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This resulted in the establishment of a Frankish Kingdom which would last nearly three hundred years. However, the states founded in Greece after the Fourth Crusade were less stable political entities. Mystras insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(Mistra); was founded as a Frankish settlement in 1249 under the Principality of Achaea, which was the longest lasting of these. The city captured by Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261 maintained its importance as a cultural and intellectual center, as the capital of the despotate of Morea from the second half of the 14th century. This article concentrates on Isabelle de Lusignan, the wife of Manuel Kantakouzenos, the first despot of the despotate of Morea and Queen Helena Palaiologina, the wife of King John II of Cyprus. The article examines the relations between Mystras and Cyprus in the 14th and 15th centuries and the socio-cultural connotations of these relations through the deeds of these two influential women of the period who had organic relations with both regions.
Keywords : Isabelle de Lusignan, Mystras Mistra, Helena Palaiologina, Kıbrıs Lusignan Krallığı