Orthodox Cyprus Under the Latins, 11911571 by Kyriacou Chrysovalantis;

Author:Kyriacou, Chrysovalantis;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781498551168
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing

Figure 4.1 Florilegium on Purgatory and the Afterlife by Francis the Cypriot, MS Eton College 166, f. 1r, ca. post 1439–ante 1547. Source: Courtesy of the Provost and Fellows of Eton College.

Figure 4.2 Colophon by Francis the Cypriot, MS Eton College 166, f. 22v, ca. post 1439–ante 1547. Source: Courtesy of the Provost and Fellows of Eton College.

3. The “King’s Church” after Florence

The “Union” of Florence intensified intermarriage between Latin- and Byzantine-rite Christians; the phenomenon was facilitated by the fact that both the Latin and Byzantine Orthodox canon law permitted mixed marriages.186 The symbiosis of the two rites in the same family inevitably led to syncretistic behaviors or changes of rite.187 The Latin Church continued to exercise its jurisdiction over royal marriages, as demonstrated by John II’s first (1440) and second marriage (1442) with Medea (Amadea) of Monferrat (d. 1440) and Helena Palaiologina (d. 1458) respectively.188

The coming of Princess Helena Palaiologina in Cyprus and her involvement in the administration, dynastic disputes, and foreign policy of the Lusignan Kingdom (1442–58) provoked the hostility of a part of the Latin nobility.189 Moreover, Helena’s support of Orthodoxy and her intervention in ecclesiastical affairs, which aimed at controlling the succession to the throne by having James II (her husband’s illegitimate son and possible rival to her daughter, Charlotte) nominated as Latin archbishop of Nicosia, alarmed the papacy.190 Although the Latin sources referring to Helena and her alleged anti-Latinism are clearly biased, this does not prove that she did not have pro-Greek sympathies. The Council of Florence, which sanctioned the equality of both rites under the papacy, must have given to Helena greater flexibility to express her pro-Greek sentiments. This is confirmed by the fact that she used her position as queen to support the wave of Byzantine refugees from Constantinople after the Ottoman conquest of 1453; given that the newcomers included monks, painters, scribes, and bibliophiles, Helena indirectly (and probably unintentionally) prepared the ground for the Orthodox Cypriot spiritual and cultural revival under the Venetians, reaffirming the island’s ethnoreligious bonds with Byzantium.191

Although Helena did not provide a male successor to John II, she was a strong-willed and dynamic queen, more capable than her husband in dealing with the crisis experienced by the Lusignan Kingdom.192 After giving birth to Charlotte (1444) and Cleopa, who died during her infancy in 1448, Helena became paraplegic and was forced to exercise her political role from her private chambers with the help of a close circle of Byzantine, Greek Cypriot, and Syrian associates.193 Rather than attempting to reach an accommodation with the Genoese over the recovery of Famagusta, the policy of Helena’s party, which seems to have been supported by her uncle and last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos (1449–53), focused on the prospect of an alliance with the Aragonese king of Naples, Alfonso V (1416–58), “ruler of perhaps the strongest Christian kingdom in the Mediterranean [and] potential participant in a grand [anti-Turkish] crusade.”194 The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and the rise of Ottoman naval power were alarming developments for the Christian world, particularly the Latin Christian dominions in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.