Aimery (Cyprus)

Who he is

Name

Aimery of Lusignan

Title

King of Cyprus; also king of Jerusalem by marriage (January 1198)

Since

Lord of Cyprus late 1194; crowned king at Nicosia, September 1197

Born

About 1145 (FMG)

Family

Lusignan of Poitou; widower of Eschiva of Ibelin (died 1196 or 1197); husband of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem. Children: see the realm record Cyprus.

Confidence

high

Wikipedia (Aimery of Cyprus, after Edbury and Hamilton); FMG; Ernoul pp. 342-344.

Overlord

The Western emperor in law (homage of September 1197 to Henry VI's chancellor); in practice none since Henry VI's death that month.

What it holds

• Nicosia, the capital, with the royal court and the High Court
• The ports and towns of Limassol, Paphos, Famagusta and Kyrenia
• The castles of Kyrenia, St Hilarion (Dieu d'Amour), Buffavento and Kantara, and the new castle of Saranda Kolones at Paphos
• The royal domain of villages and rents (extent on 1 January 1200 not pinned; later evidence shows large royal estates such as Kouklia near Paphos)
• The Byzantine taxes on the Greek peasantry, taken over by the Franks
• The patronage of the Latin sees and of the new house at Bellapais

How it was acquired

Elected lord by Guy's vassals in late 1194; recovered part of the domain from the vassals; crowned king in September 1197 (see Cyprus).

Allies and rivals

See Cyprus. His officers in Cyprus: the seneschal Aimery of Rivet, the constable Baldwin of Bethsan, the chancellor-archbishop Alan.

How things stand that morning

Holds all the towns and castles of the island. Most likely at Acre on 1 January 1200 (not pinned); Cyprus is run by its own officers in his absence.

Wealth

The rents of the domain, the poll tax and dues of the Greek peasants, the tolls of Limassol and Paphos, salt, and the market for grain and wine at Acre. Ernoul says his Cypriot rents were worth a great deal (p. 344).

Military

The royal castles listed above; the service of the liegemen and mounted sergeants of Cyprus, which Aimery takes to the mainland. No numbers in the sources for 1200.

Threats

• Byzantine and Komnenian claims
• Corsairs
• The cost of defending the mainland kingdom

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1 April 1205 (later)Dies at Acre; Hugh I succeeds in Cyprus under Walter of Montbéliard's regency.Depends on: A natural death. Stopped by: Play changing his circumstances.

Places of note

• Kyrenia castle: Royal harbour castle
• St Hilarion (Dieu d'Amour): Royal mountain castle
• Buffavento: Royal mountain castle and prison
• Kantara: Royal castle above the Karpas
• Saranda Kolones: Early Lusignan castle at Paphos

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The king's towns and castles are certain; the extent and location of his domain villages in 1200 are not recorded, so the drawing shows only the towns and castles.

On the map: Only the royal towns and castles are drawn. The domain villages, which were many, cannot be located for 1200; the rest of the island is the king's realm (Cyprus), held either in domain or in fiefs.

Primary sources for Cyprus

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Chronicle of Ernoul and Bernard the Treasurer, Ernoul, squire of Balian of Ibelin, and later compilers (the 1187 core soon after the event; the whole in its present form 1227 to 1232). The Ibelin household's version of events in Outremer. Read online
• The Old French Continuation of William of Tyre (Eracles), Anonymous continuators, the earliest drawing on Ernoul (about 1220 to 1277; the first continuation (1184 to 1197, the Lyon Eracles) compiled about 1230 from material of the 1190s). For the Latin East at 1200 it narrates the aftermath of the Third Crusade: the truce of 1192, the succession to Jerusalem through Queen Isabella's marriages to Henry of Champagne (died September 1197) and Aimery of Lusignan, Aimery's rule as king of Jerusalem from 1198 while king of Cyprus, the German crusade of 1197 to 1198 and the recovery of Beirut and Sidon, the truce with al-Adil of 1198, the Antioch succession quarrel between Bohemond IV and Leo of Armenia, and the Pisan plot against Aimery. Read online
• Calendar of the Acts of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Various, calendared by Reinhold Rohricht (documents 1097 to 1291; calendar published 1893, Additamentum 1904). A chronological calendar of every charter, letter and treaty of the Latin East then known, with date, parties, witnesses and the edition where each is printed. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III (pontifical years 1 to 3, 1198 to 1201), Innocent III (Lotario dei Conti di Segni) and the papal chancery (1198 onwards, year by year). The register for the second and third pontifical years (February 1199 to February 1201) holds the letters that set the eastern stage for 1200: the exchange with Kaloyan of Bulgaria opened in December 1199 and continued through 1200 over union with Rome and a crown, letters to Vukan of Zeta and to Stefan of Serbia, letters to Alexios III and the patriarch John Kamateros pressing for church union and help for the crusade, the preaching commissions and the legation of Peter Capuano, the Antioch succession quarrel between Bohemond and Leo of Armenia, letters to Aimery of Cyprus and Jerusalem, and the French interdict over Ingeborg. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• General Cartulary of the Order of the Hospital, Various, edited by Joseph Delaville Le Roulx (documents 1100 to 1310; published in 4 vols, Paris, 1894 to 1906). Volume 1 (1100 to 1200) and volume 2 (1201 to 1260) print in full the Hospital's charters: royal and baronial grants in Jerusalem, Tripoli, Antioch and Cilicia, papal bulls, the order's European priories and its agreements with the Temple and the Italians. Read online
• The Rule of the Templars: the Latin Rule, the French Rule and the hierarchical statutes, Anonymous (the Council of Troyes and the order's chapter) (Latin rule 1129; French translation about 1140; hierarchical statutes (retrais) about 1165; further statutes to about 1260). Not a chronicle but the constitution of the Temple as it stood in 1200: the hierarchical statutes describe the master, seneschal, marshal and the commanders of Jerusalem, Tripoli and Antioch, the drawing up of the line of battle, the convent's discipline and the horses, squires and tents allowed to each rank. Read online
• Excerpta Cypria, Various, translated by Claude Delaval Cobham (texts from antiquity to the 19th century, translated and published 1908). Collects in English the passages on Cyprus from Greek, Latin, Arabic and other writers. Read online