The Greek Church in Latin and Venetian Cyprus 1191–1570

Keywords: Greeks, Latins, Lusignans, Venetians, monasteries, Bulla Cypria, papacy, clergy

Abstract

The Greek Church faced considerable problems following the Latin Conquest of Cyprus and the establishment of the Lusignan dynasty. Much of its property was impounded by the new Latin rulers, in the 1220s its bishoprics were reduced to four, with each bishop subject to a Latin diocesan. Under the provisions of the Bulla Cypria of 1260 it accepted papal primacy and ceased to have its own archbishop following the death of Germanos. Limits were placed on the numbers of monks in Greek monasteries and the refusal of Greek monks to accept the validity of Latin unleavened communion bread resulted in the martyrdom of 13 of them in 1231. Despite this, however, the Greek Church overcame these challenges and even strengthened its position in the later Lusignan and Venetian periods. Several reasons explain its ability to survive and maintain the allegiance of most of the population. The small number of Latins on Cyprus, concentrated mainly in the towns of Nicosia and Famagusta, made them fear absorption into the far more numerous Greeks and so disposed to tolerate a Greek Uniate Church that formally accepted papal primacy. The great distance separating Cyprus from Rome and Avignon together with increasing absenteeism among the Latin clergy from the later fourteenth century onwards made it impossible to enforce papal directives. The growing Ottoman threat from the late fifteenth century onwards likewise made the Venetian authorities on Cyprus reluctant to implement papal rulings that would anger the Greek majority. In addition, the Greek Church of Cyprus maintained contact with the Greek patriarchates of Constantinople, Antioch and Alexandria, all outside the areas under Latin rule, and so was not isolated from the Orthodox Christians subject to the patriarch of Constantinople.

Author Biography

Nicholas Coureas, Cyprus Research Centre in Nicosia

Senior Researcher at the Cyprus Research Centre in Nicosia on the history of Lusignan Cyprus (1191–1473). Within this field, his special interests are the history of the Latin Church of Cyprus and of  Cypriot commerce during the Lusignan period. He has published various articles and books on this subject, including the monograph, The Latin Church in Cyprus 1195–1312 and its sequel, The Latin Church of Cyprus 1313–1378. Together with Michael Walsh and Peter Edbury, he published the conference proceedings: Medieval and Renaissance Famagusta. Together with Prof. Peter Edbury he also published the Italian translation of The Chronicle of Amadi. He has now completed a monograph, titled The Burgesses of Lusignan Cyprus 1192–1474. This will be published in 2020 by the Cyprus Research Centre.

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Published
2021-12-30
How to Cite
[1]
Coureas, N. 2021. The Greek Church in Latin and Venetian Cyprus 1191–1570. Perspectives on Culture. 35, 4 (Dec. 2021), 55-86. DOI:https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2021.3504.05.
Section
An Oriental Journey