BYZANTINE RULE

BYZANTINE RULE (A.D. 395-1191) History of Cyprus

Within the eastern division of the Roman Empire, Cyprus became one province of a political diocese administered from Antioch. However, in A.D. 478 its Church won autonomy through the claims of Archbishop Anthemios, who cited his discovery of the remains of St Barnabas as proof of direct apostolic foundation. But a new power was rising, stronger strategically than Byzantium, and as inspiring to its followers as Christianity. Islam had emerged as an almost irresistible force in the Mediterranean. Byzantium was not strong enough to protect her outlying provinces from Arab attack. Damascus, Antioch and Jerusalem fell. Syria, Palestine and Egypt were conquered. In A.D. 647 Cyprus was invaded and, when offered the choice between acceptance of the Muslim faith or war, chose war, with the result that the new city of Constantia was destroyed. It was during this invasion that the lady known as Umm Haram, a relative of the Prophet Mohammed, died from a fall from her mule (p. 222). By the time Byzantium had gathered strength for the relief of the island, the Muslim invaders had retired to Alexandria with seventy ships laden with booty. But in 654 the Arabs invaded Cyprus a second time and held the island for some years. The long siege of Constantinople was followed by a truce between the two great powers. Justinian II and Abd al Malik reached an agreement wherein half of the taxes of the island should be paid to Byzantium. But Justinian II remained concerned about the position of Greek Cypriots. At first he attempted to reduce the number of Muslims in Cyprus, then realizing that if he persevered in this he would have no means of protecting the remaining Christians from reprisal, he ordered the mass emigration of Greek Cypriots to a new Christian city: Justinianopolis on the shores of the Sea of Marmara. At least part of the population departed. As a result of this depletion another Arab invasion followed in 692, and many Greek Cypriots were transported to Syria as prisoners, until in 698 the agreement between Byzantium and the Arabs was renewed, and prisoners and exiled Christians were repatriated to Cyprus. From that period onwards Byzantium had imperfect control of the sea and Cyprus was exposed to constant attack by the fleets of Syria and Egypt. The position deteriorated still further in 802, when the Byzantine Emperor Nikephorus ceased payment of tribute to Caliph Haroun al Raschid. As a direct consequence, three great waves of invasion struck the island. Churches and ecclesiastical property were destroyed and thousands of Christians killed and captured, often to be taken away as slaves. It was at this time that the populations of the coastal towns Paphos, Carpasia, Lapithos and numerous minor villages were forced to move inland for protection. Great castles, including St Hilarion, Bufavento, Kantara and Limassol, were built. The balance of power did not begin to shift until 964, when Cyprus was at last safe from foreign attack. Though very little has survived of contemporary secular architecture, the churches and monasteries built at that time as replacement and in thanksgiving are the best illustration of the climate of opinion in the island. After the liberation from Islam, culture in the island ran parallel to that of Constantinople. There were, however, periods of political uneasiness, and the following century saw at least two abortive rebellions against governors sent from Asia Minor. But under the aegis of more civilized governors from the Byzantine court more settled conditions prevailed. These are reflected in fine frescoes of the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. Of greater importance than these political moves was the great split between the Orthodox and Latin Churches which mirrored the cleavage between the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. Rome and Constantinople vied with each other as rulers of the Christian world. Dissension came to a head when Constantinople's patriarch warned his people against the errors of the Latins. Rome excommunicated him and the schism was complete. The significance of this great rift, as far as Cyprus was concerned, was to become clear in the future, after the island had fallen under Lusignan rule, when Prankish domination resulted in persecution of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus. The first of the Crusades by passed Cyprus. Then in 1097 the Emperor Alexius thought to use a gathering of European princes as tools in reconstituting his empire on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean. Yet when these princes took Jerusalem they created a new kingdom and bestowed on it a code of law based on the feudal system. Antioch, Edessa and Tripoli were added to the domain of the third king of Jerusalem, Baldwin II (1118-31). The Byzantine Empire was too enfeebled to retaliate. It was even too weak to take much action when Isaac Comnenus, great nephew of the Byzantine emperor, set himself up as the independent sovereign of Cyprus. He had married the sister of William II, the Norman king of Sicily, who honoured this bond by sending a Sicilian fleet to defeat the rather ineffectual imperial forces opposing Isaac. He reigned tyrannically for seven years.

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