The Chronicle of Amadi or simply Amadi (or Istoria del regno di Cipro, 'History of the kingdom of Cyprus') is an anonymous chronicle written around 1520 in Italian prose with some Venetian traits. [1] Its one of the major sources on the Frankish Kingdom of Cyprus under the Lusignan dynasty (1192-1489). The text details the history of Cyprus starting from the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius and his wars against the Sassanids for the recovery of the Holy Cross in the seventh century to the wedding of King John II with Helena Palaiologina on 3 February 1441, closely following the closing date of the 15th century Greek chronicle of Leontios Machairas. Additionally, it includes a short account of the history of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem from its foundation onwards. [2] The codex contains Italian excerpts and translations of a number of narrative histories from the Latin East. These include William of Tyre’s Eracles , the Annales de Terre Sainte , Philip of Novara’s Estoire et le droit conte de la guerre qui fu entre l’empereur, and the anonymously authored Chronique d’un Templier de Tyr. [3]
The Chronicle exists in a single mid-16th century manuscript at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice (It. VI, 157 (=6895) ). Although the text is known as the Chronicle of Amadi, the Venetian Francesco Amadi (d. 1566) was not the author of the text but only the owner of the extant manuscript. There is a 19th century copy of the manuscript at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (It. 387) commissioned by Luis de Mas Latrie. [2] It was first published in the original Italian in 1891 by René de Mas Latrie, son of French historian Louis de Mas Latrie and in 2015 it was published in an English translation from the Italian by Nicolas Coureas and Peter Edbury. [4]
The Kingdom of Cyprus was a medieval kingdom of the Crusader states that existed between 1192 and 1489. Initially ruled as an independent Christian kingdom, it was established by the French House of Lusignan after the Third Crusade. It comprised not only the entire island of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on the Anatolian mainland: Antalya between 1361 and 1373, and Corycus between 1361 and 1448.
Charlotte was the Queen of Cyprus from 1458 until 1464. She was the eldest and only surviving daughter of King John II of Cyprus and Helena Palaiologina. At the age of 14, she succeeded to the Cypriot throne upon the death of her father. Her illegitimate half-brother, James, challenged her right to the crown. With the support of the Egyptians, he forced her to flee the island in 1463, and he was later crowned king. She made a military attempt to regain her throne, but was unsuccessful, and died childless in Rome.
Janus was King of Cyprus and titular King of Armenian Cilicia and Jerusalem from 1398 to 1432.
Leontios Machairas or Makhairas was a historian in medieval Cyprus.
John of Ibelin, count of Jaffa and Ascalon, was a noted jurist and the author of the longest legal treatise from the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was the son of Philip of Ibelin, bailli of the Kingdom of Cyprus, and Alice of Montbéliard, and was the nephew of John of Ibelin, the "Old Lord of Beirut". To distinguish him from his uncle and other members of the Ibelin family named John, he is sometimes called John of Jaffa.
The Assizes of Jerusalem are a collection of numerous medieval legal treatises written in Old French containing the law of the crusader kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus. They were compiled in the thirteenth century, and are the largest collection of surviving medieval laws.
Peter I was King of Cyprus and titular King of Jerusalem from his father's abdication on 24 November 1358 until his death in 1369. He was invested as titular Count of Tripoli in 1346. As King of Cyprus, he had some military successes, but he was unable to complete many of his plans due to internal disputes that culminated in his assassination at the hands of three of his knights.
Ernoul was a squire of Balian of Ibelin who wrote an eyewitness account of the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. This was later incorporated into an Old French history of Crusader Palestine now known as the Chronicle of Ernoul and Bernard the Treasurer, often abbreviated Ernoul-Bernard. The chronicle covers the years from 1100 until 1228. A few manuscripts copied for Bernard, treasurer of Corbie Abbey, extend the narrative down to 1232.
Guy of Ibelin, of the Ibelin family, was count of Jaffa and Ascalon during the latter part of the Crusades. He was the son of John of Ibelin and Maria of Barbaron. He was count in name only. His father, John of Jaffa, had died in 1266, after which the fragile truce with the Muslims collapsed, and Jaffa was captured by Baibars in 1268. John was probably succeeded by Guy's older brother James, who held the title of Count of Jaffa until his death in 1276, at which point the title passed to Guy.
Guy of Ibelin (1286–1308), Lord of Nicosia, was the son of Balian of Ibelin, seneschal of the kingdom of Cyprus, and of Alice of Lampron.
Marie of Bourbon was the sovereign baroness of Vostitsa in 1359-1370. She was princess consort of Achaea and titular Latin empress consort by marriage to Robert of Taranto, Prince of Achaea and titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople. Upon the death of Robert in 1364, she became princess regnant of Achaea until her death.
Stefano Lusignan (1537–1590), also known as Étienne de Lusignan and Estienne de Lusignan, was a priest, scholar, and titular bishop of Venetian Cyprus who migrated to Italy and France.
Guy of Ibelin was seneschal of Cyprus from 1318 and a burgher of Venice from 30 December 1334. He was the son of Philip of Ibelin (1253–1318), previous seneschal of Cyprus and Jerusalem by his second wife Maria Embriaco of Giblet. He was evidently held in high regard by King Hugh IV of Cyprus, since he is named in a royal decree from 1329 as a "magnificus vir" , in charge of four newly created priesthoods in the cathedral of Nicosia.
The island of Cyprus was an overseas possession of the Republic of Venice from 1489, when the independent Kingdom of Cyprus ended, until 1571, when the island was conquered by the Ottoman Empire.
Philip of Ibelin was Seneschal of the Kingdom of Cyprus. As one of the sons of Philippa Barlais and her husband Guy of Ibelin, he was a member of the house of Ibelin.
Georgios Boustronios was a 15th century Cypriot royal official and chronicler possibly of Syrian origin. His chronicle Διήγησις Kρόνικας Kύπρου was written in prose in Cypriot Greek. He was a close friend and serviceman of James II, the King of Cyprus. His chronicle documents events contemporary to his life, especially the transition from the Lusignan to the Venetian rule in Cyprus. His narrative starts where the chronicle of Leontios Machairas ends, at 1456, and concludes at 1489, the year when Catherine Cornaro, the last queen of Cyprus, ceded the island to the Republic of Venice. He documented the civil war between Charlotte and her half brother James II, between 1440 and 1444, and the interventions by Hospitallers and Mamluks in the politics of the island. He was a relative of Florio Bustron, a notary and the author of another chronicle on Cypriot history, titled Chronique de l'île de Chypre, that begins with antiquity and also ends in 1489.
Florio Bustron, was a 16th century administrator, jurist and historian. Florio became a prominent administrative figure when Cyprus was under Venetian rule. He came from the well known Cypriot Bustron family, possibly of Syrian origin, with Greek and Latinised members. According to John Sozomenos who described the siege of Nicosia by the Ottomans in 1570, he died during the Turkish invasion.
The martyrs of Kantara are thirteen Orthodox monks from the Kantara monastery in Cyprus, persecuted and executed in May 1231 at the request of Pope Gregory IX and under the direction of his emissary, Andrew. After an inquisition trial for refusing the use of unleavened bread for the Eucharist, they were imprisoned, tortured, and then burned alive. One of them died in prison before the execution.
Aimery of Poitiers-Lusignan (French: Aimery de Lusignan;, was a Cypriot nobleman. He was a member of the House of Poitiers-Lusignan, as he was the son of king Hugh III of Cyprus. He held the position of Constable of Cyprus in 1303.