Cyprus, Lusignan dynasty, 1 Denier – ND

Description

Cyprus was conquered by Ricardo Heart of León in 1191, to the Byzantine insurgent Isaac Conmeno. Ricardo had no intention of conquering the island, but the bad treatment given to some of his men after a shipwreck, they convinced him to do so. Ricardo sold it to the Templars who found fierce resistance on the island, so they returned it. Ricardo gave it to his vassal Guido de Lusignan, compensating for the loss of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Guido died soon without offspring, and his brother inherited the kingdom. In 1268 Hugo III will recover the kingdom of Jerusalem after the death of Conrado III, and shortly after all possession is definitely lost in the continent, although they nominally maintain the title. In the S. XIV, the Genoese economically control the island, and in 1426 it becomes a tax of the Mamluks. In 1486, Caterina Cornaro is forced to sell the island to Venice, ending the three hundred years of the Cruzado Kingdom.