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It is (not only) the will of god»: the king-doms of Cyprus and Cilician Armenia... 159

export . As Cypriot ports grew important enough to support rulers’
25
and the military orders’ material needs, this mutual relationship af-
fected their political fortune too, in which the papacy was also in-
volved. One may define this relationship as ‘symbiotic’.
As for the Orthodox community on the island, the documents re-
garding the end of the twelfth century and the beginning of the thir-
teenth century are quite scarce . Before the establishment of the
26
Latin Church, even after the conquest of Richard the Lionheart, it is
clear that the Orthodox Church still functioned as it had before the
conquest . However, at the time of the establishment of the Latin
27
Church a considerable number of clergymen on the island fled, along-
side the Greek nobility who were the greatest benefactors of the Or-
thodox Church . Within the wider |Orthodox Church, the hierarchy
28
on the island had a sort of independence, since the archbishops of
Cyprus were appointed from candidates offered by the bishops on the
island and a strong organisational infrastructure . Nevertheless, the
29
Orthodox Church of Cyprus suffered organisationally in various ways
from the political situation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Especially in the first years of the conquest of Cyprus, the Latin
Church was incapable of adopting an aggressive policy toward other
denominations, as the new church had not sufficiently organized and

25 N. Coureas, Hospitaller Estates and Agricultural Production on Fourteenth and Fif-
teenth Century Cyprus, in E. Buttigieg, S. Phillips, (eds.), Islands and Military Orders,
c.1291-c.1798, Ashgate, Farnham, Burlington, 2013, pp. 215-216. For some of the early
thirteenth-century grants, see E. Strehlke, (ed.), Tabulae Ordinis Theutonici: ex tabularii
regii Berolinensis codice potissimum, Weiddman, Berlin, 1869 (reis. Kessinger Publish-
ing, Whitefish, 2009), pp. 51, 266, 270-274. n. 71, 298, 302, 303; G. Bresc-Bautier,
(ed.), Le Cartulaire du Saint Sépulcre de Jerusalem, Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner,
Paris, 1984, pp. 331-332, n. 174. For trade in sugar and carobs trade originating in
Limassol, see N. Coureas, The Structure and Content of the Notarial Deeds of Lamberto
Di Sambuceto and Giovanni Da Rocha, 1296-1310, in A. D. Beihammer, M. G. Parani, C.
Schabel, (eds.), Diplomatics in the Eastern Mediterranean 1000-1500: Aspects of Cross
Cultural Communication, Brill, Leiden, Boston, 2008, p. 229.
26 For a different set of documents regarding the Orthodox community, see Cartulary
cit.; Synodicum cit.; C.N. Sathas, (ed.), Bibliotheca Graeca Medii Aevi, vol. 2, Olms Ver-
lag, Venice, 1872; J.P. Migne, (ed.), the Patrologia Graeca, 161 vols., Paris, 1857-1866,
vols. 142 and 158. For secondary scholarly works, see N. Coureas, the Foundation Rules
of Medieval Cypriot Monasteries cit., 2003; G. Grivaud, Les Lusignans et leurs Archontes
Chypriotes 1192-1359, in C. Mutafian, (ed.), Les Lusignans et l’Outre Mer: Actes du Col-
loque, Poitiers, Lusignan, 1995, pp. 150-158; E. Kaffa, the Greek Church of Cyprus, the
Morea and Constantinople During the Frankish Era 1196-1303: A New Perspective, Cam-
bridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, 2014.
27 C. Schabel, Religion cit., pp. 184-186.
28 Ibidem.
29 N. Coureas, The Latin Church in Cyprus cit., p. 252.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XIX - Aprile 2022
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)