Politics, Art and Cultural Interaction in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Relations Between Mystras (Mistra) and Cyprus in the 14th and 15th Centuries

Year 2023, Volume: 11, 409 - 428, 21.06.2023

Özge Bozkurtoğlu

Abstract

The Crusades which were launched at the end of the 11th century resulted in a new political diversity in the Mediterranean. Cyprus was captured by Richard I, the king of England. In 1192, he sold the island to Guy of Lusignan who had lost his throne in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This resulted in the establishment of a Frankish Kingdom which would last nearly three hundred years. However, the states founded in Greece after the Fourth Crusade were less stable political entities. Mystras (Mistra) was founded as a Frankish settlement in 1249 under the Principality of Achaea, which was the longest lasting of these. The city captured by Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261 maintained its importance as a cultural and intellectual center, as the capital of the despotate of Morea from the second half of the 14th century. This article concentrates on Isabelle de Lusignan, the wife of Manuel Kantakouzenos, the first despot of the despotate of Morea and Queen Helena Palaiologina, the wife of King John II of Cyprus. The article examines the relations between Mystras and Cyprus in the 14th and 15th centuries and the socio-cultural connotations of these relations through the deeds of these two influential women of the period who had organic relations with both regions.

Keywords

Isabelle de Lusignan, Mystras (Mistra), Helena Palaiologina, The Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus

Supporting Institution

École française d’Athènes, Greece

Ortaçağ Akdenizi’nde Siyaset, Sanat ve Kültürel Etkileşim: 14. ve 15. Yüzyıllarda Mystras (Mistra) ve Kıbrıs Arasındaki İlişkiler

Abstract

11. yüzyılın sonunda başlayan Haçlı Seferleri Akdeniz’de yeni bir siyasi çeşitliliğe yol açtı. Kıbrıs, III. Haçlı Seferi yolculuğu sırasında İngiltere Kralı I. Richard tarafından ele geçirildi. Kudüs tahtını kaybeden Guy de Lusignan’a satılan Kıbrıs’ta 1192 yılından itibaren yaklaşık üç yüzyıl sürecek bir Frank Krallığı kuruldu. IV. Haçlı Seferi’nin ardından Yunanistan’da kurulan devletler ise çok daha istikrarsız ve değişken siyasi teşekküllerdi. Mystras (Mistra) bunlar arasında en uzun ömürlü olan Akhaia Prinkepsliği çatısı altında bir Frank yerleşimi olarak 1249 yılında kuruldu. VIII. Mikhail Palaiologos tarafından 1261 yılında ele geçirilen kent 14. yüzyılın ikinci yarısından sonra despotluk hâline gelen Mora’nın başkenti olarak imparatorluğun son zamanlarına kadar kültürel ve entelektüel bir merkez olarak önemini korudu. Bu çalışma Bizans Mora Despotluğu’nun ilk despotu Manuel Kantakouzenos’un eşi Isabelle de Lusignan ve Kıbrıs Kralı II. John’un eşi Kraliçe Helena Palaiologina’yı merkeze almaktadır. Her iki bölge ile organik bağları olan dönemin bu etkili kadınları üzerinden 14. ve 15. yüzyıllarda Kıbrıs ve Mystras arasındaki ilişkiler ile bunların sosyo-kültürel yansımaları incelenmektedir.

Keywords

Isabelle de Lusignan, Mystras (Mistra), Helena Palaiologina, Kıbrıs Lusignan Krallığı

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