How to Cite

Salzmann, Miriam Rachel: Negotiating Power and Identities: Latin, Greek and Syrian Élites in Fifteenth-Century Cyprus, Heidelberg: Propylaeum, 2021 (Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident, Volume 25). https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.912

Identifiers

ISBN 978-3-96929-087-3 (PDF)

Published

12/07/2021

Authors

Miriam Rachel Salzmann

Negotiating Power and Identities

Latin, Greek and Syrian Élites in Fifteenth-Century Cyprus

This study traces the development of Latin, Greek and Oriental Christian aristocratic groups and their interaction in fifteenth-century Cyprus. Since 1192, the island was under the rule of the Lusignan Crusader dynasty, which had introduced a nobility of Crusader families. However, due to various moments of political crisis from the end of the fourteenth century on, autochthonous Greeks and Oriental Christians (so-called Syrians) rose high in the state administration and challenged the power balance. This study explores their social mobility as well as the fate of the noble Crusaders who had to contend with the newcomers, and the consequences for the relationship between these groups. Moreover, it asks how the aristocrats constructed their identities with respect to social standing, ethnicity and religion. This analysis of the interplay between social change and identity construction permits a new, broad perspective on the Cypriot aristocracies during the fifteenth century.

Chapters

Table of Contents
Pages
PDF
Titelei
a-4
Contents
5-6
Acknowledgments
7
Introduction
9-14
Methods and Sources
15-31
Chapter 1 – Latins, Greeks and Syrians: the Élites of Fifteenth-Century Cyprus
33-50
Chapter 2 – Noble Knights and Aspiring Secretaries: Social Profiles and Demographic Developments among Fifteenth-Century Cypriot Élites
51-86
Chapter 3 – Trying to Marry Up: Contacts and Integration between Latins, Greeks and Syrians
87-100
Chapter 4 – Climbing the High End of the Ladder: the Ascension of Syrians and Greeks into the Power Élite
101-126
Chapter 5 – A Matter of Style: Social and Ethnic Identity Construction among Nobles and Homines Novi
127-140
Chapter 6 – Choosing the Right Church: Religious Identity Construction as a Social Statement
141-160
Conclusion
161-164
Appendices
165-182
Bibliography
183-200
General Index
201-205
Index of Persons
207-212
Sigles Used
213

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