Lecture theme:
It has been repeatedly pointed out that the Cypriot Kingdom of the Lusignans had a multinational and multicultural character. This feature is most clearly manifest in the case of the burgesses, a social group consisting mainly of merchants, jurists, scriptors and craftsmen. The nobles were mainly Franks in origin, and the serfs were mainly Greeks. As opposed to the above social layers, the class of the burgesses incorporated Franks, Greeks, Armenians and Syrians. It therefore became the paradigm par excellence for the prevalent multiculturalism of the Medieval Kingdom of Cyprus through time. It is precisely this multiculturalism that permeated the class of the burgesses and was reflected upon its members, a religiously and nationally heterogeneous group that took shape and evolved throughout the course of the Medieval Kingdom of Cyprus, carrying on an active role in life in Cyprus well into the Venetian period.
Short résumé of the speaker:
Dr Nicholas Coureas studied Ancient and Medieval History (BA, MA and PhD) at the University of London. He works as Senior Researcher at the Cyprus Research Centre of the Ministry of Education and Culture, specializing on the History of Cyprus under Lusignan rule (1191-1473) when the island was a Frankish Kingdom.
He has published several articles and books on this topic. A selective list includes the monograph The Latin Church in Cyprus 1195-1312 (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 1997); its sequel, The Latin Church of Cyprus 1313-1378 (Nicosia: Cyprus Research Centre, 2010); and, in collaboration with Professor Peter Edbury, the English translation of the anonymous Italian chronicle on Medieval Cyprus, titled The Chronicle of Amadi translated from the Italian (Nicosia: Cyprus Research Centre, 2015). Last year, Dr Coureas brought out the monograph The Burgesses of Lusignan Cyprus, 1192-1474.
Caption: Dr Nicholas Coureas, titled “The formation and evolution of the class of Burgesses in the Frankish Kingdom of Cyprus 1192-1474”
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