International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Miriam R. Salzmann 
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany; 
[e-mail]
How Byzantine Was the Cypriot Aristocracy in the 15
th
Century? – 
Aspects of Prosopography and Centres of Power
In 1192, in the course of the third crusade, king Richard the Lionheart conquered the Byzantine 
province of Cyprus and sold it to the French noble Guy de Lusignan. In the following years, the 
Lusignan family invited settlers from France and the Levant into Cyprus and built a new crusader 
state there. The families who followed the call came to be the nobility of the new state, which was 
to exist until 1489, when Cyprus was taken over by the Venetians. At the end of the 14
th
century, 
the aristocracy still comprised mostly originally French crusader families. In the course of the 15
th
century, the composition of this social group visibly changed, as newcomers and Greek- as well as 
Syrian-Orthodox families from Cyprus ascended the social ladder to become part of the aristocracy. 
But just how and to which degree the aristocracy and its composition changed exactly, is still under 
discussion. The communication aims to analyse these changes on the basis of prosopographical 
data. Which families really were part of the aristocracy at that time – were there many Greek-
Cypriot families, or was this a marginal phenomenon? Which centres of power can be made out? 
Who belonged to these power-centres, and did cultural background play a role in the process of 
acquiring power? In how far did Greek-Cypriot families bring a Byzantine element into the group?

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ART OF MEDIEVAL GEORGIA
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, 
Irene Giviashvili
Ekaterine Kvatchatadze
, 
“Majestas Domini” in Medieval Georgian Sculpture
Erga Shneurson
, 
Concealing and Revealing Sacredness: Architectural Church Façades Sculpture in Georgia. 
The Church of St. John the Baptist in Oshki