ABSTRACT
Our knowledge of Templar activity in Cyprus between the Latin conquest in 1191 and the suppression of the Order in the years 1307–12 is, to say the least, patchy. Templars feature in comparatively few episodes: they purchased the island from King Richard of England in 1191 and ruled it until the early months of 1192; in the 1270s they quarrelled with the king of Cyprus, Hugh III, over their recognition of his rival, Charles of Anjou, as King of Jerusalem, and Hugh confiscated their Cypriot lands; they participated in some Cyprus-based military operations around the year 1300 which culminated in their occupation of Ruad; and, finally, there exists some interesting material from Cyprus on the circumstances of the suppression of the Order.
