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The conquest of Cyprus by Richard I in April-May 1191 was an accidental event during the Third Crusade. King Richard I of England, along with others, embarked on the Third Crusade in 1189. Early in 1191, Berengaria of Navarre, Richard's fiancée, and Joan of England, Richard's sister, were traveling together and their ship was wrecked on Cyprus. They were then captured by Isaac Komnenos, a local governor and self-proclaimed emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Richard arrived in Limassol on 6 May, where he met with Isaac. Isaac agreed to return Richard's belongings and send 500 of his soldiers to the Holy Land. While in Limassol, Richard also married Berengaria, who was crowned queen. However, once back at his fortress of Famagusta, Isaac broke his oath of hospitality and began ordering Richard to leave the island. Richard then proceeded to conquer the island within days and left sometime before June. There is speculation that Richard attacked Cyprus because Isaac was diverting the food supply from the Latin army at Acre. However, most modern scholars believe that Richard's conquest of Cyprus was incidental.

This was a major turning point in the history of Cyprus and Crusades, leading to the foundation of the Kingdom of Cyprus which would rule the island for several centuries.

References

1. Madden, Thomas (2013). The Concise History of the Crusades. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 84.
2. Neocleous, Savvas (2013). "Imaging Isaak Komnenos of Cyprus (1184-1191) and the Cypriots: Evidence from the Latin Historiography of the Third Crusade". Byzantion. 83: 297–337. ISSN 0378-2506. JSTOR 44173212.
3. Nicolle, David (2006). The Third Crusade 1191. Osprey. p. 51.

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