Medieval Cyprus.

The Latin kingdom is never founded. Eventually the island gets added to the territories of the Empire of Nicea. Does this mean that it could have resisted the Turkish conquest of 1570, especially with possible aid from Venice?
 
The Latin kingdom is never founded. Eventually the island gets added to the territories of the Empire of Nicea. Does this mean that it could have resisted the Turkish conquest of 1570, especially with possible aid from Venice?

I doubt it. I guess that it would be annexed by the Ottomans earlier if Byzantine.
 
At best it would be semi independent under its own despotate system a la Morea as the grip on Constantinople tightened from the Turks.

If all else stays the same, Cyprus really won't make much a difference.
 
At best it would be semi independent under its own despotate system a la Morea as the grip on Constantinople tightened from the Turks.

If all else stays the same, Cyprus really won't make much a difference.


Or maybe have the knights of St John move to Cyprus, instead of Malta and lead a brilliant defense like malta.... Right couldn't that work...
 
Actually it was the Templars.
And no it couldn't work because Cyprus gives the ottoman armies operational room.

No, the Hospitaliers too, under de Villaret. They weren't in any position of power, however, and wanted to get out of there ASAP. Hence Rhodes.
 
No, the Hospitaliers too, under de Villaret. They weren't in any position of power, however, and wanted to get out of there ASAP. Hence Rhodes.
no what I meant was in the 15th century the knights on Rhodes gain a foothold in cyprus which they keep so when Rhodes is lost the knights move to Cyprus instead of Malta and come Suleymans invasion the Ottomans fail the same way they failed to take Malta.... So Cyprus remains an imentrable fortress like Malta...
 
no what I meant was in the 15th century the knights on Rhodes gain a foothold in cyprus which they keep so when Rhodes is lost the knights move to Cyprus instead of Malta and come Suleymans invasion the Ottomans fail the same way they failed to take Malta.... So Cyprus remains an imentrable fortress like Malta...
Cyprus is too big to defend like Malta.
 
Cyprus is too big to defend like Malta.

Oh I see, well then, oh I know, the French had lots of influence in Cyprus so what if Cyprus cozys up to France, Fwith French support the Ottomans may not invade and cyprus falls into French sphere of influence sometime in the late 15tu century.... Or maybe the Venetians offer gaurentees to Cyprus and create a puppet nation after all during and after the Italian wars didn't Venice still hold Cyprus and Crete
 
France would work. Venice wouldn't: the Ottomans took the island from it OTL.
And however it was right too much in the middle of core Ottoman lands for them not to try if possible. They could tolerate an independent Cyprus if not hostile, and a French Cyprus if France is still an ally for them. Almost any other arrangement would mean that the Ottoman try to take the place more or less as soon as they can.
Not their first priority but a significant one.
 
Oh I see, well then, oh I know, the French had lots of influence in Cyprus so what if Cyprus cozys up to France, Fwith French support the Ottomans may not invade and cyprus falls into French sphere of influence sometime in the late 15tu century.... Or maybe the Venetians offer gaurentees to Cyprus and create a puppet nation after all during and after the Italian wars didn't Venice still hold Cyprus and Crete
I said this in another discussion but how will the French be able to power project to Balkans (let alone Cyprus?). The first invasion into Italy by Charles bankrupted or nearly bankrupted him so he couldn't do anything for years. Even then, it was only after the French were obliterated at Pavia that Francis reached out to Suleiman--and that was because France was actually afraid the Hapsburgs could actually dominate all of Europe.

On the other hand, Cyprus survived for along time. If things go differently maybe the Ottomans could use French traders as their gateway to European markets and let them keep Cyprus which was Christian until they conquered it. This might eventually need an alliance or something between Venice and France.
 
France would work. Venice wouldn't: the Ottomans took the island from it OTL.
And however it was right too much in the middle of core Ottoman lands for them not to try if possible. They could tolerate an independent Cyprus if not hostile, and a French Cyprus if France is still an ally for them. Almost any other arrangement would mean that the Ottoman try to take the place more or less as soon as they can.
Not their first priority but a significant one.

Right so what if France establishes a pro French goverment in Cyprus and makes it a French ally, this way you could keep Cyprot Independance from Ottomans right?
 

archaeogeek

Banned
no what I meant was in the 15th century the knights on Rhodes gain a foothold in cyprus which they keep so when Rhodes is lost the knights move to Cyprus instead of Malta and come Suleymans invasion the Ottomans fail the same way they failed to take Malta.... So Cyprus remains an imentrable fortress like Malta...

Malta is 3 islands, the biggest of which is smaller than Paris. Rhodes fell. Cyprus is half or a third of the size of Thrace, it can't be turned into a fortress without a kingdom willing to piss away half its state income on an island whose main wealth is wine and sugar. Also a pro-french government would probably be either a bone of contention come the 16th century, at the worst possible moment, or lead to a situation where the Ottomans ignore the island because it's under a tight leash by a friendly power.
 
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