Posted by gertrude on May 26, 2002 at 06:47:29:
In Reply to: Re: what about the influence of the franks/venetians on the islands? posted by kosta on May 26, 2002 at 02:50:18:
ok now seriously:
"The higher incidence of Alpines could just as well be the result Greek colonization there. Anyway, I never said there was no possibility of you having Frankish ancestry; I only mentioned some things because you're argument of "Franks lived in Cypress...I'm of fair complexion...therefore, I'm really of Frankish ancestry" seemed a bit simplistic"
actually i based it on observations of historians and anthropologists. not just an assumption. Also the 'blond Greeks' (i.e. the Dorians) never reached Cyprus. It was only the Myceneans (hence the similarity in dialect with northern Pelop.).
"I don't think Phoenicians and "oriental elements" had much to do with the Aegean ethnos. The Aegean was dominated by Atlanto-Mediterraneans (the probable race of the Minoans) in ancient times; this is shown in the anthropological record. "
the 'oriental' element in Cyprus (i.e. the indigenous population) was of Minoan related extraction. The Minoans (according to most historians) do come from the East. The was no other element in Cypriot society back then. Suffice it to mention here even that the present Rhodesian dialect, derived from Homeric times and still today containing many of its elements, is *exactly* the same as that of Cyprus-pointing to a common culture.
The Phoenicians weren't 'dark' as such-their descendants the Christian Lebanese are quite European looking (like continental Greeks *not* original islanders). So the 'dark dark' Cypriots, according to historians again, are an admixture of Greek descendants with Turks. Those are mostly in the West of the island.
Also there are many arguments against the 'purity' of a Greek race the strongest one being the acceptance and adoption of ancient Greeks (from Alexander onwards) of the customs of their subjects (inter-marriage fascilitating this) and the mixture of the Serbian/Bulgarian/Greek/Romanian populations of the Byzantine era (according to some giving more blond hair etc to modern Greeks, especially up in the North where the distinction between Slavic and Greek very touch and go).
In any case I don't base my conclusions on only one or two 'facts/pieces of evidence' gathered by limited sources.
Thus I can quite safely say that yes I do have Western Frankish (therefore, Crusader) ancestry as do many people in Nicosia.