Posted by patriwths on May 27, 2002 at 13:07:19:
In Reply to: Re: what about the influence of the franks/venetians on the islands? posted by Gertrude on May 25, 2002 at 20:01:59:
: Maniatis! You sound very similar in looks to my grandfather. heh
: Anyway my point is this:
Do you know the sources for this large number!
this number is very big, considering that the entire population of the island can't have been much over 350.000 til the industrial age.
In the bronze age, the population of Cyprus was probably around 100.000 to possibly 150.000. In the classical period it was probably about 300.000
or so, and probably within 50.000 of that number until modern times.
200.000 franks would have made a _huge_ change. Since a _huge_ change is not observed, i doubt that 200.000 is the
number of franks who settled there. Probably this number is the number of franks who went to the mideast
in general during the couple centuries spanning the crusades, and not returning to the west. Some of these settled in Cyprus, yes,
but more of them settled in the levant in the dozen or so principalities that sprouted up in the wake of the crusades. Also, one should note that before the franks had
gotten to Cyprus (which incidentally was independent through much of the crusades period, ruled by a dynasty founded by a renegade of the Komnhnoi) , there was the most
interesting situation the island had under the arab rule. It was a joint byzantine/arab administration, whereby baghdad and constantinople shared the revenues and the burden of
administration of the island, and both sides pledged to not keep naval forces stationed there, nor land forces above what was agreed upon for administration locally. Despite
all the wars between the caliphate and the Empire in other territories, and the slow turning of the tide which led to the empire beating the arabs back over the next couple
centuries, the arrangement on Cyprus was maintained faithfully by both sides without conflict for two hundred years. It was ended when we reconquered the island outright, by which time
the caliphate was almost defunct anyway.
At any rate, 200 years of peaceful arab/greek joint rule would have meant a much greater possibility of arab settlement on the island (which is not very evident, there is not
much record of arabs settling there much) than the roughly 200 years during which franks and venetians had a share in the politics of the island, the entire span of which they were
rather unwelcome. I'm not saying franks didnt settle in cyprus. I'm saying i think far fewer of them did, and fewer of them yet probably lasted much longer than the frankish rule there.
As for venetians, the venetians were never interested in settling in the lands they ruled. They wanted military bases for their ships, supply stations, fortified harbors, and warehouses and
dock facilities to keep their navy in good shape and well supported. In other parts of the greek world where venetians ruled,
they didn't make much of an impact. (such irony, that Venice itself was founded as such a naval base by Justinian in 543 :-)
patriwths
In the bronze age, estimates on the population of Crete are about 150.000 to 200.000 (and Crete was considered to have been very densely populated) and in the Byzantine
times after we recovered t
: 1.200,000 Franks settled in Cyprus and more or less mixed with locals.
: 2.Most of them found themselves within the Venetian walls of Nicosia when the Ottomans invaded.
: 3.Most (but definitely not all) coastal Cypriots are dark in complexion.
: 4.There is no proof that the Dorians ever reached Cyprus.
: 5.My features are what i'd consider very western (slim, straight nose, thin lips although not very tall-around 1.72)
: Based on the above isn't it more logical that I derive my looks from the Germanic Franks as opposed to an ancient race of Greeks?
: of course i'm Greek through and through and very proud!!