[January 17] Peter I, king of Cyprus

The Assassination of Peter I, king of Cyprus

Parents: Hugh IV, king of Cyprus, and Alix of Ibelin

Date of Birth: 9 October 1328

Royal House: Lusignan

Spouse: Eschive de Montfort, then Eleanor of Aragon-Gandia

Reign: 1358 – 1369

Other Titles Claimed: King of Jerusalem, Latin King of Armenia, Count of Tripoli
Predecessor: Hugh IV, king of Cyprus

Summary: Despite a rocky childhood, Peter became king of a country well-suited to striking the Muslim Middle-East with little threat of counter-attack. He began his life of warfare against the Turks who were attempting to destroy the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, the rulers of which were closely related to Peter. This action unified the Turks against Cyprus and they attempted to invade the island in 1361. This attack, in turn, brought the help of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes, a small Papal force, and some Catholic pirates to the aide of Cyprus. The counter-attack succeeded and Cyprus became the dominant power on the southern coast of Anatolia for the next decade.

Things went ill from this point forward. Peter went to Europe in the hope of allying the Catholic powers together in another crusade to liberate the Holy Land. Not only did his plan not work, but Cyprus fell under a massive epidemic while he was away. Thousands of people died and the Turks took this as an opportunity to raid Cyprus and pillage the island. Meanwhile, Peter managed to gather a small force of crusaders to invade Alexandria, only to sack the city and incur the wrath of the Sultan of Egypt. Christians in the Holy Land became targets of attack and the pope convinced Peter to make amends with the Egyptian sultan. Through this all, Peter accomplished little. Most of his attempts to capture the Holy Land, Anatolia, and North Africa were initially successful but he could not hold them. All of these campaigns cost money that he did not have. His attacks also threatened the economic welfare of Cyprus, which was a major trading post in the east Mediterranean. Soon after being made king of Latin Armenia, Peter discovered that his wife had been unfaithful to him while he was away in Europe. He attacked his entire royal court and, in response, was assassinated by three of his own knights while in bed.

Date of Death: 17 January 1369

Successor: Peter II, king of Cyprus


Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Theodosius I, emperor of Rome (395)
• Feodor I, tsar of Russia (1598)
• Ferdinand IV, grand duke of Tuscany (1908)
• Olav V, king of Norway (1991)