Cyrpus and the Knights Templar
Prehistoric Cyprus
Neolithic people settled Cyprus more than 10,000 years ago. By 3900 BC copper tools were in use and by 2500 BC Cyprus was part of a Bronze Age civilization with links to Egypt, Asia Minor and the Aegean. In the 12th century BC Achaean Greeks began to oust the original Eteocypriot inhabitants.
Geometric, Archaic and Classical Periods
By 1050 BC there were 10 city-states and a flourish–ing cult of Aphrodite. The wealth of Cyprus lured Phoenicians, who settled
at Kition, as well as Assyrian, Egyptian and Persian invaders.
In 325 BC Alexander the Great added Cyprus to his empire.
Hellenistic Era
After Alexander’s death Cyprus fell to the Ptolemy dynasty of Alexandria until 58 BC, when the island was conquered by Rome. The saints Paul and Barnabas converted Sergius Paulus, the Roman governor of Cyprus, to Christianity in AD 45.
Byzantine Era
From AD 330 Cyprus was ruled by Constantinople. Earth–quakes destroyed coastal cities in the 4th century, but otherwise it was a period of peace. From the mid-7th century the island was devastated by Arab pirates who were not defeated by Emperor Nicephoros Phocas until 965.
The Lusignans
Richard the Lionheart of England seized Cyprus from the Byzantines in 1191 and sold it to the Knights Templar, who in turn sold it to Guy de Lusignan, exiled King of Jerusalem. The Roman Catholic Church supplanted the Greek Orthodox faith.