The
Turks and
Tatars and infidels were well aware of his prowess and enterprise, and that is why in order to bring about his downfall they bargained with his brother
Jacques to have him assassinated, and so he had the noble
king, his
brother, killed before his eyes, even while he slept. It was truly a despicable and coldblooded thing to murder such a valiant man as the
king of Cyprus who, day and night, thought of nothing else besides a means of liberating the
Holy Land and prising it from the hands of the infidels. When the
Genoese, who greatly admired him (and they were right to do so for he did much worthy of admiration), heard the news of his death, they armed seven galleys and sent them to
Cyprus, taking the city of
Famagusta by storm and
Jacques with it, and invading most of the realm. If they had thought it worthless they would have destroyed it, but since the towns there are strong and are on the borders of
Turkey they left them in the hands of the local people, except for the city of
Famagusta which they kept for themselves and protected. When they had first conquered it they seized countless riches, and took with them to
Genoa this
Jacques who had murdered his
brother, to discover what the
Genoese would do with him. It is true that the
king of Cyprus had a fine
son, for whom they secured a marriage and crowned him king, while
Jacques was placed in solitary confinement, though they had no intention of having him killed. They held on to
Famagusta but I do not know whether they still have it.
The young
son of the
king of Cyprus died in his sleep, which was a cause of great sadness for the
Genoese; but they could not better the situation and so the land remained without an heir. I do not know who governs it now, but during the year when I spent some time in the household of the
count of Foix, I was told by a knight of
Béarn, the
lord of Balansun, that the
Genoese played a great part in the business since they held
Famagusta. Meanwhile the country had crowned
Jacques king for lack of an heir. I cannot imagine by what devilry he escaped from prison or the hands of the
Genoese.
SHF 3-60 syncWhen
king Leon of Armenia first came to
France to the
king and lords he was warmly received, and rightly so, because he had come from a distant country. From him and his men they gleaned all of the news concerning the kingdom of
Greece and the empire of
Constantinople, for I can tell you that he was questioned and quizzed very precisely about the might of the
Turks and
Tatars who had driven him out of his kingdom. To these questions and enquiries the
king of Armenia replied that the great
Timur of Tatary had always made war on him and had wrested his kingdom from him.
"And this
Timur of Tatary," asked those who were in conversation with him, "is he a powerful man?"
"Yes indeed," he said, "for by force and with the aid of the
sultan, he overcame the
emperor of Constantinople."
"Then does
Constantinople follow the Tatar faith?" asked the lords.
"Certainly not" he said, "but
Timur and the
sultan have long been at war with the
emperor of Constantinople. It was finally agreed, for otherwise the
emperor would not have had any peace, that the
emperor of Constantinople who was the son of my lady
Marie de Bourbon and of the
emperor Hugues de Lusignan, would give his
daughter in marriage to the
son of
Timur, but the
emperor would retain his own faith and privileges through the union."
pb 253 v