The Kingdom of Cyprus and the Crusades 1191-1374 (review)

Reviews 163 Nevertheless, it must be judged a minor-magisterial attack upon its subject. John O.Ward Department of History University of Sydney Edbury, Peter W., The Kingdom of Cyprus and the Crusades 1191-1374, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991; cloth; pp. xviii, 241; 2 maps, 4 gealogical tables; R.R.P. AUS$90.00. One really ought not to criticize authors for not having written books that they have specifically eschewed but which one considers that they ought to have written. In this case, Dr Edbury has declared that he 'had originally planned to include chapters on the social and economic fabric of the kingdom [of Cyprus], but after much heart-searching I decided that such topics would be better dealt with elsewhere. In any case I a m not at all sure that in the 1990s people will want to read academic monographs from cover to cover if they are much over two hundred pages long!' (p. xii). Edbury is too modest. H e writes lucidly and to the point. H e is well on top of his primary sources and has read widely in the secondary literature. There is no reason why this book should not have been structured as originally intended, assuming that the Press would have agreed to publish a book longer by a half or more again. As we have it, we have only part of the story of Cyprus under the Lusignan dynasty, with but occasional, tantalizing flashes of insight into the important economic history of the island- in the period and virtually nothing of its fascinating social and cultural history. The Crusader impact made itself felt, for example, on Cyprio-Byzantine art and ceramics but there is nothing of that here. However, what Edbury has done, he he has done extremely well. His work replaces that of G. Hill, A history of Cyprus (4 vols, 1940-52) for his period, and it also brings important new perspectives to the various works of de Mas Latrie, Richard, and Rudt de Collenberg. H e has carved his way through the complex political history of Lusignan Cyprus with a sure touch and has produced a readable narrative in spite of the plethora of detail with which he has had to deal. The book traces the political history of the island from its conquest by Richard Coeur de Lion during the Third Crusade, to its acquisition by Guy of Lusignan in 1191 and the creation of a monarchy by his brother Aimery in 1196, through to the Genoese invasion and overthrow of real Lusignan 164 Reviews power in 1373-74. In doing so it explores deftly both the internal political history of the island, particularly relationships between the crown and the nobility, and also its external relationships, expecially with the Kingdom of Jerusalem (to 1291), the Ayyubid and then Mamliik sultanate of Egypt, the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, and the Papacy. Edbury makes particularly good use of the Papal registers to clarify the roles and functions of Cypms in the various Crusades and Holy Leagues of the fourteenth century. Generally the book is well produced. The maps and tables are clear and accurate. However, there are rather too many typographical errors for a Cambridge University Press publication; for example, 'However, if the occupation of Satelia [read, Satalia] can be seen as a development of earlier policies, it is [read, is it] not possible that the attempted occupation of Alexandria or its destruction can also be explained in such terms?'(p. 171). The proof-reading of this book is not of C.U.P.'s normal high quality. John H. Pryor Department of History University of Sydney Hiley, David, Western plainchant: a handbook, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993; pp. xcvii, 661; frontispiece, 18 plates, 6 maps, 1 figure, 38 •tables, 204 musical examples; R.R.P. A U S $ 190.00. If the title of this handsome and hefty tome is modest and precise, the corpus of music and associated literature that it surveys is vast and the intellectual achievement it represents is, quite simply, enormous. David Hiley has produced a superb reference work, a necessaryfirst-stop'for those coming new to plainchant and for those needing guidance...