The massive effort that is Famagusta Volume II, History and Society, is the second publication to come from an energizing and substantive workshop held at the Archeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus on October 25-26, 2008. As many scholars will understand, however, the energy generated from such gatherings often wanes and, in this case, created a frustrating lag for the editors and contributors. However, time did nothing to reduce the substance of the research and in the end the volume was published with both material and academic heft.

Famagusta was the second largest medieval city on the island of Cyprus during the Middle Ages and into the early modern period. The city’s labyrinthian history is as extraordinary as it is tangled. This volume is framed chronologically, beginning with the Lusignan kingdom in 1191 (Part I), and followed by the Genoese rule over the city from 1373-1464 (Part II). Part III swerves from the chronology to offer some directed studies that cross both of these periods. Part IV takes up the chronology with one chapter dedicated to the Venetian period of Famagusta (1474-1571). The final two parts of the volume include alternative perspectives on Famagusta through the physical space, experience of women, travelers, and artists from the medieval through the modern period. An extensive bibliography and several maps and photographs are collected at the end of the volume, while tables and annexes are included within individual chapters.

The foremost historian of Lusignan Cyprus begins the volume with a succinct assessment of Famagusta during Lusignan rule, 1192-1374. Peter Edbury discusses Famagusta’s three roles: a center for trade, a military base, and a royal city. In each of these sections he gives a survey of the available sources and considers the complexity of the growing prosperity of the city. This prosperity seems to have been challenged at every turn by papal embargo, royal control of mercantile communities, plague, and eventually, war. And yet, the city hosted an international community of traders and refugees, saw improvements in its walled defense, and was the site of a new cathedral, which itself was the setting for three elaborate coronation ceremonies. Edbury’s description of the city effectively sets the stage for an exploration of these contradictory circumstances and the duality (if not multiplicity) of a city that rose rapidly to the heights of prosperity and declined equally fast.

In the second chapter, Jean Richard comments on the institution of new royal positions in Famagusta. He focuses on the bailly of Famagusta and also includes the viscount and castellan, and someone called the raïs. He considers their positions and duties as judges, and defenders of the city’s castle and walls. Richard remarks at the difficulty of sources for understanding the exact correspondence between these new positions and those elsewhere on the island, like the capital city, Nicosia. He suggests that it is possible that the viscount and raïs were related to Henri II’s decision to make Famagusta the site of coronation for the King of Jerusalem, since those were similar privileges held by Franks and Syrians in cities of Frankish Syria. The bailly was not just in Famagusta however, but in several other cities of the island. It was a particularly important position, as Famagusta’s commercial activity grew during the early fourteenth century.

Despite scattered gaps in the historical documentation, David Jacoby walks us through the economic environment of Famagusta in chapter three. Although the environment of Cyprus has been studied for its commercial intersections with the wider Mediterranean, prior to this study Famagusta had not been singled out for its own role in the economic affairs of the island. Jacoby discusses the city’s population and commercial interactions through the thirteenth century, as Famagusta sees slow growth with increasing immigration and Western capital coming into its port. Jacoby maps out the well-known boom in wealth and trade in Famagusta during the fourteenth-century, which in many ways was short-lived as it lost momentum after the papal embargo against trade with the Mamluks was lifted, and finally the Genoese occupation effectively destroyed Famagusta’s powerful economic base. Jacoby also gives a fascinating list of commercial products and players in Famagusta during this period. He brings to light some overlooked areas such as the slave-trade in Famagusta, the importance of building in the city, and export items like gold thread from Cyprus.

What Catherine Otten-Froux offers in her extraordinary chapter on Famagusta under Genoese domination is a detailed and thorough chronological history of the events in Famagusta between 1374 and 1464. In the first section of her chapter (71-138), Otten-Froux untangles the tight knot that is the ninety-year occupation of Famagusta by the Genoese. She takes each Lusignan ruler in turn and unfolds their quests for recovery of the city and ultimate debt and domination under the Genoese invaders. Otten-Froux reveals the treasure trove of information found in Genoese registers, travel accounts, and correspondence from this period, and deftly points out the lacunae inevitably present in the archives. Otten-Froux continues with an exploration of what life was like according to the administrative organization of the city. Sections on justice and finances are included here. Annexes include the names of the many important figures in Famagusta during this period.

In the following chapter, Laura Balleto gives an encapsulated history of this period, followed by an oft repeated caveat that the sources for this study are not numerous. She also reminds us at the end of the chapter that the sources almost exclusively account for the trade relations between foreign merchants and the Genoese and do not include the Genoese themselves. Balleto focuses on the published documents of the notary Anthony Foglietta from 1445-1458. These documents, like the others elucidated in the early part of the chapter offer names of owners and their ships, as well as lists of goods and reveal the routes of these traders. This chapter provides a more granular look at the economy of Genoese Famagusta.

Svetlana Bliznyuk analyses the inventories in order to give the numbers and titles of members of the military defense of Genoese Famagusta. She makes it clear that the city was a military base defended by professional military men who had specialized knowledge in new technologies like guns. Bliznyuk concludes with an analysis of the financial crisis in Famagusta from 1443, concluding that a number of political factors were the underlying cause, and that the city was consistently reliant on the metropolis of Genoa for support.

Michele Balard traces the ebb and flow of the population of Famagusta from a time when the city was merely a village, to its “golden period” of the early fourteenth century, and precipitous decline after 1374, under the Genoese. He traces numbers of national groups as recorded in notarial documents and registers, acknowledging the gaps due to the different scribes’ own origins. Balard also gives a sketch of the various groups of clergies in Famagusta. He concludes with the slow decline during the Genoese period, and a list of mercenaries and their places of origin.

Alexander Beihammer discusses an important but elusive group in Famagusta, the Syrians. He importantly begins by acknowledging that the Syrians who came from the Crusader Kingdoms into Famagusta before and much more after 1291 were not a single community. Although they were Christians who used Arabic and Syriac in their communications and liturgies, they were divided into several different denominations. The Melkites for example, fell under the Greek Church’s administration, the Jacobites and Nestorians had their own Syrian Court. Beihammer emphasizes the varied networks within which the Syrians engaged in Famagusta and Nicosia; however, he acknowledges that there is very little primary evidence to help us understand the true activities and positions of Syrians in Famagusta. The chapter ends with a discussion of the role the Arabic language played in the ecclesiastical and notary environment of the Syrians on Cyprus.

Chris Schabel takes on the topic of the ecclesiastical history of Famagusta. He goes carefully through the arguments found in papal letters to show the intricate relationships between the bishopric of Famagusta and the Pope. Taking the Latin Church’s history in chronological order, the narrative highlights the “boom years” from 1291-1374. Schabel examines both the building of the economic and the monumental environment for the Church. He also includes a discussion of churches and communities of the Eastern rite churches. Before turning to the insistently complicated period of the Genoese occupation, Schabel takes time to elucidate the strife between Greek and Latin churches over jurisdiction of the Syrian churches in Famagusta. In addition, Schabel outlines the internal struggles of the Latin church due to increasing papal appointments and decreasing funding. Through the window of episcopal succession, we learn where the Latin Church in Famagusta got its money and how it was spent (or taken). Finally, the Genoese period of occupation is tackled with a prefatory statement that “Famagusta’s ecclesiastical history in this period is twice as complicated as its political history” (330). Indeed, this is underlined by the refrain repeated often in this volume, that not all of the documentary evidence has been uncovered. But having dug into the available “stray documents”, Schabel produces for us a remarkably detailed account of the churches in Famagusta, in their economic, political and material sense.

The entirety of Part IV is given to Gilles Grivaud’s chapter on Venetian Famagusta. Although the title of the chapter emphasizes the role of the military (martiale) and the patronage of St. Mark for Venice (marcienne), Grivaud also gives ample attention to the people of Famagusta and their place among the colonial city from 1474-1571. Here, contrary to other chapters, the documentary evidence is plentiful and although some patches remain dim, the Venetian period of Famagusta is relatively more illuminated than others. Evidence comes in the form of letters, reports, requests, and an important diary of the viscount of Famagusta Pietro Valdiero (1569-1571). The majority of the information is concerned with the defense of the city, particularly the enormous efforts to preserve, adapt and expand the defensive walls of Famagusta. Grivaud also notes the constant tension between Famagusta and Nicosia during the Venetian period, with Famagusta never rising to its former glory and Nicosia capturing the economy and prestige of luxury crafts, funding for religious institutions and even defensive architecture. Yet, Famagusta retained its prominence as a port and center for trade. Grivaud extracts all the information he can from his sources. He provides an overview of the infrastructure of the city, the material of its churches and their communities, the demographics of the population, and the economy of the city. The chapter ends with the riveting, if disastrous, tale of the conquest of the island by the Ottomans and the long siege of Famagusta. Also included is an annex listing the military and civil officers of Famagusta during Venetian rule.

Panos Leventis’ essay, “Fragmentation and Unity: Episodes in the Urban Topography of Famagusta,” meticulously details the unfolding of Famagusta’s urban landscape, its fortifications, churches, ports, and hospitals, from the thirteenth through the fourteenth century. Leventis offers a topographical palimpsest of Famagusta as its buildings and fortifications were worked and reworked to suit the needs of the changing population. Many of the walls of Famagusta were created by connecting and reinforcing pre-existing structures. This process of interconnectivity and simultaneous division gives this essay its name and raises questions of cultural unity and fragmentation amongst the diverse ethno-linguistic populations.

Angel Nicolaou-Konnari has the distinction of contributing the longest chapter to the volume. With such a significant topic as “Women in Famagusta,” which she notes has been given very little attention to date, one wonders why this material couldn’t be compiled into its own book. The recitation of similar documentary evidence is here framed by more confounding limitations that could create an incomplete and distorted picture of women in the city of Famagusta. With that issue noted, Nicolaou-Konnari does a careful job of delving into the social roles, family, and relationships with religion and work which women took on in the medieval and early modern period of Famagusta.

In the essay, “Famagouste dans la littétature des voyageurs français. Famagouste vue par les praticiens de l’image,” Lucie Bonato offers a vision of Famagusta through the eyes of French travelers and writers beginning in the fifteenth century through the nineteenth century. Bonato catalogs the changing nature of travel to the region which was hardly ever viewed as a destination in itself, but rather a stopping point on the road to the East. This changed around the 1840s, however, when a thirst for scientific knowledge spurred missions to the area. Bonato’s essay speaks to the changing attitudes of and toward the French travelers who visited Famagusta.

The final essay in this volume, “Famagusta: With Pencils, Brush, and Palate,” by Rita Severis,offers a broad overview of Famagusta as it was experienced by travelers, writers, and artists, from the sixteenth through the twentieth century. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century the mix of grandeur and dereliction offered by the city which had been ravaged by the Ottoman bombardment and earthquakes was a perfect place for artists taken by the rising spirit of Romanticism. Severis reflects the chimeric quality of Famagusta which seemed to lend itself to the viewers’ particular nostalgia and imagination. While Famagusta did not fall within the popular interests of the eighteenth-century Grand Tourists, who were primarily looking for traces of the classical world, artistic representations of the city, colored by philhellenism and romanticism, emphasize the Greeknessof the city. Throughout Severis’ sweeping view of Famagusta one thing remains constant--Famagusta is always a city in which people see the past.

This volume must be understood as foundational to any further study of Famagusta. The history of Famagusta is so rich and varied, that this compilation of research feels at once intense in its depth of information, and also like it only skims the surface of the city’s complex history. Rarely does any chapter center around a specific thesis, however, each chapter gives an enormous number of vital details and information on this unique medieval city. Many questions are raised by the wealth of data offered by the scholarly contributions to this volume. What is so important, so special about Famagusta? Is it the rocket-like rise to fame and prosperity in the beginning of the fourteenth century? Is it the tangled knot of economy and politics during the (almost) century of Genoese-rule? The frenetic “spinning-of-wheels” by the Venetian Captains trying to withstand the inevitable Ottoman siege? The last two parts (IV and V) begin to pull some of the information together for us. We begin to see the vast context of Famagusta through the lens of women and travelers. The incredible amount of material and effort that have gone into this volume is nothing short of astonishing. It will certainly provide many scholars with crucial details and inspiration for more scholarship on the extraordinary city of Famagusta for years to come.