Duke William IX Prince of Troubadours: His French Ancestors and his Descendants in the Near East (Levant) - 9060

This is a rich history, painted on a broad canvas, weaving its way over many countries, starting in the Carolingian Europe, in the countries of France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. The main focus of the first part of the book is the noble family of the dukes of Aquitaine in their original French lands. centered in the city of Poitiers, and on Raymond, count of that city and younger son of Duke William IX. It is with the extraordinary life of William IX, the duke-troubadour, grandfather of Eleanor, that the book opens. The duke's gripping biography is the account of a noble man who straddled the world of medieval welfare and that of courtly love in his poetry written in the vernacular Provencal language. HIs son Raymond of Poitiers was invited by King Fulk of Jerusalem to assume the crown of Prince of Antioch in 1135. The author, Dr. John Armenia, is aiming to test the continuity of the direct male line from Prince Raymond to his direct descendants in the kingdom of Cyprus and Armenian Cilicia and finally in Malta, with the De Armenia family of galley captains, who first appear in that island in the mid fifteenth century. The author narrates how the Lusignan dynasty of Poitou acquired Cyprus in 1192, and turned it into a kingdom a few years later. A few decades later the crown of Cyprus passed to a descendant of the princes of Antioch, king Hugh III of the Lusignan-Poitiers dynasty. In less than one hundred years, the principality of Antioch and the remaining areas of Latin Syria were lost to Muslim conquerors, with the kingdoms of Cyprus and Armenian Cilicia remaining as the only Christian states left in the Levant. Dr. Armenia then narrates of the intertwined history of Cyprus and Armenian Cilicia, and the bitter dynastic conflicts that scarred the historical progress of both kingdoms, the sad saga ending when Cilicia was overrun by the Mamluks in 1375 and Lusignan Cyprus was annexed by the Republic of Venice a century later, in 1473. It is in the lengthy and detailed Appendix that the author outlines the possible origins of the De Armenia family in Messina, Sicily, and of their appearance in Malta. The progenitor of this family is likely Etienne, the natural son of King Leon V Lusignan, the last king of Armenian Cilicia. Leon V ended his days in Paris, buried next to many other French royals in the Cathedral of St. Denis. It is through these genealogical links the author connects Western Europe, Byzantium, the Levant, and the central Mediterranean, to Sicily and then to Malta, in a rich tapestry of stories. The book is a detailed introduction to many of the topics covered. It is largely true that it is, in many respects, it is a history of bloody conflicts, driven to a large extent by differences in religious faith, but it is also much more. It is a story that might stir up a romantic passion in the kindly-disposed, and offer much reflection and meditation in others. The author's clear and fluent narrative is supplemented by five maps, four genealogical charts, and many illustrations, mostly in color. Born in Italy, where he graduated with the diploma as captain of ships, Dr. Armenia served for close to fifty years as a clinical psychologist. In the last twenty years he has devoted much of his spare time to studying Armenian history as it relates to European history.
ASIN: B0CNQGCPPB
VSKU: BVV.B0CNQGCPPB.VG
Condition: Very Good
Author/Artist:ARMENIA, DR. JOHN
Binding: Hardcover