Abstract

Between the time of the Crusades and the end of the Latin political presence in the East, Cyprus, Crete, and Rhodes benefited from an important cultural cross-fertilization. As part of the maritime routes linking Eastern and Western ports, and home to cosmopolitan populations, those islands of the Byzantine Empire respectively came under the control of the Franks, Venice and the Hospitallers in 1191, 1204 and 1306. During the rule of the Franks in Cyprus, of the Venetians in Crete and of the Hospitallers in Rhodes, the Greeks still made up the largest part of the local population. Preserving their identity, they never ceased to consider themselves members of the ecumene of the Eastern Roman Empire. Nevertheless, their attachment to Byzantine culture and their own local traditions did not prevent them from opening to outside models.