Peter I (9 October 1328 – 17 January 1369) was King of Cyprus and titular King of Jerusalem from his father's abdication on 24 November 1358 until his death in 1369. He was invested as titular Count of Tripoli in 1346. As King of Cyprus, he had some military successes, but was unable to complete many of his plans due to internal disputes that culminated in his assassination at the hands of three of his knights.
Peter was born in Nicosia in 1328, the second son of Hugh IV of Cyprus, the first by his second wife Alice of Ibelin. Hugh's heir apparent was his first born son, Guy, who had married Marie of Bourbon. Guy died before his father, however; and though his son, also named Hugh, demanded the throne, Peter was crowned King of Cyprus by Guy of Ibelin, bishop of Limassol in the Cathedral of Santa Sophia, Nicosia on 24 November 1359.
In 1349 he secretly traveled to Europe with his brother John. This upset their father who sent ships to find his sons and bring them back. When they were brought back, Peter and John were imprisoned for leaving without his permission. Despite Leontios Machairas stating Peter and John were held for three days, William of Machaut in the Prise d'Alexandrie states that Peter was imprisoned for two months and nine days.
Peter was crowned titular King of Jerusalem in Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Famagusta on 5 April 1360, succeeding his father. Upon the fall of Acre in 1291, Cyprus became the last stronghold of Christianity in the Middle East. Peter understood the importance of his kingdom, and believed that his mission was to fight Islam. He had ambitions to retake the Kingdom of Jerusalem to which the house of Lusignan pretended.
Neighboring Muslim powers were potentially a great threat to Cyprus, the last Crusader stronghold on the mainland of the Near East having been wiped out with the Fall of Acre in 1291. Around then the Ottomans had recently come to the fore, but had their eye fixed on what remained of the Byzantine Empire. In addition, they were primarily a land power, and for the moment the remaining Latin Christian entities in the region could hold their own on the seas. Along with the Knights Hospitaller the kings of Cyprus were the main inheritors of the Crusading tradition. Peter founded the chivalric Order of the Sword in 1347, which was dedicated to the recovery of Jerusalem.
The royal family were the titular kings of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, who had fled to Cyprus. Reduced as they were, this Crusader heritage continued in the form of sea-borne raids, and were remarkably successful given their limited resources.
Unlike his father, Peter embraced this tradition and began with in a raid on Korikos, a fortified harbour in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. His primary focus of activity was along the coast of Asia Minor, since the Christian Armenians in Cilicia had strong relations with the Kingdom of Cyprus via marriage ties. In January 1360, the residents of Korikos sent their representatives to Cyprus to ask for protection, since their city was threatened by the Turks. Peter sent some of his men led by the knight Roberto de Luisignan. The Turks were unable to break the Cypriot siege of Korikos.
The siege of Korikos was seen as a threat by Muslim leaders of Asia Minor and they allied against Peter. They attacked Cyprus with many ships but Peter obtained aid from the Knights Hospitaller from Rhodes. Other help came from the Pope and from pirates. In July 1361, Peter mustered a fleet of 120 ships. With his force, Peter attacked Asia Minor, continuing his policy of preemptive attacks. On 23 August 1361, Cypriot forces landed in Antalya and Peter conquered the city after a siege on 24 August 1361. After this victory, the remaining emirs of the region offered Peter an annual tribute. Peter accepted the offer and sent his flags, coats of arms and symbols to be raised in many cities of Asia Minor. He stayed in Antalya until 8 September 1361. He went to other cities, some of whose emirs knelt to him, gave him presents, keys to castles and other gifts. He returned with his trophies to Cyprus on 22 September 1361.
The emir of Antalya, after he lost his city, took a large army and after many attacks tried to occupy his city. After hard fighting, Cypriots managed to keep the city and also to siege the guard in the region of Myrres.
Peter faced a serious problem of his recognition as holder of the throne of Cyprus, as his nephew Hugh went to the Pope to ask for the throne with the support of the King of France. Since Peter had sent nobles as his representatives to the Pope to support him without result, he resolved to visit the Pope himself. At the end of October 1362, he left from Paphos via Rhodes to Venice and he was accepted there with honour. He went to Avignon and visited the Pope together with the claimant of the throne of Cyprus. Peter was recognised as King and Hugh agreed to a high annual benefit, solving the problem.
Taking advantage of his trip in Europe, he tried to convince powerful rulers to strengthen him by organizing a crusade to liberate the Holy Land and the Kingdom of Jerusalem which belonged to him. This was discussed with the newly elected pope, after the death of the previous incumbent. For the same reason he travelled to England, Germany, and France. During his visit in England the historical Banquet of the Five Kings took place.
He visited some powerful cities including Genoa, Venice, Prague, and Kraków, where he participated in a gathering of monarchs where guests of the Polish king were Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, King Louis I of Hungary, King Valdemar IV of Denmark, Siemowit III of Masovia, Bolko II of Świdnica, Władysław Opolczyk, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania, Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania, Otto V, Duke of Bavaria, and Louis VI the Roman. During the festivities in Kraków King Peter won the royal Tournament. He travelled on, meeting several monarchs in London, at the meeting of kings of England, Scotland, France and Denmark. He did not manage to persuade those monarchs to compete in a new Pan-European and Pan-Christian crusade in the Middle East. In 1363, Peter, who was in Italy, received an appeal from the barons of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, nominating him as king.
Meanwhile, Cyprus was governed by Prince John, brother of Peter who remained as vice-King, and faced many problems, such as the epidemics of 1363, which killed many Cypriots (one of them was Eschiva, Peter's sister). The Turks who heard that the Cypriot people were dying, began new raids and pillages on the island. At the same time an episode between Cypriots and Genoese navies in Famagusta became a political issue and resulted in fights and killings. Peter who happened to be in Genoa, negotiated and signed a treaty with the Genoese declaring what rights the Genoese colonists of Cyprus could have.
On 11 October 1365 Peter led a mixed Cypriot and Western force of Crusaders on 70 ships to sack Alexandria. However, the mercenary troops refused to remain in Alexandria, and he was obliged to return to Cyprus, the only permanent result of his expedition being the enmity of the Sultan of Egypt. Reprisals followed against Christian merchants in Syria and Egypt, and Pope Urban V advised Peter to make peace with the Sultan after unsuccessfully attempting to raise support among the European monarchs.
Peter continued his crusade, this time aiming to attack Beirut. However his military operations ended after the Venetians offered Peter high compensation for his military preparations, to not attack Damascus. He raided Tripoli in January 1366, before the terms of service of his European reinforcements expired. He attempted again to raise a force in Europe in 1368, but was unsuccessful. Urban V again counseled peace, and Peter was compelled to join the Pope and the Venetians in making a peace treaty with Egypt.
The commerce with Middle East benefited Cyprus and because of Peter, Famagusta was one of the richest cities in the Mediterranean during his time. Some financier friends of Peter were rich tradesmen from Famagusta, who could influence him. The Sultan could no longer tolerate the insult of the capture of Alexandria and could not accept a friendly arrangement with Peter. The attack against Tripoli was a clear message to the Sultan; either he agreed a peace and could begin to trade, or he would suffer continued attacks. The Sultan wanted to create a movement of distraction, so he strengthened the emirs of Asia Minor and assembled an army to attack Korikos. Peter reinforced the garrison in Korikos with new troops and they repulsed the Turkish attack. In May 1367, the garrison in Antalya revolted because of the delayed payment of their wages. Peter sailed there and imposed order, decapitating the ring leaders of the revolt.