In the Middle Ages, Limassol was an important port of call for the Crusaders in their effort to liberate the Holy Land and secure their economic interests such as trade between East and West as well as the silk route to the Orient. The Third, Sixth and Seventh Crusades in particular were associated with the island, especially Limassol, as a necessary base for their expeditions and to collect provisions and ammunition.
The English king, Richard the Lionheart, together with France's King Philip II Augustus and the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa led the Third Crusade to the Holy Land and crushed the resistance of the last independent leader of Cyprus, Isaac Komnenos. Richard then became the new ruler of the island. It is said that in 1191, on his way to take part in the Third Crusade, a storm wrecked some of his ships.Those on board included his sister Joanna, Queen of Sicily and his fiance Berengaria of Navarre. He regarded the behaviour of Isaac Komnenos as insulting towards the women and perhaps used it as a pretext to capture the island that was so necessary for his campaign.
A massacre and looting followed, with the result that the inhabitants rebelled and forced Richard, within a year of his conquest, to sell the island to the Knight's Templar, a religious and military order founded to protect Christ's tomb in Jerusalem. This would help to raise funds for his army. The Knight's Templar were founded 1119 to protect those on pilgrimage to the holy places of the Middle East.
It is interesting to note that Frederick II of Germany, the leader of the Sixth Crusade, landed in Limassol in 1228 and recognising Cyprus' strategic importance, tried unsuccessfully to take over the island from the Lusignans.
Also, King Louis IX of France, who led the Seventh Crusade, stopped off in Limassol for six months, primarily to gather ammunition and supplies on his way to liberate Egypt in 1248.
Sources: Cyprus Tourist Organisation Leaflet
