The Cistercians in Cyprus

Abstract

The Cistercian establishment in Cyprus was an outgrowth of monasteries of the Order of Cîteaux which had been set up in the Latin States of the Holy Land.¹ These monasteries were founded in the second half of the twelfth century as dependencies of Morimond (Salvatio in 1157, Belmont in 1161). Dependencies of La Ferté first appeared in the thirteenth century with the incorporation of Jubin. This monastery had been established early in the previous century in the Black Mountain region near Antioch; it followed an eremitical rule to which attention has recently been drawn.² Thereafter came the foundation of St. Sergius near Gibelet.³ It is uncertain whether institutions for Cistercian nuns existed in the twelfth century. The first appearance of one of these, the abbey of St. Mary Magdalene of Acre, occurs in 1222. It apparently acknowledged the abbot of Belmont as father superior.⁴