Around 872 , Cyprus passed to Byzantium for seven years , a sign that the Empire was gradually in a position to dictate the theatres of war and Arab expansion was abating . The position only improved lastingly with the 'final' re-conquest of Cyprus . Already in 910 , Byzantine troops led by Logothete Himerios occupied the island . They were intended , just like the operation in 965 , to prepare the conquest of Cilicia and Syria . But the Arab fleet was still superior to the Byzantine one .

On his retreat in 912 , a renegade governor , Leon of Tripolis , destroyed Himerios's expedition corps . The Moslems' expansive force declined in the next decades as a result of internal quarrels ; the Caliphate split into several rival territories . For about two centuries , Byzantium returned to the political stage in glittering style before it was slowly crushed between the North Italian mercantile republics and the Ottomans .

Niketas Chalkoutzes took possession of Cyprus for the Emperor in 965 ; together with Crete , re-conquered in 961 , it was now part of the most southerly outpost of Byzantium which was at the zenith of its medieval power . A chain of Imperial forts protected Cyprus from attacks from the sea . Whereas in Asia Minor , ever new armies of horsemen undermined the Empire's strength , it was possible to maintain prosperity and peace on the island for two centuries . Prosperity admittedly only for a small upper class ; the extreme partition of Cypriot society into wretchedly poor land labourers liable to pay taxes and a very small upper class was one of the main constant features for centuries . There were only very few craftsmen or other 'bourgeois' who could have mitigated the differences between the two groups . For churches , monasteries and cities , the middle-Byzantine epoch was just as fruitful as the period up to the sixth century . Brisk construction activity changed the island's appearance . There were many new foundations , but many settlements already existing in antiquity were also revived . Cities , such as Paphos or Karpasia , were re-established a few kilometres away from the coast . The re-conquest by the Byzantine Empire meant , on the one hand , relative security but , on the other hand , subordination to a state with the highest tax burden and the most effective tax collectors . There was tension between the basically secular administration and the Cypriot church which had not lost any of its ability to function during the Arab invasions and rule , and had gained greater freedom and more influence without regimentation by Constantinople . Archbishop Mouzalon in particular opposed the Byzantine governors Boutoumites and Philokales .

The island's economy recovered relatively quickly . In addition to the salt which was taken from the lake near Larnaca in summer , wine became the main export good . Thanks to new weaving processes for silk , Cyprus became one of the centres of Byzantine textile production . In addition , trade with the Levant flourished once again in the eleventh century . The island also participated intellectually and culturally in the renaissance under the Macedonian Emperors ; the most important date from this period .

After the establishment of the French-dominated Crusader states in Syria and Palestine in the year 1098/99 , Cyprus became caught up in the wake of this movement . Almost inevitably the interests of the Crusaders , which by their nature were directed against Byzantium , were intent on tearing the geographically exposed island , which was strategically important for the conquest of the coast of Palestine , away from Constantinople . On the one hand , the schism in between the Latin and the Greek creeds had put the parties into opposing camps . On the other , the Crusaders' demands were too particularistic by comparison with the interests of the Byzantine Empire ; the Middle East was a small frontier area , and from Constantinople's viewpoint a not particularly important one . And not infrequently , the Crusaders themselves deviated from their declared objective . Not only the tightly organised Normans were concerned above all to expand their own power . In addition there were the contradictory economic interests : it suited Venice , Pisa and Genoa only too well to have the competition on the Bosphorus eliminated . Finally , the indigenous populations were often subject to outrages in which the local Christians , Jews and Moslems were massacred , plundered and enslaved without distinction . These circumstances led more than once to Byzantine alliances with Arabs or Turks .

Even more frequently , military clashes took place on Cyprus , in 1099 , a fleet from Pisa attacked ; the governor Philokales was able to repel it with some losses because he received help from Constantinople in good time . a French nobleman who had risen to become Prince of Antioch , led a surprise attack against the rich Levant island . The governor , John Komnenos , a nephew of the Emperor , was unable to do anything against the superior strength , as in Constantinople the authorities were not in a position to act because of their own problems . For three weeks the intruders wrought havoc at will , burning the fields , destroying villages and cities , killing the inhabitants . In 1157 , Cyprus experienced a severe earthquake . In 1158 , Egyptian pirates plundered the land . Two years later , another Frankish nobleman , Raymond III of Tripoli , recovered his losses on its coast . Cyprus took a long time to recover from the devastation .

In 1184 , a nephew of the Byzantine emperor arrived in Cyprus with falsified documents . Thanks to his family name , Komnenos , his claims did not at first arouse any suspicion . Isaac Dukas appointed a patriarch , had himself crowned Emperor of Cyprus by him , but quickly proved himself a tyrant . In the course of his revolt against the central Byzantine government , he was supported by the fleet of William II , king of the Norman realm of Sicily . Later he allied himself with the Armenians , then with the Egyptian Sultan Saladin . Isaac brought about his own downfall by providing the English King Richard I , Coeur de Lion , with a pretext for conquering the island while on his way to the Holy Land . He allowed his troops to capture the ship of the English king's bride which had run aground between Limassol and Amathous , taking the travelers prisoners . In less than a month , Richard had deprived the Byzantine of power , married in Limassol and enriched himself with Isaac's goods , and levies which he demanded from the island's inhabitants . Two of his followers were intended to rule Cyprus , but while Richard was engaged with the conquest of Acre , a revolt broke out on the island . He thereupon sold it to the Knights Templar who quickly also incensed the inhabitants against themselves . Finally , Richard appointed his loyal follower Guy de Lusignan from the family of the Counts of La Marche from Poitou as regent , not without letting himself be paid once again for this favour .