CYPRUS 1291-1308

the Order moved to Cyprus in 1291, whereby the concession of Henry II of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem (later King of Cyprus), too established its headquarters in the town of Limassol.

From the Knights of Saint John the King of Cyprus founded the Royal House Guards, who marched into history as the “Knights of Sword and Silence”, i.e. the Sovereign Order of Cyprus.

The Grand Master made an appeal to all Knights: “You must replace our Knights buried under the ruins of Saint John of Acre; you have in your hands the life, the property and the freedom of your brothers and of all the Christians moaning in chains; that all men, belonging to God, take up arms and come to liberate the kingdom and the land of their ancestors, so the sons may not lose shamefully what their fathers conquered as men of courage.”

It was on the sea that the legendary story of the Order would take place from that moment on. On their ships, flying the red flag with the octagonal white cross, the Knights would defend the caravans of pilgrims heading to the holy places