In 1841 the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres announced an essay competition on the ‘history of Cyprus under the rule of the princes of the house of Lusignan’. What was wanted was not a simple narrative but ‘a more accurate account of events with some discussion of the geography, laws and customs and of the religious, political and civil institutions of the kingdom’. In the event the prize was shared. One of the winners was Count Louis de Mas Latrie, a French aristocrat who subsequently, in the course of the following half century, proceeded to lay the foundations of all modern research into Cyprus in the period of the crusades. Mas Latrie died in 1897 after a varied and prolific career. But there were few who followed in his footsteps, and it was not until the 1940s that the most appreciable English contribution to the subject appeared. This was Sir George Hill's four-volume History of Cyprus which covered the island's history from prehistoric times to the British colonial administration. Volumes II and III, which deal with Lusignan and Venetian Cyprus, are notable for their careful scholarship and in general have stood the test of time better than the others. However, in recent years it has been another Frenchman, Professor Jean Richard, who has donned Mas Latrie's mantle and, through a series of articles and editions of sources, has greatly enriched our knowledge of the island's history in the later middle ages.