After the division of the Roman Empire into an eastern half and a western half , Cyprus came under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire. At that time, its bishop , while still subject to the Christian Church , was made autocephalous by the First Council of Ephesus in For the next years, Cyprus was ruled jointly by both the Arabs and the Byzantines as a condominium , despite the nearly constant warfare between the two parties on the mainland.
The Byzantines recovered control over the island for short periods thereafter, but the status quo was always restored. This period lasted until the year , when Niketas Chalkoutzes conquered the island for a resurgent Byzantium. In , the last Byzantine governor of Cyprus, Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus from a minor line of the Imperial house, rose in rebellion, and attempted to seize the throne. His attempted coup was unsuccessful, but Komnenos was able to retain control of the island.
The Byzantine emperor had an agreement with the sultan of Egypt to close Cypriot harbours to the Crusaders. The three ships were wrecked and sank in sight of the port of Limassol. Upon hearing of the imprisonment of his shipwrecked comrades and the insults offered to his bride and sister, King Richard met Komnenos in battle. There were rumours that Komnenos was secretly in agreement with Saladin in order to protect himself from his enemies, the Angelos family, the ruling family in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople.
Control of the island of Cyprus would give King Richard an extremely valuable strategic base to launch further Crusade operations. The English army engaged the Cypriots on the shores of Limassol with English archers and heavily armored knights. Komnenos and the remainder of the army escaped to the hills during nightfall, but King Richard and his troops tracked the Cypriot ruler down and raided his camp before dawn. Komnenos escaped again with a small number of men. The next day, many Cypriot nobles came to King Richard to swear fealty.
Fearing treachery at the hands of the new invaders, Komnenos fled after making this pledge to King Richard and escaped to the stronghold of Kantara. Some weeks after King Richard's marriage to his bride in Limassol on 12 May , Komnenos attempted an escape by boat to the mainland but he was apprehended at Cape St.
