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Greetings from Cyprus!
Above the north and south doorways of the church of Panayia Khryseleousa in the village of Lysos, just inland from the town of Polis on the northern coast of the Republic of Cyprus, are depicted four coats of arms.
George Marcou in “Heraldry in Cyprus”, Inprinta, Ltd., 1979, describes the shields over the northern door: “two shields side by side. One of them has a fess 6 fleur-de-lys, 3 above and 3 below. This first coat of arms appears on the tomb-stone of Dame Alice de Nevilles, in the Armenian church, Nicosia.” Marcou does not describe the second shield, which is a fess 6 crosslets, 3 above and 3 below.
Gwynneth der Parthog: “Byzantine and Medieval Cyprus”, Interworld Publications, 1994, writes of Lysos church : “It was probably the place of worship for the Latin overlords of the district. The well preserved coats of arms carved on its north and south doorways include the bearings of the powerful Gourri family and of the Nevilles.”
Marcou explains, in his entry on the Omirye Mosque, formerly the church of St.Mary of the Augustinians: “… originally the Augustinian church and was turned into a mosque in 1571. Here were found tombstones of special English interest, for buried here were members of the noble families of Neville and Daubigny. The former still flourishes in England of Abergavenny, while the latter has died out and is only represented by heiresses of the female line. It may at first seem curious to find members of English families at the Lusignan Court. However, besides Neville and Daubigny, cadets of the Houses of Nores and Grey took service in the kingdom of Cyprus. There were but few openings for the younger sons of noble birth, trade was impossible, and there was not always fighting in England. The Kings of Cyprus were always delighted to welcome men of arms to their court and not only received them well but granted them titles and land.”
Marcou also mentions a tomb-slab in the Armenian church with three effigies: Alice de Tabarie, Isabelle de Nevilles and Mary de Milmar, dated 1393.
der Parthog tells us what happened to these tombs of the Augustinian church: “In 1935 Rupert Gunnis obtained permission to remove the Lusignan gravestones and store them in the Bedestan” (the old market).
From Marcou:there are shields exhibited at the Annex Museum Kastelliotissa, Nicosia, one carrying the name of Neville and the other D’Aubigny. A D’Aubigny Crusader is buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, but his tomb bears a different coat of arms.In the Lapidary Museum, Nicosia, formerly the palace of the king of Cyprus, there is a shield bearing three chevronels, between the first and the second is an escort of eight rays; this shield belonged to the English family named D’Aubigny.” Also in the Lapidary Museum are the arms of Louis de Nores, 1369 “On a chief three crosses patee”.
Gillian
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