Famagusta

Description

In canto XIX of Paradiso, Dante mentions Famagusta together with Nicosia as the principal cities of Cyprus, whose laments and cries of grief rise up against their beastly king. According to the critical note on the passage, the king of Cyprus at that time was Henry II of Lusignan, of French origin and described as cruel and dissolute, who was no different from the other sovereigns, beasts like him. The verse is part of the prediction addressed to the protagonist of the canto, Caccianimico, and is presented as an arra, that is, a deposit or pledge, of what Navarre will have to suffer under French domination.