This dissertation is a study of the lay nobility in Cyprus during the first two centuries of Lusignan rule . The first part begins with a chapter in which the term "feudal nobility" is defined with reference to Cyprus and then proceeds to give an account of the history of the nobility and of the nobility's contribution to the changing fortunes of the island. Two themes in particular are developed: the rise of the house of Ibelia in the thirteenth century and their dominance of noble society which extended into the fourteenth , and the tensions within the ruling class during and after the wars of Peter I and the Genoese invasion of the 1370's. In part 2 the obligations and benefits arising from the feudal bond and the way in which the nobility co-operated with the crown are described . Attention is drawn to the continuation into the fourteenth century of the twelfth-century feudal institutions and to the normally good relations between crown and vassals. The dissertation ends with an examination of the vassals' exploitation of their fiefs.