serving as a watchtower for pirate raids, an administrative centre and a place of incarceration the castle saw next to no fighting. in 1191, it was taken by richard the lionheart during his campaign against the island's ruler isaac komnenos of cyprus. richard subsequently sold the island to the knights templar whose rule abruptly ended after a major revolt in nicosia. cyprus was thus resold to the guy of lusignan of the house of lusignan. a period of peace ended with the death of hugh i of cyprus in 1218. a struggle over who should act as the kingdom's regent ensued, pitting the house of ibelin with the local supporters of frederick ii, holy roman emperor. frederick's arrival in limassol in 1228 escalated the conflict into an open war. in 1229, the castle came under siege by the ibelins, who bombarded it with trebuchets, reportedly destroying several buildings. the castle's garrison surrendered a year later when its commander gauvain de cheneche was killed by a crossbow bolt. afterwards, the lusignans continued their reign interrupted only by occasional palace coups. in 1373, cyprus was invaded by the republic of genoa imprisoning the local nobility. according to philip of novara's chronicle prince john of antioch managed to escape from famagusta after disguising himself as the valet of his cook. john subsequently fled to kantara, from which he organised a successful counter offensive that expelled the genoese after the latter failed to capture kantara.