Peter I, on the death of his father, was in his thirtieth year. He had, as we have seen, already been crowned King of Cyprus in his father's lifetime, on 24 November 1358. On 5 April he and his wife Eleanor of Aragon were crowned for Jerusalem at Famagusta by Peter Thomas, the Legate, who had arrived in the island on 8 December preceding. Peter had already, on 28 March, after reaching Famagusta, made appointments to certain offices of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On 17 October he made ordinances and filled up other offices of the Kingdom.

The arrival of the Legate had been speedily followed by a riot between Greeks and Franks, which will be described in a later chapter. When therefore Peter sent envoys to the Pope to announce the death of his father and his own coronation, they were instructed to beg His Holiness not to send out mischief-making Legates.

Peter's right to the throne was not undisputed. His elder half-brother Guy, who, as we have seen, had been married in 1330 to Mary de Bourbon, died in 1346, leaving a son Hugh, Prince of Galilee. This young man now, on the arrival of Peter's envoys, claimed the throne, with the support of John II, King of France. He produced an agreement between his two grandfathers, Hugh IV and Louis, Duke of Bourbon, by which, if Mary had a son, and her husband Guy died before his father, then that son should inherit the throne of Cyprus, as against any other son of King Hugh.