Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia

Կիլիկիոյ Հայոց Թագաւորութիւն

Independent principality (1080–1198)
Protectorate of the Mongol Empire and later Ilkhanate (1245–1335)

1198–1375


Flag	Coat of arms

Capital

Sis

Languages

Armenian (native language), Latin, Old French, Greek, Syriac

Religion

Christianity (Armenian Apostolic Church, Roman Catholicism, Syriac Christianity)

Government

Monarchy

Historical era

Middle Ages

•

Levon I becomes the first King of Armenian Cilicia.

January 6, 1198

•

tributary to the Mongols

1236

•

Sis is conquered by the Mamluks, putting an end to the kingdom.

1375

Preceded by

Succeeded by

	Seljuq Armenia
	Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty
	Bagratid Armenia

Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)

Today part of

Turkey

Syria

Although the kingdom was established on 1198, its foundations were laid in 1080 by Ruben I when the Rubenid principality of Cilicia was founded.

The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Middle Armenian: Կիլիկիոյ Հայոց Թագաւորութիւն, Giligio Hayots T’agavorut’yun), also known as the Cilician Armenia (Armenian: Կիլիկյան Հայաստան, Giligyan Hayastan), Lesser Armenia, or New Armenia, was an independent principality formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia. Located outside of the Armenian Highland and distinct from the Armenian Kingdom of antiquity, it was centered in the Cilicia region northwest of the Gulf of Alexandretta.

The kingdom had its origins in the principality founded c. 1080 by the Rubenid dynasty, an alleged offshoot of the larger Bagratid family, which at various times had held the thrones of Armenia and Georgia. Their capital was originally at Tarsus, and later became Sis. Cilicia was a strong ally of the European Crusaders, and saw itself as a bastion of Christendom in the East. It also served as a focus for Armenian nationalism and culture, since Armenia proper was under foreign occupation at the time. Cilicia's significance in Armenian history and statehood is also attested by the transfer of the seat of the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, spiritual leader of the Armenian people, to the region. In 1198, with the crowning of Levon the Magnificent of the Rubenid dynasty, Cilician Armenia became a kingdom.

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Wikipedia