Isabella, Queen of Armenia

Isabella I
Queen Isabella I with Hethum I on a coin
Queen of Cilician Armenia
Reign	1219–1252
Coronation	14 May 1226
Predecessor	Leo I
Successor	Hethum I
Regent	Adam of Baghras Constantine of Barbaron
Born	27 January 1216/ 25 January 1217 (unknown)
Died	23 January 1252 Ked
Burial	Monastery of Trazarg
Spouse	Philip of Antioch Hethum I
Issue	Euphemia Maria Sybille Rita Leo II Thoros Isabella
House	Roupenians
Father	Leo I
Mother	Sybille of Cyprus
Religion	Armenian Orthodox

Isabella I (Armenian: Զապել), also Isabel I or Zabel I, ( 27 January 1216/ 25 January 1217 – 23 January 1252) was the queen regnant of Cilician Armenia (1219–1252).

She was proclaimed queen under the regency of Adam of Baghras. But he was assassinated; and Constantine of Baberon (of the Hethumian family) was nominated as guardian. At this juncture, Raymond-Roupen, grandson of Roupen III (the elder brother of Isabella’s father, King Leo I) set up a claim to the throne of Cilician Armenia; but he was defeated, captured, and executed.

Constantine of Barbaron was soon convinced to seek an alliance with Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch, and he arranged a marriage between the young princess and Philip, a son of Bohemond IV. Philip, however, offended the Armenians’ sensibilities, and even despoiled the royal palace, sending the royal crown to Antioch; therefore, he was confined in a prison in Sis (now Kozan in Turkey), where he died, presumably poisoned.

The unhappy young Isabella was forced to marry Constantine of Barbaron’s son, Hethum; although for many years she refused to live with him, but in the end she relented. The apparent unification in marriage of the two principal dynastic forces of Cilicia (i.e., the Roupenids and the Hethumids) ended a century of dynastic and territorial rivalry and brought the Hethumids to the forefront of political dominance in Cilician Armenia.

The lawful heiress of the empire, Isabella, governed the country together with her husband, and led a pious, religious life. She was blessed for her good deeds and exemplary life by many children, the numerous offsprings of a famous race.