Mleh, Prince of Armenia
| Mleh I | |
|---|---|
| Lord of Cilicia / “Lord of the Mountains” | |
| Lord of Armenian Cilicia | |
| Reign | 1170–1175 |
| Predecessor | Roupen II |
| Successor | Roupen III |
| Born | before 1120 (unknown) |
| Died | May 15, 1175 Sis |
| Burial | Medzkar |
| Spouse | An unnamed daughter of Vasil of Gargar |
| Issue | Grigor (illegitimate child) |
| House | Roupenians |
| Father | Leo I |
| Mother | (unknown) |
Mleh I (Armenian: Մլեհ), also Meleh I, (before 1120 – Sis, May 15, 1175) was the eighth lord of Armenian Cilicia or “Lord of the Mountains” (1170–1175).
The accomplishments during the reign of his elder brother, Thoros II placed Cilicia on a firm footing. But Mleh, whom Thoros II had expelled from Cilicia for embracing the Muslim faith, almost undid his brother’s work.
On the death of his brother, Mleh invaded Cilicia with the support of a contingent from Aleppo, which remained in his service and assisted him to drive out the Knights Templar and Greeks from the fortresses and, in 1173, the cities which they held in Cilicia. Soon after the death of Nur ed-Din (the emir of Aleppo), Mleh was overthrown by his nephew, Roupen III.
Thoros was the fourth son of Leo I, lord of Armenian Cilicia. The name and the origin of his mother are not known with certainty. It is possible that she was a daughter of Count Hugh I of Rethel, or she may have been the daughter of Gabriel of Melitene.
In the early summer of 1137, the Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos came to Cilicia with a full force on his way to take Antioch; his army successively took Seleucia, Korikos, Tarsus, Mamistra, Adana, Tel Hamdoun (now Toprakkale in Turkey) and Anazarbus. Mleh and his two brothers, Stephen and the blind Constantine took refuge with their cousin, Count Joscelin II of Edessa. In Cilicia, the family castle of Vahka (today Feke in Turkey) held out for some weeks, but after its fall their father and two of their brothers, Roupen and Thoros, were captured. Leo I and his two sons were imprisoned in Constantinople where Leo I died shortly afterwards, and Roupen was blinded and later murdered. All Cilicia remained under Byzantine rule for eight years.
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