Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia

Armenia, 1080–1375. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia. The kingdom had its origins in the principality founded c. 1080 by the Rubenid dynasty. In 1198, with the crowning of Leo I, King of Armenia of the Rubenid dynasty, Cilician Armenia became a kingdom. After relentless attacks by the Mamluks in Egypt in the fourteenth century, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, then under the rule of the Lusignan dynasty and mired in an internal religious conflict, finally fell in 1375.

Seat of power: Tarsus

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• 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 focal point for Armenian cultural production.
• Many aspects of Western European life were adopted by the nobility, including chivalry, fashions in clothing, and the use of French titles, names, and language.
• Cilician Armenia thrived economically, with the port of Ayas serving as a center for East–West trade.

Picture

Yılankale is a late 12th–13th century Armenian castle in Adana Province of Turkey.

Image: Klaus-Peter Simon, CC BY-SA 3.0, file

Sources

• Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Wikipedia)
• Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.