The Kingdom of Cilicia experienced ups and downs, but it was never as strong as it was under Levon I Rubinyan. He ruled from 1187 to 1219, and his contemporaries included Frederick I Barbarossa, Richard the Lionheart, and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, Saladin.
During the reign of Levon the Great, Cilicia experienced an era of economic and cultural prosperity, becoming one of the most significant Christian countries in the Middle East. The Holy Roman Empire, the Vatican, and the Abbasid Caliphate vied for influence over Cilicia.
Each sought to be the first to recognize Prince Levon II of Cilicia as the legitimate king. On January 6, 1198, in Tarsus, he was crowned and proclaimed king. Representatives from the Holy Roman and Byzantine Empires, Egypt, and Muslim principalities attended Levon II’s coronation, highlighting the status Cilicia had acquired.
From the very first days of his reign, Levon II faced off against the sultans of Iconium, Damascus, and Aleppo. The existence of a strong Christian state in Asia Minor “irritated” the sultans. To avoid being caught off guard, Levon II built a series of fortresses on the borders, which were manned by permanent garrisons.
During this period, Cilicia was one of the economically and politically strongest states in the Middle East. It had trade connections with Italian cities and Eastern countries, developed agriculture, crafts, and shipping. Crusaders found it prudent to maintain friendly relations with Cilicia.
Under Ruben I and Constantine I (1095–1100), the power of Armenian feudal lords extended over most of Mountainous Cilicia and some areas of Flat Cilicia.
During Constantine’s time, a new Crusader expedition took place. They initially had a favorable attitude toward the Armenian principality, as their interests aligned, and both were against Byzantium and the Seljuks. Under Toros I (1100–1129) and Levon I (1129–1141), the Armenian state expanded its borders to the north and, especially, to the south.
In the second half of the 12th century, the Principality of Cilicia became so strong that other Armenian principalities were forced to submit to it. Thus, in Cilicia, an Armenian early-feudal monarchy and a hierarchical feudal system gradually took shape.
Having created a strong, well-equipped regular army of 30,000 warriors, the Rubenids fortified the country’s borders against foreign invaders. Let us emphasize again that with the rise to power of Levon II (1187–1219), the Armenian state gained control of the Mediterranean coast from Alexandretta to Seleucia, thus becoming one of the strong states in the Middle East.
Thus, under Levon II, in 1198, the Armenian principality was transformed into a kingdom. This development was seen by contemporaries as the restoration of Armenian statehood. That’s why Cilician kings styled themselves as “Kings of Armenia.”
It seemed as if history itself aided the Cilician king in becoming what he was—one of the significant and necessary figures in the East. In 1187, Jerusalem was taken by Saladin. Europe decided to launch a new Crusade to liberate the Holy Sepulchre.
Frederick Barbarossa, who led the German militia, passed through Cilicia. In the Taurus Mountains, the Crusaders got lost, and the Armenians came to their aid. Emperor Frederick subsequently sent three honorary embassies to Levon II and stated in a speech to his troops that Cilicia was worthy of having a king.
Frederick perished during the campaign, and then Levon II turned to his successor, Henry VI, and Pope Celestine III, agreeing to recognize himself as a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal throne.
The Pope, with the emperor’s consent, sent Cardinal Conrad of Wittelsbach, Archbishop of Mainz, to Cilicia, who brought a crown with him. The Pope set some minor conditions for recognizing Levon II as king.
Levon convinced the Armenian clergy to accept these conditions “for appearances,” saying they would not be enforced. In Tarsus, at the Cathedral of St. Sophia, on January 6, 1198, the Feast of Epiphany, Levon II was grandly crowned as the King of Armenia by the Catholicos and the Cardinal, the Pope’s representative. “You have restored to us,” Gregory later wrote to the Pope, “the crown that we had lost long ago when we were separated from you.”
Thus, Levon II acknowledged himself as a vassal of Rome. In letters to the Pope, he signed, “With all due respect, grateful devotion.” However, from a political perspective, the choice of such a distant suzerain was very far-sighted.
Neither the Pope nor the German emperor could exert any real influence on Cilician affairs, but this nominal vassalage more closely tied the new kingdom with the Christian states of Asia and Europe and gave hope for assistance in fighting enemies. Neighboring peoples, after the coronation, sent embassies to bring gifts to the new ruler. The significance of what had happened was also understood by the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos.
He too was quick to recognize Levon II as king, sending a magnificent crown adorned with gold and precious stones. In doing so, Alexios wrote, “Do not place the Latin crown upon your head, but mine, for your kingdom is closer to us than it is to Rome.” Levon received the Byzantine envoys graciously and sent them off with gifts. Nonetheless, Byzantium consistently opposed the independence of the Cilician kingdom, interfering to the extent of its power and capabilities.
Furthermore, the Cilician Kingdom was also a place where military-monastic orders, particularly the Order of Hospitallers and the Order of Templars, felt quite at home. As Vladimir Zakharov writes in his book “The Order of Hospitallers,” the Hospitallers had their holdings on the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean in Cilicia.
Thus, from the very beginning, relationships were established with Western Europe, characteristic of the entire history of the Cilician Kingdom. The Rubenids constantly maintained relations with European dynasties, and interdynastic marriages, which brought them into the circle of European rulers, albeit compelling them to intervene in family disputes, made the names of Cilician rulers well-known in the West.
Cilician Armenia, from the 11th to 14th centuries, was a kind of center for political events of the time in the East, as well as economic and to some extent cultural interaction between Europe and Asia. It not only participated actively but also played a significant role in the political, commercial, and cultural relations of several countries in the Middle East and Europe. The international relations of the Crusaders, Mongols, Mamluks, and Seljuks cannot be fully understood without studying the history of this state.
Backed by the support of the Rubenids, the Crusaders eliminated not just Seljuk states along their path but also Armenian principalities that acknowledged the suzerainty of the Sultans.
For instance, Crusader leader Baldwin of Boulogne, with the help of Armenians, captured Tarsus, then embarked on a campaign in Syria where he treacherously killed the curopalate Thoros and eliminated the Armenian principality of Edessa (Urfa). It was here, in 1098, that the Crusaders established their first county in the East.
However, both the Rubenids and the Crusaders under Constantine I and his successors collaborated based solely on their own interests. For instance, Constantine I seized the lands of Muslim feudal lords in the Taurus Mountains and the Marash region with the fortress of Vahka, situated on the slopes of the northern Taurus Mountains, which he turned into his capital in 1098.
He chose this area deliberately, as it lay along the Crusaders’ route. Like other Armenian princes, Constantine I not only allowed the Crusaders to pass through his territories but also assisted them, providing food for their starving army. In return, the Crusaders bestowed upon him the titles of Count (comte) and either Marquis or Baron.
This collaboration was soon solidified through familial ties: Constantine I married his daughter off to Joscelin, Count of Edessa, while his brother Thoros married his daughter to Baldwin, brother of the Crusader army’s leader.
Perhaps knights, lured by the riches of the East, established marital and family connections with Armenian feudal lords out of selfish interests, while Armenian lords hoped to strengthen their independent state with the help of the Crusaders. However, the Cilician Kingdom did not go unnoticed by the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Both the Hospitallers and the Templars soon established themselves there as well.
The Hospitallers received land holdings starting from 1149. In 1163, they were granted a new fief—a fortress in the Mamistra area—and under Levon II, they received two fortresses in Seleucia. But the Hospitaller Order also had lands purchased with donations from benefactors.
This order remained in Cilicia until 1375. The Teutonic Order also held fortresses and lands in the important economic and strategic regions of the country. Under Levon II, Hetum I, and other kings, this order enjoyed trading privileges as well.
The Cilician Kingdom was the last independent state of Armenia. After its fall, Armenia was under Ottoman rule for 600 years, until the population of Western Armenia was exterminated during the Armenian Genocide in the 20th century.
Author: Karine Ter-Saakyan
Translated by Vigen Avetisyan
