List of monarchs of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia

(Redirected from King of Cilicia)

The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was a state formed in the Middle Ages by Armenian refugees, who were fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia. It was initially founded by the Rubenian dynasty, an offshoot of the larger Bagratid family that at various times held the thrones of Armenia and Georgia. While the Rubenian rulers were initially regional princes, their close ties with the Western world after the First Crusade saw the principality recognised as a kingdom under Leo I by the Holy Roman Empire in 1198. The Rubenid dynasty fell in 1252 after the death of the last Rubenid monarch Isabella, and her husband Hethum I became sole ruler, beginning the Hethumid dynasty. After the death of Leo IV in 1341 his cousin was elected to succeed him as Constantine II, the first king of the Lusignan dynasty. The kingdom fell at the beginning of Leo V's reign to the Mamluks, and henceforth title holders were only claimants to the throne. Charlotte of Cyprus ceded the throne to the House of Savoy in 1485, and the title fell out of use until after 1861.

Lords/princes

Name	Reign start	Reign end	Notes	Family
Ruben I	1080	1095		Rubenids
Constantine I	1095	1102		Rubenids
Thoros I	1102	1129		Rubenids
Constantine II	1129	1129		Rubenids
Leo I	1129	1140		Rubenids
Thoros II	1144	1169		Rubenids
Ruben II	1169	1170		Rubenids
Mleh	1170	1175		Rubenids
Ruben III	1175	1187		Rubenids
Leo II	1187	1198/1199	Became first king as Leo I	Rubenids

Kings and queens

Name	Reign start	Reign end	Notes	Family
Leo I (II)	1198/1199	1219		Rubenids
Isabella	1219	1252	Queen regnant, and co-ruler with Philip and Hethum I	Rubenids
Philip	1222	1225	Co-ruler with Isabella	House of Poitiers
Hethum I	1226	1270	Co-ruler with Isabella until 1252	Hethumids
Leo II (III)	1270	1289		Hethumids
Hethum II	1289	1293	Abdicated in favour of Thoros III	Hethumids
Thoros III	1293	1298	Recalled Hethoum II, with whom he became co-ruler	Hethumids
Hethum II	1295	1296	Co-ruler with Thoros III	Hethumids
Sempad	1296	1298	Usurper	Hethumids
Constantine I (III)	1298	1299		Hethumids
Hethum II	1299	1303	Reclaimed throne. Abdicated and became regent for Leo III	Hethumids
Leo III (IV)	1303	1307	Under regency of Hethum II	Hethumids
Oshin	1307	1320		Hethumids
Leo IV (V)	1320	1341	Under regency of Oshin of Korikos until 1329	Hethumids
Constantine II (IV)	1342	1344	Elected by nobles	House of Lusignan
Constantine III (V)	1344	1362		House of Neghir
Constantine IV (VI)	1362	1373		House of Neghir
Leo V (VI)	1374	1375		House of Lusignan

Claimants

Name	Reign start	Reign end	Family
Leo V	1375	1393	Lusignan
James I	1393	1398	Lusignan
Janus	1398	1432	Lusignan
John	1432	1458	Lusignan
Charlotte	1458	1467	Lusignan

Potential claimants today

The claim to the title passed to the House of Savoy, who were granted it by Charlotte in 1485. The Savoyard dynasts maintained their claim to the title "King of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia" as late as the 20th century.

Notes

(in Armenian) Poghosyan, S.; Katvalyan, M.; Grigoryan, G. et al. Cilician Armenia (Կիլիկյան Հայաստան). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. v. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1979, pp. 406–428
Kurdoghlian, Mihran (1996). Badmoutioun Hayots, Volume II (in Armenian). Athens, Greece: Hradaragoutioun Azkayin Oussoumnagan Khorhourti. pp. 29–56.
Mutafian, p.90
Lang, Robert Hamilton (1878), Cyprus, London: Macmillan and Co., p. 179, retrieved 2008-01-15
Arielli, Nir (2010). Fascist Italy and the Middle East, 1933–1940. London: Palgrave MacMillan. p. 173. ISBN 978-1349312047.

References

Boase, T. S. R. (1978). The Cilician Kingdom of Armenia. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. ISBN 0-7073-0145-9.
Mutafian, Claude (2001). Le Royaume Arménien de Cilicie. Paris: CNRS Editions. ISBN 2-271-05105-3.
Histoire des Princes de Lusignan, Anciens Rois de Jérusalem, de la Petite Arménie et de Chypre, St. Petersbourg: Soikine, 1903.

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