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Data

Name: armenian kingdom of cilicia

Type: Cluster

Start: 1081 AD

End: 1375 AD

Statistics

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Icon armenian kingdom of cilicia

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The cluster includes all the forms of the country.

The cluster includes the following incarnations of the same nation:

  • Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
  • Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Mongol Empire)
  • Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Ilkhanate)
  • Establishment


  • January 1081: The seljuk conquests led the Armenians to seek refuge in Byzantium and in Cilicia. Between 1078 and 1085, Philaretus built a principality. Ruben organized a band of Armenian troops and revolted against the Byzantine Empire. He was joined by many other Armenian lords and nobles. Thus, in 1080, the foundations of the independent Armenian princedom of Cilicia, and the future kingdom, were laid under Ruben's leadership.
  • Chronology


    Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

    1. Crusades


    The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the Medieval period. The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291.

    1.1.First Crusade

    Was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rule.

  • April 1098: After passing through the Cilician Gates, Baldwin of Boulogne set off on his own towards the Armenian lands around the Euphrates. His wife, his only claim to European lands and wealth, had died after the battle, giving Baldwin no incentive to return to Europe. Thus, he resolved to seize a fiefdom for himself in the Holy Land. Early in 1098, he was adopted as heir by Thoros of Edessa, a ruler who was disliked by his Armenian subjects for his Greek Orthodox religion. Thoros was later killed, during an uprising that Baldwin may have instigated. Then, in March 1098, Baldwin became the new ruler, thus creating the County of Edessa, the first of the crusader states.

  • 1.2.War of the Antiochene Succession

    Was a conflict caused by the disputed succession of Bohemond III in the Principality of Antioch.

  • January 1192: In 1191, Leo of Armenia captured and rebuilt Bagras, a strategically important fortress which Saladin had besieged when it was ruled by the Knights Templar and which he had destroyed before abandoning it.
  • February 1216: Taking advantage of Bohemond IV of Antioch's absence, Armenian forces entered Antioch during the night of February 14, 1216. A few days later, the Templars, who had control of the citadel, surrendered without a fight.
  • January 1217: The Latin patriarch of Antioch, Peter of Ivrea, consecrated Raymond Rupeno prince.

  • 1.3.Fourth Crusade

    Was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem. However, the Western Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204 and partitioned the Byzantine Empire.

  • January 1205: Following the Fourth Crusade's attack on the Byzantines in 1204, the Christian Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruled by King Levon I and his wife Queen Isabella, periodically held the port of Alanyia and the surrounding coast as part of their expanding territory.

  • 2. Conquests of Thoros I


    Expansion during the rule of Thoros I in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.

  • September 1112: In 1112, Kogh Vasil, a prominent military leader of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, captured the fortress of Hisn Mansur.
  • January 1113: Cyzistra conquered by Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.
  • January 1130: Expansion of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia by 1129.

  • 3. Byzantine-Seljuq wars


    Were a series of conflicts in the Middle Ages between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire.

  • January 1138: In 1137 the Byzantines conquered Tarsus, Adana, and Mopsuestia from the Principality of Armenian Cilicia.

  • 4. Mongol invasions and conquests


    Were a series of military campaigny by the Mongols that created the largest contiguous Empire in history, the Mongol Empire, which controlled most of Eurasia.

  • January 1246: In 1245, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia became a protectorate of the Mongol Empire and later the Ilkhanate.
  • January 1247: Anamur Region conquered by mongol empire.
  • January 1251: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia captured the Mediterranean coast from Selinos to Seleucia, as well as the cities of Marash and Behisni.
  • January 1259: In 1258, the Kesun area was incorporated into the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, which was a Christian state established by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion.
  • January 1259: Seljuk rule lasted to 1258, when Maraş was captured by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.

  • 4.1.Mongol-Mamluk Wars

    Were a series of wars between the Mongols and the Muslim Dynasties of the Ayyubids and Mamluks.

    4.1.1.Mamluk-Ilkhanid War

    Was a war between the Ilkhanate, a successor of the Mongol Empire, and the Mamluks.

  • January 1286: In 1281, following the defeat of the Mongols and the Armenians under Möngke Temur by the Mamluks at the Second Battle of Homs, a truce was forced on Armenia. Further, in 1285, following a powerful offensive push by Qalawun, the Armenians had to sign a ten-year truce under harsh terms. The Armenians were obligated to cede many fortresses to the Mamluks and were prohibited to rebuild their defensive fortifications.
  • January 1293: In 1292, it was invaded by Al-Ashraf Khalil, the Mamluk sultan of Egypt, who had conquered the remnants of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in Acre the year before. Hromkla was also sacked, forcing the Catholicossate to move to Sis. Het'um was forced to abandon Behesni, Marash, and Tel Hamdoun to the Turks.
  • January 1293: Marash, a city in modern-day Turkey, was captured by Al-Ashraf Khalil, the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, in 1292.
  • January 1300: Marash was recaptured by Hethum II, King of Cilician Armenia, in 1299.
  • January 1305: Marash was finally taken by the Mamluks in 1304.

  • 5. Mongol Civil Wars


    Were a series of wars between the successor states of the Mongol Empire.

    5.1.Toluid Civil War

    Was a war of succession over the Mongol Empire fought between Kublai Khan and his younger brother, Ariq Böke, from 1260 to 1264.

    5.1.1.Division of the Mongol Empire

    The Mongol Empire fragmented into four successor states at the beginning of the Toluid Civil War.

  • January 1261: The Kyrrhos and Gaziantep (Ayntab) area was ruled by the Ilkhanate between 1260-1261.
  • January 1261: Town of Larende (now Karaman, in honor of the dynasty) and Ermenek (c. 1260).
  • January 1261: The Mongol Empire fragmented into four political units: the Golden Horde, the Ilkhanate, the Yuan Dynasty and the Chagatai Khanate.

  • 6. Further events (Unrelated to Any War)


  • January 1101: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia occupies Cilicia, taking most of it from the decaying Sultanate of Rum.

  • June 1101: In 1101, Tancred, a Norman nobleman and regent for Bohemond of Antioch, led an invasion of Cilicia. He successfully forced the Byzantines to abandon the cities of Tarsus, Adana, and Mamistra, expanding the territory of the Principality of Antioch.

  • December 1112: Kogh Vasil restored Raban to the County of Edessa.

  • January 1132: Forces of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia seized the three cities of Mamistra, Tarsus and Adana in 1131.

  • January 1133: Expansion of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia by 1132.

  • June 1137: In the spring of 1137, the Byzantine army, with the Emperor and his sons at its head, assembled at Attalia (today Antalya in Turkey) and advanced eastward into Cilicia. The Emperor swept on, past Mersin, Tarsus, Adana and Mamistra, which all yielded to him at once.

  • January 1138: The castle of Vahka (today Feke in Turkey) was conquered by Byzantine forces.

  • January 1138: Leo of Armenia relied on the great fortifications of Anazarbus to hold him up. Its garrison resisted for 37 days, but the siege engines of the Byzantines battered down its walls, and the city was forced to surrender.

  • January 1144: Thoros, the lord of Armenian Cilicia, escaped from Constantinople about the year 1143 and recaptured the family stronghold of Vahka.

  • January 1152: Marash was captured by the Zengids in 1151.

  • January 1156: Kyrrhos and Gaziantep (Ayntab) were controlled by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia between 1155-1157.

  • January 1158: Kyrrhos and Gaziantep (Ayntab) are conquered by the Sultanate of Rum.

  • January 1176: The Marash Area is conquered by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.

  • January 1183: Marash Area conquered by Ayyubid Dynasty.

  • January 1198: The Principality of Cilicia de facto became a kingdom much earlier than Levon II came in power. Levon II was accepted as the first king due to Byzantium not accepting previous de facto kings as real kings and not dukes.

  • January 1205: Kyrrhos and Gaziantep (Ayntab) area conquered by Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.

  • January 1205: Following the Fourth Crusade's attack on the Byzantines in 1204, the Christian Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruled by King Levon I and his wife Queen Isabella, periodically held the port of Alanyia and the surrounding coast as part of their expanding territory.

  • January 1207: Kyrrhos and Gaziantep (Ayntab) area conquered by Sultanate of Rum.

  • January 1212: Larende and its surroundings were occupied by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia between 1211 and 1216 under the rule of King Levon I. The territory was strategically important for the kingdom's expansion and control over the region.

  • January 1212: In 1211, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, led by King Levon I, conquered the fortresses of Faustinepolis, Herakleia, and Larende from the Seljuks. This marked a significant military victory for the Armenian Kingdom in their territorial expansion efforts.

  • January 1217: Larende and its surroundings were occupied by the Sultanate of Rum.

  • January 1222: In 1221, the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Kayqubad I captured Alanya, a coastal city in present-day Turkey. Alaeddin Kayqubad I was a powerful ruler of the Sultanate of Rum, a successor state of the Seljuk Empire in Anatolia.

  • January 1229: Anamur Region conquered by Sultanate of Rum.

  • January 1291: The Karamanids conquered Anamur from Cilicia Armenians.

  • January 1295: Aigeai (heute Ayas) 1294-1347.

  • January 1329: An the Anatolian beylik of the Eretnids succeeded the Ilkhanid governors in Anatolia and ruled in a large region extending between Caesarea, Sebastea and Amaseia in Central Anatolia.

  • January 1336: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was a Christian state established by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk Turks. It became a protectorate of the Mongol Empire in 1245 under the rule of King Hetoum I. The kingdom remained under Mongol and later Ilkhanate control until 1335.

  • January 1338: In 1337, the territory shown on the map was taken over by the Beylik of Dulkadir. The Beylik of Dulkadir was an Anatolian beylik established by Turkoman clans Bayat, Afshar, and Begdili after the decline of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm.

  • January 1353: In 1352, Ramazan Beg led Turkmens settled south of Çaldağı and founded their first settlement, Camili.

  • January 1362: Peter I, the King of Cyprus, removed the Mamelukes and assumed suzerainty.

  • Disestablishment


  • January 1376: In 1375, Mamluks gained the control of the remaining areas of Cilicia, thus ending the three centuries rule of Armenians. Mamluk Sultanate authorized Ramazan Beg led Türkmen Emirate to administer Cilicia, but took direct control of the towns, Tarsus, Ayas, Sarvandikar, Sis at the four corners of Cilicia plain and appointed an Amir and a Garrison for each.
  • Selected Sources


  • Kopalyan, N. (2017): World Political Systems after Polarity, Taylor & Francis, p. 164
  • The Barony of Cilician Armenia, 1080-1099. Armenica.org. Retrieved on 7 April 2024 on https://www.armenica.org/history/en/overview/cilicia1080.html
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