This article is about the specific polity Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia. Located outside the Armenian Highlands and distinct from the Kingdom of Armenia of Antiquity, it was centered in the Cilicia region northwest of the Gulf of Alexandretta.
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
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.
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.
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.
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 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: 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 1205: Kyrrhos and Gaziantep (Ayntab) area conquered by Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.
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 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
The Barony of Cilician Armenia, 1080-1099. Armenica.org. Retrieved on 7 April 2024 on https://www.armenica.org/history/en/overview/cilicia1080.html
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
