Kings of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
1374 - 1393: Leo V (Lusignan) [1]
1393 - 1429: Marie I (Lusignan) [2]
1429 - 1432: Leo VI (Gulbenkian) [3]
1432 - 1480 Joseph I (Gulbenkian) [4]
1480 - 1496 Joseph II (Gulbenkian) [5]
1496 - 1498: Leo VII (Gulbenkian) [6]
1498 - 1544: Constantine V (Gulbenkian) [7]
1544 - 1551: Stephen II (Gulbenkian) [8]
Kings of Armenia
1551 - 1553: Stephen II (Gulbenkian) [8]
1553 - 1556: Joseph "The Martyr" III (Gulbenkian) [9]
[1] Levon V (or Leo/Leon) managed to save his Kingdom from the Mamluks with help from Christians from the west. The population, greatful for the help, gave less resistance to Levon's attempts to introduce the Latin rite, leaving the Kingdom religiously united at the end of his reign and putting the turmoil of the past years behind them.
[2] The daughter of Levon V, the 26-year-reign of Queen Marie of Armenian Cilicia was not easy feat, especially in its first few years; defending the borders from the hostile Mamluks, convincing the Crusader nobles to accept her consort, Manuel Gulbenkian, and confronting those who plot to overthrow her. Because of her fluency in the Armenian language, she quickly won the popular support of Cilicia, supported the flourishing medieval Armenian literature, and personally suggested the tactics that strengthened the royal army. It was during her reign that the campaign to reclaim the "Old Homeland" started as she named his half-brothers, both military generals, to lead the campaign.The last three years of Marie's reign was furtherly complicated by her struggle with sickness, in what modern historians believed as ovarian cancer. She was succeeded by her son Leo VI.
[3] Leo VI, an accomplished soldier focused much of his short reign of continuing his mother's building up the Armenian military in order to defend the small country from possible invaders. Leo was assassinated after ruling for three years by a member of the clergy in the Armenian Apostolic Church who was angered with the king's expressed desires to reunite the Armenian church with Roman Catholicism. He was succeeded by his son Joseph.
[4] Joseph continued his father's work to reunite the Armenian Church with the Catholic Church. He introduced army and civil service reforms that greatly strengthened the kingdom. However after the fall of the Byzantines in 1470 the Turks turned to take him out. He was killed in battle in 1480, leaving the future of the kingdom uncertain.
[5] Joseph I's son quickly took power as Joseph II. Determined to force the Turks away from his kingdom for good, he called for help from the west and France and Spain rushed to his aid. In 1486, a Turkish army headed for Armenia was stopped in its tracks by Joseph II. After this decisive victory, he signed a treaty with the Ottoman Empire where the two men promised to never attack each other. The rest of Joseph II's reign was relatively peaceful but marked with interior fighting amongst nobles. Joseph died in 1496 and his son Leo VII succeeded him.
[6] Leo VII ruled for just fourteen months and was a sickly man throughout his reign. He died in 1498 and was succeeded by his brother, Constantine .
[7] Constantine gained the throne on his brother at the age of 15 and to keep away from needing a regency, he married his widow sister-in-law.
He invested much of his efforts in cultivating the lands and rebuilding the towns within his domain and provided ample provisions for pilgrims and fellow European travellers. He kept the peace with the Sultan of Egypt and died of bowel cancer. Leaving the throne to his son Stephen.
[8] Although the first monarch named Stephen, Constantine's son and successor took the reignal number "II" in honor of his ancestor Stephen, Marshal of Armenia. He continued efforts to westernize his kingdom and make it considered a European power as opposed to a backwater kingdom in West Asia. In 1551, he changed his title to "King of Armenia" as opposed to "King of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia." He died two years later and was succeeded by his son Joseph.
[9] Joseph was a kind-hearted pious prince, devoting his time and energy to help the poor and needy in his father's kingdom.
However when his time to reign came, it was cut short when he was abducted, during diplomatic talks with the Sultan of Egypt, by Muslim rebels who burnt him on a crucifix, being the last male of the royal line of the House of Gulbenkian. The throne pasted over to _______ , ________ .
He was venerated by Roman Catholics as Saint Joseph of Armenia.
1374 - 1393: Leo V (Lusignan) [1]
1393 - 1429: Marie I (Lusignan) [2]
1429 - 1432: Leo VI (Gulbenkian) [3]
1432 - 1480 Joseph I (Gulbenkian) [4]
1480 - 1496 Joseph II (Gulbenkian) [5]
1496 - 1498: Leo VII (Gulbenkian) [6]
1498 - 1544: Constantine V (Gulbenkian) [7]
1544 - 1551: Stephen II (Gulbenkian) [8]
Kings of Armenia
1551 - 1553: Stephen II (Gulbenkian) [8]
1553 - 1556: Joseph "The Martyr" III (Gulbenkian) [9]
[1] Levon V (or Leo/Leon) managed to save his Kingdom from the Mamluks with help from Christians from the west. The population, greatful for the help, gave less resistance to Levon's attempts to introduce the Latin rite, leaving the Kingdom religiously united at the end of his reign and putting the turmoil of the past years behind them.
[2] The daughter of Levon V, the 26-year-reign of Queen Marie of Armenian Cilicia was not easy feat, especially in its first few years; defending the borders from the hostile Mamluks, convincing the Crusader nobles to accept her consort, Manuel Gulbenkian, and confronting those who plot to overthrow her. Because of her fluency in the Armenian language, she quickly won the popular support of Cilicia, supported the flourishing medieval Armenian literature, and personally suggested the tactics that strengthened the royal army. It was during her reign that the campaign to reclaim the "Old Homeland" started as she named his half-brothers, both military generals, to lead the campaign.The last three years of Marie's reign was furtherly complicated by her struggle with sickness, in what modern historians believed as ovarian cancer. She was succeeded by her son Leo VI.
[3] Leo VI, an accomplished soldier focused much of his short reign of continuing his mother's building up the Armenian military in order to defend the small country from possible invaders. Leo was assassinated after ruling for three years by a member of the clergy in the Armenian Apostolic Church who was angered with the king's expressed desires to reunite the Armenian church with Roman Catholicism. He was succeeded by his son Joseph.
[4] Joseph continued his father's work to reunite the Armenian Church with the Catholic Church. He introduced army and civil service reforms that greatly strengthened the kingdom. However after the fall of the Byzantines in 1470 the Turks turned to take him out. He was killed in battle in 1480, leaving the future of the kingdom uncertain.
[5] Joseph I's son quickly took power as Joseph II. Determined to force the Turks away from his kingdom for good, he called for help from the west and France and Spain rushed to his aid. In 1486, a Turkish army headed for Armenia was stopped in its tracks by Joseph II. After this decisive victory, he signed a treaty with the Ottoman Empire where the two men promised to never attack each other. The rest of Joseph II's reign was relatively peaceful but marked with interior fighting amongst nobles. Joseph died in 1496 and his son Leo VII succeeded him.
[6] Leo VII ruled for just fourteen months and was a sickly man throughout his reign. He died in 1498 and was succeeded by his brother, Constantine .
[7] Constantine gained the throne on his brother at the age of 15 and to keep away from needing a regency, he married his widow sister-in-law.
He invested much of his efforts in cultivating the lands and rebuilding the towns within his domain and provided ample provisions for pilgrims and fellow European travellers. He kept the peace with the Sultan of Egypt and died of bowel cancer. Leaving the throne to his son Stephen.
[8] Although the first monarch named Stephen, Constantine's son and successor took the reignal number "II" in honor of his ancestor Stephen, Marshal of Armenia. He continued efforts to westernize his kingdom and make it considered a European power as opposed to a backwater kingdom in West Asia. In 1551, he changed his title to "King of Armenia" as opposed to "King of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia." He died two years later and was succeeded by his son Joseph.
[9] Joseph was a kind-hearted pious prince, devoting his time and energy to help the poor and needy in his father's kingdom.
However when his time to reign came, it was cut short when he was abducted, during diplomatic talks with the Sultan of Egypt, by Muslim rebels who burnt him on a crucifix, being the last male of the royal line of the House of Gulbenkian. The throne pasted over to _______ , ________ .
He was venerated by Roman Catholics as Saint Joseph of Armenia.