Armenia-TL-art - 2/24/99
"Medieval Armenia and Cilicia Timeline" by Keran Roslin.
NOTE: See also the files: Balkans-msg, Khazars-msg, Hungary-msg, Russia-msg, fd-Turkey-msg, Byzantine-msg, cl-Byzantine-msg, Byzant-Cerem-art.
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NOTICE -
This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium.
These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author or translator.
While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous
stefan at florilegium.org
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MEDIEVAL ARMENIA AND CILICIA - TIMELINE
by Keran Roslin
WHERE - Greater Armenia was east and south of the Black Sea. Its
boundaries changed during the centuries as invaders
carved out chunks for the empires of Rome, Byzantium and
the Mongols. It was eventually absorbed into the Ottoman
Empire.
Cilicia or Lesser Armenia - Cilicia was an important Armenian
kingdom from 1198 to 1375. It was along the eastern end
of the Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor. Its port cities
included Tarsus, Korykos, and Ayas. Cilicia's western
neighbor was Isauria. The Amanus mountains were on the
east. In the north, the plains meet the Taurus mountains
and these peaks separate Cilicia from Cappadocia. In
its mountains were the many large castles which controlled
the mountain passes, including the famous Cilician Gates,
through which pilgrims and Crusaders travelled to the
Holy Land and luxury goods from the east travelled to
Europe.
CONTEMPORARY ARMENIAN HISTORIANS AND WRITERS -
Agathangelos (5th century) Moses of Khorene
Gregory of Narek Smbat the Constable
Faustus of Buzanda St. Nerses Shnorhali
Ananias of Shirak
Lazarus of Pharpi Vardan of Maratha
Thomas Ardsruni Mkhitar Heratsi
Amirdovlat Amasiatsi John V of Draskhanakert (also
called Yovhannes Drasxanakertci)
IMPORTANT DATES -
36 B. C. - Marc Antony attacks the Parthians and loses 80,000
troops. He captures King Artavazd of Armenia and his
family, who he sends to Cleopatra of Egypt in golden
chains.
31 B. C. - Artavazd is beheaded in Egypt without revealing the
whereabouts of the royal Armenian treasury
66 A. D. - King Trdat (Tiridates) is crowned by Nero in Rome
and given 50,000,000 sesterces, reimbursed for the
cost of his 9 month overland journey to Rome, and skilled
artisans to rebuild his capital.
257 - Grigor (Gregory) Partev (the Parthian) is born (approx. date)
He is to be St. Gregory the Illuminator, who helped
to convert Armenia to Christianity
301 - Traditional date when Armenia becomes the first official
Christian state (303 is the alternate date) as declared
by King Trdat (Tiridates) III of Greater Armenia.
305 - St. Grigor becomes head or catholicos of the new Armenian
church
325 - St. Grigor dies in his cave on Mt. Sepouh
352 - Nerses becomes Catholicos, head of the Armenian church
364 - Nerses goes to Constantinople to ask for help against Persian
invasion
368 - Pap becomes king of Armenia with Roman help at age 22
371 - Battle of Bagrevand against the Persians is won by a
combined Roman and Armenian army
374 - King Pap is murdered at a Roman banquet
406 - Official acceptance of the Armenian alphabet created by Saint
Mesrop-Mashtotz and his staff. The alphabet contained 36
characters until the 12th century when 2 more were added.
428-885 - the Armenian "Dark Ages", internal civil wars and wars with
Persia, Byzantium, Baghdad and Egypt
451 - Armenian troops commanded by Vardan Mamikonian fight the Battle
of Avarayr against the Persians and lose Armenian churches
commemorate this battle and honor the Armenian dead annually
590 - the Persian lose Armenian lands to the Byzantium
600s-700s - the Byzantines and Arab Abbasids use Armenia for a
battleground; Armenian nobility and commoners who could traded
their Armenian lands for lands within the Byzantine empire
and many abandoned Greater Armenia to the invaders
885 - Ashot I crowned king of Armenia by his peers and acknowledged by
Byzantium and the Caliph
965 - Byzantium reconquers Cilicia
1042 - Ablgharib becomes governor of Tarsus and Mamistra in Cilicia and
makes it a refuge for displaced Armenians
1045 - Gakik II of Ani forced to abdicate leaving no opposition to stop
the invading Selchukid (or Seljuq) Turks
1064 - Alp Arslan, the Seljuk, conquers Greater Armenia
1071 - Seljuq Turks defeat the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Mantzikert,
north of Lake Van
1091 - Gakik II is murdered at Cybistra Castle and his body hung out
over the castle wall
1115-1124 - sometime between these dates Gagik II's death revenged, his
weapons and clothes found, and the sons of Pantaleon tortured
by Thoros
1096-1102 - The First Crusade
1097-1098 - Bagrat contacts the crusading forces at Nicaea and accompanies
them across Asia Minor. He forms an alliance with Baldwin of
Boulogne, but Bagrat was later tortured as a traitor
1114 - large earthquake destroys the Hesuants vank' monastery, devastates
the countryside and kills 40,000+ people
1118 - another earthquake
Baldwin I of Jerusalem dies
1130 - The Franks conquer parts of Cilicia during the First Crusade but
their hold is insecure because of Byzantine invasions and the
objections of the native Armenian princes who get the upper
hand in the late 1130s
1137-1138 - Byzantine conquest of Cilicia followed by seven years of
relative peace ruled by Byzantium
1143, April 8 - John Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor, died as a result of a
poisoned arrow
1147-1149 - The Second Crusade
1151 - Rubenid family controls the Cilician plain, allies and marries
Franks and fights the Turks and Byzantines
Hromkla is given to the Armenian catholicos by Beatrice
1153 - Nerses of Lampron born
1158 - Manuel and the Byzantine army invades Cilicia, Thoros is forced to
make peace in penitential garb and receives confirmation of his
position in Armenia, but Byzantine governors are left in the
main townships
1164 - Thoros, Bohemond, Raymond of Tripoli and the Greek commander at
Tarsus, Constantine Coloman, attacks Nur-ad-Din and wins. A
large force of Nur-ad-Din's troops come and Thoros advises
withdrawal and leaves. The other leaders are captured and only
released when Thoros threatens to burn his captives alive.
Thoros' brother Stephen is lured by the Greeks into the castle
of Hamus and boiled alive.
1168 - Thoros dies, Thoros' brother Mleh invades with Moslem troops and
throws out the regent and heir
1173 - Nerses the Gracious, Catholicos dies in August, and Grigor
Tgha is elected catholicos
1174 - Mleh's use of Moslem aid is very unpopular so the Armenian barons
rise and kill him
1179 - religious synod held at Hromkla to discuss: the celebration of
Christmas on December 25, instead of the Armenian custom of
combining it with the Epiphany on January 6; the method for
choosing the date of Easter; the use of fermented bread at
mass; and changes in the church service
1180 - death of Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comneus
1188 - Saladin campaigns against Antioch and destroys Baghras which
Leon later rebuilt
1189-1192 - The Third Crusade
1190 - Levon (or Leon)sends Nerses of Lampron as ambassador to meet Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa when he approaches Cilicia, but on June 10
Barbarossa drowns in the Saleph River near Silifke, ending
negotiations for Levon's royal crown
1193 or 1194 - Catholicos Grigor Tgha dies and his nephews, Hetoum and
Shahnshah, are assassinated
Gregory V is elected catholicos (patriarch) but doesn't get
along with Levon and is imprisoned and dies trying to escape
1198 - January 6 - Levon I or Leon I is crowned king of Lesser Armenia
by the new Armenian catholicos with a crown from the
Hohenstaufen emperor. In return, he is forced to recognize
the German emperor as his lord and the pope in Rome as the
head of the Armenian Church. The Armenian church however
stalls and does not change or adopt the Roman Catholic
forms of worship
(The Cilician kings named Levon are numbered differently by
various historians. It is easier to understand who is who by
the dates of their reigns than by I, II, etc.)
1202-1204 - The Fourth Crusade
1204 - Constantinople is sacked by crusaders of the Fourth Crusade
1205 - Catholicos John of Sis accuses Isabelle of Austria, Levon's
queen and mother of his daughter Rita, of adultery and she
is imprisoned at Vahka where she died
1210 - King Levon of Cilicia marries Sybilla of Lusignan, the
daughter of King Aimery of Cyprus and Queen Isabeau
Plantagenet, and later mother of Levon's daughter and
heir Zabel (aka Zapel or Isabelle)
1211 - Levon gives his wife's sister, Helvis, to Raymond-Roupen
of Antioch
1212 - The Children's Crusade
1217-1229 - The Fifth Crusade
1219 - King Levon I dies after reigning 32 years
Zabel becomes queen, Adam of Baghras is regent
1222 - Philip, either son of Raymond the One-eyed, Count of Tripoli;
or fourth son of Bohemond IV of Antioch, marries Zabel
1225 - Zabel's husband, Philip, is arrested, imprisoned in the
fortress of Sis and killed
1226 - King Levon I's daughter Zabel is forced to marry Hetoum I (or
Hetum I) which joined the Rubenid and Het'umian families.
Zabel runs away from her forced marriage to Hetoum, but
eventually reconciles to it
1233 - Kai-Khusrau I, Selchukid (Seljuk) sultan of Roum, invades
Armenia and requires tribute, but he proves to be a
generally peaceful neighbor and trading partner.
1236 - Birth of Prince Levon son of King Hetum I of Cilicia
1243 - The Mongols arrive and shatter the Turkish empire of the
Selchukids (Seljuks) in a battle near Siwas, where
Georgians and Armenians fight in the Mongol army
and 2,000 Frankish mercenaries in that of Roum.
1247 - King Hetum I of Cilicia sends his brother Smbat the Constable
to negotiate a treaty with the Mongols
1253 or 1254 - King Hetoum I (or Hetum I) goes to visit the Great Khan
for three years and comes back through Greater Armenia, the
homeland no Cilician ruler had previously been able to visit.
He has guarantees that the Mongols will protect the Christian
Churches in their lands. Armenian troops fight in the Mongol
armies, and Hetoum occupies Marash.
1254 - Bohemond VI of Tripoli and Antioch marries Hetoum's daughter,
Sybilla
1256 - Prince Levon is knighted at Mamistra
1258 - Mongol and Armenian troops defeat Baghdad and extend
Cilician territory to Hromkla, a fortified site east of
Cilicia on the Euphrates River
1260, March - The Armenians and Mongols take Aleppo and Damascus
September - The Mongol forces are destroyed by a Mamluk army
under their new leader, Baybars
1261 - Prince Kostandin follows his father as lord of the fortress
of Sarvandik'ar which dominates the main roads to Cilicia
from the east and at Sis he marries King Hetoum's daughter
Rita
1262 - Prince Levon of Cilicia marries Keran, daughter of Het'um of
Lambron (Keran and two of their children died of a plague
after 1272 and before Hetoum's death in 1270)
1265 - Baybars, Mamluk leader, take Syria, Caesarea, Haifa, Arsuf,
Tibnin, and Safad and then turn on Armenia
1266 - King Hetoum goes to the Mongols for help and while he is
gone Princes Levon and Thoros are imprisoned in Cairo and
the Mamluks sack Sis, Mamistra, Adana, Ayas, and Tarsus.
1268, May 12 - The Mamluks take Antioch and massacre the inhabitants.
Hetoum gets his son released from Egypt, abdicates in Levon's
favor, and enters a monastery.
1269 or 1270 - Reign of Levon II or III (1269-88) began
1270 - death of King Hetum I; father of Fimi (Countess of Sidon) and
Levon (crown prince); brother of Bishop Hohannes (John)
1271 - Marco Polo sets out for Cathay from the Armenian port of Ayas
1272 - Thoros Roslin illuminates a gospel book for Queen Keran
1275 - another Egyptian (Mamluk) invasion of Cilicia
1276 - General Sempad, Levon's uncle, traps Mamluk troops in a
mountain pass and wins a major battle. Sempad and 300
knights die in the battle.
1285 - Levon III buys a 10 year truce with Egypt with an annual
tribute of one million silver dirhams to the Egyptians
and a promise to build no more castles
Levon III dies at age 53 (in 1285 or 1289) and on
February 6 Hetoum II (or Hetum II) becomes king
1292 - The Mamluks break the truce and take Hromkla (or Romgla) so
the catholicosate moves to Sis. Many church treasures
are lost.
1293 - Hetum II abdicates in favor of his brother Thoros (who was
strangled by their brother Smbat or Sempad). Hetum
retires to a Franciscan monastery
1294 - Hetum II resumes the throne
1296 - Hetum II's brother Smbat takes the throne, partly blinds
Het'um II, and kills Hetum's son Prince T'oros
Their brother Kostandin takes the throne from Smbat
1298 - Hetum II again resumes the throne with Kostandin's help
after regaining his eyesight
Smbat and Kostandin are sent to Hetum's brother-in-law
in Constantinople
1299 - Allied Mongols and Armenians fight the Mamluks at Homs
and win, regaining all their Cilician property
1303 - Mamluks win the battle at Merj-us-Safer against Mongol
and Armenian troops
Hetum chooses his nephew Levon, age 16, as heir
1304 - The Grand Khan, Gazan, declares Islam the official
religion in his lands and later his son ordera all
Christians throughout his lands to wear a black linen
strip over the shoulder.
1307 or 1308 - Hetum II and his nephew, now King Leon IV or V,
visit the Mongol emir Bilarghu at Anavarza and are
murdered with all their followers.
1308 - Oshin, Hetum's brother, chases the Mongol troops out
1320 - Oshin is poisoned
Young Levon is forced to marry his regent's (Oshin of
Corycus) daughter, Alice
1329 - King Levon IV or V, aged nineteen, takes charge of the
kingdom and has his unfaithful wife and her father
both killed.
1333 - King Levon marries Constance Eleanor of Aragon,
daughter of Frederick II of Sicily and widow of
Henry II of Cyprus, an unpopular match.
1337 - Cilician port city of Ayas is taken by the Mamluks
1341 - King Leon V, staying in the citadel of Sis, waits and
appeals for Western help, until the barons murder him.
1342 - The barons offer the crown to John of Lusignan who
offers the Cilician crown to his brother Guy. Guy
reluctantly agrees and comes to Cilicia. He brought
a European influence to the monarchy and encouraged
union with the Roman Church.
1344 - Guy Lusignan sends his younger brother, Bemon, to the Pope
in Avignon, France for help; but the negotiations rouse
resentment in the barons. Guy, Bemon and their
bodyguards are murdered.
Constantine III, son of Marshall Baldwin of Neghr, is
elected king. He is married to Marie, daughter of Oshin
(a former regent) and Jeanne of Anjou.
1360 - Peter I of Cyprus gets the port castles of Korykos in
Cilicia in return for helping Constantine VI against
the Karamanids
1363 - Constantine III dies of natural causes
Constantine IV becomes king of Cilicia and marries Marie
widow of Constantine III
1369 - Peter of Cyprus is murdered so Constantine VI makes a
treaty with the sultan of Cairo, which annoys barons
1372 - Queen Marie sends Pope Gregory XI a letter requesting
military help against the Moslems
1373 - Constantine is murdered, and the Pope wants Marie to
Othon of Brunswick.
Leon or Levon, son of John of Lusignan and Soldane, is
invited by the Armenians to become king.
(Soldane, daughter of King Georgi VII of Georgia, may
have been John of Lusignan's mistress and not his wife,
and her sons may or may not have been legitimate.
Levon's claims to his grandmother Isabella's estates
were rejected on those grounds by the Pope.)
Levon, delayed in Cyprus on his wife's lands, is "taxed"
by the Genoese 280 livres of gold plus 300 ducats
ransom for his crown, silver plate, and clothing. His
wife's lands are forfeited to Catherine of Aragon.
Levon is forced to sell his personal possessions to
travel and hire troops.
1374 - Levon VI, a Roman Catholic, and his wife, Margaret of
Soissons, are crowned at Sis on September 14 in both an
Armenian and Latin ceremony. They discover an empty
treasury.
1375, January 15 - The Mamluks of Egypt capture part of Sis
February 24 - The rest of Sis is evacuated and burned by
Levon and his supporters
April 13 - Levon VI, his wife, and their twin baby daughters
surrender to the Mamluks
July - Levon is taken to Cairo as a captive where he is
released from jail, constantly watched and given a
daily pension of 60 dirhems
1376 - Levon's wife, Marguerite de Soissons, and daughters die
in Cairo
1382 - Levon is ransomed using money from the Kings of Castile and
Aragon, 300 squirrel pelts, a gold and silver cup, and
a gilded jar.
1386 - Levon serves as an envoy to King Richard II of England
1393, November 29 - King Levon VI (John de Lusignan) dies.
He is interred with French Royalty in the Basilica of St.
Denis. He was in France for help to regain Cilicia.
His son Guyot becomes a military man and Philippe becomes
an archdecon.
1402 - the Tartars take Asia Minor and Syria
1441 - The seat of the Armenian Catholicos is moved from Sis to
Etchmiadzin
1453 - The Ottomans capture Constantinople and Armenians are
required to move into the capital
The Armenian patriarch is given civil authority over
marriage, charity work, and education of Armenians
under Ottoman control
1462 - Zacharia of Aghthamar removes the right arm of St. Grigor
Loosavorich, a relic required for church ceremony, from
Etchmiadzin to Aghthamar
1475 - Ottoman conquest of Crimea
1477 - Bishop Vrtanes of Odzop returns St. Grigor's right arm
to Etchmiadzin
1556-1602 - Reign of the Mongol Emperor Akbar, one of whose queens
was the Armenian lady Mariam Zamani Begum
Mariam's sister, Juliana, marries an exiled French prince
and serves as a physician in Akbar's seraglio.
Akbar's Chief Justice is also Armenian
1562 - Juliana and her husband Jean Phillippe Bourbon de Navarre
found the first Armenian church in India at Agra
Abgar of Tokat goes to Italy to study printing for
patriarch Michael of Sebastia
1605 - After burning and destroying what they could in the former
area of eastern Greater Armenia, the Persians require
their Armenian subjects to move to New Julfa and away
from the invading Turkish troops. Many Armenians escape
north to the Eastern European states such as Poland.
1620 - Eastern Armenia returns to Persian control
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Copyright 1999, Karen Reinhart, P. O. Box 169, Windsor, NY 13865. <keran at hancock.net>. Permission is given to use these articles in any
educational publication as long as you credit me for the authorship of the article and send me a copy of the publication.
<the end>