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Cilicia: A Historical Overview

By Ara Iskanderian

The plain of Cilicia, nestled neatly between the Taurus and Amanus mountain
ranges on the southeastern edge of what is today Turkey’s Mediterranean coast,
provided a sanctuary and home for the Armenian people in need of a haven following
the loss of the citadel of Ani and the destruction of the Bagratid kingdom1 in the late
eleventh century. This small corner of the Anatolian coast was to provide Armenians
with a homeland for nearly three hundred years, and with the means to prolong the
independent development of the Armenian people, unhindered by the oppression of
neighbouring states. Ultimately Cilicia remains in the Armenian national conscience
as a golden age, the last flourishing of an ancient people left to their own accord
before being brutally propelled into modern politics. Cilicia, the last incarnation of an
independent Armenian state for six centuries, remains for Armenians a fond memory
of a people’s former glory.

The kingdom of Cilicia or the kingdom of Little Armenia2 as it is sometimes

referred to in historical sources, is something of an oddity in history, and certainly a
favourable interlude in the history of the Armenian people. The kingdom itself took
over a hundred years to appear on the political map, prior to that the region had been
overseen by several dynasties of competing Armenian chiefs, princes and lords. The
most important of all these clans were the Rubenids who had emerged as the
dominant Armenian family after several power struggles and through the
accumulation of territory at the cost of their rivals. For centuries since the rise of
Islam Cilicia had been a battleground, passing to and from Byzantine and Arab
control until finally much of what was to later comprise the Armenian kingdom fell
under the Byzantine sway during a series of reconquests in the period between 963 -
974 AD.

A resurgence in Byzantine power did not last long and soon thereafter in 1071
AD Alp Arslan (Brave Lion) the leader of the Seljuk Turkish host invaded Asia
Minor, defeated the Byzantines at Manzikert near lake Van and went on to occupy the
entire region of Armenia. This marked the entrance of the Turks into Asia Minor and
the beginning of the end for Byzantium, which having lost much of its heartland and
its Armenian borderlands began to feel insecure within its boundaries.

Nowhere was this insecurity more felt than in Cilicia which had always been
threatened by the Muslim rulers of Damascus, but now also to the north by the Seljuk
state known as the Sultanate of Iconium (Konya) or Rum. To compensate the
Armenian nobles and Armenian Byzantine officers, who had been disenfranchised in
the wake of the Seljuk invasion, Constantinople offered them administrative roles and
positions in Cilicia. This shrewd move was also a calculated attempt to strengthen the
Byzantine position in the area by flooding the region with Armenian warriors.

1
The Bagratid Kingdom, named after the Bagratuni dynasty founded by King Ashot I in 884 AD, had
consolidated its power in Greater Armenia following the decline of Arab power in the region. Ashot
established his capital at Ani and it was not until 1054 with the Byzantine reconquest of Armenia that
the kingdom ended. A branch of the Bagratuni continued to rule in Georgia until the Russian conquest.
2
Greater Armenia being the lands comprising the Armenian plateau further north.
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Cilicia had previously been an ethnically mixed area home to Jewish, Greek
and Muslim communities. Smaller numbers of Armenians, and Italian merchants
present in the coastal settlements of Adana and Tarsus. The plain itself was a hotch-
potch of village communities, Christian for the most part of the Orthodox persuasion,
but with a notable Armenian and Syriac presence stretching back to antiquity. Muslim
communities, the legacy of Arab occupation, were similarly interspersed and not
always ethnically Arab either. The Armenian community was however noticeably
minimal and by no means close to resembling a majority.

This however changed with the extinguishing of an independent Armenia

further north. Not only was there an influx of Armenian nobles eager to claim their
compensation, but also with them came their retinues and courts. Clergy to serve the
religious needs of the Armenian notables, soldiers in their employ migrated with their
families in tow, guildsmen from the northern cities, all the necessary elements to
provide a basis for the formation of a rudimentary state in exile. Perhaps most
importantly of all was the influx of ordinary Armenian families who fearing Turkish
oppression and Seljuk misrule followed their leaders southwards into the relative
safety of the Cilician plain.

Cilicia thus took on a distinctly Armenian flavour with the immigration of

laymen, but more importantly the establishment of noble families in the area was to
prove critical later on. For a time the leading figure in Cilicia was an Armenian
Byzantine general, Philaretus who controlled much of the region, although by his
death in 1092 Seljuk raids had destroyed much of his dominions. There came a
scramble amongst the Armenian chiefs and nobles to establish suzerainty over the
greater part of the plain, to harness support and gain power. Much of Philaretus’
kingdom thus became divided between his lieutenants Gogh Vasil (Basil the Robber)
and Abul-Gharib Artsruni3, who controlled the all important city of Tarsus, whilst a
third officer, Thoros came to rule over Edessa (Urfa) and its environs.

The Rubenids, who were concentrated in the west of Cilicia around the
fortress of Gobidara, which guarded the strategic Cilician Gates and the route north,
became Cilicia’s leading family. The head of the Rubenids, Roupen was a confidant
of the last king of Ani, Gaghik II. To the east and south the Rubenids’ main
competitors, the Hetumids, named after King Oshin’s son Hetum were the dominant
faction controlling the Amanus Gates and the eastern entrance into Cilicia. The
Hetumids pro-Byzantine stance was to renegate them to the status of Cilicia’s ‘other’
family, whilst the Rubenids willingness to challenge Constantinople and their flirting
with the title Ishkhan (prince) eventually won them more acolytes than their
competitors.

The independence of Cilicia came about in a highly convoluted manner, Abul-

Gharib and Gogh Vasil; the two main chiefs eventually passed away. Most of their
lands were to fall under the sway of either the Hetumids or Rubenids, who were upon
the death of Philaretus’ two lieutenants Cilicia’s leading factions. In 1080 Lord
Roupen declared his fiefdom independent of Byzantium following the murder in
Constantinople of King Gaghik II in 1079. Roupen fabricated an actual Bagratid
3
The Artsruni or Arshakuni or even Arsacid family was the very same founders of the 3rd dynasty to
occupy the Armenian throne during the kingdom. They were in fact Persian in origin, but through the
course of time became inevitably ‘Armenianised.’
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family link and took the title of prince. Roupen (1080-95), his son Constantine (1095-
1102) and grandson Thoros (1102-29) gathered together much of the lands of Cilicia
at the expense of the other Armenian families and the Seljuks. The fact that the
Rubenids continued to practice the Armenian Apostolic faith rather than convert to
Greek Orthodox (as had been the trend amongst the Armenian nobility) won him
renown and applause both amongst the Armenian population of Cilicia and Greater
Armenia itself.

At this time Armenian events in Cilicia had become a microcosm of greater

events occurring beyond Armenian control, namely the Crusades which had arisen in
the wake of the Seljuk invasions and Byzantine pleas for help from Catholic Europe.
The entrance of the Crusaders into the area had the dual effect of finally severing
Cilicia from Byzantium and also promoting links between Armenians and Europe, a
link that was to prove vital later on. The First Crusade in 1095 relied openly on the
support and hospitality of the Cilician Armenians who represented a friendly
community and allies for the Crusaders, whilst also at times acting as pawns in greater
events. In Edessa, an Armenian ruled exclave of Cilicia, the unpopular Greek
Orthodox Armenian king, Thoros, was ousted by his Armenian subjects and the
Crusader noble, Baldwin of Bolougne.

The demise of Armenian rule in Edessa left the Rubenids in a much more
favourable position, they became increasingly recognised as the dominant Armenian
clan in Cilicia, and as its legitimate rulers by Crusaders and Europeans alike. During
this time both the Hetumids and Rubenids were sucked into and took part in Crusader
intrigues. More often than not it was the Rubenids who came out on top. The elapse of
a century and three further Crusades were required before Lord Levon II (1187-1219);
the 10th Rubenid lord could finally establish the kingdom of Cilicia.

The rise of Salah al-Din and the Kurdish Ayyubids as a counterbalance to the
Crusader states along the Levantine coast had led to the Muslim conquest of
Jerusalem and the restriction of the Crusader states to the coastal enclaves of Tyre,
Acre, Antioch and their environs. Byzantine power had likewise declined with a wave
of renewed Turkish attacks. The Christian position was further confounded by the
failure of the Third Crusade, which included such personas as Richard the Lionheart
(at whose wedding on Cyprus a Rubenid was best man) and Frederick Barbarossa.

These events and others elsewhere left Cilicia as the sole substantial Christian
presence in the Middle East. Cilicia thus became a palace of intrigue, Byzantium, the
Holy Roman Empire, the Papacy and even the Abbassid Caliph all competed and vied
for influence over the state and each raced to be the first to recognise Levon as the
rightful king. Eventually Levon, who was crowned on January 6th 1199 in Tarsus was
granted not one, but two crowns. One, emanating from Constantinople and the other
from the German Emperor. The coronation was attended by representatives from
across Christendom and a number of Muslim states thus highlighting the importance
that had become attached to Cilicia. Shortly thereafter the royal court and capital was
established at Sis.

The reign of Cilicia’s first monarchs was also its golden age; Levon was able
to marry many Rubenid noblewomen to Crusader barons and European noble families
alike, in doing so strengthening Cilicia’s position in the Levant and the world at large.
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Carefully manoeuvring between Crusaders and Salah al-Din, Levon expanded Cilicia
to its greatest extent; though failing in his objective to gain Antioch he had
nevertheless placed Cilicia as an important regional player.

Levon’s reign was however tainted by a question that was to plague and
ultimately contribute to Cilicia’s demise, the issue of liturgical and religious practice.
Recognition by the Papacy of Levon as king had come attached to the hope that
Levon might concede the Pope as being the head of the Armenian Church. Levon’s
unwillingness to do this was mirrored by his people’s abhorrence of such a proposal,
the clergy’s adamant refusal and a general sense of patriotism. Although through
doing so he denied Cilicia the full support of Catholic Europe

Levon’s throne passed to his daughter Zabel (1219-52) who became, and was
to remain, Cilicia’s only ever female ruler. She co-ruled with King Hetum I (1226-
70), who became the first Hetumid noble to rule Cilicia and thus gained the kudos of
uniting Cilicia’s two leading families. Hetum I was Cilicia’s longest serving monarch,
his rule with Zabel was known as a period in which the arts, literature and science all
flourished despite an increasingly volatile political situation. Constantinople had
fallen in 1204 to the Fourth Crusade, sending Byzantium along the route of terminal
decline and encouraging the Seljuks to entertain even loftier ambitions. The Ayyubids
with their Mamluke army was looming in Egypt and Syria, Turkish and Kurdish cross
border raids increased thereby damaging Cilicia further. Two serious invasions in
1233 and 1245 devastated the kingdom, and yet nonetheless Cilicia persevered.

It was during the reign of King Hetum I that the Mongols entered the political
scene. Hetum instantly recognised the Mongols as a valuable ally and lost no time in
approaching them. He personally visited the Great Khan Mangu (Mongke) in his
capital of Karakorum to legitimise a treaty signed by his brother Smbat in 1247 which
established Cilicia as a Mongol ally, and a champion of Christianity in the Mongol
Empire. On his way back Hetum became the first Cilician monarch to visit Armenia
proper. It was with Cilicia as an intermediary that led Europe to entertain dreams of
turning the Mongols into an ally in its duel with the Muslims for control of the
Levant, here too can be traced, in part, the origin of the myth concerning Prester John.

This period of peace afforded by the Mongol presence allowed for both the
advancement of Cilician society, economy and arts as well as having a positive effect
on the wider Armenian conscience. The close links cultivated between Cilician
Armenians and Europeans born of shared interests led to a two-way trade in ideas.
Feudalism was imported to Cilicia and eventually adopted as the system of
administration. A consequence of which was the introduction of the French word
‘Baron’ into the Armenian lexicon where it remains with the current connotation of
sir or mister.

The increasing tendency of Armenian nobles to be fluent in French, Latin and

Greek alongside Armenian and the adoption of certain phrases and words led to two
additions to the Armenian alphabet the sounds and symbols for ‘O’ and ‘F’. It is
arguable that through this emerging multilingualism one can trace the origin of the
Western Armenian dialect, but certainly modern Armenian as a whole. Intermarriage
and a readiness to convert saw an emigration of Armenian nobility to Europe and vice
versa, allowing the small kingdom to punch above its own political weight.
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There was an increase in Armenian literature which was readily translated into
Latin, French, Arabic and Greek and made available to a wider non-Armenian
audience, as was literature from the above mentioned languages made available to
literate Armenians. Mekhitar Gosh wrote his one hundred and ninety fables, which
gained him, popularity across Armenian lands and in Europe. Gosh went on to write a
comprehensive law book in Armenian which subsequently became the basis of
jurisprudence for the early Diaspora and also the basis of millet law during the
Ottoman period.

The Armenian nobility and intelligentsia of Cilicia became familiar with the
Latin texts of ancient Greek and Roman thinkers, ideas propagated by Plato and
Marcus Aurelius were debated amongst the learned of Sis. Theology, philosophy,
rhetoric, medicine and mathematics were all taught, studied and expanded upon.

Interaction and competition between Orthodoxy and Catholicism in Cilicia led

to debate occurring amongst the Armenian clergy as to the merits of the various
Christian denominations. The renaissance of the Armenian Church and its need to
fend off competitors saw the rise of Thoros Roslin the master illuminator, the best
known of a series of Cilician miniaturists and illuminators who produced beautiful
manuscripts from this era in a bid to capture popular imagination. Nerses Shnorhali
and other like minded clergy wrote extensively on the nature of the Armenian Church
and of its pros and cons. One can see a reformation of sorts occurring within the
Armenian Church during this period as it attempted to fight its own against
Catholicism and Orthodoxy whilst also remaining appealing to parishioners. The
church thus addressed issues that were not to be considered in Europe until the
coming of Luther and Calvin.

The Armenian historian Kirakos became the main chronicler for Christendom
of the Mongol invasion of the Middle East. His writings, which were translated into
Latin and French provided the foundations for much which is known in the west of
the Mongol period. Similarly an Armenian monk, Hayton, dictated his memoirs in
French to Nicholas Falcon in 1302. The subsequent book entitled La Flore des
estoires de la Terre D’orient is an invaluable mediaeval account of the rise and
coming of the Mongols. Mathew of Edessa became a mediaeval name synonymous
with historical writings concerning the Levant.

The good relations between Mongols and Armenians is perhaps best

highlighted by the presence of Armenian priests and a church in Karakorum,
Armenian monks travelled the length and breadth of the Mongol Empire converting
people to the Christian faith. The apogee of this was the building of an Armenian
Church by a wealthy Armenian matron in the area of Quangzhou, China. The church,
according to records, was subsequently entrusted to the Bishop of Zeitun, Gerard
Albuini.

Queen Zabel established a hospital in Sis, which became a meeting ground for
physicians and medical theories emanating from the ancient Greeks, Europe and the
Arabs. The hospital at Sis provided Armenians with the means to study European
medicine, which led to the rise of such thinkers as Mekhitar Heratzi. An Armenian
physician he wrote, Comfort for the Feverish, in which Mekhitar distinguished a
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number of fevers and wrote about what was then essentially the ‘theory’ of infection
and the concept of contagion. This text travelled back to Europe where it contributed
to modern medicine and won Mekhitar Heratzi the acclaim of being one of the first
doctors to recognise the importance of human contact in the spread of contagion.

Grigor Kiliketsi compiled a tome consisting of three hundred and thirty entries
on various drugs and the ailments, which they relieved. Archbishop Hovannes wrote
The Secrets of Women in which he elaborated upon issues such as contraceptive
methods, malformations during pregnancy and the nature of the embryo to name but a
few of his discourses. Cilicia as a centre of medical study also became one of the
earliest centres of gynaecology. Through this association either the word ginik
meaning woman in Armenian passed into its vocabulary or the word gynaecology has
an Armenian root.

Lying at the end of the Silk Road produce from Europe passed into Asia
through Cilicia’s ports; likewise Cilicia was the main importer of Cypriot copper
which was sold across the Asian continent. Dyes, spices, silk, cotton, pearls, cloth,
kilim and all manner of produce emanating from India, China, Persia and Arabia
passed through Cilicia and onto the great Italian trading ships to be sold in the
markets of Europe. From here the Armenian presence in Venice can be traced and the
existence of the Armenian library at San Lazzaro testifies to the wealth of Cilician
literary culture. The exporting of rugs from Cilicia has left a lasting legacy in
European vocabulary. Rugs originating from Kharput exported to adorn the homes of
European nobles became known as ‘carpets’ in deference to their place of origin.

Such an epoch of trade, culture and vitality was not to last. The forces of
intrigue and suspicion brought to an end the Rubenid-Hetumid dynastic alliance,
which expired in 1341 with the murder of Levon IV (1320-41), and the absence of a
worthy heir. The throne subsequently passed to Guy de Lusignan the half-Armenian
nephew of Hetum II (1289-1307). Upon his assumption Guy was renamed
Constantine II. Being more Frankish than Armenian his reign was notably short.

The Lusignan dynasty was to provide Cilicia with a four more kings, the last
being Levon V (1363-64, 1374-75) who took the throne at a time when the Crusades
had petered out into a regrettable mistake, Europe was becoming more insular and
inward looking. The Mamlukes based in Egypt and the successors to the Ayubbids
were coming to dominate Cilicia’s fringe. The Mongols, defeated in 1260 by the
Mamlukes at Ayn Jalut, retreated eastwards, converted to Islam, abandoning Cilicia
and their erstwhile Armenian allies to their fate. Meanwhile in the north a young and
dynamic Turkic state ruled by the Ottoman dynasty had arisen. Despite numerous
territorial and economic concessions, the Mamlukes appetite for Cilicia’s annihilation
was insatiable. In 1375 the Mamluke warlord Ish-Timur invaded Cilicia. Despite a
brave resistance at Sis and pleas for help directed to Europe, which came to no avail,
Cilicia succumbed to its inevitable demise. The royal family was taken into captivity
to Cairo.

Levon was eventually ransomed and he travelled to Europe, touring the royal
courts and begging assistance to liberate his lost kingdom. He was granted a rich sum
by the king of Navarre and the Golden Rose by the Pope after being informed that the
Crusader zeal was redundant. Levon received little practical support and eventually
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retired to Paris where he was pensioned by the French King Charles V, whom he
taught to play chess. Levon’s services were employed by England and France to act as
an intermediary during the Hundred Years War, on several occasions he was able to
secure intermittent peace, but failed in anything more permanent.

Levon V died in 1393 he was buried in the church of St. Denis alongside the
other French kings. The title ‘King of Armenia’ passed to Levon’s relative King John
I of Cyprus, and then later to a branch of the Lusignan family, which married into the
House of Savoy. The Savoy’s continued to use the title well into the nineteenth
century though ostensibly the title died with any real meaning in 1510 following the
death of Catherine Cornaro, the last Cypriot Lusignan.

Cilicia was to remain under Mamluke rule until the sixteenth century when in
1516 it fell to the Ottoman Turks. Zeitun in the Taurus Mountains retained a level of
independence throughout Mamluke and Ottoman rule and maintained its own princely
or Ishkhan leadership, its autonomy was compromised only with the increase in
Ottoman authoritarianism. Cilicia remained a part of the Ottoman Empire until the
First World War when the remaining Armenian population was subjected to the
horrors of the Genocide. With the end of the war in 1918 Cilicia fell within the
borders of French mandated Syria, though they too were to abandon Cilicia to Kemal
Ataturk. In popular Armenian sentiment the memory and nostalgia for Cilicia and its
legacy lives on in the emotive words of Nahapet Roosinian’s song of the same name.