Latest / The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History / The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia: Crusader Allies
Transcript
- Lucas: For anyone stepping into history with us episode by episode, you know we often focus on the highlands—the ancient churches of Geghard or the scribes of Tatev. But today, we’re moving south, away from the snow-capped peaks of Mount Ararat, down to the rugged coast of the Mediterranean. It’s a different kind of Armenia, one forged not just in isolation, but in constant, fierce engagement with the wider world. Luna: A coastal Armenia? That sounds completely unexpected given what we usually hear about. Lucas: It is surprising, because most people picture Armenians as mountain dwellers, and they are. But after the Seljuk Turks began sweeping through the Caucasus in the eleventh century, displacing local nobility, a group of refugees led by a lord named Ruben fled westward. They didn’t go far—they settled in the Taurus Mountains, just north of Syria—and there, in 1080, they declared the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. It was a survival strategy, but it quickly evolved into something much more ambitious. Luna: So they essentially built a new state from scratch among the Crusaders. Lucas: Exactly. And here is where the story gets fascinatingly complex. These Armenian refugees found themselves surrounded by the Crusader states—the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch. Instead of fighting them, the Cilician Armenians integrated. They adopted Western feudal customs, married into European noble families, and even sent their sons to be educated in France. They became, in effect, a Christian buffer zone between the Islamic empires to the east and the Latin kingdoms to the west. Luna: That must have required incredible diplomatic skill to balance those sides. Lucas: It did, especially under King Leo I, who reigned in the early thirteenth century. He wasn’t just a warlord; he was a shrewd politician who managed to get himself crowned King by the Holy Roman Emperor’s representative, giving his realm international recognition. He also pushed hard for closer ties with the Papacy, hoping to secure military aid against their common enemies. But his legacy is complicated by his relationship with the Mongols, which brings us to a pivotal shift in the region’s power dynamics. Luna: Wait, the Mongols? Those were the same Mongols who destroyed Baghdad. Lucas: Precisely. After the devastation of the Mongol invasions in the mid-thirteenth century, many European Christians feared them as God’s punishment. But King Hethum I of Cilicia saw an opportunity. He traveled to the Mongol court in Persia, met with the Great Khan, and decided to form an alliance. He reasoned that if the Mongols controlled the trade routes and suppressed the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt, his little kingdom could thrive as a trading hub. It was a bold gamble that placed him at the center of global geopolitics. Luna: Allying with such a destructive force seems like a huge risk. Lucas: It was risky, but it paid off for a while. Hethum I sent Armenian cavalry to fight alongside the Mongols against the Mamluks, helping to capture key cities like Aleppo and Damascus. His son, King Leo II, continued this policy, and for a time, Cilicia enjoyed a golden age of commerce. The port city of Ayas became one of the busiest in the Mediterranean, where Genoese and Venetian merchants unloaded spices and silks brought overland from China. It was a cosmopolitan enclave, very different from the agrarian societies of the past. Luna: I can imagine how vibrant that port must have been with all those different cultures mixing. Lucas: Absolutely. You had Armenian monks chanting in Grabar next to Italian sailors drinking wine, all under the watchful eye of Mongol tax collectors. But this prosperity relied entirely on the stability of the Mongol Ilkhanate. When internal strife weakened the Mongols and the Mamluks consolidated their power in Egypt, the shield protecting Cilicia vanished. The Armenians were left exposed, forced to pay heavy tribute to survive, and slowly losing their sovereignty. Luna: And that’s when Queen Keran comes into the picture, right? Lucas: Yes, Queen Keran, who ruled in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, tried desperately to hold the crumbling kingdom together. She attempted to negotiate with both the Mamluks and the emerging Ottoman Turks, but the writing was on the wall. In 1375, after a long siege of her capital, Sis, the last Armenian king surrendered. The kingdom fell, and its remnants scattered, carrying their stories to Cyprus, Venice, and eventually back to the diaspora communities we discussed in previous episodes. Luna: It feels like a tragic end to such a resilient chapter of history. Lucas: It is tragic, but it’s also a testament to adaptability. The Kingdom of Cilicia proved that Armenians could not only preserve their faith and identity but also build a functioning modern state in a hostile environment. Their legacy isn’t just in the ruins of Sis or the churches they left behind, but in the enduring network of diplomacy and trade that connected East and West. It reminds us that survival isn’t always about hiding; sometimes it’s about engaging so deeply with the world that you become indispensable to it. Luna: That perspective really changes how I view their historical resilience. Lucas: We deliberately don't run ads on these shows because we believe deep history deserves space without interruption. If you want to support that choice and help keep these conversations free, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Every contribution helps us continue digging into these overlooked corners of the past. Luna: Yeah, it’s great to have this kind of uninterrupted listening experience. Lucas: One final thought on Cilicia: many assume the fall of the kingdom meant the end of Armenian independence. But look at the lineage. The Rupenid and Hetoumide dynasties intermarried with European royalty, and their bloodlines flowed into the courts of Europe. Even in defeat, the Armenian presence remained woven into the fabric of Western history, ensuring that when later generations looked for allies or shared heritage, the thread was still there. Luna: It’s amazing how those old alliances echo through centuries. Lucas: Indeed. So, as we close this chapter on the coastal kingdom, consider how the Armenians used geography not as a barrier, but as a bridge. From the highlands to the sea, they refused to be erased, choosing instead to build a state that reflected the complexity of the world around them. Luna: A bridge rather than a fortress—that’s a powerful image. Lucas: It is. And it leaves us wondering what other hidden connections exist in the archives, waiting for us to uncover the next piece of this vast, interconnected puzzle. Luna: I’m definitely looking forward to finding those next pieces with you.