Leo II, King of Armenia

Leo II, King of Armenia

Infobox Monarch
name =Leo II
Լեիոն Բ
title =King


Toros Roslin, 1250]
predecessor =Hetoum I
successor =Hetoum II
dynasty =House of Lambron|

Leo II or Leon II (occasionally numbered Leo III; Lang-hy|Լեիոն Բ, "Levon II"; c. 1236 – 1289) was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1269"Cambridge Medieval History", Volume IV, p. 634] /1270 to 1289. He was the son of King Hetoum I and Queen Isabella and was a member of the Hetoumid family.

Early life

Leo was born in 1236, the son of King Hetoum I and Queen Isabella. Hetoum and Isabella's marriage in 1226 had been a forced one by Hetoum's father Constantine of Baberon, who had arranged for Queen Isabella's first husband to be murdered so as to put Constantine's own son Hetoum in place as a co-ruler with Isabella. They had six children, of which Leo was the eldest. One of his sisters was Sibylla of Armenia, who was married to Bohemond VI of Antioch to bring peace between Armenia and Antioch.

In 1262 Leo married Keran (Kir Anna), the daughter of Prince Hetoum of Lampron.

In 1266, while their father king Hetoum I was away to visit the Mongol court, Leo and his younger brother Thoros fought to repel Mamluk invaders, at the Battle of Mari. Thoros was killed in combat, and Leo, along with 40,000 other Armenian soldiers was captured and imprisoned. When King Hetoum returned, he paid a large ransom to retrieve his son, including a large quantity of money, handing over several fortresses, and accepting to intercede with the Mongol ruler Abagha in order to have one of Baibars's relatives freed.

Reign

Hetoum I abdicated in 1269 in favour of his son, and entered the Franciscan order. He died a year later. The new king Leo II was known as a pious king, devoted to Christianity. He pursued active commercial relations with the West, by renewing trade agreements with the Italians and establishing new ones with the Catalans. He also endeavoured to reinforce the Mongol alliance, [Mutafian, p.60] as his father Hetoum I had submitted Armenia to Mongol authority in 1247.

In 1271, Marco Polo visited the Armenian harbour of Ayas and commented favourably about Leo's reign and the abundance of the country, although he mentions his military forces were rather demoralized:

In 1275 the Mamluk sultan Baibars invaded Cilicia for a second time. The following year, Armenia fought off an invasion by the Turkomans, but the Constable Sempad, Leo's uncle, was killed in combat.

Mongol alliance

In 1281 Leo joined the Mongols in their invasion of Syria, but they were vanquished at the Second Battle of Homs. Leo had to sue for peace, and in 1285 obtained a 10-year truce in exchange for important territorial concessions in favour of the Mamluks. [Mutafian, p.61]

Leo died in 1289, and was succeeded by his son Hetoum II.

Descendance

During twenty-one years of marriage Leo had fifteen children by his wife Keran, eight sons and seven daughters. Two sons and two daughters died at an early age. Five of his children reached the throne. The eldest, Hetoum II of Armenia, abdicated after four years in favor of his younger brother Thoros III of Armenia, but was placed back on the throne in 1294. In 1296, their brother Sempad of Armenia strangled Thoros and blinded Hetoum, in order to seize power. Sempad was then overthrown in 1298 by their younger brother Constantine III of Armenia, who was replaced by older brother Hetoum, who then abdicated in 1305 in favor of Thoros's son Leo III of Armenia.
# Hetoum II (ruled 1289 to 1293, 1294 to 1297, 1299 to 1307)
# Princess Fimi of Armenia (born c. 1266)
# Princesse Sybil of Armenia (born c. 1269)
# Thoros III (ruled 1293 to 1298)
# Prince Ruben of Armenia (born c. 1272)
# Princess Zablun of Armenia (born c. 1274)
# Isabelle (Zabel) or Sybil, Princess of Armenia (born c. 1276)
# Sempad (ruled 1297 to 1299)
# Constantine III (ruled 1299)
# Isabella of Armenia (died c. 1321), who married Amalric of Tyre
# Princess Theophane of Armenia (born c. 1278)
# Rita of Armenia, who married Michael IX Palaeologus, co-Emperor of the Byzantine Empire with his father Andronicus II Palaeologus
# Prince Nerses of Armenia (born c. 1279}
# Oshin (ruled 1308 to 1320)
# Prince Alinakh of Armenia (born c. 1283}

Five of the fifteen children, Hetoum, Thoros, Sembat, Constantine, and Oshin, later became the Armenian kings, who often fought each other to gain the throne. Finally, it was the descendants of Leo's daughter Isabella that would inherit the throne.

Notes

Bibliography

*
*
*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Leo III, King of Armenia — Leo III or Leon III (occasionally numbered Leo IV; hy. Լեիոն Գ, Levon III ; 1287/1289 ndash; 1307) was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1303 or 1305 to 1307, along with his uncle Hethum II. He was the son of Thoros III of… …   Wikipedia

  • Leo V, King of Armenia — Infobox Monarch | name=Leo V title= King of the Armenians reign= September 14,1374 1375 coronation= September 14, 1374 queen= Marguerite de Soissons royal house= Lusignan father= John of Lusignan mother= Soldane of Georgia issue= Last King of… …   Wikipedia

  • Leo I, King of Armenia — Infobox Monarch name =Leo I the MagnificentԼեիոն Ա Մեծագործ title =Prince, then King predecessor =Roupen III successor =Isabella dynasty =House of Roupen|Leo I or Leon I (Lang hy|Լեիոն Ա Մեծագործ, Eastern tansliteration: Levon Metsagorts ,… …   Wikipedia

  • Leo IV, King of Armenia — Leo IV or Leon IV (also numbered Leo V; hy. Լեիոն Դ, Levon IV ; 1309 ndash; 28 August 1341) was the last Hethumid king of Cilicia, ruling from 1320 until his death. He was the son of Oshin of Armenia and Isabel of Korikos, and came to the throne… …   Wikipedia

  • Leo I, Prince of Armenia — Leo I or Leon I ( hy. Լեիոն Ա, Levon I ; died 14 February 1140) was prince of Armenian Cilicia from 1129 until his death in 1140. He was the first king of the Rubenid dynasty.Leo, like his predecessors, continued to push the Armenian borders… …   Wikipedia

  • Oshin, King of Armenia — Oshin (Armenian: Օշին) (1282 – July 20, 1320) was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1307 to 1320. He was a member of the Hetoumid family, the son of Leo II, King of Armenia and Queen Keran. Oshin became king on the death of his …   Wikipedia

  • Hethum I, King of Armenia — Infobox Monarch name =Hetoum IՀեթում Ա title =King caption =Hetoum I with Queen Zabel on a coin predecessor =Queen Zabel successor =Levon II dynasty =House of Lambron|Hetoum I (also transliterated Hethoum , Hethum , Het um , or Hayton from… …   Wikipedia

  • Constantine II, King of Armenia — Constantine s arms, a combination of those of Lusignan, Jerusalem, and Cilicia. Constantine II (also Constantine IV; Armenian: Կոստանդին Բ, Western Armenian transliteration: Gosdantin or Kostantine; died 17 April 1344), born Guy de Lusignan, was… …   Wikipedia

  • Constantine IV, King of Armenia — For other uses, see Constantine of Armenia (disambiguation). Constantine IV (also Constantine VI; Armenian: Կոստանդին, Western Armenian transliteration: Gosdantin or Kostantine; died 1373) was the King of Armenian Cilicia from 1362 until his… …   Wikipedia

  • Constantine III, King of Armenia — For other uses, see Constantine of Armenia (disambiguation). Constantin III of Armenia on his throne with the Hospitallers. Les chevaliers de Saint Jean de Jerusalem rétablissant la religion en Arménie ( The knights of Saint John of Jerusalem… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”