Cilician Armenia in the Eastern Policy of Byzantium during the Rule of the Komnenoi

Authors:

Pages: 75-96
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/JORO5210

Abstract:

In the period between the late 11th and late 12th centuries, the Byzantine Empire often had to deal with newly established secondary powers in the regions of Asia Minor and the Middle East, apart from maintaining relations with the larger countries in the east. An example of such a force was the Armenian principality in the region of Cilicia during the rule of the Rubenids. It was founded as a legal result of the Seljuk expansion and power vacuum in the Byzantine territories, both of which accelerated the migration of important demographic groups, mainly Armenians. Among them, the embryo of a country gained its final form as the Armenian principality of Cilicia. It was founded by Ruben I – the leader of Gagik II’s guard, the last ruler of the Principality of Ani. Ruben I’s descendants, some of whom were Constantine I who moved the capital to the city of Vahka, Thoros I, Thoros II, and Leo II, who were able to win an unfair fight against the neighbouring Byzantine Empire, Crusader and Seljuk-Muslim states, as well as to establish the principality as a factor that could not be overlooked when it came to interstate relations in the regions of Anatolia and Syria.

Keywords:

Byzantine Empire; Rubenids; Cilicia; Crusader and Seljuk-Muslim states.

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