Hethum I, King of Armenia

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Hetoum I
Հեթում Ա
King
Image:Hetoum and Zabel.jpeg
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 Armenian: Հեթում Ա) ruled the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia from 1226 to 1270. He was the son of Constantine, Lord of Baberon and Partzapert (a third-cousin of Leo I) and was the founder of the dynasty which bears his name: the Hetoumids.

Contents

[edit] Family

Hetoum's father Constantine had been regent for the young Queen Zabel of Armenia. Zabel originally married Philip (1222-1225), son of Bohemond IV of Antioch. However, Constantine had him disposed of, and instead forced Zabel to marry his own son, Hetoum, on June 14, 1226, which resulted in Hetoum becoming co-ruler. The couple had six children:

  1. Leo II (died 1289)
  2. Thoros (died at the battle of Mari in 1266 fighting the Mamluks)
  3. Sibylla (died 1290), who married Bohemund VI of Antioch
  4. Euphemie (died 1309), who married to Julian Grenier, Lord of Sidon
  5. Rita of Armenia
  6. Maria, who married Guy d'Ibelin

His sister Maria married John of Ibelin around 1240.

Hetoum dealt with the enmity of Antioch via the intervention of King Louis IX of France, by marrying his daughter Sibylla to Bohemond VI of Antioch in 1254. Antioch stayed in Armenia's sphere for the rest of its existence, until it was destroyed by the Mamluks in 1268.

[edit] Armenian-Mongol relations

 The factual accuracy of this section is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.(March 2008)
Hetoum I (seated) in the Mongol court of Karakorum, "receiving the homage of the Mongols". Miniature from "Histoire des Tartars", Hayton of Corycus, 1307.
Hetoum I (seated) in the Mongol court of Karakorum, "receiving the homage of the Mongols".[1] Miniature from "Histoire des Tartars", Hayton of Corycus, 1307.
Main article: Armeno-Mongol alliance

During the rule of Hetoum I, the Mongols were rapidly expanding their empire in all directions, and this was bringing them closer and closer to Cilician Armenia. As the Mongols approached the borders of Cappadocia and Cilicia, King Hetoum made a strategic decision to ally (submit) to the Mongols,[2][3][4] and sent his brother Sempad to the Mongol court in Karakorum. There, Sempad met Great khan Guyuk, and made a formal alliance/submission in 1247 with/to the Mongols, against their common enemy the Muslims. In 1254 Hetoum himself traveled through Central Asia to Mongolia to renew the agreement.[5] He brought many sumptuous presents, and met with Mongke Khan (Guyuk's cousin) at Karakorum. The account of his travels was recorded by a member of his suite, Kirakos Gandzaketsi as "The Journey of Haithon, King of Little Armenia, To Mongolia and Back". The Journey of Hethoum was later translated into Russian, French, English,[6] and Chinese languages.

The monk Hayton of Corycus in "La Flor des Estoires d'Orient" ("The flower of the stories of the Orient") later wrote about the meeting:

"The Khan wanted to go to Jerusalem in order to deliver the Saint Lands from the Saracens and to remit it to the Christians. The king Hetoum was very happy with this request, and assembled a great score of men on foot and on horse, because, in that time, the Kingdom of Armenia was in such a good state that it easily had 12.000 soldiers on horse and 60,000 soldiers on foot".

—"La Flor des Estoires d'Orient", circa 1300, Haiton, Doc. Arm II, p170 [7]

On his way back from Karakorum, Hetoum visited the Mongol leader Bayju, and was present in his camp to witness Bayju's victory in Asia Minor against the Seljuq Turks.[8]

With assistance from their Christian subjects, including Georgians and Armenians, the Mongols were able to invade Syria and Mesopotamia, and capture Baghdad in 1258. Armenia also engaged in an economic battle with Egypt, for control of the spice trade.[9]

Hetoum I, together with the Frankish ruler Bohemond VI, joined the Mongols in the capture of Damascus in 1260.
Hetoum I, together with the Frankish ruler Bohemond VI, joined the Mongols in the capture of Damascus in 1260.

Hetoum strongly encouraged other Frankish rulers to follow his example and submit to Mongol overlordship, but the only one that did was Hetoum's son-in-law, Bohemond VI, who submitted around 1259. The combined forces of the Armenians and Antiochenes fought in the Mongol Army under Hulagu, and briefly conquered Muslim Syria. They took together the city of Aleppo, and later took Damascus together with the Mongol general Kitbuqa:[10]

"The king of Armenia and the Prince of Antioch went to the military camp of the Tatars, and they went off to take Damascus".

—Le Templier de Tyr[11]

However, the Muslim Mamluks then rallied and defeated the Mongols at the historic battle of Ain Jalut in late 1260. The Mongols would not again capture Syria until 1299-1300, and then again would only hold it for a few months.

[edit] Retirement

Hetoum I entering the Franciscan Order after his abdication.
Hetoum I entering the Franciscan Order after his abdication.

During the last years of Hetoum's reign, the Kingdom battled against the Mamluks, who invaded in 1266 and took 40,000 Armenians captive, including Hetoum's son, Leo, at the Disaster of Mari. Hetoum was able to ransom his son, by conceding territory to the Egyptians. In May 1268 Antioch (virtually an Armenian dependency) was also overrun and dismantled by the Egyptians.

Hetoum abdicated in 1270 in favor of his son Leo II, and lived out the rest of his life in a monastery, as a Franciscan monk.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Hethoum I receiving the homage of the Tatars: during his voyage to Mongolia in 1254, Hethoum I was received with honours by the Mongol Khan who "ordered several of his noble subjects to honour and attend him"" in Le Royaume Armenien de Cilicie Claude Mutafian, p.58, quoting Hayton of Corycus.
  2. ^ Claude Mutafian in Le Royaume Arménien de Cilicie describes "the Mongol alliance" entered into by the king of Armenia and the Franks of Antioch ("the King of Armenia decided to engage into the Mongol alliance, an intelligence that the Latin barons lacked, except for Antioch"), and "the Franco-Mongol collaboration" (Mutafian, p.55).
  3. ^ Claude Lebedel in Les Croisades describes the alliance of the Franks of Antioch and Tripoli with the Mongols: (in 1260) "the Frank barons refused an alliance with the Mongols, except for the Armenians and the Prince of Antioch and Tripoli".
  4. ^ Amin Maalouf in The Crusades through Arab eyes is extensive and specific on the alliance (page numbers refer to the French edition): “The Armenians, in the person of their king Hetoum, sided with the Mongols, as well as Prince Bohemond, his son-in-law. The Franks of Acre however adopted a position of neutrality favourable to the muslims” (p.261), “Bohemond of Antioch and Hethoum of Armenia, principal allies of the Mongols” (p.265), “Hulagu (…) still had enough strength to prevent the punishment of his allies [Bohemond and Hethoum]” (p.267).
  5. ^ Bournotian, p. 101
  6. ^ Emil Bretschneider tr.,The Journey of Haithon, King of Little Armenia, To Mongolia and Back, Mediaeval Researches Vol 1, Trubner Oriental Series 1888 London, facimile reprint 2005 Elibron Classics ISBN 1-4021-9303-3
  7. ^ Grousset, p. 580. Translated from the Old French
  8. ^ Claude Cahen, Pre-Ottoman Turkey, pp. 275-276
  9. ^ Cambridge Medieval History, Volume IV, p. 634
  10. ^ Grousset, p. 581
  11. ^ Grousset, p. 586

[edit] References

  • Boase, T. S. R. (1978). The Cilician Kingdom of Armenia. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. ISBN 0-7073-0145-9. 
  • Bournoutian, George A. (2002). A Concise History of the Armenian People: From Ancient Times to the Present. Mazda Publishers. ISBN 1568591411.
  • Grousset, René (1935). Histoire des Croisades III, 1188-1291(in French). Editions Perrin. ISBN 2-262-02569-X
  • Dobraczinski, Jan (1979). Klíč moudrosti. Praha: Nakladatelství Vyšehrad. ISBN 33-540-79. 
  • Toumanoff, C. (1966). "Armenia and Georgia", Cambridge Medieval History, vol. IV. 

[edit] External links

Hethum I, King of Armenia
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Queen Zabel		 King of Armenia
1226–1270		 Succeeded by
Levon II