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 nephew Leo III and brother Hethum at the hands of the Mongol general Bilarghu. He was supported by the Mongol Ilkhan Oljeitu, who had ordered the execution of Bilarghu for the assassination.

Oshin favored a union of the Armenian and Roman churches, which aroused no little popular discontent. In 1309, he had his wife's uncle Oshin, Marshal of Armenia, executed for the murder of his brother Thoros III.

His sister Isabella of Armenia had married Amalric of Tyre, and when Amalric usurped the government of Cyprus from his brother Henry II of Cyprus, Henry was held in Armenia by Oshin. He was, however, released and returned to Cyprus on the assassination of Amalric in 1310.

Oshin was married three times:

• First to his cousin, Isabel of Korikos, by whom he had one son, Leo IV (born 1309). She died in 1310.

• Second to Isabelle of Lusignan, daughter of the King Hugh III of Cyprus and widow of Constantine of Neghir, Lord of Partzerpert. Oshin divorced her before 1316. Isabelle died in 1319.

• Third to Jeanne of Anjou on February, 1316 in Tarsus. She bore him one son, George (1317 – after 1323).

On his death on July 20, 1320, Oshin was succeeded by his minor son Leo IV (sometimes referred to as Leo V). It was popularly believed that Oshin was poisoned by his cousin (and brother-in-law) Oshin of Corycos.

References

• Boase, T. S. R. (1978). The Cilician Kingdom of Armenia. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. ISBN 0-7073-0145-9. 
• Stewart, Angus Donal (2001). The Armenian Kingdom and the Mamluks: War and diplomacy during the reigns of Het'um II (1289–1307). BRILL. ISBN 90-04-12292-3. 
• Stewart, Angus (2005), "The Assassination of King Het'um II: The Conversion of The Ilkhans and the Armenians", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 15: 45–61, doi:10.1017/S1356186304004687