Leo II of Armenia
Leo became "Lord of the Mountains" (ruler of Cilician Armenia) in 1187, his brother Ruben III of Armenia resigning the crown to him shortly before his death. He was initially the 'Regent and Tutor' for his nieces, Alice and Philippa, but later he set them aside and had himself crowned on January 6, 1199.
He married Isabelle of Austria in 1189; she bore him one daughter, Stephanie, who later married John of Brienne. With the onset of the Third Crusade, he opened negotiations with Frederick Barbarossa to receive the title of King of Armenia, but Frederick's drowning at the Saleph River in Cilicia forestalled the plan. This represented a significant shift in Armenian policy, which had traditionally looked towards the Byzantine empire for authority. Leo is also said to have attended the wedding of Richard the Lionhearted in Cyprus as a groomsman in 1191.
In 1194, Leo seized the castle of Bagras, on the northern border of the Principality of Antioch, which had been captured by Saladin in 1189. Bohemund III of Antioch and the Knights Templar, its original owners, demanded its return. Leo lured Bohemund to Bagras under pretense of a parley, captured him, and imprisoned him in Sis. Under duress, Bohemund was compelled to cede the Principality to Leo. Bohemund was subsequently released through the mediation of Henry II of Champagne, but was forced to abandon all claims to the suzerainity of Armenia. In addition, the two entered into a marital alliance in 1195. Bohemond's son Raymond married Alice of Armenia, the daughter of Ruben III.
Leo continued to appeal to the new Emperor, Henry VI, and to Pope Celestine III for a royal title. These efforts were successful, and on January 6, 1199, he was crowned King of Armenia by the papal legate, Konrad I Cardinal von Wittelsbach, Archbishop of Mainz in the Church of Holy Wisdom at Tarsus. He was nominally an Imperial vassal, but soon abandoned any acknowledgement of fealty.
Strife had by now broken out in Antioch; Raymond of Antioch had died in 1197, leaving a posthumous son, Raymond Rupen, heir to the Principality through primogeniture. However, Raymond's younger brother Bohemund, already Count of Tripoli, vigorously disputed the succession, and ejected his own father from the city in 1199. However, Leo intervened against him and restored Bohemund III to the Principality; but on his death in 1201, the younger Bohemund was recognized as Prince of Antioch as Bohemund IV. Leo attempted to capture Antioch in 1203 and place Raymond-Roupen on the throne, but he was defeated by the Knights Templar, who favored Bohemund.
In 1206, the Catholicos John of Sis accused Queen Isabelle of adultery. Leo divorced her and imprisoned her at Vaghka, where she died in 1207. In 1210, he married Sybilla of Lusignan, daughter of King Amalric II of Jerusalem, who bore him a daughter, Isabella or Zabel. In Leo's later years he suffered from deformed hands and feet, probably a symptom of gout.
Leo continued to support the claims of Raymond-Roupen, who had married Helvis, another daughter of Amalric II, in 1210, and had him crowned "King Junior" of Armenia on August 15, 1211. However, Bohemund's allies, including the Knights Templar, and the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo Az-Zahir always forestalled attempts to eject Bohemund from the citadel of Antioch, although Leo several times entered the city. In 1216, with the aid of the Knights Hospitaller, Leo was finally able to capture Antioch and install Raymond-Roupen as prince. Having established Raymond-Roupen with Antioch, Leo decided that his daughter Isabella, rather than Raymond-Roupen, should succeed him in Armenia. On his death on May 2, 1219 Isabella became queen, but Raymond-Roupen was ejected from Antioch and came to contest the crown.
Leo was a powerful ruler, remembered by chroniclers as "Leo the Magnificent". His court at Sis was cultured and he was a supporter of calligraphy and the arts. He allied himself with the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights, but drove the Knights Templar from his kingdom. He fostered commerce with Venice and Genoa, opening his ports at Ayas and Corycos to the world. The Assizes of Antioch were adopted as the law of the kingdom, and translated into Armenian.
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Bibliography
- T.S.R. Boase, editor. The Cilician Kingdom of Armenia. Scottish Academic Press, 1978.
- Chahin, Mark. The Kingdom of Armenia: New Edition, 2001
- Rudt-Collenberg, W.H. The Rupenides, Hethumides and Lusignans, 1963
External Link
- Greeks, Crusaders and Moslems — Rise of Leon II (Kurkjian's History of Armenia, Chs. 28‑29)
