Constantine of Baberon (; died ) was a powerful Armenian noble of the Het‛umid family. He was the son of Vassag and the father of
King Het‛um I, who ruled the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian ...
from 1226 to 1270. Constantine played a pivotal role in placing his son on the throne by engineering the murder of
Philip
Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...
, the husband of
Isabella, Queen of Armenia. He tricked Philip's father,
Bohemond IV of Antioch
Bohemond IV of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the One-Eyed (; 11751233), was Count of Tripoli from 1187 to 1233, and Prince of Antioch from 1201 to 1216 and from 1219 to 1233. He was the younger son of Bohemond III of Antioch. The dying Raymond ...
, to search for his son at
Amouda rather than at
Sis, where he was being tortured and poisoned. He then took his army to the gates of
Silifke Castle, forced its Frankish lords to surrender Isabella, and arranged the marriage, making his son the first Het‛umid ruler of the Armenian Kingdom.
Constantine began construction on the elaborate baronial apartments at Baberon (
Çandır Castle), which were still standing in 1979.
Nearby, at a site known today as Kız Kilisesi near Gösne, he built a monastic retreat with an ornate chapel whose dedicatory inscription is dated to 1241.
The Castle of Tamrut, about 75 km northeast of Baberon, also had an Armenian dedicatory inscription (now destroyed) over its main gate which mentioned having been built in memory of “the father of the King… Baron Constantine.” It also gave the medieval Armenian name of the castle as Tambrout, a name otherwise unattested in the surviving histories, and the year of construction as 1253.
Constantine, also known as the Grand Baron Constantine, was married to Stephanie of Barbaron, with whom he had
Stephanie of Lampron
Stephanie of Lampron (c. 1220/1225 – soon after April 1, 1249, buried at Selimiye Mosque (Nicosia), Santa Sophia, Nicosia), was a queen consort of Cyprus, wife of Henry I of Cyprus, Henry I de Lusignan, king of Cyprus.Runciman, Steven (1989). A ...
, married in 1237 to King
Henry I of Cyprus
Henry I of Cyprus, nicknamed the Fat (; 3 May 1217 – 18 January 1253 at Nicosia) was Kingdom of Cyprus, King of Cyprus from 1218 to 1253. He was the son of Hugh I of Cyprus and Alice of Champagne. When his father Hugh I died on January 10, 1218 ...
.
In 1205, he married Alix Pahlavouni
[In the ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' she is referred to as "Dame Alise", and Constantine is "Constantine Payl"] (a third-cousin of
Leo II), with whom he fathered:
*
Sempad the Constable
Sempad the Constable (also Smpad and Smbat; or , ; 1208–1276) was a noble from Cilician Armenia. He was an older brother of King Hetoum I. He was an important figure in Cilicia, acting as a diplomat, judge, and military officer, holding the ti ...
1208–1276
*
Hethum I of Armenia 1213–1270
* Ochine of Korykos, father of the historian
Hayton of Corycus
Hayton of Corycus, O.Praem (also ''Hethum, Het'um'', and variants; ; ) was a medieval Armenian nobleman and historiographer. He was also a member of Norbertines and likely a Catholic priest.
Hayton is the author of ("Flower of the Histories of t ...
* John (Basil), the Bishop of Sis
* Lewon (Leon)
* Maria, who married
John of Ibelin, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, the famous jurist
* Hripsimeh (Daisy)
In his third marriage, Constantin married Biatr around 1220, who gave birth to:
* Yovhanes, Bishop of Mavleon, then Archbishop of Sis
* Vacahk, lord of Gantschi
* Licos
* a daughter married to
Simon Mansel, Constable of Antioch
* Kostandin, Lord of Neghir and Perzerpert (Partzerpert), ancestor of Kings
Constantine III and
Constantine VI
Constantine VI (, 14 January 771 – before 805), sometimes called the Blind, was Byzantine emperor from 780 to 797. The only child of Emperor Leo IV, Constantine was named co-emperor with him at the age of five in 776 and succeeded him as sol ...
.
Notes
References
*"Le Royaume Armenien de Cilicie",
Claude Mutafian, Editions CNRS, Paris, , p. 80
*
{{Authority control
1263 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Kings of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia