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 ...

was a state formed in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

by Armenian refugees, who were fleeing the

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

invasion of Armenia. Poghosyan, S.; Katvalyan, M.; Grigoryan, G. et al. ''Cilician Armenia'' (Կիլիկյան Հայաստան).

Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia (also rendered ''Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia''; , ''Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran''; ASE) is the first general encyclopedia in the Armenian language. It was published in 1974-1987 by the main editorial office of th ...

. vol. v. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1979, pp. 406–428 It was initially founded by the Rubenian dynasty, an offshoot of the larger Bagratid family that at various times held the thrones of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. While the Rubenian rulers were initially regional princes, their close ties with the Western world after the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

saw the principality recognised as a kingdom under Leo I by the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

in 1198. The Rubenid dynasty fell in 1252 after the death of the last Rubenid monarch Isabella, and her husband Hethum I became sole ruler, beginning the Hethumid dynasty. After the death of Leo IV in 1341 his cousin was elected to succeed him as Constantine II, the first king of the

Lusignan dynasty The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries dur ...

. The kingdom fell at the beginning of Leo V's reign to the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

s, and henceforth title holders were only claimants to the throne.

Charlotte of Cyprus Charlotte (28 June 1444 – 16 July 1487) was the Queen of Cyprus from 1458 until 1464. She was the eldest and only surviving daughter of King John II of Cyprus and Helena Palaiologina. At the age of 14, she succeeded to the Cypriot throne ...

ceded the throne to the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

in 1485, and the title fell out of use until after 1861.

Lords/princes

Kings and queens

Claimants

Potential claimants today

The claim to the title passed to the

, who were granted it by Charlotte in 1485. The Savoyard dynasts maintained their claim to the title "King of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia" as late as the 20th century. In 1880, a former Maronite priest Kalfa Narbei declared that he was a descendant of Guy de Lusignan and styled himself as the Prince of Lusignan of Cyprus, of Jerusalem and of Armenia. He took the name Guy de Lusignan and title of Prince. He started offering self-styled chivalric orders. After the death of Guy/Kalfa Narbei in 1905, his wife Marie's lover became the alleged Grand Master and called himself Comte d'Alby de Gratigny. He became involved in a fake art scandal in 1910.

Notes

References

* * * ''Histoire des Princes de Lusignan, Anciens Rois de Jérusalem, de la Petite Arménie et de Chypre'', St. Petersbourg: Soikine, 1903. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cilicia, Monarchs Of The Armenian Kingdom Armenia, Cilicia * Lists of Armenian people Middle Ages-related lists Lists of medieval people