Thoros II
Template:Short description Template:Infobox royalty
Thoros II (Template:Langx; died 6 February 1169),[1][2] also known as Thoros the Great,[3] was the sixth lord of Armenian Cilicia[3] from the Rubenid dynasty from 1144/1145[3][4] until 1169.[3][4]
Thoros (together with his father, Leo I and his brother, Roupen) was kidnapped in 1137 by the Byzantine Emperor John II Comnenus during his campaign against Cilicia and the Principality of Antioch.[3] All of Cilicia remained under Byzantine rule for eight years.[5]
Whatever the conditions in which Thoros entered Cilicia, he found it occupied by many Greek garrisons.[6]
Early life
Thoros was the second son of Leo I, lord of Armenian Cilicia.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
In 1136, Leo I (Thoros's father) was arrested by Baldwin of Marash.[1] After two months of confinement, Leo I obtained his liberty by consenting to harsh terms.[7]
Leo I took refuge in the Taurus Mountains, but at last found the situation hopeless, and surrendered himself to the conqueror;[5] Thoros was kidnapped with his father and his youngest brother, Roupen.[3] They were dragged away to Constantinople, where Leo I died in imprisonment in 1141. Roupen, after being blinded, was assassinated by the Greeks.[5]
Lord of Armenian Cilicia
The liberation of Armenian Cilicia
The first Byzantine attack against Cilicia
Wars with the Seljuks and Antioch
Other view is that after the battle Raynald was forced to return home, covered with humiliation; and later on, Thoros voluntarily surrendered to the brethren the fortresses in question, and the Knights in turn took oath "to assist the Armenians on all occasions where they needed help."[8]
The Armenians attacked the few remaining Byzantine fortresses in Cilicia.[3]
The sack of Cyprus
Last years
After his abdication, he became a monk.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
He died in 1169.[3] He was buried in the monastery of Drazark.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Marriages and children
- c. 1149Script error: No such module "Unsubst". An unnamed daughter of Simon of Raban[3][1] (or, according to other views, Isabelle, daughter of Count Joscelin II of Edessa[9])
- Rita (c. 1150 – after 1168/1169), the wife of Hethum III of LampronScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
- Irene, the wife of Isaac Komnenus of CyprusScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
- c. 1164Script error: No such module "Unsubst". An unnamed daughter of the future regent Thomas
- Roupen II of Cilicia (c. 1165 – Hromgla, 1170)Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
In popular culture
Real-time strategy video game Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition contains a five-scenario campaign centered around Thoros II and his rule of Cilician Armenia.[10]
Footnotes
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:PD-notice
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Kurkjian 1958, p. 506
- ↑ a b c Kurkjian 1958, p. 221
- ↑ Kurkjian 1958, p. 224
- ↑ Kurkjian 1958, p. 220
- ↑ Kurkjian 1958, p. 225
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Sources
- Edwards, Robert W.: The Fortifications of Armenian Cilicia, Dumbarton Oaks Studies XXIII, Dumbarton Oaks: Trustees for Harvard University, 1987, Washington, D.C.; Template:ISBN
- Ghazarian, Jacob G.: The Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia during the Crusades: The Integration of Cilician Armenians with the Latins (1080–1393); RoutledgeCurzon (Taylor & Francis Group), 2000, Abingdon; Template:ISBN
- Template:Runciman-A History of the Crusades
External links
- Smbat Sparapet's Chronicle
- The Barony of Cilician Armenia (Kurkjian's History of Armenia, Ch. 27)