Thoros I.

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Thoros I ( Armenian Թորոս Ա , Middle Greek Τερόζης Αʹ ; † 1129 or 1130) was the third prince of Lesser Armenia . He ruled in Cilicia from 1099/1103 .

Life

Thoros was the eldest son of Prince Constantine I and a grandson of Rubens , the founder of the Rubenid dynasty . When his father died, he succeeded him as "Lord of the Mountains". After Usama , Thoros held the title of Lords of Adana , Antartus and Massisa . The high Byzantine title Kuropalates was supposedly bestowed on him by Emperor Alexios I himself.

Initially ruled Thoros of the castles Vahka and Pardzerpert of his principality, where he with the backing of the leaders of the Crusader states , the feudal continued to expand. On the initiative of Tankred of Tiberias , Thoros captured the fortress of Anazarbos held by a Byzantine garrison in 1107 . Shortly afterwards Sis fell into his hands, which he made the new capital of Lesser Armenia. In 1108 Thoros fended off the threat to his territory from nomadic Turks who had invaded the region around Melitene . An attack by the Seljuq sultan Malik Shah I was repulsed in 1111 by Thoros' brother Leo with considerable losses.

In 1112 Thoros personally carried out a cruel retaliatory action against the Byzantine lords of Kyzistra Castle (near Darende , not to be confused with Kybistra ), who had murdered the last Bagratid king Gagik II in Cappadocian exile in 1079 (or 1080) . In 1114 he delivered the Armenian lord of Raban , Vasil Dagh , who had revolted against the Franks, to Baldwin of Edessa . In 1118 he sent the Prince of Antioch , Roger of Salerno , a contingent of auxiliary troops under the command of his brother Leo for the siege of Azaz .

As an avowed Armenian Christian , Thoros promoted the monastic culture in his principality; in particular he had the Drazark monastery richly furnished. Thoros was also buried in Drazark after his death, which is dated to 1129 or 1130. He was succeeded as Prince of Lesser Armenia by his son Constantine , who fell victim to palace intrigue after just a few months. A second son named Oschin , who probably died early, is only known from two inscriptions in Anazarbos.

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literature

  • Jacob G. Ghazarian: The Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia during the Crusades. The Integration of Cilician Armenians with the Latins (1080-1393). Routledge / Curzon, Abingdon 2000, ISBN 0-7007-1418-9 .
  • William Henry Count Rüdt-Collenberg : The Rupenides, Hetumides, and Lusignans. On the structure of the Armeno-Cilician dynasties. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon 1963, p. 49.
  • Steven Runciman : History of the Crusades Volume 1: The First Crusade and the Establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem ; Volume 2: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East 1100-1187. Beck, Munich 1968 (reprint), ISBN 3-40-639960-6 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ There are different sources of information about the date of death of Thoros' father Constantine. Matthias von Edessa mentions February 25, 1099 (or February 24, 1100), while King Hethum II's chronicle speaks of February 24, 1102 (or February 23, 1103).
  2. ↑ Cf. Runciman, Kreuzzüge Bd. 1, p. 196. Granting the Kuropalates title by the emperor appears questionable, however, because this would de facto have involved recognition of the independence of Cilicia from the Byzantine Empire.
  3. ↑ Detailed description in Smbat Sparapet, 62; Matthias von Edessa already attributes this punitive expedition to Thoros' grandfather Ruben.
  4. ↑ See Runciman, Kreuzzüge , Vol. 2, p. 130.
predecessor Office successor
Constantine I. Prince of Lesser Armenia
1099 / 1103–1129 / 1130 		Constantine II
personal data
SURNAME Thoros I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Թորոս Ա (Armenian); Τερόζης Α '(Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION third prince of Lesser Armenia
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century
DATE OF DEATH 1129 or 1130