Thread by @Arby_K

An ancient people, uprooted from their homeland,
A young nation, trying to trace its ancient roots and,
A young queen to unite them.

Story in the evening ...

Zabel was born in 1216 to King Lewon of Cilicia and Sibylle of Cyprus. Lewon had been ruling Armenians living in Anatolia from 1187. He was crowned King in 1199, in return for supporting the Third Crusade that had been set out to recapture Jerusalem. 1/10

Armenia was an ancient nation that reached its greatest extent during the rule of Tigran in 1st century BC, ruling an empire stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. After falling briefly under Roman hegemony, it was conquered by Arabs. 2/10

They emerged as a buffer state between the Byzantine and Arabian Empires in ninth century AD. But this lasted only till 1045, after internal strife and breakaway states led to the nation getting swallowed by its neighbours. 3/10

After the defeat of the Byzantines at Manzikert in 1071, they receded in Asia. This led to (largely) Christian Armenian diaspora taking refuge in different parts of Byzantium. Part of this diaspora became the Crusader state of Edessa. 4/10

An Armenian lord, Rupen, settled in Cilicia in Anatolia setting up an independent Principality. His descendants expanded the region with his great great grandson, Lewon II, becoming King in 1199. Lewon's death in 1219 brought three contenders to the throne. 5/10

Zabel was the younger daughter of Lewon. Her only sibling was an elder sister, Rita, married to the King of Jerusalem, Jean de Brienne. As Jean de Brienne prepared to invade Cilicia to defend his wife's claim, both Rita and her son died, and the claim was abandoned. 6/10

Raymond Rupen, Lewon's grand nephew, had been crowned junior King of Cilicia in 1211. Lewon had also backed him in Antioch. But in 1219 after he was removed in Antioch by his uncle, Lewon disinherited him. An invasion in 1221 was brought down by Kostandin of Barbaron. 7/10

With no other contenders, Zabel succeeded her father. She married Raymond Rupen's cousin, Philippe, but when Philippe refused to accept Armenian customs, he was dethroned by his own troops. Kostandin of Barbaron was appointed as Regent. 8/10

Kostandin made Zabel marry his son, Hethum. The barely teenage couple did not get along well, but eventually they made up and ruled jointly. When the Mongols came knocking in 1247, Hethum send his brother Smbat to Karakorum; to meet the Mongol Khagan and form an alliance. 9/10

Zabel died in 1252, with Cilicia in an alliance with the Mongols and Antioch. Hethum also went to Karakorum the same year. The three would combine their armies to conquer Aleppo & Damascus in 1260, the start of a long alliance by Armenians and Mongols in the Levant. 10/10