Cilicia, Armenia AE16 pogh 1308-1320 AD 

• 1310 
• KM#  
• Armenia 

  + 1

  Cilicia
• AE 16 

6661849

Coins

Cilicia, Armenia AE16 pogh 1308-1320 AD

Armenia, Cilicia

1310

3

16

(king on throne, facing)

(cross)

KM#

The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, or New Armenia) was an independent principality formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia. Located outside of the Armenian Highland and distinct from the Armenian Kingdom of antiquity, it was centered in the Cilicia region northwest of the Gulf of Alexandretta. Cilicia was a strong ally of the European Crusaders, and saw itself as a bastion of Christendom in the East. It also served as a focus for Armenian nationalism and culture, since Armenia proper was under foreign occupation at the time. As the Mongols conquered vast regions of Central Asia and the Middle East, Cilician rulers sought to create an Armeno-Mongol alliance against common Muslim foes, most notably the Mamluks. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Crusader states disintegrated and the Mongols became Islamized, leaving the Armenian Kingdom without any regional allies. After relentless attacks by the Mamluks in Egypt in the fourteenth century, the Cilician Armenia kingdom finally fell in 1375.