List of monarchs of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was founded by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion. It started under the Rubenid (Rubenian) dynasty and was recognized as a kingdom in 1198 after close ties with the West, with Leo I acknowledged by the Holy Roman Empire.
The Rubenids ruled until 1252, when Isabella I died and her husband Hethum I became the ruler, starting the Hethumid dynasty. After Leo IV’s death in 1341, his cousin Constantine II became the first king of the Lusignan dynasty.
The kingdom fell to the Mamluks at the start of Leo V’s reign, and thereafter the throne was only held by claimants. In 1485 Charlotte of Cyprus ceded the title to the House of Savoy, and the claim of “King of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia” remained with the Savoyards for many centuries.
In 1880 a former Maronite priest, Kalfa Narbei, claimed Lusignan descent and styled himself Prince of Lusignan of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia, founding self-styled chivalric orders. He died in 1905, and his wife’s lover later claimed to be Grand Master under the title Comte d’Alby de Gratigny, a claim tied to a famous art scandal in 1910.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 19:02 (CET).