Cilicians II

1198-1375 CE

From 1198 to 1375 CE, the Cilicians kept Armenia's flame burning far from their ancestral highlands — exiles who had fled the Seljuk conquest now crowned kings in the shadow of the Taurus, their fortresses guarding the Crusader flank, their merchants trading with Venice and Genoa. They adopted Frankish customs and Latin allies, yet when the Crusader states fell one by one, Cilician Armenia stood alone against the Mamluks until the last king died in exile.