HETOUM II - King of Armenia 1289-1293,1295-1296,1301-1305 A.D.

Hethum II (also transliterated Hethoum, Hetoum, Het'um, or Hayton from Armenian: Հեթում Բ) (1266 - November 17, 1307) was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1289 to 1293, 1295 to 1296 and 1299 to 1303, while Armenia was a subject state of the Mongol Empire. He frequently abdicated in order to take vows in the Franciscan order, while still remaining the power behind the throne as "Grand Baron of Armenia". He was the son of Leo II of Armenia and Kyranna de Lampron, and was part of the Hethumid dynasty, being the grandson of Hethum I, who had originally submitted Cilicia to the Mongols in the 1240s. He was assassinated with his nephew and successor Leo III by the Mongol general Bilarghu, who himself was later executed for this by the Mongol Ilkhan ruler Öljaitü.^[1]

 Reign

In 1292 Armenia was invaded by Khalil, the Mamluk sultan of Egypt, who had conquered the Kingdom of Jerusalem the year before, and Hromgla was sacked. Hethum was forced to abandon Behesni, Marash and Tel Hamdoun to the Turks. In 1293, he abdicated in favour of his brother Thoros III and entered the Armenian monastery of Mamistra.

However, Thoros III asked Hethum to resume the throne in 1295 to help renew the Mongol alliance. This effort was successful, and in 1296, Hethum and Thoros further allied with the powerful Byzantine Empire: they went to Constantinople to bestow their sister Rita upon the Byzantine Emperor Michael IX Palaeologus. During their absence, their brother Sempad usurped the throne with the aid of Constantine, and captured them in Caesarea as they returned. Hethum and Thoros were imprisoned in the fortress of Partzerpert, where Hethum was partially blinded by cauterization. In 1298, Thoros was murdered in Partzerpert; but Constantine turned against Sempad and freed Hethum.

Hethum resumed the crown in 1299 after recovering from his blindness, and soon engaged Armenian troops alongside the Mongols in their attempts at conquering Syria.

 Offensive into Syria

In the summer of 1299, King Hethum II had sent a message to the Mongol khan of Persia, Ghâzân to obtain his support in dealing with the Egyptian Mamluks.^[2] In response, Ghazan's forces marched towards Syria and defeated the Mamluks in the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar, on December 23 or 24, 1299.^[2] One group of Mongols then split off from Ghazan's army, and pursued the retreating Mamluk troops as far as Gaza,^[3] pushing them back to Egypt.

According to tradition, King Hethum may have visited Jerusalem in 1300 after helping with the Mongol offensive.^[2] However, historians disagree as to whether or not the visit actually occurred. Angus Donal Stewart points out that the source of the tradition, a medieval account by the Armenian historian Nerses Balients, does not match with any other accounts by any other historians of the time period, and was simply written as Armenian propaganda of the time.^[4][5] However, Claude Mutafian, in Le Royaume Arménien de Cilicie, suggests that it may have been on this occasion that Hethum remitted his amber scepter to the Armenian convent of Saint James of Jerusalem.^[6]

"The king of Armenia, back from his raid against the Sultan, went to Jerusalem. He found that all the enemies had been put to flight or exterminated by the Tatars, who had arrived before him. As he entered into Jerusalem, he gathered the Christians, who had been hiding in caverns out of fright. During the 15 days he spent in Jerusalem, he held Christian ceremonies and solemn festivities in the Holy Sepulchre. He was greatly comforted by his visits to the places of the pilgrims. He was still in Jerusalem when he received a certificate from the Khan, bestowing him Jerusalem and the surrounding country. He then returned to join Ghazan in Damas, and spend the winter with him"

—Nerses Balients, in Recueil des Historiens des Croisades, Historiens Armeniens I, p.660^[7]

Speculation aside, the Mongols retreated a few months later, and the Mamluks reclaimed the area with little resistance.

 Defeat of Shaqhab

In 1303, the Mongols appeared in great strength (about 80,000) together with the Armenians, but they were defeated at Homs on March 30, 1303, and at the decisive Battle of Shaqhab, south of Damas, on April 21, 1303.^[8] It is considered to be the last major Mongol invasion of Syria.^[9] Hethum resigned his crown to his nephew Leo III and retired to a monastery, although he retained the office of Regent of Armenia.

In 1304, the Mamluks continued their assault on Cilician Armenia, and succeeded in taking back all the lands which the Armenians had acquired during the Mongol invasion.

In 1307, Hethum II and Leo III were assassinated by the Mongol general of Cilicia,^[6] Bilarghu,^[10] following an internal plot against Hethum's efforts to unite the Armenian Church with Rome. Bilarghu was later executed by the Mongol Ilkhan ruler, Öljaitü.^[1]]