Armenian Cilicia, Richard G. Hovannisian & Simon Payaslian (softcover)

The emergence of an Armenian principality and then of an Armenian kingdom in Cilicia represented an extraordinary development, as the region lay beyond the bounds of the historic Armenian homeland, at the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea.

The waves of westward migration after the collapse of the Bagratuni kingdom in Greater Armenia culminated in the establishment of the kingdom of Cilician Armenia in the twelfth century.

Armenian Cilicia experienced a brilliant cultural era known as the Silver Age, with major advances in science and medicine, theology and philosophy, astronomy and musicology, art and architecture. Despite its successes, however, the Armenian kingdom, caught in the geopolitical contests among the major powers of the time, finally fell to the invading Mamluk armies in 1375. In the sixteenth century, Cilicia and most of the historical homeland to the east were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, where Armenian life continued for four centuries until the catastrophes and massacres of the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century eliminated the Armenian presence there.

Scholars from various disciplines offer the story of the Armenian presence in Cilicia across the centuries until the early decades of the twentieth century.