 |
| Isabella Զապել | |
|---|---|
 Queen Isabella with Hethum I on a coin | |
| Queen of Armenian Cilicia | |
| Reign | 1219 – 1252 |
| Coronation | 14 May 1226 |
| Predecessor | Leo I |
| Successor | Hethum I |
| Regent | Adam of Baghras Constantine of Barbaron |
| Co-ruler | Philip (1222 – 1225) Hethum I (1226 – 1252) |
| Born | 27 January 1216/ 25 January 1217 (unknown) |
| Died | 23 January 1252 Ked |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue among others... |
|
| House | Roupenians |
| Father | Leo I, King of Armenia |
| Mother | Sybilla of Cyprus |
| Religion | Armenian Apostolic |
Isabella (Armenian: Զապել; 27 January 1216/ 25 January 1217 – 23 January 1252), also Isabel or Zabel, was queen regnant of Armenian Cilicia from 1219 until her death in 1252.
She was proclaimed queen under the regency of Adam of Baghras.[1][2] After he was assassinated, Constantine of Baberon (of the Hethumid family) was nominated as guardian.[2] At this juncture, Raymond-Roupen, grandson of Roupen III (the elder brother of Isabella’s father, King Leo I), attempted to claim the throne of Cilicia for himself, but he was defeated, captured, and executed.[2]
Constantine of Baberon was soon convinced to seek an alliance with Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch,[3] and he arranged a marriage between the young princess and Philip,[2] a son of Bohemond IV.[3] Philip, however, offended the Armenians’ sensibilities, and even despoiled the royal palace, sending the royal crown to Antioch; therefore, he was confined in a prison in Sis (now Kozan in Turkey), where he died, presumably poisoned.[2]
The unhappy young Isabella was forced to marry Constantine of Barbaron’s son, Hethum. Although for many years she refused to live with him, in the end she relented.[1] The apparent unification in marriage of the two principal dynastic forces of Cilicia (the Roupenids and the Hethumids) ended a century of dynastic and territorial rivalry and brought the Hethumids to the forefront of political dominance in Cilician Armenia.[3]
The lawful heiress of the empire, Isabella, governed the country together with her husband, and led a pious, religious life. She was blessed for her good deeds and exemplary life by many children, the numerous offsprings of a famous race.
— Vahram of Edessa: The Rhymed Chronicle of Armenia Minor[4]
- ^ a b Runciman, Steven (1954). The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. A History of the Crusades. Vol. III. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521061636.
- ^ a b c d e Vahan M. Kurkjian (2005-04-05). "A History of Armenia". Website. Bill Thayer. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
- ^ a b c Ghazarian, Jacob G. The Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia during the Crusades: The Integration of Cilician Armenians with the Latins (1080–1393).
- ^ Vahram (2008-09-10). "Chronicle". Text Archive. Internet Archive. Retrieved 2009-07-26.