Diplomatic Correspondence of Armenian King Levon I with Egyptian Sultan al-Malik al-Adil (1208–1209)
Ter-Ghevondian, Vahan · 2024
Drawing on the Anonymous of Edessa and Kamal ad-Din Ibn al-Adim, the article reconstructs how in 1208–1209, at King Levon's request, al-Malik al-Adil wrote to Kay Khosrov and al-Malik al-Zahir pressing them to make peace with the Armenian side. The resulting settlement halted the joint Seljuk-Ayyubid offensive against Cilicia, at the price of Armenian concessions. Levon honoured only the commitment to the Sultanate of Iconium, and his ambition in Antioch was realized in 1216. Ter-Ghevondian argues the exchange was not an isolated episode but evidence of sustained monarch-level relations between Egypt and Cilician Armenia.
Read the publication ↗Citation
Ter-Ghevondian, Vahan 2024. Diplomatic Correspondence of Armenian King Levon I with Egyptian Sultan al-Malik al-Adil (1208–1209). Matenadaran: Medieval and Early Modern Armenian Studies (MEMAS), Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 81–92 (Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran / Brepols); eISSN 3041-5063.
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