L' Armenie du Levant

English summary: The year AD 1045 marked the end of the last kingdom of Armenia in Armenia Magna, yet far from disappearing, Armenia paradoxically was about to experience the most glorious period of its history. Indeed, even as one part of its original territory was gradually being taken over by the Turks, a mosaic of autonomous principalities emerged, along with a process of statist rebirth in the north-eastern corner of the Mediterranean, in Cilicia, the northern part of what is...
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English summary: The year AD 1045 marked the end of the last kingdom of Armenia in Armenia Magna, yet far from disappearing, Armenia paradoxically was about to experience the most glorious period of its history. Indeed, even as one part of its original territory was gradually being taken over by the Turks, a mosaic of autonomous principalities emerged, along with a process of statist rebirth in the north-eastern corner of the Mediterranean, in Cilicia, the northern part of what is commonly called the Levant. The culmination was the creation in 1198 of the last kingdom of Armenia in history. The situation was unprecedented, for this federalist Armenia far from the millennial territory which itself was being shared between a whole host of lords.The bonds between these two components of the Armenian world were steadfast. Politically, they translated into an indispensable solidarity during this period marked by the emergence of two new players in the Near East: in the 12th century, the Franks during the Crusades, and in the 13th century, the Mongols, galvanized by Genghis Khan. Practicing a subtly "multi-directional" diplomacy, Cilicia''s Armenian kings managed to profit so well from this new situation that by the mid-13th century, their kingdom was the most powerful Christian State in the Orient. Together with the Latin States, from whom they adopted several administrative practices, they established equal relations in which matrimonial ties played an essential role, while with the Mongols, they capitalised on the experience of Armenia Magna''s princes. What followed was an extraordinary cultural blossoming, as the Kingdom adapted the Franks'' contributions in the areas of art, literature and linguistics to the Armenian model, while its contacts with Mongols introduced Far Eastern influences. A decadent era began at the end of the 13th century, with the decline of Mongol power, the Latin penetration of the autocephalous Armenian Church, and the rise in power of the Egyptian Mamluks, who conquered the Kingdom in 1375.The goal of this richly documented book is to present readers with the diverse political, diplomatic, genealogical, religious and cultural aspects of this fascinating period in which the Armenians found themselves at the centre of the Eurasian galaxy. French description: L''annee 1045 marqua la fin du dernier royaume d''Armenie en Grande Armenie, mais loin de disparaitre l''Armenie se preparait paradoxalement a vivre la periode la plus brillante de son histoire. Des principautes autonomes virent le jour sur la partie du territoire historique liberee du joug turc, pendant qu''un processus de renaissance etatique se developpait en Cilicie, face a l''ile de Chypre, aboutissant en 1198 a la fondation d''un "royaume d''Armenie hors d''Armenie". Il y avait donc alors deux Armenie, liees face a l''irruption au Proche-Orient des Francs via les croisades au XIIe siecle puis des Mongols au XIIIe. Avec les Etats latins, dont ils adopterent plusieurs aspects administratifs, les Armeniens etablirent des relations d''egal a egal ou les liens matrimoniaux tenaient une place essentielle, tandis que face aux Mongols ils profiterent de l''experience des princes de Grande Armenie. par une subtile diplomatie tous azimuts tenant compte des elements grecs, turcs et arabes, les rois d''Armenie en Cilicie se retrouverent au milieu du XIIIe siecle a la tete du plus puissant Etat chretien en Orient, plaque tournante du commerce entre l''Europe et l''Orient. La floraison culturelle etait spectaculaire, le royaume adaptant au moule armenien les apports francs tout en perpetuant ses traditions artistiques, pendant que la Grande Armenie se couvrait de superbes oeuvres d''architecture. Du XIIIe au debut du XIVe siecle, les Armeniens etaient donc au centre de la galaxie eurasiatique. La decadence s''amorca avec le declin du pouvoir mongol, la penetration latine dans l''Eglise armenienne et la montee en puissance des Mamelouks egyptiens, qui mirent fin en 1375 a cette "Armenie du Levant" dont le dernier roi, d''ascendance poitevine, mourut en exil a Paris. Au-dela des Armeniens et armenisants, cet ouvrage s''adresse a tous ceux qui s''interessent aux croisades, aux Mongols, a l''Islam medieval ou aux chretiens d''Orient. Les publications recentes de sources inedites imposaient de revisiter tous les aspects de cette periode fascinante et complexe. Les 84 tableaux genealogiques et les 74 cartes facilitent la lecture, et les 228 illustrations en couleurs refletent le caractere cosmopolite de ce monde armenien medieval.