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From the very beginning, Hetoum II was forced to withstand the attacks of Egypt, who penetrated Armenia and surrounded the residence of the Armenian Catholicos, Hromkla. This attack took place in year 1292 and when Hromkla, after 33 days of siege, surrendered, the population was massacred and the Catholicos taken prisoner. Hetoum II managed finally to drive out the Egyptian army out of Armenia. The Egyptian sultan, forced to recall his forces when the crusaders surrounded the harbour city of Eskanderun, freed the Catholicos and signed a peace-treaty with Hetoum II.

Some years later, the crown prince of Damascus, Susamich, attacked Armenia but Hetoum II defeated his army and forced him to retreat. 86

Then this king of New Armenia, in alliance with the Mongols, and Ghaem Khan, conquered Syria. The goal of this attack was to advance all the way to Palestine and liberate Jerusalem. The Mongol Khan was however forced to hurry home, to Persia, in order to subdue a revolt. The Armenian forces, left alone, achieved some successes in battle, but were finally forced to return home since the Muslims forces were many times stronger, and the Armenians had suffered heavy losses early on.

The Last Regents of the Hetoum Dynasty (1300-1342)

At the end of the reign of Hetoum III, the balance of power tripped against Armenian interests when the Mongols were gradually converted to Islam. Thus it was that Oldjito, the successor of Ghazan Khan, attacked Armenia in 1303 with his Mongol forces. The plain of Cilicia was devastated and the king and his army took shelter among the Taurus Mountains, fortifying their position there. When the Mongols had left the country, the Seljuk Turks occupied Konya and the lands of Egypt in order to continue the plundering and take their pick of waht the Mongols had left behind. But Hetoum II attacked the Turkish army on their way home loaded with looted goods, exacting a heavy death toll of 7,000. 87 At this point, the Egyptian sultan and the Seljuk Turks were forced to sign a peace-treaty with Armenia.

In lieu of the lost Mongolian alliance, Hetoum tried to find an ally in the west. Hetoum II and his councillors chose the unwise route of establishing an alliance between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Vatican, at a time when the sway of the pope was declining as new states were rising in Europe. Nevertheless, the king persuaded the Armenian Catholicos, Grigor VII, known as Anavarzatsi, to support him in this task; although he himself handed over the realization of this plan to his nephew, Levon IV, who ruled between 1305 and 1307.

But the Armenian people, who were adamant on the independence of the Armenian Church, revolted and, in an ill-advised and desperate action, called on the aid of the Mongols. The Mongols occupied the country and murdered Levon IV and Hetoum II.

The successor of Levon IV, Oshin (1308-1320), expelled the Mongols from Armenia. This wise regent devoted his powers to restructuring the country and its government. He reinforced the fortresses and reorganized the army. He also commissioned beautiful buildings, among others the fantastic church in Tarsus which has been rebuilt as a mosque.