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It was at the siege of Antiochia that the crusaders discovered what valuable allies the Armenians were. As a token of appreciation for the great assistance and the kind reception that the Armenians had shown them, the crusaders announced Prince Constantine a marquis.

New Armenia, through its existence alone, played a vital role in the task of the crusaders and fitted in well with their policy for the creation of an ally in this part of the Orient. Armenia was now forced to participate in the war of the crusaders against the enemies of Christianity and played an important role in defeating the two most important opponents, namely the principalities of Konya and Aleppo, apart from Byzantine itself which due to its religious differences with the other Christians always showed a hostile position towards the crusaders.

The inherent weakness of the crusaders was the fact that they were far removed from their actual centre of power, in the western world ad therefore had major difficulties in acquiring reinforcements and provisions for their forces. It was important for them to find assistance from the local governments where they obtained provisions and assistance on their way and even reinforcements in the form of volunteer units who joined their forces. The Armenians were a warrior and courageous people and therefore were militarily significant for the crusaders in the Orient, people they could rely on completely. 16

Concurrently, as soon as the crusaders had arrived into the region and secured their positions, they established small Latin countries, which assisted the New Armenia tremendously and broke their isolation and solitude.

The successful battles of New Armenia against Byzantine and the Muslims (1100-1187)



After the death of Prince Constantine I, he was succeeded by his two sons, Toros I (Theodore) and Levon I, who sat on the throne of New Armenia which had become an Armenian duchy. Toros I, who ruled the duchy between 1100 and 1129, was often forced to fight simultaneously on two fronts, against Byzantine and the Turks.

The crusaders had in fact promised that every city which they liberated in Asia Minor would be returned to Byzantine. For the crusaders, the promise held for the plains of Anatolia alone; but the representatives of the Byzantine government and its army constantly followed after the crusaders in order to occupy the areas which were liberated. Thus they followed the crusaders all the way to the plains of Cilicia and fortified their positions there. 17

Byzantine went further and in the beginning of the 12th century made a claim on the Armenian principalities of Edessa and Antiochia. It was against the Byzantine dynasty of Comnenos that the Armenians were forced to fight, first in defence of their conquests and expansion in Cilicia and later for the defence of the crusader states.

We should point out that Byzantine had allies among the Armenian princes in the region - a group of Armenians that had settled down in the region before the arrival of Prince Rouben. They had recognized the supremacy of Byzantine and subjected themselves to its power and protection and had counteracted the attempts of the Rouben-Bagratouni family who tried to establish a new Armenian rule and an independent country.