Hethum II (Armenian: Հեթում Բ, 1266 – November 17, 1307), son of Leo II and grandson of Hethum I, ruled the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in four fractured reigns: 1289–1293, 1295–1296, 1299–1303, as vassal to the Mongol Ilkhanate amid Mamluk annihilation. Ascending at 23 after father Leo II’s death, this pious prince—twice abdicating for Franciscan vows—reclaimed lost lands via Ghazan Khan’s 1299 Wadi al-Khazandar triumph (Damascus seizure), only for Ilkhanid Islamization (1295) and Mamluk sieges to doom Sis. Blinded in battle, tonsured as friar yet wielding regent power behind nephew Levon III, Hethum embodies Cilicia’s tragic denouement: monkish spirituality clashing Mamluk steel till 1375 finale.
Precarious Ascension in Mongol Shadow
Born 1266 to Leo II and Keran of Lampron amid Baybars I’s 1268 Antioch sack, Hethum inherited shrunken realm: Sis-Tarsus-Silifke triangle paying Mamluk tribute post-1275 Gagavon defeat. Father Leo II’s Ilkhanid vassalage (Abaqa Khan troops at Homs 1281) bought respite; 1289 death (aged 53) thrust 23-year-old Hethum onto throne. Cilicia balanced: west Karamanid Turks, north Rum Seljuks, east Mongol overlords, south Baybars II’s Egypt—Franciscan piety amid cataphract necessities.
First Reign (1289–1293): Defensive Vassalage
Hethum reaffirmed grandfather’s 1247 Karakorum pact: cataphracts joined Ilkhanid campaigns vs. Mamluks; Ayas port duties funded defenses. 1291 Acre fall (last Crusader mainland) isolated Cilicia; Hethum sought Edward I’s aid (unheeded). 1292 Mamluk invasion—Baghras near—routed via Anazarba ambushes. Exhausted, abdicated 1293 for Franciscan habit, brother Thoros III ascending amid regency.
Interregnum Blindness and Second Reign (1295–1296)
Thoros III murdered 1296 (Mamluk agents?); Hethum, blinded in 1293 skirmish (eyes gouged per chronicles), emerged from monastery to claim throne briefly. Partial sight restored, ruled 10 months till nephew Levon III (16) crowned—Hethum regent as “Grand Baron.” Ghazan Khan’s 1295 Islam strained alliance; Cilicia paid dual tribute.
Third Reign (1299–1303): Wadi al-Khazandar Zenith
In 1299, Hethum II—partially recovered from blindness—deposed Constantine III and reclaimed Cilicia’s throne, swiftly aligning with Ghazan Khan’s Mongols for a Syrian offensive against the Mamluks. Their joint forces won decisively at Wadi al-Khazandar (or Homs) that December, seizing Damascus and restoring all Armenian lands lost earlier. A Mongol splinter group chased Mamluk survivors through Palestine to Gaza, forcing retreat into Egypt. Tradition claims Hethum visited Jerusalem circa 1300, finding foes routed by advance Tatars; he held 15 days of rites at the Holy Sepulchre and gained Mongol title to the city before rejoining Ghazan. Nerses Balients’ account serves as Cilician propaganda, though Claude Mutafian posits he gifted his amber scepter to St. James Cathedral then. Mongols pulled back soon after, letting Mamluks retake Palestine unopposed. Hethum’s 1303 push with 80,000 Ilkhanid allies faltered at Homs (March 30) and catastrophically at Marj al-Saffar near Damascus (April 21)—Syria’s final Mongol foray. He fled to Ghazan’s Mosul court, abdicated anew to nephew Leo III (Thoros III’s minor heir), and assumed regency as Cilicia teetered.[
Later years
In 1304, the Mamluks pressed their attacks on Cilician Armenia, reclaiming all territories the Armenians had gained during the Mongol offensives as punishment for their alliance with the invaders. Cilicia’s ties to the Mongol Empire persisted, driven by defense against the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm to the west and opportunistic eastern expansion, though fleeting. After Ghazan’s 1295 conversion to Islam, his successor Öljaitü loosened oversight of distant vassals and scaled back Syrian campaigns against the Mamluks. Öljaitü’s general Bilarghu, a fervent Muslim, plotted to build a mosque in Sis—still the Christian Armenian capital—likely to seize provincial control. Alarmed, Hethum II wrote to Öljaitü voicing concerns, but Bilarghu summoned him, nephew King Leo III (his regent ward), and 40 nobles to a supposed banquet or council on November 17, 1307, outside Anazarbus. Having intercepted the letter, Bilarghu ordered the massacre; the Armenians were slaughtered mid-meal. Hethum’s brother Oshin seized Sis, dispatched sibling Alinakh to expose the treachery to Öljaitü—who promptly executed Bilarghu and his troops—and secured confirmation as king, as the youthful Leo III left no heirs.