Jacob II was the
Catholicos
Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient ...
of the
Armenian Apostolic Church
, native_name_lang = hy
, icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg
, icon_width = 100px
, icon_alt =
, image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, a ...
between 1327 and 1341, and then again between 1355 and 1359.
He was the nephew of a previous Catholicos,
Gregory VII of Cilicia
Gregory VII was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1293 and 1307.
Gregory succeeded Stephen IV who died in captivity in Egypt. The location of the Holy See at Rumkale had recently been destroyed by the Mamalukes invasion and ...
. During a
Mamaluke invasion he and King
Leo IV of Armenia
Leo IV or Leon IV ( hy, Լեւոն Դ, ''Levon IV'') (also numbered Leo V; ) (1309 – August 28, 1341) was the last Hethumid king of Cilicia, ruling from 1320 until his death. He was the son of Oshin of Armenia and Isabel of Korikos, and came to ...
got into a severe disagreement over how to deal with the situation. The dispute grew so large that Jacob threatened Leo with the vengeance of the church. Leo was so enraged by this that he had Jacob deposed from the pontificate. Mukhitar Ter Mukhik from the village of Curnah was elected pontiff in his place.
In 1347 the new King
Constantine II, King of Armenia
Constantine II ( hy, Կոստանդին Բ), (also Constantine IV; Western Armenian transliteration: ''Gosdantin'' or ''Kostantine''; died 17 April 1344), born Guy de Lusignan, was elected the first Latin King of Armenian Cilicia of the Poitie ...
began a conversation with the
pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
in
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
about religious affairs and sent former Catholicos Jacob on a mission to see Pope. Upon his return home Catholicos Mekhitar died, at which point Jacob was nominated to become Catholicos again. He died four years into his second reign.
Catholicoi of Cilicia
Armenian Apostolic Christians
1359 deaths
Year of birth unknown
14th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops
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