Stephen IV of Cilicia 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 1290 and 1293.
Stephen was from the village of Khakh in the province of Ekeliaz, but educated at
Rumkale
Rumkale ( ''Roman Castle''), also known as Urumgala, is a fortress on the Euphrates, located in the province of Gaziantep and 50 km west of Şanlıurfa.
Its strategic location was already known to the Assyrians, although the present struct ...
. He was elected to replace the banished Catholicos
Constantine II the Woolmaker
Constantine II the Woolmaker was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1286 and 1289, and then again between 1307 and 1322.
Early life and education
He was from the village of Catuk, but as he was educated in Sis he was called S ...
and was the last to reside at Hromkla. During his reign the
Mamalukes marched through the Holy Land against the Christians there and made their way up to Hromkla. After a long stand it was finally sacked with hundreds of residents massacred. Stephen was carried away as their captive and all the churches there were burned. A year into his captivity in Egypt Stephen is said to have died of grief. Soon after Armenia made peace with the Egyptians and the captives were released. Stephen was succeeded by
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 ...
who moved the pontifical residence to
Sis as Hromkla had been destroyed.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen 04 Of Cilicia
Catholicoi of Cilicia
Armenian Oriental Orthodox Christians
13th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops