Oshin of Lampron ( hy, Օշին Լամբրոնացի - ''Oshin Lambronatsi'') was an Armenian

nakharar ''Nakharar'' ( hy, նախարար ''naxarar'', from Parthian ''naxvadār'' "holder of the primacy""նախարար" in H. Ačaṙean (1926–35), ''Hayerēn Armatakan Baṙaran'' (Yerevan: Yerevan State University), 2nd ed., 1971–79) was a here ...

. Historical sources mentioned that he was a lord of a fortress near the city of

Ganja Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: �aːɲd͡ ...

Caucasian Albanian origin (modern-day Azerbaijan), who migrated in the early 1070s to

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern co ...

and founded the

House of Lampron The Hethumids ( hy, Հեթումյաններ Hethumian) (also spelled Hetoumids or Het'umids), also known as the House of Lampron (after Lampron castle), were an Armenian dynasty and the rulers of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia from 1226 to 13 ...

that ruled the

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Middle Armenian: , '), also known as Cilician Armenia ( hy, Կիլիկեան Հայաստան, '), Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia ( hy, ...

in the 12th and 13th centuries. According to

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

, Oshin was a member of the

Pahlavuni Pahlavuni ( hy, Պահլավունի; classical orthography: Պահլաւունի) was an Armenian noble family, a branch of the Kamsarakan, that rose to prominence in the late 10th century during the last years of the Bagratuni monarchy. Orig ...

clan. Disappointed with the inability of the Byzantines to protect him against the advance of the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

, Oshin fled west from his fortress near Ganja to Cilicia in 1072. The 12th century chronicler

Samuel of Ani Samuel Anetsi also Samuel of Ani was an Armenian historian and priest of the 12th century. Samuel is known for his writing of history and chronicles a book where he is the first author to use the Armenian Chronology. Samuel was also a disciple of H ...

wrote about Oshin's departure from his ancestral lands: "...with his brother Halgam, with his wife and other nobles. Carrying his wealth and the finger of the holy apostle Peter, he entered Cilicia and captured from the Muslims the fortress of Lampron, at the foot of the Taurus Mountains toward Tarsus." His kinsman, Abu'lgharib Artsruni, governed Taurus and

Mopsuestia Mopsuestia and Mopsuhestia ( grc, Μοψουεστία and Μόψου ἑστία, Mopsou(h)estia and Μόψου ''Mopsou'' and Μόψου πόλις and Μόψος; Byzantine Greek: ''Mamista'', ''Manistra'', ''Mampsista''; Arabic: ''al-Maṣṣ ...

in the name of the Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. He ceded to Oshin two forts in western Cilicia, Lampron and

Barbaron The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m. The Cilician Gates h ...

at Tarsus near the

Cilician Gates The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m. The Cilician Gates ha ...

.The later Crusades, 633 While Samuel of Ani implies that Oshin seized Lampron from Muslims, other Armenian writers closer to the Hethumids suggest that Oshin was merely a faithful chieftain of Abulgharib who later ceded the castle of Lampron to him.

Matthew of Edessa Matthew of Edessa (, Matevos Uṛhayetsi; late 11th century – 1144) was an Armenian historian in the 12th century from the city of Edessa (, ''Uṛha''). Matthew was the superior abbot of Karmir Vank' (Red Convent), near the town of Kaysun ...

and Sempad the Constable mention Oshin only in passing. The Emperor had no objection to seeing the Armenians becoming a buffer between him and the invading Seljuks; and confirmed Oshin, together with two other Armenian leaders who had established themselves in the Taurus, Ruben and

Kogh Vasil Kogh Vasil, or Vasil the Robber (; died on 12 October 1112), was the Armenian ruler of Raban and Kaisun at the time of the First Crusade. In the early 12th century, he was the most influential Armenian ruler who adhered to the Armenian Apostolic C ...

, in their positions by bestowing on them the imperial title of ''

sebastos ( grc-gre, σεβαστός, sebastós, venerable one, Augustus, ; plural , ) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of . The female form of the title was (). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th-ce ...

''. Oshin has been identified by historians such as

Steven Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume '' A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negativ ...

with general Michael Aspietes, whose exploits were told by

Anna Comnena Anna Komnene ( gr, Ἄννα Κομνηνή, Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the ''Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, ...

in her

Alexiad The ''Alexiad'' ( el, Ἀλεξιάς, Alexias) is a medieval historical and biographical text written around the year 1148, by the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. It was written in a form of artificial ...

as well as with Ursinus Edouard Dulaurier was the first to identify Ursinus with Oshin. Macevitt, 57 mentioned by

Ralph of Caen Ralph of Caen (also known as Radulphus Cadomensis) (c. 1080 – c. 1120) was a Norman chaplain and author of the '' Gesta Tancredi in expeditione Hierosolymitana'' (The Deeds of Tancred in the Crusade). Biography Ralph was born before 1080 to an ...

(in Gesta Tancredi) and Albert of Aix. Historian Joseph Laurent argued that Ursinus, Aspietes and Oshin were all different people in his article ''Arméniens de Cilicie: Aspiétès, Oschin, Ursinus'' from the journal

Revue des Études Arméniennes ''Revue des Études Arméniennes'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles relating to Classical and medieval Armenian history, art history, philology, linguistics, and literature.Macevitt, 195 In September 1097 when Baldwin of Boulogne took Tarsus from

Tancred Tancred or Tankred is a masculine given name of Germanic origin that comes from ''thank-'' (thought) and ''-rath'' (counsel), meaning "well-thought advice". It was used in the High Middle Ages mainly by the Normans (see French Tancrède) and espe ...

who had recently captured the city, Oshin/Ursinus sent ambassadors to Tancred advising him to attack Mamistra. Oshin was thus in a position to support either Baldwin or Tancred. Once the Crusaders moved on to

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

, Oshin provided them with provisions, eager to have them leave Cilicia.

Issue

He married a daughter of Abu'lgharib Artsruni, governor of Tarsus, and had issue: * Héthoum II († 1143), lord of Lampron ** Oshin II (1125 † 1170), lord of Lampron ** Smbat († 1153), lord of Baberon *** Vasak († after 1199), lord of Baberon **** Constantine (1180 † 1263), lord of Baberon.

Notes

References

* * * *{{cite book, last=Komnene (Comnena), first=Anna, author2=Edgar Robert Ashton Sewter, author-link=Anna Komnene, title=The Alexiad of Anna Comnena translated by Edgar Robert Ashton Sewter, publisher=Penguin Classics, year=2004, isbn=0-14-044958-2, chapter=Book 12 : Domestic conflicts, Norman preparations for the 2nd invasion (1105-1107), pag
560
url-access=registration, url=https://archive.org/details/alexiad00comn/page/560 Hethumid dynasty Christians of the First Crusade Sebastoi