Thoros III or Toros III ( hy, Թորոս Երրորդ, same as Theodore; c. 1271 – 23 July 1298) was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1293 to 1298. He was the son of Leo II of Armenia and Kyranna de Lampron, and was part of the

Hethumid dynasty 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 134 ...

. In 1293 his brother

Hethum II Hethum II ( hy, Հեթում Բ; 1266– November 17, 1307), also known by several other romanizations, was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1289 to 1293, 1295 to 1296 and 1299 to 1303, while Armenia was a subject state of the M ...

abdicated in his favour; however, Thoros recalled Hethum to the throne in 1295. The two brought their sister Rita of Armenia to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

to marry

Michael IX Palaiologos , image = 154 - Michael IX Palaiologos (Mutinensis - color).png , caption = 15th-century portrait of Michael IX (from a 15th-century codex containing a copy of the ''Extracts of History'' by Joannes Zonaras) , succession ...

in 1296, but were imprisoned upon their return in Bardzrberd by their brother

Sempad Smbat, Sambat, Smpad or Sempad may refer to: * Smbat IV Bagratuni (died 616/7), Armenian noble in Byzantine and Sasanian service, marzpan of Hyrcania and Armenia * Smbat VI Bagratuni (died 726), presiding prince of Armenia * Smbat VII Bagratuni (di ...

, who had usurped the throne in their absence. Thoros was murdered, strangled to death on July 23, 1298, in Bardzrberd by Oshin, Marshal of Armenia, on Sempad's orders.

Family

Thoros was married twice; his first marriage, to

Margaret of Lusignan Margaret of Poitiers-Lusignan (1276–1296) was queen of Armenia as the first wife of King Thoros III. She was queen from 1293 until her death, three years later. She had two sons, Leo III, who ruled for four years as king, and Bohemond, whose fa ...

(ca 1276–1296, Armenia) (the daughter of King

Hugh III of Cyprus Hugh III (french: Hugues; – 24 March 1284), also called Hugh of Antioch-Lusignan and the Great, was the king of Cyprus from 1267 and king of Jerusalem from 1268. Born into the family of the princes of Antioch, he effectively ruled as regen ...

), took place on January 9, 1288. His only son, by his first marriage, was Leo III of Armenia, who became heir to his uncle Hethum II. Leo ruled from 1303 to 1307, but was murdered along with his uncle by a Mongol.

References

Sources

* * * *''Cambridge Medieval History'', Volume IV, p. 634 {{Armenian kings 13th-century births 1298 deaths 13th-century murdered monarchs Kings of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Deaths by strangulation Hethumid dynasty