Isabella, Queen of Armenia

Isabella
Զապել
Isabella ; Զապել
	Queen Isabella with Hethum I on a coin
Queen of Armenian Cilicia
Reign	1219 – 1252
Coronation	14 May 1226
Predecessor	Leo I
Successor	Hethum I
Regent	Adam of Baghras; Constantine of Barbaron
Co-ruler	Philip (1222 – 1225); Hethum I (1226 – 1252)
Born	27 January 1216/ 25 January 1217; (unknown)
Died	23 January 1252; Ked
Burial	Monastery of Trazarg
Spouse	; Philip of Antioch (m. 1222; died 1225) ; Hethum I (m. 1226)
Issue; among others...	Euphemia, Countess of Sidon; Sybilla, Princess of Antioch; Rita, Lady of Servantikar; Leo II, King of Armenia;
House	Roupenians
Father	Leo I, King of Armenia
Mother	Sybilla of Cyprus
Religion	Armenian Apostolic

Isabella (Armenian: Զապել; 27 January 1216/ 25 January 1217 – 23 January 1252), also Isabel or Zabel, was queen regnant of Armenian Cilicia from 1219 until her death in 1252.

She was proclaimed queen under the regency of Adam of Baghras.^[1]^[2] After he was assassinated, Constantine of Baberon (of the Hethumid family) was nominated as guardian.^[2] At this juncture, Raymond-Roupen, grandson of Roupen III (the elder brother of Isabella’s father, King Leo I), attempted to claim the throne of Cilicia for himself, but he was defeated, captured, and executed.^[2]

Constantine of Baberon was soon convinced to seek an alliance with Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch,^[3] and he arranged a marriage between the young princess and Philip,^[2] a son of Bohemond IV.^[3] Philip, however, offended the Armenians’ sensibilities, and even despoiled the royal palace, sending the royal crown to Antioch; therefore, he was confined in a prison in Sis (now Kozan in Turkey), where he died, presumably poisoned.^[2]

The unhappy young Isabella was forced to marry Constantine of Barbaron’s son, Hethum. Although for many years she refused to live with him, in the end she relented.^[1] The apparent unification in marriage of the two principal dynastic forces of Cilicia (the Roupenids and the Hethumids) ended a century of dynastic and territorial rivalry and brought the Hethumids to the forefront of political dominance in Cilician Armenia.^[3]

The lawful heiress of the empire, Isabella, governed the country together with her husband, and led a pious, religious life. She was blessed for her good deeds and exemplary life by many children, the numerous offsprings of a famous race.
— Vahram of Edessa: The Rhymed Chronicle of Armenia Minor^[4]

^ ^a ^b Runciman, Steven (1954). The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. A History of the Crusades. Vol. III. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521061636.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Vahan M. Kurkjian (2005-04-05). "A History of Armenia". Website. Bill Thayer. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ghazarian, Jacob G. The Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia during the Crusades: The Integration of Cilician Armenians with the Latins (1080–1393).
^ Vahram (2008-09-10). "Chronicle". Text Archive. Internet Archive. Retrieved 2009-07-26.

[Runciman-1] Runciman, Steven (1954). The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. A History of the Crusades. Vol. III. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521061636.

[Kurkjian-2] Vahan M. Kurkjian (2005-04-05). "A History of Armenia". Website. Bill Thayer. Retrieved 2009-07-25.

[Ghazarian-3] Ghazarian, Jacob G. The Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia during the Crusades: The Integration of Cilician Armenians with the Latins (1080–1393).

[Vahram-4] Vahram (2008-09-10). "Chronicle". Text Archive. Internet Archive. Retrieved 2009-07-26.

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