Editing Hethum II (section)

==First reign==
{{see also|Armeno-Mongol relations}}
[[File:Lectionary of Hethum II, 1286, Portrait of Hethum II, Folio 7r.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Hethum II from ''Lectionary of Hethum II'', 1286]]
Since 1247, [[Cilician Armenia]] itself had been a vassal state of the Mongol Empire, from an agreement made by Hethum II's grandfather, [[Hethum I, King of Armenia|Hethum I]]. As part of this relationship, Cilician Armenia routinely supplied troops to the Mongols, cooperating in battles against the Mamluks and other elements of the Islamic empire.

Hethum II took the throne in his early 20s, when his father Leon II died in 1289. At the time, [[Cilician Armenia]] was in a precarious position between major powers, balancing between friendly relations with the Christian European [[Crusaders]] and [[Byzantine Empire]], aggression from the Turkish [[Karamanids]] to the west and the Turkish [[Sultanate of Rum]] to the north, a vassal relationship with the aggressive [[Mongol Empire]] in the east, and defending itself from attacks from the south, from the Muslim [[Mamluk Sultanate]] out of Egypt. The Crusades had lost European support and were winding down, and Islamic forces were sweeping northwards from [[Mamluk Egypt]], re-taking land which had earlier been lost to the Crusaders and Mongols,<ref name=kurkjian-204>Kurkjian, pp. 204–205</ref> and pushing back against the Mongol advance.

In 1289, [[Angelo da Clareno]] and a few other [[Spiritual Franciscans]] arrived to [[Christian mission|missionize]] among the [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Christians]]. They had been repeatedly jailed in Italy for their strong condemnations of luxury in the church but they won favor at the Armenian court. [[St Thomas of Tolentino]] was sent by Hethum to Rome, Paris, and London to advocate another crusade to support the Armenians; he failed in this, but returned with additional clerics to support the mission and advocate the reunification of the [[Armenian Church]] with [[Roman Catholic Church|Rome]].

In 1292, [[Cilician Armenia]] was invaded by [[Al-Ashraf Khalil|Khalil]], the [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] sultan of [[Egypt]]. His father the Mamluk sultan [[Qalawun]] had earlier broken the treaty of 1285, was marching North through Palestine with his troops, and also demanded the surrender of the Armenian cities of [[Marash]] and [[Behesni]]. Qalawun died before the campaign was completed, but Khalil continued his father's advance northwards, and had conquered the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]] in 1291 at the [[Siege of Acre (1291)|Siege of Acre]].  Khalil's forces continued on from there, sacking the Armenian city of [[Qal'at ar-Rum|Hromgla]], which was defended by Hethum's uncle, Raymond, but fell after a siege of 33 days. To stave off further invasion, Hethum II abandoned the cities of Marash, Behesni, and [[Tel Hamdoun]] to the Mamluks.

In 1293, Hethum abdicated in favor of his brother [[Thoros III, King of Armenia|Thoros III]] and entered the Franciscan monastery at Mamistra. He did stay active in the politics of the kingdom though, and negotiated with the Egyptian leader [[Ketbougha]] for the return of the prisoners who had been taken at Hromgla, as well as for some church relics which had been pillaged.<ref name=kurkjian-204/>