T H E L U S I G N A N D Y N A S T Y
Guy (1342-1344)
Constantine III (1344-1369)
Levon the Usurper (1363-1365)
Constantine IV (1369-1373)
Levon VI (1373-1375)
James I (1396-1398) King of Cyprus and Armenia, claimant
Janus I (1398-1432) King of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia, claimant
John II (1432-1458) King of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia, claimant
Charlotte, Queen of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia, claimant
Title passed to Catherine Cornaro (1474-1489) of the House of Savoy.
POUR LEALTE MAINTENIR: MOTTO OF THE HOUSE OF LUSIGNAN
AND THE ORDER OF THE SWORD.
THE SYMBOL OF THE CHIVALRIC ORDER OF THE SWORD FOUNDED BY
PETER I LUSIGNAN [1358-1369] KING OF CYPRUS, JERUSALEM
AND ARMENIA. PETER INSTITUTED THE ORDER OF THE SWORD
IN 1347 IN ORDER TO RECOVER TEMPLE MOUNT AND THE
ANCESTRAL KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM.
RIBBON [NOTE THE TIPS] SNAKES AROUND THE SWORD WITH THE MOTTO OF
THE HOUSE OF LUSIGNAN - POUR LEALTE MAINTENIR -
MAINTAIN LOYALTY.... LEVON VI [LEO V] LUSIGNAN WAS
KNIGHTED INTO THE ORDER IN 1360 AND BECAME TITULAR
SENESCHAL OF JERUSALEM ON OCTOBER 17, 1372.
M E T S M A Y R
In 1347, King Constantine II led the Armenian Knights and the allied Knights
Hospitallers in the liberation of Cilician Armenia from the Mamluks of Egypt
[who ironically were overwhelmingly made up of and often led by Armenians who
were captured from Armenia and were raised as Muslim warriors].
ONE OF THE COINS OF AMAURY D'LUSIGNAN OF TYRE --
KING OF CYPRUS AND JERUSALEM -- BEARING THE
ROYAL CREST OF THE HOUSE OF LUSIGNAN.
THE HOUSE OF LUSIGNAN STEMS FROM THE OLD FRENCH MEROVINGIAN
BLOODLINE AND IS RELATED TO MANY OF THE ROYAL HOUSES OF EUROPE.
THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN [RHODES], GRAND MASTER DIEUDONN�
DE GOZO [1346-53].
DUCAT OR ZECCHINO STRUCK CA. 1350-1353. GRAND MASTER, KNEELING TO LEFT;
HOLDING STAFF BEARING THE FLAG OF THE ORDER GIVEN TO HIM BY ST. JOHN
THE BAPTIST, NIMBATE, STANDING TO RIGHT. REVERSE: ANGEL, NIMBATE AND
WITH SPREAD WINGS, SEATED FACING ON THE OPEN TOMB OF CHRIST, HOLDING
LIS-TIPPED SCEPTER IN HIS RIGHT HAND.
COMBINED COAT OF ARMS OF THE KINGDOM OF ARMENIA-CYPRUS-
JERUSALEM UNDER THE HOUSE OF LUSIGNAN. RELIEF OF THE COAT-OF-ARMS
AT THE COMMANDERY OF THE ORDER OF SAINT JOHN [THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS] AT
KOLOSSI A FEW MILES WEST OF LIMASSOL [LEMESSOS], WHERE THE ORDER HAD ITS
HEADQUARTERS FROM 1302 TO 1310, WHEN IT MOVED TO RHODES.
THE ARMS OF THE KINGS OF CYPRUS IN THE CENTER ARE SURROUNDED BY
THE ARMS OF THE GRANDMASTERS JEAN DE LASTIC [1437-1454] AND JACQUES
DE MILLY [1454-1461].
DETAILS OF FRESCOES IN THE ROYAL CHAPEL, PYRGA FROM 1421
SHOWING THE LUSIGNAN COAT OF ARMS OF THE KINGDOM OF
ARMENIA, CYPRUS AND JERUSALEM.
In 1373, Levon VI (1373-75) succeeded Constantine IV (1365-75) and was destined to be the last king of Cilician Armenia. In 1374, under general Malik al-Sharif Sha�ban, the Mamluks launched a massive attack on exhausted Cilician Armenia. On April 13, 1375 -- after nine months of courageous last ditch defense in the fortress of Kapan by the Armenian knigths, the Mamluks broke through and the Capital Sis fell. King Levon and Queen Marguerite along with the royal family and many members of the aristocracy were taken prisoner to Cairo -- the Mamluk capital. After more than seven years in Egyptian captivity, on October 7, 1382, King Levon and members of the royal family were finally freed after a substantial ransom paid by the Spanish kings of Aragon and Castile.
ARMENIAN KNIGHT WITH THE ROYAL INSIGNIA OF THE CILICIAN LION.
DECREE ISSUED ON JANUARY 7, 1314 BY KING OSHIN -- BEARING HIS
SIGNATURE
IN RED
AT THE BOTTOM -- GRANTING PRIVILEGES
TO THE MERCHANTS OF MONTPELLIER. THE DECREE FOLLOWED
THE ONE ISSUED IN 1288, BY WHICH THE KING HAD GRANTED SPECIAL
RIGHTS AND TAX EXEMPTIONS TO THE GENOESE AND SICILIANS.
HISTORIC DOCUMENT [A. 17. NO. 337] FROM MONTPELLIER MUNICIPAL
ARCHIVES THAT HAVE BEEN METICULOUSLY AND THOROUGHLY
RESEARCHED BY THE PAR EXCELLENCE CILICIAN ARMENIA
HISTORIAN CLAUDE MUTAFIAN.
ONE OF THE TAGAVORAKANS [LIT. ROYALS] OF LEVON IV.
Levon journeyed from Cairo through Spain to France, to the court of Charles VI �where he was welcomed as a friend.� King Levon of Armenia, being a cousin of both Charles VI of France and King Richard II of England ['nostre cousyn le roy d�Armenye'], began the mediation of peace between two warring states engulfed in a series of bitter wars that in historiography later became known as the Hundred Years War. However, �the fire of mutual hatred was too intense to be extinguished so quickly.�
AN IMPREGNABLE CASTLE OF AN ARMENIAN LORD BUILT ON A HIGH CLIFF
WITH AN EXTENSIVE VIEW SPAN. THE ARMENIAN MASTER BUILDERS WERE
GENIUS ARCHITECTS. MANY OF THE CASTLE BUILDING TECHNIQUES WERE COPIED
AND SUCCESSFULLY APPLIED THROUGHOUT EUROPE AFTER THE CRUSADES.
HEROISM OF THE RED KNIGHTS OF SAINT GEORGE.
DECREE ISSUED IN 1322 BY BY KING LEVON V, SON AND
SUCCESSOR OF KING
OSHIN -- BEARING HIS
SIGNATURE IN RED
AT THE BOTTOM -- GRANTING
PRIVILEGES TO THE MERCHANTS OF MONTPELLIER. THE DECREE REAFFIRMED
THE ONE ISSUED 8 YEARS EARLIER TO MONTPELLIER COMMUNE
BY KING OSHIN. FROM MONTPELLIER MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES.
LETTER BY THE FRENCH KING DON DE PHILIPPE DE VALOIS FROM JUNE 2,
1332 TO
KING LEVON V -- 'NOTRE TR�S CHER COUSIN LE
ROI D'ARM�NIE' -- BELOVED COUSIN
KING OF ARMENIA -- STATING HIS FULL SUPPORT -- INCLUDING
ALLOCATION OF 10,000 FLORINS -- FOR DEFENSE OF THE KINGDOM OF ARMENIA
AGAINST FOREIGN INVADERS.
THE HOUSE OF SAVOY BECAME THE RIGHTFUL HEIR TO THE TITLE
OF KINGS AND
QUEENS OF ARMENIA AND CYPRUS WHICH THEY HOLD TO THIS VERY DAY AFTER
THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF CYPRUS TO THE TURKS IN THE XVITH CENTURY.
THE PALACE OF TOURNELLES WHERE THE LAST ARMENIAN
KING SPEND A NUMBER OF YEARS.
Levon was immensely disappointed after his entreaty to King Richard II and the English Parliament at Westminster to end �fighting the French instead leading a new Christian crusade to recover Cilician Armenia� did not come to pass. King Levon, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Cilician Armenia, �disappointed in his labors and expectations� passed away in Paris, on November 29, 1393. His remains were interred in the sacred C�lestins Monastery [where today the Caserne de C�lestins stands on Henri IV avenue in Paris] and during the upheaval of the French Revolution were moved to the safety of the sacred basilica of St. Denis, the resting place of many of the European royals, on the outskirts of the French capital. The actual remains of the King Levon IV as with so many French royals are interred in the Parisian catacombs that are underneath the City of Lights.
KNIGHTS OF THE RED CROSS. BROTHERS IN ARMS. SHOULDER TO SHOULDER
THEY FOUGHT TO THE DEATH -- DUTY. LOYALTY. HONOR. COURAGE.
SEAL OF COUNT HUGH X LUSIGNAN.
RUINS OF BIREDJIK CASTLE ON THE HIGH CLIFFS ABOVE THE EUPHRATES
RIVER.
M � L U S I N
E O F L U S I G N A N [T S O V I N A R - A Y
A...].
MELUSINE [MELUSINDE] WAS THE DAUGHTER OF KING BALDWIN II
AND ARMENIAN QUEEN MORPHIA OF JERUSALEM.
THE STRIKINGLY BEAUTIFUL CROWNED WINGED QUEEN
FISH [VISH-AP] - DRAGON-SERPENT [TWIN TAILS] PRIMORDIAL
ARMAN AQUARIAN GREAT MOTHER.
THE HOLY BLOODLINE OF THE LUSIGNAN
KINGS OF ARMENIA-FRANCE-CYPRUS-JERUSALEM
THE DIVINE SCIONS OF I M P E R I V M E V R O P A...
THE SAME YEAR LEVON [LEO] VI...THE LAST LUSIGNAN KING OF
ARMENIA-
CYPRUS-JERUSALEM PASSED AWAY [1393], JEAN D'ARRAS
WROTE ROMAN DE M�LUSINE ON BEHEST OF
JEAN DUC DE BERRY,
THE GREAT PATRON OF THE TRES RICHES HEURES' CHRONICLING
THE FOUNDING CITY-STATE UTOPIA BY THE GREAT MELUSINE,
[L U S I N LIT. MOON AND ME WAS THE
ESSENTIAL
LIFE FORCE OF THE UNIVERSE IN SUMER-SHINAR COSMOGONY
CONNECTED WITH THE GODDESS INANNA-NANĒ
NAGANI WAS THE PRIMORDIAL SNAKE GODDESS AS WAS THE
CRETAN-MINOAN BARE-BREASTED GODDESS HOLDING TWO SNAKES
PARALLEL SYMBOLISM IN AZTLAN[TEAN]/PERUAN COSMOGONY]
THE ENIGMATIC SHAPE SHIFTING MOTHER GODDESS
WHO GAVE BIRTH TO THE ARMANI LUSIGNAN ROYALS
WHO WOULD RETURN TO BECOME KINGS OF ARMENIA, JERUSALEM, CYPRUS
AND EVENTUALLY REEMERGE THROUGH THEIR KNIGHTLY HIGH ORDER AND
DIVINE CONSCIOUSNESS TO UNITE ALL OF EUROPA
FAIR [FAIRY] LADY EUROPA RIDING THE QUINOTAUR [SEA]BULL
MIRRORING THE CELESTIAL HEAVEN [TAURUS AND EUROPA...].
SOLAR FIERY MAN IS BORN FROM THE PRIMORDIAL SPIRAL OF
THE VISHAP-DRAGON [TIAMAT GIVING BIRTH TO ENKI].
RED CROSS ON A WHITE FIELD.
M A
R A
The renowned XIXth century Mekhitarist Father Łewond Alishan, in his monumental work on Cilician Armenia -- Sisuan, quoting a contemporary Jerusalem chronicler of the Middle Ages, states that �an army of one hundred thousand Muslims moved on [the capital] Sis, (p. 392).� Although this figure is probably somewhat exaggerated, it nevertheless is indicative of the Mamluk forces in the offensive against Cilicia.
RENOWNED ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT [CA. 1410] OF THE
ALL-IMPORTANT C H A T E A U L U S I G N A N.
THE SUN GOD [PRECESSION] RIDES THE FOUR WHEEL
CHARIOT WITH FOUR STEEDS THROUGH THE HOUSES OF THE
ZODIAC [FROM PISCES TO CAPRICORN SLOWLY MOVING TOWARDS...
AQUARIUS]. NOTE THE VISHAP [DRAGON] IN THE SKY. SYMBOL OF
MATRIARCH M�LUSINE GUARDIAN OF LUSIGNAN
BLOODLINE.
TERRESTRIAL SYMBOLISM [FOUR SEASONS/TAURUS/WHEELED
PLOWING/FERTILIZATION/HARVEST]
IS A MIRROR OF CELESTIAL PRECESSION.
ESCUTCHEON OF THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED PORT OF TARSUS.
RUINS OF THE CILICIAN CASTLE OF KORYKOS [ISLAND] ADJOINING
ITS
MAINLAND WING ON THE SHORELINE. AS A HISTORIC LANDMARK KORYKOS HAS
BECOME A POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTION INCLUDING THRONGS OF
BEACH GOING SUN-WORSHIPPERS.
THE RUINS OF THE CILICIAN CASTLE OF KORYKOS [MAINLAND] ON
THE
BEAUTIFUL MEDITERRANEAN COASTLINE ADJOINING ITS OFF SHORE ISLAND WING.
KORYKOS, LIKE AYAS AND ANAMOUR WAS STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT
PORT-CASTLE THAT SECURED THE FLOW OF GOODS IN AND OUT OF
THE KINGDOM OF CILICIAN ARMENIA.
THE ENCHANTING RUINS OF ANAMOUR CASTLE TODAY ON THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA.
YET ANOTHER ONE OF MANY WORLD RENOWNED PORTS OF CILICIAN ARMENIA.
JACQUES I LUSIGNAN KING OF CYPRUS, AFTER THE PASSING OF
LEVON VI
LUSIGNAN IN PARIS IN 1393, AS THE SCION OF THE GREAT ROYAL HOUSE
BECAME THE TITLE HOLDER OF THE KING OF ARMENIA ALONG WITH THAT OF
JERUSALEM AND CYPRESS. THE ABOVE MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT ISSUED BY
JACQUES I LUSIGNAN ON AUGUST 16, 1395 ALREADY CONNOTES THE KING
AS THE RIGHTFUL SUCCESSOR AND TITLE HOLDER AS KING OF ARMENIA.
DECREE ISSUED ON MARCH 7, 1485 BY QUEEN CHARLOTTE LUSIGNAN WITH THE
ROYAL LUSIGNAN COAT-OF-ARMS AS KINGS AND QUEENS OF ARMENIA, JERUSALEM
AND CYPRESS. THE SUBSEQUENT TITLE OF THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF ARMENIA
WAS PASSED TO THE HOUSE OF SAVOY THAT INTERMARRIED WITH THE
LUSIGNAN ROYALS.
QUEEN CHARLOTTE LUSIGNAN OF ARMENIA, JERUSALEM AND CYPRUS.
ONE OF THE POGHS OF LEVON VI LUSIGNAN [1374-75] FROM SIS MINT.
Another historian of Cilician Armenia, Armen Ghazarian noted: �Levon�s heroic
pleas to both the French and the English came to naught. His first task of
bringing the two warring nations to the peace table was never achieved. This was
the necessary precondition for
THE LOUVRE PALACE [NOW THE RENOWNED LOUVRE MUSEUM]
WHERE THE LAST KING LEVON VI LUSIGNAN SPENT HIS REMAINING YEARS
IN THE COURT OF HIS COUSIN CHARLES VI.
THE LOUVRE. BY THE MASTER G. KHANJIAN. FROM THE PARIS SERIES.
1960.
HETUMIAN-LUSIGNAN DYNASTY FROM AMAURY I IN 1197,
TO EXPIRATION OF LEVON VI AS KING OF ARMENIA
IN 1375 [LEON V, WHEN COUNTING LEVON II THE MAGNIFICENT
AS KING LEVON I BEGINNING FROM THE CORONATION IN 1199].
THE HOLY SYMBOL OF THE LUSIGNAN HOUSE
CROSS POTENT [SQUARE IN THE CENTER] FLANKED
BY FOUR CROSS FORME�s
ALONG WITH THE BLASON COAT OF
ARMS MADE UP OF
BARRULY OF TEN ARGENT AND AZURE...
AS DIVINE KINGS OF ARMENIA, CYPRUS AND JERUSALEM...
...SACRED SUBLIME DEEPLY MEANINGFUL TIBETAN MANDALA [LIT.
CYCLE]
AVALOKITESHWARA [EMANATING FROM THE PYRAMID]
AS THE DIVINE SPARK/ETERNAL FLAME
[LIKE ORIFLAMME] WITH THE FOUR 'T' [TWO UNITED SWASTIKAS
SPINNING RIGHT AND LEFT...] OF THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
OF ENLIGHTENMENT WITH FIVE SURROUNDING LAYERS.
UPPER HANDS WITH ROSARY BEADS AND THE LOWER
HANDS IN ANJALI MUDRA [IN ARM.
IMAST IN ARM. MEANING...IMASTUN...WISE/ENLIGHTENED
MASTER/MAZDA...RUS. MUDROST WISDOM].
FLOOR PLAN OF THE SACRED ARMENIAN MITHR�VM.
SURAKAN, FIRST MILLENNIUM BC.
THE SACRED PATTERN. SYMBOL OF T-WINGS/PYRAMIDAL
SQUARE WITHIN A CIRCLE HAD A TRANSCENDENTAL
QUALITY [THE OLDEST LAYERS OF YEREVAN FROM FOURTH-FIFTH MILLENNIUM BC
IN THE MODERN SHENGAVIT' DISTRICT ARE ALIGNED IN CIRCLE/SQUARE
GENERAL PLAN...SO ARE A NUMBER OF SACRED SITES THROUGHOUT EUROPE].
FOR RAISING THE CONSCIOUSNESS.
THE CENTER IS THE HEART OF THE TEMPLE CONTAINING
THE ESSENCE/DIVINE SPARK/LOGOS. THE SYMBOL OF
FOUR UNITED Ts GOES BACK ALL THE WAY TO NEOLITHIC ERA
INCLUDING IN THE PICTOGRAPHS OF THE GEGHAMA MOUNTAINS.
PAGE FROM A GOSPEL FROM 1053 WRITTEN IN THE FORM OF FOUR Ts.
MATENADARAN MS NO. 3793 P. 238b.
the success of his ultimate plan because whilst France and England remained at war with each other, it was virtually certain that they would turn a deaf ear to his message.
L E V O N V I L U S I G N A
N. THE LAST CILICIAN KING WHO
DEDICATED HIS LIFE UNTIL THE VERY END OF HIS DAYS TO
SEEING THE L I B E R A T I
O N O F A R M
E N I A
FROM FOREIGN YOKE.
When Levon was in Paris he befriended Philippe M�zir�s, an ardent and staunch supporter of the idea of crusade against the infidels. It was Philippe who pressured Richard of England and the dukes of York and Gloucester into admitting that aiding the fragmented Christian East must surely be their solemn duty. Instead of the English fighting the French, their objectives would be best served by the restoration of the kingdoms of Cilician Armenia and Jerusalem. Philippe must have had an impressive influence on Levon if for no other reason than that the two had shared a common dream, a dream which as late as the 14th century had not yet entirely faded from the psyche of the descendants of those who fought the early crusades.�
The last reigning monarch King Levon VI passed away on November 29, 1393
and was honorably buried with other European monarchs
in the sacred shrine of Saint-Denis Basilica in the suburb of Paris.
THE PANTHEON SHRINE OF THE EUROPEAN ROYALTY. THE BASILICA OF SAINT-DENIS.
ENTRANCE OF THE GOTHIC HOLY SANCTUM. THE ROSETTE OF THE STAINED
GLASS
WINDOW WITH THE WHEEL OF THE 12 HOUSES OF THE ZODIAC AROUND THE SUN...
THE SYMBOLS OF THE ZODIAC IN THE OUTER RIM INSIDE THE SEVEN CIRCULAR RAYS
FORMING THE HEXAGRAM. INNER TRAPEZOIDAL RAYS WITH THE CIRCLE WITHIN
DEPICTING THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE MICROCOSM WITH THE MACROCOSM
IN THE SPACE AND TIME CONTINUUM THAT IS.
POINTING ARCHES [VULVA] AND COLUMNS [YONI] DEPICTING THE
APOTHEOSIS OF THE KINGS AND QUEENS WHOSE EFFIGIES FACE
TOWARDS THE ILLUMINATED WINDOWS [OPENING TOWARDS THE HEAVENS]
WITH VARIOUS MUDRAS, INCLUDING THAT OF COMMUNION [AMEN/AMON]
CONSOLAMENTUM.
THE STUNNINGLY LIFE-LIKE AND STIRRING EFFIGY OF THE LAST ARMENIAN
KING
LEVON VI [LEO V] LUSIGNAN. BAGRATID FROM HIS MOTHER'S SIDE AND LUSIGNAN
FROM HIS FATHER'S BLUE BLOOD ARISTOCRAT THROUGH AND THROUGH...
...THE INSCRIPTION ON THE HOLY SHRINE READS:
'...Here lies the most noble and excellent prince Leo of Lusignan, fifth
Latin King of Armenia,
who gave his soul to God on the 29th of November in the year of grace MCCCXCIII.
Pray for him...'