Kingdom of Cilicia

The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia or Little Armenia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia, located outside the Armenian Highlands and distinct from the earlier Kingdom of Armenia of antiquity. Centered in the Cilicia region northwest of the Gulf of Alexandretta, it originated as a principality founded around 1080 by the Rubenid dynasty, an alleged offshoot of the Bagratuni dynasty that had at various times held the Armenian throne, with its capital first at Tarsus and later moved to Sis. Cilicia was a strong ally of the European Crusaders, regarded itself as a bastion of Christendom in the East, and served as a focal point for Armenian cultural production during its existence.