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170 Hakalmaz Turaç

Relations between the Latins and the Armenians continued to de-
velop in the twelfth century. In 1132, Leo I captured coastal territories
from Bohemond II of Antioch, but intervention by the Byzantine Em-
pire in Armenian affairs in 1137 and again in 1145 drew the Armeni-
ans and the Latins closer since the Byzantine emperor captured Cili-
cia, expelled the hierarchy of the Armenian Church and tried to restore
rule by the Orthodox patriarchate in Antioch, over which Leo had as-
serted his suzerainty . The relationship between the Armenians and
75
the Crusader states of the East had been complicated throughout the
twelfth century, but the Armenian and the Latin churches were not
straightforwardly foes. In this period, for example, the Latin Church
made no real attempt to force the Armenian Church into a union. For
instance, in 1145, it was Catholicos Gregory III who sent envoys to
Pope Eugenius III, expecting him to arbitrate between the Greek and
the Armenian churches about celebrating the Eucharist and the date
for Christmas . During the first half of the century, the Byzantine
76
Empire followed an aggressive policy towards Cilicia and Antioch. This
continued until the 1160s when two agents, Nerses of Lampron and
the imperial «protostrator» Alexios Axouch exchanged their ideas and
undertook ecclesiastical discussions on reforming the Armenian
Church . Nerses sought to assemble a synod but he died before
77
achieving this end. Although the Armenian Church had been negoti-
ating the union with the Orthodox patriarchate, the death of Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos in 1180 and the economic and political turmoil in
the Byzantine Empire terminated the discussion . As a result, deteri-
78
orating relations, which had already been fragile in this century, be-
came a threat for the Cilician Armenians, and relations with the Byz-
antine Empire drastically worsened.
In the East, on the other hand, the threat of Saladin created an un-
derstanding among the eastern Christians, causing them to strengthen
their relationship with each other in the 1180s. Among them, the Maro-
nites of Lebanon had already acknowledged papal primacy in 1182. The

75 B. Hamilton, The Armenian Church and the Papacy cit., 65; For twelfth-century
Cilician Armenia, see G. Dédéyan, Les Arméniens entre Grecs, musulmans et croisés, vol.
2 cit.; K.M. Setton, R.L. Wolff, H. Hazard (eds.), A History of the Crusades: The Later
Crusades: 1189-1311, vol. 2, The University of Wisconsin Press, Wisconsin, 2006, pp.
635-645.
76 B. Hamilton, The Armenian Church and the Papacy cit., p. 66.
77 P. Cowe, The Armenians in the Era of the Crusades cit., p. 413; C. Mutafian, Prélats
et Souverains Arméniens, cit., p. 129.
78 B. Hamilton, The Armenian Church and the Papacy cit., p. 68; Although it had
religious motives, the massacre of the Latins was more of an outcome of economic
problems. See, J. Harris, Byzantium, and the Crusades, Bloomsbury, London, 2003,
pp. 123-131.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XIX - Aprile 2022
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)