Ancient Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia

The founder of the new dynasty in Cilicia was a prince named Ruben, probably a relative of the last king of Ani, Gagik II. After a series of long, harsh battles, Ruben succeeded in establishing his authority in the mountainous regions of Cilicia, founding a principality that bore his name: Rubinian. This is generally held to have occurred in 1080.

One most important point is exactly how this state was formed. Strictly speaking, it had nothing to do with the principle of free conquest that governed invasions. The Armenian princes and feudal families that had emigrated to Cilicia and the neighbourring regions had been driven there by the Byzantine government itself, which gave them land in exchange for the territories the empire had confiscated. The formation of an autonomous Armenian state in Cilicia was the outcome of the revolt against this vassalage, in an attempt to recover lost dignity.

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  Film & Animation

[narek781]

the Cilician castles remain the best manifestations of the given time period in the XIth, XIIth and XIIIth centuries. The strategic selection of castle building in of itself is very complex and amazing. The castle, visible from miles away, represented the center and the power of the sovereign lord of the second estate [nobles, barons, viceroys, dukes] of the monarchial hierarchy

[narek781]

One of the greatest achievements that the Cilician Armenians had reached was the master craft of castle building, based upon the rich tradition of previous periods in Armenian history. The Crusaders acquired techniques of building round-shaped castles [previously to Crusade epoch most of the castles in Europe were square-shaped], for the most part advanced castle building in Europe began in the late Medieval period,