72 chapter three
the armenian kingdom that met little resistance.53 the destruction was
so great that the kingdom of cilicia never completely recovered.54 the
victors imposed conditions that were similarly harsh: as well as paying a
ruinous tribute, the armenians were obliged not to rebuild the fortresses
that fell in the war, and not to build new ones. the only consolation for
abaqa, who had looked on powerless while disaster struck his vassal
state, came from two armenian embassies of 1266 and 1267, when het-
hum’s envoys assured the ilkhan that despite the catastrophe, their king
remained unshaken in his loyalty.55
the favorable conditions offered by the fighting in eastern iran from
1267 to 1270 also brought other victories for the mamluks.56 at the end of
the decade, though, it seemed that anti-mamluk campaigns were gaining
strength, and that at last the mongols of persia would be able to coordi-
nate their actions with the eastern mediterranean crusaders. abaqa heard
good news from all sides.
the great Khan in china had finally succeeded in taming Jochid
hostility to their kinsmen in persia—a diplomatic coup that was as
unlikely as it was unprecedented: Berke’s successor on the throne at
sarai, möngke temür, was more flexible not least because he was not
a muslim, and in 1269/70 accepted the armistice that Qubilai brokered
with abaqa.57
at the same time the ilkhan’s embassies to the papal court began to
bear fruit. to an extent, his message had revived crusading zeal at the
courts of aragon, france and england, although joint operations with the
ilkhans were never more than sporadic and inefficient.58 the potential
threat that they posed far outweighed any actual accomplishments—
53 ibid., 89.
54 the resistance led by the constable of the kingdom, sempad, was rapidly crushed,
but his losses were unusually grave; thoros, son of king hethum i, fell in battle, while the
king’s brother leon was taken prisoner. the mamluks set up their camp in the royal capital
at sis, where they raided the whole country for twenty days running (ibid., pp. 92–93).
55 smpat/dédéyan, p. 120.
56 Jaffa was taken and razed to the ground in 1267, and tyre was neutralised by a ten-
year armistice imposed in the same year; the year 1268 was even more rewarding, when
Baghras and antioch fell, leaving Bohemond with only tripoli, which forced the prince to
seek a negotiated peace with Baybars (Khowaiter, Baybars, pp. 94–100).
57 ibid., pp. 56, 61; Baybars was wary of the peace and from this moment on began to
encourage the rise to power of noghai, a convert to islam, as an instrument against the
ilkhans.
58 spuler, Mongolen, p. 189.