Leo V
The Last King
Lusignan Dynasty — 1374–1375 AD
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
Leo V (also known as Leo VI) reigned from 1374 to 1375 AD as the final monarch of the Kingdom of Cilicia (Kilikia). A member of the Poitiers-Lusignan dynasty, he was the son of Guy de Lusignan and spent his youth in exile in Cyprus. He was invited to take the Armenian throne in 1374 following the murder of Constantine IV and was crowned in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Sis through both Latin and Armenian rites. His reign lasted only one year, during which he governed a fragmented state with an empty treasury. Following the fall of Sis to the Mamluk Sultanate in 1375, he was taken as a prisoner to Cairo, where he was held for seven years. After being ransomed by the King of Castile, he spent his final years in Europe as the Lord of Madrid and later in Paris, where he died in 1393. His death marked the definitive end of the Cilician Armenian kingdom and independent Armenian statehood for centuries.
Leo V reigned between 1374 and 1375, assuming the crown of a kingdom in its terminal hours. Born in 1342 to Guy de Lusignan and a mother named Sultan, he was raised in Cyprus after fleeing religious persecutions in his youth. Following the assassination of Constantine IV, he was invited to return to Sis to restore the royal line. To soothe the deep-seated friction between the "Unitarian" and "Anti-Unitarian" factions, Leo underwent two consecrations—first by Latin rite and then by Armenian rite. However, he inherited a nearly bankrupt state where his authority was restricted to the capital of Sis, the fortress of Anazarbus, and limited regions of the Cilician highlands.
The Fall of Sis and Egyptian Captivity
The sovereignty of the Kingdom of Cilicia (Kilikia) came to a violent end in 1375 under the weight of a Mamluk invasion. In January of that year, the forces of Sultan Melik Ashraf besieged the capital, subjecting the inhabitants to months of famine and disease. On April 22, 1375, having received a guarantee of safety from the Emir of Aleppo, Leo V surrendered the citadel. He was taken as a hostage to Cairo along with his family, the Catholicos, and twenty prominent Armenian nobles. This surrender marked the collapse of the Armenian state, as the Mamluks occupied the heartland and the last Armenian king began a seven-year period of political captivity in Egypt.
The Royal Exile and the Diplomacy of Restoration
The final decade of Leo V’s life was a period of tireless but unsuccessful diplomacy across the royal courts of Europe. Released in 1382 through the mediation of the kings of Castile and Aragon, he traveled to Spain, where King John I of Castile granted him the lordship of Madrid, Villarreal, and Andújar. In 1384, he moved to Paris, receiving a pension and a castle from the French King Charles VI. Leo V spent his remaining years attempting to reconcile the French and English crowns during the Hundred Years' War, hoping to organize a new Crusade to liberate the Armenian Highlands. He died in Paris on November 29, 1393, and was eventually interred at the Basilique Saint-Denis. His tombstone, which depicts him holding a scepter and gloves, remains the final monumental record of the last Latin King of Armenia.
Royal Record
Family & Notes
Notes: The final king; Sis fell in 1375. He died in exile in Paris (1393) and is buried in the Royal Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Wars & Battles
1 War: Fall of Sis (1375) - The end of Armenian sovereignty until the 20th century.
War Record
0 Won / 1 Total Loss
Territory Size
City of Sis only
Allied Rulers
King Charles VI of France
“The legacy of Leo V The Last King endures through the centuries — a testament to the enduring spirit of the Armenian people and their unbroken pursuit of sovereignty, culture, and faith.”
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