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Message:: [QUOTE="Joseph Sarkissian, post: 2414254, member: 78162"]My latest acquisition, I just love these.King Leo seated on a throne of two lions, holding the round sceptre of Christendom and a lily, reverse two lions back to back facing each other, between them Armenian cross Pattee on spear.LEVON I was the first king of Armenian Cilicia, of the Rubenid dynasty.As the third Crusader army led by Frederick Barbarossa arrived in Anatolia, the Seljuks offered to let him pass in return for 300 pounds of gold and "the land of the Armenians". (apparently it had been tough to conquer that mountainous region ruled by the Armenian princes). Frederick declined and fought his way through Anatolia, settling his score at the battle of Iconium, where he routed the Seljuks armies. In 1190 he arrived quite depleted in Cilicia, (the "land of the Armenians" which he did not betray), where his armies were re-supplied and aided by the then Prince Levon. (He died on June 10, 1190, in the river Saleph in Cilicia).For his deeds, Leo won the favor of Pope Celestine III, who approved of his coronation. He was crowned in 1198 in Tarsus, by the Pope's representative, the Archbishop Conrad of Mainz. Crowns were offered also by King Henry VI and Alexis III of Byzantium, all vying for influence over this new kingdom.  [ATTACH=full]499358[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]