Hayton of Corycus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hayton of Corycus remitting his report on the Mongols La Flor des Estoires d'Orient, to Pope Clement V in 1307.
Hayton of Corycus remitting his report on the Mongols La Flor des Estoires d'Orient, to Pope Clement V in 1307.

Hayton of Corycus, also called Hetoum of Korykos, Haiton, Haitho, Antonius, Haython, Antonius Curchinus or Hayton of Korykos, was an Armenian monk and historian who died around 1308. The works of Hayton were widely published in Medieval times, to an extent comparable to the works of other travelers such as Marco Polo or Odoric of Pordenone.[1]

Hayton was initially an Armenian noble, ruler of the city of Korikos.[2] He was a nephew of king Hetoum I.[3] Having conspired against king Hethoum II in 1293, Hayton was exiled by him in 1294. Hayton then worked as a monk in Cyprus, where he joined the order of the Praemonstratensian at the Bellapais Abbey. Hayton apparently supported Amalric of Tyre in his usurpation of the throne of Cyprus against the unpopular king Henry II of Cyprus.[4]

Hayton later moved to Poitiers in France where the Pope resided, and became the prior of the Praemonstratensian abbey there.[5] Hayton pleaded in vain for Amalric to be recognized as the proper ruler of Cyprus. He also advocated a crusade to re-capture the Holy Land in alliance with the Mongols. While in France, Hayton wrote a geography of Asia, the first of the Middle-Ages, titled "Histoire merveilleuse, plaisante et recreative du grand empereur de Tartarie, Grand-Khan". He also wrote "La Flor des Estoires d'Orient" (Latin: "Flos Historiarum Terre Orientis", "The flower of the stories of the Orient") in which he notably explained the motivation of the alliance between Armenia, Antioch and the Mongols in 1259-1260:

"The Khan wanted to go to Jerusalem in order to deliver the Saint Lands from the Saracens and to remit it to the Chistians. The king Hetoum I was very happy with this request, and assembled a great score of men on foot and on horse, because, in that time, the Kingdom of Armenia was in such a good state that it easily had 12.000 soldiers on horse and 60,000 soldiers on foot".

—"La Flor des Estoires d'Orient", circa 1300, Haiton, Doc. Arm II, p170 [6]
Hetoum I entering the Franciscan Order. From Histoires des Tartares by Hayton of Corycus.
Hetoum I entering the Franciscan Order. From Histoires des Tartares by Hayton of Corycus.

After the assassination of Hetoum II in 1307, Hayton returned to Cilician Armenia, where he became a Constable.

His son Oshin of Korikos became regent of the Kingdom of Cilician Armenia from 1320.[7]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Jackson, p.334
  2. ^ Demurger, p.115
  3. ^ Mutafian, p.77
  4. ^ Mutafian, p.77
  5. ^ "A History of the Crusades 3", Runciman, p.433
  6. ^ Quoted in "Histoire des Croisades", Rene Grousset, p.580. Translated from the Old French
  7. ^ "Le Royaume Armenien de Cilicie", Claude Mutafian, p.80

[edit] References

  • "Histoire des Croisades", René Grousset
  • "A History of the Crusades 3", Runciman
  • "Le Royaume Armenien de Cilicie", Claude Mutafian
  • Richard, Jean (1999). The Crusades: c. 1071-c. 1291. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62566-1. 
  • Peter Jackson, "The Mongols and the West", Pearson Education Limited, 2005, ISBN 0582368960

[edit] External links

Languages