Mleh I, also Meleh I, (before 1120 – Sis, May 15, 1175) was the eighth lord of Armenian Cilicia (1170–1175). Soon after the death of Nur ed-Din (the emir of Aleppo), Mleh was overthrown by his nephew, Roupen III.

His early life

Mleh was the fourth son of Leo I, lord of Armenian Cilicia. The name and the origin of his mother are not known with certainty. It is possible that she was a daughter of Count Hugh I of Rethel, or she might have been the daughter of Gabriel of Melitene. All Cilicia remained under Byzantine rule for eight years. One after another, Thoros reconquered Anazarbus, Adana, Sis (today Kozan in Turkey) and Pardzerpert (now Andırın in Turkey) from the Byzantines.

In the service of Nur ed-Din

Mleh converted to Islam from Armenian Apostolic Christianity. Afterwards, he ruled Cyrrhus.

His rule

On March 10, 1171, Amalric I left Acre for Constantinople where he made a treaty with the Emperor Manuel I Comnenos. During 1171, Mleh attacked Count Stephen I of Sancerre in Cilicia while he travelled from the Holy Land to Constantinople. He was buried in Medzkar.

Marriage and child

Mleh married an unnamed daughter of Vasil of Gargar (a sister of the Catholicos Gregory). He had one illegitimate child by his unknown mistress:

Footnotes

Sources