The Seljuk invasion of Armenia was followed by an exodus of Armenians southwards, and in 1080 Rhupen, a relative of the last king of Ani, founded in the heart of the Cilician Taurus a small principality, which gradually expanded into the kingdom of Lesser Armenia. This Christian kingdom—situated in the midst of Moslem states, hostile to the Byzantines, giving valuable support to the crusaders, and trading with the great commercial cities of Italy—-had a stormy existence of about 300 years. Gosdantin I. (1095-1100) assisted the crusaders on their march to Antioch, and was created knight and marquis. Thoros I. (1100-1123), in alliance with the Christian princes of Syria, waged successful war against Byzantines and Seljuks. Levond (Leo) II., “the Great” (1185-1219), extended the kingdom beyond Mount Taurus and established the capital at Sis. He assisted the crusaders, was crowned king by the archbishop of Mainz, and married one of the Lusignans of Cyprus. Haithon I. (1224-1269) made an alliance with the Mongols, who, before their adoption of Islam, protected his kingdom from the Mamelukes of Egypt. When Levond V. died (1342), John of Lusignan was crowned king as Gosdantin IV.; but he and his successors alienated the Armenians by attempting to make them conform to the Roman Church, and by giving all posts of honour to Latins, and at last the kingdom, a prey to internal dissensions, succumbed (1375) to the attacks of the Egyptians. Cilicia Trachea was occupied by the Osmanlis in the 15th century, but Cilicia Pedias was only added to the empire in 1515.
From 1833 to 1840 Cilicia formed part of the territories administered by Mehemet Ali of Cairo, who was compelled to evacuate it by the allied powers. Since that date it has formed the vilayet of Adana (q.v.).
Bibliography.—Beside the general authorities for ASIA MINOR, see:—W.B. Barker, Lares and Penates (1853); V. Langlois, Voyage dans la Cilicie (1861); F. Beaufort, Karamania (1817); W.F. Ainsworth, Narrative of the Euphrates Expedition (1888), and Travels in Asia Minor (1842); R. Heberdey and A. Wilhelm, Reisen in Kilikien (1896); D.G. Hogarth and J.A.R. Munro, Mod. and Anc. Roads in E. Asia Minor (R.G.S. Supp. Papers, iii.) (1893); D.G. Hogarth, A Wandering Scholar (1896); G.L. Schlumberger, Un Empereur byzantin (1890); T. Kotschy, Reise in dem cilicschen Taurus (1858); H.C. Barkley, Ride through Asia Minor and Armenia (1891); E.J. Davis, Life in Asiatic Turkey (1879); J. Marquardt, Röm. Staatsverwaltung, i. (1874); J.R.S. Sterrett, Wolfe Expedition (1888). See also authorities under [Armenia] and [Mehemet Ali].
(C. W. W.; D. G. H.)
CILLI, ULRICH, Count of (1406-1456), son of Frederick II., count of Cilli, and Elizabeth Frangepan. Of his youth we know nothing certain. About 1432 he married Catherine, daughter of George Brankovich, despot of Servia.
His influence in the troubled affairs of Hungary and the Empire early overshadowed that of his father, together with whom he was made a prince of the Empire by the emperor Sigismund (1436). Hence feuds with the Habsburgs, wounded in their rights as overlords of Cilli, ending, however, in an alliance with the Habsburg king Albert II., who made Ulrich for a short while his lieutenant in Bohemia. After Albert’s death (1439) Ulrich took up the cause of his widow Elizabeth, and presided at the coronation of her infant son Ladislaus V. Posthumus (1440). A feud with the Hunyadis followed, embittered by John Hunyadi’s attack on George Brankovich of Servia (1444) and his refusal to recognize Ulrich’s claim to Bosnia on the death of Stephen Tvrtko (1443). In 1446 Hunyadi, now governor of Hungary, harried the Cilli territories in Croatia-Slavonia; but his power was broken at Kossovo (1448), and Count Ulrich was able to lead a successful crusade, nominally in the Habsburg interest, into Hungary (1450). In 1452 he forced the emperor Frederick III. to hand over the boy king Ladislaus V. to his keeping, and became thus practically ruler of Hungary. In 1454 his power was increased by his succession to his father’s vast wealth; and in 1456 he was named by Ladislaus his lieutenant in Hungary. The Hunyadis now conspired to destroy him. On the 8th of November, in spite of warnings, he entered Belgrade with the king; the next day he was attacked by Laszlo Hunyadi and his friends, and done to death. With him died the male line of the counts of Cilli.
Count Ulrich’s ambition was boundless, his passions unbridled; but the hostile judgments passed by Aeneas Sylvius and other contemporaries upon him must be read with caution.
CILLI (Slovene, Celje), a town in Styria, Austria, 82 m. S. by W. of Graz by rail. Pop. (1900) 6743. It is picturesquely situated on the left bank of the river Sann, and still has remains of the old walls and towers, with which it was once surrounded. Memorials of a still earlier period in its history—Roman antiquities—are to be seen in the municipal museum, while its canals and sewers are also of Roman origin. These were discovered during the second half of the 19th century, and were in such a good state of preservation that after a few small repairs they are now utilized. The parish church, dating from the 14th century, with its beautiful Gothic chapel, is one of the most interesting specimens of medieval architecture. The so-called German church, in Romanesque style, belonged to the Minorite monastery, founded in 1241 and closed in 1808. The throne of the counts of Cilli is preserved here, and also the tombs of several members of the family. On the Schlossberg (1320 ft.), situated to the S.E. of the town, are the ruins of the castle of Ober-Cilli, the former residence of the counts of Cilli. Ten miles to the N.W. of Cilli are situated the baths of Neuhaus, with indifferent thermal waters (117° F.), frequented by ladies. Not far from it is the ruined castle of Neuhaus, called since 1643 Schlangenburg, from which an extensive view of the neighbouring Alps is obtained.