1 Kardez - Hethoum I

Hethoum I ruled Cilician Armenia for nearly five decades, longer than any other king of that dynasty. His reign coincided with the Mongol expansion into the Near East, and he made the calculated decision in 1254 to travel personally to the court of Möngke Khan at Karakorum — a journey of roughly 8,000 miles — to negotiate an alliance. The Mongols guaranteed protection of Armenian territories and Christian holy sites in exchange for military cooperation, a deal that shaped regional power dynamics for a generation.

Copper kardez issues of this reign circulated across a kingdom that functioned as a critical trade corridor between the Crusader states and the Mongol-controlled interior.