Thoros of Marash


Thoros of Marash was the father of Arda of Armenia, the first queen consort of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Thoros' allowing Baldwin I of Jerusalem, who was then Count of Edessa to marry his daughter gave Baldwin a legitimate claim to Edessa since it was within the traditional area of Armenia.
Thoros failed to pay the full dowry he had pledged. Also with Baldwin becoming King of Jerusalem, he no longer felt a need to have alliances with the Armenians. Baldwin had his marriage to Arda annulled. About the same time the forces of Edessa drove Thoros from his domain. He was then forced to flee to Constantinople and became part of an anti-Crusader faction in Constantinople advocating that the Byzantine Empire reassert its traditional hold on Armenian territories that were now held by the Crusader States.