LEONE. – In ancient Christian monuments, the prophet Daniel is represented between two lions, both on sarcophagi and in cemetery paintings, or in the inscriptions in which this scene is depicted.
It then appears as a symbol of the forces of evil, “leo rugiens” (I Pt. 5, 8), in opposition to the Good Shepherd in the well-known inscription of Verazio Nicatore (Wilpert, Sareofagi, I, p. 70, fig. 27). There it is together with the dragon, in accordance with the concept expressed in the prayer preserved in the Gelasian Sacramentary: “non se ci (il defunto) opponat leo rugiens et draco devorans”.
The lion also appears as an ideographic sign for the name of a deceased person, Pontius Leo, in an epigraph in the Lateran Museum (O. Marucchi, I monumenti del Museo Pio Lateranense, Milan 1910, pl. 59, no. 44). It is also a symbol of the evangelist St. Marco, and as such is already found in the mosaics of S. Pudentiana and of the Baptistery of Naples. Enrico Josi
LEONE. – Name of six Armenian princes of Cilicia who ruled from the 12th to the 14th century. All promoted alliances with the West in order to save themselves from Muslim invasions. Of the L., the most noteworthy are:
1. L. II (prince 1187–98 and king 1198–1219), known as the Magnificent, one of the most illustrious figures in Armenian history.
He succeeded not only in repelling the attacks of the Muslim tribes, the Sultanate of Iconium, and the coalition of the sultans of Aleppo and Damascus, but also in extending his principality. After subjugating the lords of Cilicia, he had to resolve two political questions. On the one hand, Byzantium regarded the Armenian Principality of Cilicia as an usurpation and threatened its independence; on the other, in the year in which L. assumed power, Jerusalem fell into the hands of Saladin. To resolve this double question, L. pursued a policy of close cooperation with the West, becoming a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire and requesting the royal crown from Frederick Barbarossa and Pope Innocent III. The Pope sent him a crown, and L. retained a profound filial veneration for him until his death. After Barbarossa’s death, his son Henry VI had L. crowned with great pomp in 1198. At the same time, Alexius III Angelos also sent L. a royal crown.
L. began organizing the new kingdom according to Western systems; courts were established in accordance with the regulations in force in Antioch; a pact of friendship was concluded, especially with the military Orders; economic relations were established with Venice, Genoa, Sicily, and Western Europe. At the same time, L. also encouraged industry; orphanages, hospitals, convents, and schools were built. L. died in 1219, leaving a well-organized kingdom to his only heir, the pious Isabella, aged seven, born to him from his second marriage.
2. L. VI, Lusignan prince, king of Cilician Armenia (1374–75).
The Kingdom of Cilicia had been reduced to only two cities: Sis and Anazarba. While L. was being received with rejoicing, the Mamluk armies were besieging the cities; to resist them, he had only a few thousand soldiers. He had come to the throne as a crusader and captain, rather than as an Armenian king, as had been expected, and thus failed to win the affection of his subjects or the confidence of a large part of the Armenian princes, including the patriarch.
Under these conditions, the struggle could not last long. After four months the capital fell, and the King was forced to surrender. L. was taken prisoner to Cairo (1375), where he succeeded in retaining power on condition that he apostatize from the Christian faith. Liberated through the efforts of John, king of Castile and Navarre, he went to Spain, then to France and England, everywhere regarded as the last crusader. He died in Paris (29 Nov. 1393) and was buried in the church of the Celestines. His tomb is at Saint-Denis (Paris).