[3] The couple had six children: Hethum was a major player in the political struggles and shifting alliances around the Crusader states, as the Armenians had ties with all sides.

They were primarily aligned with the Europeans, but during Hethum's reign, the rapidly expanding Mongol Empire became a concern.

Faced with internal disagreements about the war and likely sensing that the Mongols were the greater threat, Hethum delayed and Kaykhusraw's army left without the Armenians.

There, Sempad met Great Khan Güyük, and made a formal agreement in 1247 in which Cilician Armenia would be considered a vassal state of the Mongol Empire.

[14][15] Historical accounts, quoting from the writings of the medieval historian Templar of Tyre, often give a dramatic account of the three Christian rulers (Hethum, Bohemond, and the Mongol general Kitbuqa) entering the city of Damascus together in triumph,[15][16] though modern historians have questioned this story as apocryphal.

Following this defeat, the cities of Adana, Tarsus, and Ayas were assaulted and the capital of Sis was sacked and burnt.

In May 1268, the allied Principality of Antioch was overrun by the Egyptians who, under Baybars, captured it and massacred its inhabitants and destroyed all its churches.