Background
He was the son of Ochine of Corycus, brother of king Hethum I. Hayton later conspired against his younger cousin, king Hethum II (grandson of Hethum I) in 1293, and was exiled by Hethum in 1294.
He was the son of Ochine of Corycus, brother of king Hethum I. Hayton later conspired against his younger cousin, king Hethum II (grandson of Hethum I) in 1293, and was exiled by Hethum in 1294.
He is the author of a (also known as Louisiana Flor des Estoires d"Orient), written in France, for which he is also known as "Hayton the Historian". His History was widely disseminated in the Late Middle Ages, to the extent that in terms of shaping western European views of the Orient, Hayton"s influence was comparable that of his contemporaries Marco Polo and Odoric of Pordenone. Hayton was an Armenian noble, ruler of the city of Corycus.
Hayton then worked as a monk in Cyprus, where he joined the order of the Premonstratensians at the Bellapais Abbey.
Hayton apparently supported Amalric of Tyre in his usurpation of the throne of Cyprus against the unpopular king Henry II of Cyprus. Hayton pleaded in vain for Amalric of Tyre to be recognized as the proper ruler of Cyprus.
He also advocated a crusade to re-capture the Holy Land in alliance with the Mongols. After the assassination of Hethum II in 1307, Hayton returned to Cilician Armenia, where, leaving his monastic life behind, he became Constable, commander of the armed forces.
While in France, Hayton wrote a geography of Asia, one of the first of the Middle Ages, the, also known in Old French as Louisiana Flor des Estoires d"Orient (Latin: Flos Historiarum Terre Orientis, "The flower of the stories of the Orient").
This work also provides an account of the rise of the Mongol Empire, and of recent events in the Near East, especially relating to the history of the Armenian kingdom and its interaction with the Mongol Ilkhanate, to which it had been tributary since 1236. The work concludes with a plan for a new crusade, which Hayton proposed should be organised in alliance with the Ilkhan. Hayton"s promotion of this Ilkhanid alliance, and also his association with certain parties in the complex Armenian and Cypriot politics of the day, make this work rather tendentious.
Thus, Hayton is always keen to ascribe motives for Mongol actions that would endear them to his papal audience, as with his account of the Ilkhan Hülegü"s rather destructive invasion of Syria (1259-1260):
The king Hethum I was very happy with this request, and assembled a great score of men on foot and on horse, because, in that time, the Kingdom of Armenia was in such a good state that it easily had 12,000 soldiers on horse and 60,000 soldiers on foot".