Ashot III of Armenia
King of Armenia from 952/53–77 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the 10th-century Armenian king. For the 8th-century presiding prince of Armenia, see Ashot III Bagratuni.
Ashot III (Armenian: Աշոտ Գ) was a king of Armenia, ruling the medieval kingdom of Bagratid Armenia from 952/53–77. Known as Ashot III the Merciful (Աշոտ Գ Ողորմած) and acknowledged by foreign rulers as the Shahanshah (king of kings) of Mets Hayk' (Greater Armenia), he moved his royal seat of residence to Ani and oversaw its development and of the kingdom as a whole. Armenia reached the height of its golden era during his reign and that of his sons and successors, Smbat II (977–89) and Gagik I (990–1020).[2]