The root cause of the military effectiveness of the Medieval Armenian princes and their armies was their fiercely independent nature. This caused the Byzantines to adopt hostile and counterproductive measure to quell the traditionally self-reliant spirit of Armenians whom they ruled in Western Armenia. The shortsighted Byzantine policy resulted in the fall of the Armenian Pakraduni dynasty and the eventual defeat of the Byzantines at the hands of the Seljuk Turks in Manazgerd. Some disenchanted Armenian soldiers fought on the side of the Turks in that battle, along with various other national groups.

The root cause of the military effectiveness of the Medieval Armenian princes and their armies was their fiercely independent nature. This caused the Byzantines to adopt hostile and counterproductive measure to quell the traditionally self-reliant spirit of Armenians whom they ruled in Western Armenia. The shortsighted Byzantine policy resulted in the fall of the Armenian Pakraduni dynasty and the eventual defeat of the Byzantines at the hands of the Seljuk Turks in Manazgerd. Some disenchanted Armenian soldiers fought on the side of the Turks in that battle, along with various other national groups.