 ARMENIA AND ARMENIANS
By Dennis R. Papazian
Professor of History
University of Michigan, Dearborn
Pre-Christian Religions
Christianity in Armenia
Doctrine
Golden Age of Armenian Literature
War for Religious Freedom (AD 451)
Arab, Seljuk, Mongol Invasions
Cilician Armenian Kingdom
The Ottoman Turks
Armenian Catholics and Protestants
Genocide
Armenian Church in Russia
The Russian Revolutions of 1917
Catholicosate of Cilicia
The Diaspora
Armenia has one of the oldest indigenous cultures of any of the
peoples of the former USSR. Armenia is also credited as being the first state
to establish Christianity as its official religion.
Contemporary scholarship suggests that the Armenians are descendants
of various indigenous people who meld (10th through 7th century BC)
with the Urarteans (Ararateans); while classical historians and
geographers cite the tradition that the Armenians migrated into their
homeland from Thrace and Phrygia (Herodotus, Strabo), or even Thessaly
(Strabo). These views are not necessarily contradictory, since
present-day Armenians are undoubtedly an amalgam of several peoples,
autochthonous (Hayasa-Azzi, Nairi, Hurrians, etc.) and immigrant, who
emerged as one linguistic family around 600 BC.
The Armenian language, like Greek and Iranian, is a part of the
Indo-European family of languages that is spoken from north India,
through Afghanistan, Iran, Armenia, and Greece into Europe and
European Russia. The Armenian alphabet, devised early in the fifth
century by St. Mesrob (Mashtotz)--who also produced a script for the
Christian Georgians and Caucasian Albanians--is unique, although based
in part on Greek uncials and the Armazi variety of Aramaic script.
Armenia was located near the cradles of ancient civilizations--the
Mesopotamian, bordering immediately to the south; the Egyptian in the
southwest; and the Indus to the east--and was affected by each, but
most significantly by Mesopotamian. The name "Urartu", in the form "Urashtu",
occurs frequently in Babylonian inscriptions. The earliest known
mention of the "Armenian" people (as the Armenoi), occurs in the
writings of the Greek historian Hecataeus of Miletus (c. 550 BC), and
of "Armenia" (Armina) in the Behistun [Bisitun] inscription of Darius
I (c. 520 BC).
Present-day scholarship shows that Armenia experienced its Lower
Paleolithic period from 500,000 BC or earlier. A change from nomadic
to sedentary life occurred in the Neolithic period in Armenia (c.
6,000 BC) about the same time as in the lower valleys of the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers, the headwaters of which rise in Armenia.
Chalcolithic culture (4,000 BC) relates Armenia to the Caucasus, Iran
and Mesopotamia; while the Bronze Age in Armenia began c. 3,200 BC and
extended up to and coexisted with the era of iron smelting and working
which was inaugurated c. 1,000 BC. Erevan (Erebuni, Arin-Berd), the
capital of the Armenian SSR, was founded before 782 BC, when we find
it first mentioned in historic sources.
The rise of Achaemenid Persia (c. 550 BC) brought Armenia into the
Iranian socio- political-economic orbit, and it became a satrapy
(number XIII) of the empire under the first semi-autonomous Armenian
dynasty, the Orontids [Avestan aurand, mighty hero; Pahlevi, arvand;
Armenian, ervand], related to the Persian royal house.
The Persian trade and defense system encouraged significant expansion
of Armenian travel and commerce. The classical description of Armenia
under the Achaemenids is that of Xenophon, who crossed it with his Ten
Thousand (c. 400 BC). It is during this period that the Armenian
nobility adopted Mazdaism and saw it merge with indigenous native
beliefs of which we have only scant knowledge.
Pre-Christian Religions
The earliest Armenian pantheon was most likely similar to the
pre-historic Indo-European pantheon; and, it probably included
eponymous and other legendary heroes as well. It seems that the
Armenians also had nature gods and, indeed, worshiped the elements.
During the fifth century BC, the Armenians adopted the Iranian form of
these divinities and domesticated them. Ahura-Mazda, who assumed the
status of father of the gods, was wor- shipped as Aramazd. Mithra, god
of light and justice, was known as Mihr. Anahita, goddess of fertility
and mother of all wisdom, became Anahit--the favorite goddess of the
Armenians. Verethrangna, the god of war, was worshipped as Vahagn.
Astghik was the goddess of love. Tir, the scribe of Aramazd, was the
god of science and the recorder of man's deeds of good and evil.
Barshamin and Nane, probably of Syrian origin, also formed part of the
Armenian pantheon.
With the conquests of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), and the
successor Seleucid Empire, Armenia entered the Hellenistic orbit and
identified its gods (as did the Romans and others) with the Greek
pantheon. Thus Aramazd became Zeus; Mihr became Hephaestus; Anahit
became Artemis; Vahagn became Heracles; Astghik became Aphrodite; Tir
became Apollo; and Nane became Athena; only Barshamin retained his
original form.
This characteristic syncretism also appears in Persia, where Ahura-Mazda
became Zeus; Mithra became Apollo; and Anahita became Athena.
Pagan Greek priests brought cult statues of the gods to Armenia and
placed them in Hellenistic temples. Thus, an Irano-Greek form of
paganism existed in Armenia, along with the worship of local spirits,
up until the establishment of Christianity in the early fourth
century. Some aspects of the old religion survived in folklore and
customs for centuries thereafter.
The weakening of the Seleucids allowed the founding of the Armenian
Artaxid dynasty (189 BC). Sometime later, the Artaxiad Tigranes II,
the Great, (95-55 BC), along with his ally Mithradates VI (Eupator) of
Pontus established a short-lived Armenian-Hellenistic empire which
stretched from the Caucasus to Lebanon, and from Mesopotamia to the
Pontic Alps. By this time the great Armenian feudal nobility (the
nakharars) were well established. The empire of Tigranes was destroyed
by the Romans, who were gradually expanding into the Middle East.
Roman incursions were led in turn by Lucullus, Pompey, Crassus, Mark
Antony (who captured Artavasdes II by ruse), and Caius Caesar (sent by
his grandfather the Emperor Augustus). Western Armenia thus fell under
Roman hegemony, while the eastern territories came to be dominated by
the Parthians.
Trdat, the brother of the last important Parthian king, Vologases I
(AD 51-77), was appointed by him as king of Armenia (AD 52). Trdat was
also recognized by Rome (AD 66), and thus he became the founder of the
Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty which ruled Armenia until AD 428.
With the rise of the second Persian empire (Sassanid, AD 226-651),
eastern Armenia was drawn more deeply into the Iranian orbit, while
western Armenia remained chiefly under Roman and then Byzantine
influence. The two great empires, Rome and Persia, vied for centuries
to establish dominance over Armenia, making Armenia the scene of
almost constant warfare.
This struggle was carried on in ernest when the founder of the Persian
Sassanid dynasty, Ardashir I, overthrew the Parthian kingdom in Iran
(AD 226), invaded Armenia, overwhelmed the Armenian Arsacids, and
attacked the Roman Empire. After over a century of warfare, peace was
signed between the Eastern Roman Empire and Iran in AD 387, dividing
Armenia into two vassal states--one controlled by Byzantium and the
other by Iran. In Persian (eastern) Armenia, the Armenian Arsacids
retained nominal supremacy until AD 428; but, after the natural
extinction of the Armenian dynasty, the Iranians appointed a marzpan
(margrave) to rule as governor.
Christianity in Armenia
Christianity arose in Palestine and spread from there along trade
routes, by land and sea, through cities which had Jewish colonies to
attract and shelter the Apostles. Thus, Christianity took root early
in Egypt and North Africa (as far south as Abyssinia [Ethiopia]),
Greater Syria (the followers of Jesus were first called "Christians"
in Antioch), Anatolia (especially in Cilicia, Phrygia, Cappadocia and
Galatia, where St. Paul preached), parts of Iran and as far east as
India, as well as in Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia and Rome.
Armenian tradition maintains that Christianity was introduced there by
Sts. Bartholomew (an Apostle) and Thaddeus (one of the Seventy). It is
also known that small Jewish colonies, dating back probably to the
period of the Babylonian Captivity, existed in Armenia and probably
served as nuclei for the spreading of the Good News (gospel).
Tradition also links Armenia with the semi-legendary Christian king
Abgarus of Edessa. These traditions are the foundation of the Armenian
church's claim to apostolic origin.
Armenian merchants and travelers frequented Antioch, one of the
earliest sites of Christian teaching and practice, and had relations
with the even closer Christian centers of Edessa and Nisibis (in
northern Mesopotamia), where Christianity flourished in apostolic
times. Tertullian (AD 155-222), in his Answer to the Jews (Chapter
VII), includes the Armenians among the very first Christians from the
day of Pentecost. Furthermore, Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History
quotes a letter from Dionysus of Alexandria to "Meruzhan [Mitrozanes],
Bishop of Armenia" (c. AD 254). We also know that there were
persecutions of Christians in Armenia under King Artashes (c. 110) and
King Khosrov (c. 230).
In any case, Christianity must have had many adherents and a formal
structure in Armenia by the time of the official conversion of the
king by St. Gregory (Grigor) the Illuminator, which by tradition took
place in c. AD 301. The Armenians are the first people to have adopted
Christianity as the official religion of the state. While some
investigators now date the conversion of Armenia as late at AD 314, it
would still make Armenia the first Christian state in history.
The Armenian chronicler Agathangelos gives the follow story of the
conversion of the Armenians by St. Gregory. King Trdat of Armenia had
begun anew in AD 287 the persecution of the Christians in his country.
[St.] Gregory Partev [the Parthian], was the son of an Arsacid
(Parthian) Armenian prince, Anak, who had killed the father of King
Trdat. In punishment, Anak and his family had been annihilated. Only
one child, Gregory, escaped. He was taken to Leontius, Archbishop of
Caesarea, for protection, and was brought up as a Christian.
Gregory returned to Armenia to evangelize. He was discovered by the
king and cast into a pit, where he survived for fifteen years. King
Trdat continued his persecutions until he was stricken with
lycanthropy. On the urging of his Christian sister, we are told, Trdat
ordered Gregory released and brought before him. Trdat was duly healed
and converted by Gregory. A mass conversion of Armenia followed.
Gregory, yet a layman, went to Leontius, Archbishop of Caesarea, his
childhood protector and patron, for ordination and episcopal
consecration. He returned to Armenia and was chosen catholicos (head)
of the Armenian church. The term "catholicos" was used at that time by
the Persian church. He and the king went about the country with great
zeal; with extensive help from Greek and Syrian priests, they
destroyed pagan temples, including their treasuries, libraries, and
archives, dispersed their soldiers and priests, and built churches in
their place. Indigenous Armenian church architecture is one of
Armenia's great contributions to world art. Yet, because of this
destruction, we have scant knowledge of pre-Christian history and
religion in Armenia. A cathedral was built in the then capital,
Vagharshapat, at a site called Echmiadzin (meaning "The Only-Begotten
[Son] descended"), which is a few miles outside present-day Erevan,
the capital of the Armenian SSR. Echmiadzin was made the Holy See of
the Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians. Echmiadzin
never ceased to be revered, even when owing to political changes the
Mother See was temporarily moved to other locations. The See is now
occupied by His Holiness, Vazgen I (1955- ).
As in other newly converted countries, paganism was not entirely wiped
out by the initial Christian effort, nor was the established church to
be free of dissenting sects. Primitive religious rituals were passed
on in the villages by oral tradition; and heresies, particularly the
Paulician and the Tondrakian, appeared over time. Yet, the predominant
culture in Armenia became Christian and characterizes the nation until
this day.
Doctrine
In its teaching on the sacraments and church order, the Armenians do
not differ from the Eastern Orthodox Church. Of the seven ecumenical
councils, the Armenian Church accepts the first three, rejects the
fourth (which its delegates could not attend), and has not pronounced
on the remaining three. The Armenians accept the principle of the
infallibility of the Church in ecumenical council. In doctrine, the
Armenian church continues to follow the orientation of the church of
Alexandria, principally as found in the teachings of the Cappadocian
fathers.
The Armenian Church is frequently considered by the Roman Catholic and
Eastern Orthodox churches to be monophysite, along with the Coptic,
Abyssinian, Syriac, and Indian churches, which as a group are often
called the Lesser Orthodox Churches. This is not correct even though
the Armenians came to reject the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon (AD
451), a council which took place when the Armenians were at war with
Persia. The Armenian Church, with its sister churches, resented the
growing political and ecclesiastical power of Byzantium and Rome and
the fading prestige of Alexandria, Antioch and Caesarea as leading
Christian centers. Thus, it held to the earlier Christological
definition of St. Cyril of Alexandria at the council of Ephesus (AD
431), "the one nature united in the Incarnate Word of God." To speak
of "two natures" after the union, the Armenians insist, is to revert
to the Nestorian heresy and endanger the doctrine of redemption.
This doctrinal position taken by the Armenian Church has served to
separate it from the Chalcedonian churches and to have preserved its
individuality. On the other hand, it has caused great conflict with
the Byzantine Church, which frequently resorted to persecution (and
even mass deportations) in order to bring the Armenians into the
Orthodox fold. Later, during the period of the Cilician kingdom of the
Armenians, at the time of the Crusades, it brought the Armenians into
contention with the Roman Catholic Church. In modern times, it has
tended to separate the Armenians from the Russian Orthodox Church and
the tsarist government. The Armenian Church professes the Nicene
creed, at which council the Armenians were represented by St.
Aristakes (AD 325).
The Armenian Divine Liturgy (Mass) is consonant with the Orthodox and
Roman eucharistic services. Armenian practice retains an earlier
structural form of the liturgy, that of St. Basil of Caesarea, which
differs from current Orthodox practice only in external appearances.
For example, the Armenians still use a curtain to veil the sanctuary,
while the Greeks have an iconostasis. More controversially, the
Armenians use unleavened bread and wine unmixed with water in the
eucharist, and they add the words "who was crucified for us" in the
Trisagion. The Armenians differ from Rome in rejecting the "filioque"
in the Nicene creed, papal supremacy and infallibility, and, formerly,
communion in one kind. The Armenians continued to practice "the kiss
of peace," which has only lately been reinstated in the Roman rite.
The Armenian priests, as typical in the Eastern Church, are divided
into the monastic and parish clergy, with all the hierarchs coming
from the former group. Today, celibate priests often serve in
parishes. The Armenians celebrate Christmas on January 6, and they
observe Easter with the Western Church. The Church offices (services)
are in the classical Armenian written language, grabar.
Golden Age of Armenian Literature
After the conversion of the Armenians, church services were held in
Greek or Syriac, depending on the district. The Holy Scriptures were
read in church in one or the other of these languages, with an
immediate translation into Armenian made by a special order of clerics
called "Translators." This lack of a native writing system was seen by
the ecclesiastical and political leaders as inimical to both the
nurturing of Christianity and national cohesion. Consequently, the
Catholicos Sahak (Isaac) and King Vramshapuh appointed a learned monk,
Mesrob Mashtots, to devise an alphabet, which was finished in c. AD
400-404.
The invention of the Armenian alphabet--of 36 letters--brought on the
Golden Age of Armenian literature. Students were sent to the centers
of classical and Christian learning in Edessa, Caesarea,
Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and Athens, to prepare themselves
to translate the Bible, the liturgy, the important writing of Greek
and Syrian church fathers, and classical literature--Greek and
Latin--into Armenian. The Bible, translated from the Septuagint, was
finished in a few years; it and most of the Patristics were translated
within thirty years; but the whole process, including the translation
of secular books, lasted some two hundred years.
Interestingly, the first known translation of the Bible (Old and New
Testaments) was the Syriac (Beshito, second century AD); the second
was the Latin (Vulgate, AD 392); the third was the Coptic (early fifth
century); the fifth was the Abyssinian (Ethiopian, fifth century); the
sixth was the Armenian (fifth century); the seventh was the Georgian
(translated by St. Mesrob and his assistant, late fifth century); and
the eighth was the Slavonic (ninth century).
The "Holy Translators" are highly revered in the Armenian church. Many
of the works translated have since been lost in their Greek or Syriac
original, but have been preserved in the Armenian.
Original works were also composed during the Golden Age, including
works on history, philosophy, hagiography, homilies, hymns, and
apologetics. Later works on the sciences were written. While much has
been lost due to the ravages of war and time, many are preserved today
in the great library of the Matenadaran (in which, for example, there
are almost three hundred manuscripts of Aristotle's works) in Erevan
and in the Armenian monasteries at Jerusalem, Venice and Vienna. Thus,
the Armenian church provided the Armenian people with a strong
national culture just at the time the Armenian state was losing its
political independence. It has been the church, indeed, that has
preserved Armenian national consciousness during the many centuries in
which there was no Armenian state.
War for Religious Freedom (AD 451)
The newly aggressive Iran under the Sassanids sought to bring the
Armenians closer to its orbit by imposing Mazdaism (Zoroastrianism) on
the Armenians in its sector. A national resistance movement led by the
flower of the Armenian nobility (the nakharars) under the hero Vardan
Mamigonian (St. Vardan), the hereditary commander-in-chief of the
Armenian armed forces, met physical disaster on the plain of Avarayr
in AD 451. The war was immortalized by the national historian Eghishe
(Elisha). The battle of Vardanantz is still commemorated by the
Armenians as the preeminent national contest for religious
independence and freedom of conscience. Some thirty years later, the
nephew of Vardan, Vahan Mamigonian, and the Armenian nobles wrested
the Treaty of Nvarsak (AD 484) from the Persians, in which the
Armenians won freedom of religion.
Arab, Seljuk, Mongol Invasions
The rise of the Arabs once more shows how the Armenians were
dramatically effected by a major political change in the area. Armenia
soon fell (c. 650), along with most of the Near East, to the Arab
forces. Armenia alternatively suffered or prospered depending on who
held the Caliphate and the condition of public order. The
catholicosate was transferred from Dvin (where it had been moved from
Echmiadzin to be near the king) to the more secure city of Ani,
capital of the Bagratid Armenian princes. Finally in AD 885, after
much effort, Ashot Bagratuni secured appointment by the Caliph in
Baghdad and (in 886) by the Emperor in Constantinople as king of
Armenia. The royal house of the Bagratids was divided into two
branches, the Georgian Bagratunis (who passed into the Russian
nobility as the Bagrations) and the Armenian branch which ruled the
glorious medieval Armenian kingdom of Ani (885-1045).
This period witnessed a renaissance in trade, art, architecture,
translations, church and secular literature, and scientific studies.
Histories, such as those of Moses of Khoren, John of Drashanakert,
Thomas Arzruin, and Stepanos of Taron were written. Special mention
must be made of Moses of Kalankatui's History of Albania, and
important source for the history of Caspio-Albania. The revered [St.]
Gregory of Narek (AD 951-1003) wrote ecclesiastical poetry and hymns
which is still used in church offices. After the collapse of Ani, most
of western Armenia fell to Byzantium.
The defeat of the Byzantines by the Seljuks at the battle of Manzikert
[Manazgerd] in Armenia (AD 1071), brought all Armenia under Seljuk
rule. The devastating Mongol invasion began in 1220 and ended with the
occupation of Armenia in 1236. Unlike the Russians, the Armenian
elites eventually prospered under the Mongols, serving as agents and
being able to engage in international trade via the newly secured
routes through Central Asia to India and China. Furthermore, cordial
relations developed between the Mongols and the Armenian nobility. As
the Mongols declined in power, however, Armenia was devastated by
raiding bands of nomadic tribes. The final destruction came with the
invasion of the hordes of Timurlane c. 1400. Beginning in the tenth
century (perhaps earlier), many Armenian noblemen, their armies and
their people, fled southwest to Cilicia to take refuge in the mountain
fastnesses there.
Cilician Armenian Kingdom
In time, these immigrants grew so numerous and so powerful that they
established a principality which eventually became a kingdom.The
medieval Armenian kingdom of Cilicia (1080-1375) existed, under the
Rubenids (a junior branch of the Bagratids), among the Taurus and
Amanus mountains and along the Mediterranean coast to Alexandretta. It
enjoyed a high culture and great prosperity at a time when the
Armenian homeland was slowly falling into ruin. The catholicos, who
had taken refuge in the castle of Romkla on the Euphrates, moved
(1293) to Sis, the capital of Cilicia. The Cilician Armenians
fraternized with the Crusaders, and members of their nobility and
royal house intermarried with the "Latin" nobility. This last Armenian
kingdom fell in 1375; and the last Armenian king, Leo [Levon] V (VI),
died in exile (1393) in France and is buried in the abbey church of
Saint Denis, next to the tombs of the French kings to whom he was
related.
This Cilician period was productive of great wealth, substantial
learning, and a high culture. Specifically, it produced the most
glorious period of Armenian ecclesiastical manuscript illumination,
particularly under the school of Toros Roslin. It was also a period of
almost continuous negotiations, with the intent of reunion, between
the Armenians and both the Greek and the Latin churches. The records
of these negotiations reveal a great deal about Armenian church
doctrine and practice. Special attention must be called to the
correspondence of bishop Nerses, surnamed Shnorhali [the
Grace-filled], later Catholicos (1166-1173), particularly his
Apologia, to Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180) of Byzantium (who at the
same time was flirting with the Latins in the hope of military
support), and his Endhanrakan [Encyclical], documents which stand as
authoritative sources on Armenian ecclesiastical doctrine and
practice.
Latin influence was strong in Cilicia during the thirteenth century,
due particularly to the great military expeditions of Holy Roman
Emperor Frederick II (1228) and of King [St.] Louis IX (1248) and the
desire of the Armenian princes to acquire political and military
support. It was during this period that Italian colonies were
established in Cilicia and Armenian colonies were founded in Italy.
Venetian power, in particular, grew apace.
While the head of the Armenian Church lived in Cilicia (1294-1441),
ecclesiastical policies were closely tied to the well being of the
Armenian kingdom, which meant seeking a political and religious
accommodation with Rome and Byzantium. But with the failing power of
the Armenian kings, the "Eastern Divines" (anti-Greek and Roman
theologians from Armenia), fought for a return of the Catholicosate
from its "Babylonian Captivity" in Sis back home to Echmiadzin. They
realized a victory in 1441. Yet without political independence and a
strong central state power in the homeland, the church gained little
advantage save to avoid union.
One bright light in this otherwise dark period was the Catholicos
Mikael (Michael) of Sebastia (1542-1570), who inaugurated Armenian
printing by establishing presses in Venice, Echmiadzin, Isphahan and
Amsterdam, and who raised educational standards. The first printing of
the whole Bible in Armenian was done in Amsterdam in 1666.
Another pioneer of the reform movement was the Catholicos Movses
(Moses) of Tatev (1629-1632), who also obtained protection from the
Shah of Persia against local Muslim chieftains. His successors carried
on his work. A new vitality showed itself in the church during the
eighteenth century. Catholicos Simon of Erevan (1763-1780) was one of
the most capable personalities of the period. He founded a college in
Echmiadzin, expanded the use of printing in his educational
activities, and established the first regular contacts with the
Russian government.
The Ottoman Turks
Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, who had earlier accepted
Islam, in 1453. The Muslims make little distinction between the
functions of "church" and state as is done in the West. It was the
prophet Muhammad, himself, who first instituted the dhimma, or treaty,
defining the relationship between the "people of the Book" defeated in
a Jihad (Holy War), the dhimmi (tolerated people), and the power of
Islam. These treaties usually specified that the conquered "people of
the Book" (i.e., Jews and Christians), in return for submission and
the payment of a tax [jizya], would have protection for their lives,
religion, and property. This protection was denied to pagans.
Accordingly, Sultan Mohammed II, the "Conqueror," (1451-1481)
established the non- Muslim religious communities in the Ottoman
Empire as domestic self-governing entities under the hegemony of the
Sultan and his court officials. Thus, the Greeks were organized into a
community (millet, flock) and the Greek Patriarch was granted social
and civil governing privileges (granted rights) over his millet in
those areas which were connected with the Muslim concept of societal
responsibilities, such as contracts within the community, family life,
marriage, public instruction, charities, worship, clergy,
ecclesiastical administration, and the like.
The Armenians had been among the more favored subject peoples in the
Empire, and now Mohammed II sought to make them a counterbalance to
the Greeks in the capital. He expanded the Armenian colony in
Constantinople by bringing Armenians en masse from Brusa and near by
Asia Minor, and then he appointed (1461) their bishop, Hovakim, as
Armenian Patriarch over his millet, with privileges similar to those
accorded the Greek Patriarch.
All the Orthodox dyophysites, including the Greeks, Bulgarians,
Serbians, Syrians, Melkites, and Arabs, became associated through
their respective religious heads with the jurisdiction of the Greek
(Ecumenical) Patriarch; while the Orthodox monophysites, comprising
the Armenians, Syrians, Chaldaeans, Copts, Georgians, and Abyssinians,
became subject, through their respective heads, to the jurisdiction of
the Armenian Patriarch.
The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople became per force the
most influential ecclesiastic in the Armenian church, and he presided
over the Armenian catholicoses of Sis, Aghthamar, and Jerusalem, while
acknowledging the "spiritual" primacy of the Catholicos in Echmiadzin.
The Armenian church in the homeland, denied political security and
economic support, had fallen into a lamentable state. While Armenian
communities prospered in metropolitan trade centers in the Ottoman
Empire, Iran, India, Russia, Poland, and later in Egypt, the vast
Armenian peasantry in the Caucasus and, especially, in eastern
Anatolia suffered great privation and personal insecurity. While
individual clerics and church leaders did heroic work keeping alive
the Armenian Christian consciousness and a spark of learning in
Armenia and eastern Turkey, there is no splendid story to tell.
Istanbul became the thriving center of Armenian social, economic,
cultural, and religious life in the Empire, while the provinces
suffered under grinding poverty and increasingly horrifying misrule.
Armenian Catholics and Protestants
Francis I of France was the first Western ruler to acquire a treaty of
concessions, called capitulations, with the Ottoman Empire (1535).
This treaty of extraterritoriality attached to individuals (akin to
diplomatic immunity), gave the Latins, or Franks, as they were called,
unique political and civil protection within the Empire. Certain
Armenians, some with high motives, accepted union with Rome in order
to enjoy French protection. Thus the Armenian Uniate church came into
existence. Fewer than 1% of the Armenians belong to this church today.
The most famous of the Uniate clerics, Mekhitar of Sebastia, founded
the Mekhitarist religious order (1717), which even now has important
monastic centers of learning in Venice (San Lazar Island) and Vienna.
The political status of the Armenian Catholics was regularized in 1831
by the Sultan who established a "Catholic Millet" in the Empire.
American Protestant missionaries were sent to the Ottoman Empire,
beginning in the 1830s, by the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions. Since they were prohibited by law from converting
Muslims, they began to work among the indigenous "degenerate
Christians of the East." Being totally rejected by the proud Greeks,
who by then had an independent state of their own, they began to work
among the Armenians, who welcomed Western learning. Some Armenians
converted. In 1847 the Sultan, this time persuade by the American
protestants, established a "Protestant Millet." By 1891, the Americans
had founded nine colleges in the Ottoman Empire, six of which served
primarily Armenians.
While both of these new millets were nominally for all Ottoman
subjects in these confessions, they consisted primarily of Armenians.
Genocide
The Ottoman Empire at its zenith was well governed, and religious and
national minorities were treated as well as any place in the known
world. With its decline, however, the Empire became a corrupt and
backward state. Christians were treated as gavours (infidels) and
denied basic civil, religious, and human rights; and, at times, they
suffered dire persecutions.
In the nineteenth century, when so much of Europe was being inspired
by the ideas of the French revolution--liberty, equality, and
fraternity--reforming Sultans in the Ottoman Empire sought to bring
about progressive change under the banner of the Tanzimat. The
Armenian church was able to take advantage of the reform atmosphere
(under Abdul-Mejid [1839-1861] and Abdul-Aziz [1861-1876]) to
establish the Armenian National Constitution (1863), a liberal
document--involving substantial lay participation--by which the church
and the community (Millet) were governed.
The coming to power of Abdul-Hamid II (1876-1909) marked the end of
the Tanzimat, especially after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78.
Abdul-Hamid, who had witnessed the empire disintegrate in the Balkans
and the Caucasus under Russian pressure, decided to punish--through
periodic massacre--his subject Christians, whose general plight served
as an excuse for European intervention.
It was the Young Turks (1908-1917), however, inspired by neo-fascist
and pan-Turanian ideologies, who decided to rid themselves (under the
cover of World War I) of the Armenians.
The Armenian genocide of 1915-1916 effectively wiped out the Armenian
population of Turkey, claiming some 1.5 million victims. Perhaps
75,000 Armenians endure in Turkey today, most of them in Istanbul.
With the demise of the Armenian population of Turkey, the Armenian
Patriarchate has become--just like the Greek Patriarchate--a
melancholy anachronism.
Armenian Church in Russia
Russian expansion into Transcaucasia and eastern Anatolia (the
Armenian homeland) brought large numbers of Armenians into the Empire.
In 1836, Tsar Nicholas I (1825-1855) promulgated the polozhenye
(statutes), which governed the administration of the Armenian church,
and, by extension, Armenian community affairs. It gave the Armenians
some autonomy and established a Holy Synod to share power with the
Catholicos. The circumstances of the Russian Armenians were far
superior to those of their co-religionists in Turkey.
The Russification policies of Alexander III (1881-1894) and Nicholas
II (1894-1917) caused smoldering resentment in the Armenian church,
particularly as governmental policies affected Armenian parochial
schools. During the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, Armenian schools were
closed, Armenians were removed from the civil service, and church
properties were placed under governmental management (1903). It is
also suspected that the Russian governor-general was behind the
pogroms in the Baku oil fields in 1905, which left hundreds of
Armenians dead. Yet, by 1913, government policies towards the
Armenians changed in a positive direction, and a new era seemed to be
dawning for the Armenians and the Armenian church in Russia.
Mention must be made in this context of the Armenian national and
church hero Mkrtich Khrimian (endearingly called Hayrik, "little
father"), who was Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople (1869-1873) and
Catholicos in Echmiadzin (1892-1907). He was deposed as Patriarch by
the Sultan for his enthusiastic support of the Armenian cause in
Turkey, and he led the resistance against the tsar over the issue of
church properties in 1903. His life (1820-1907) was totally dedicated
to the protection of the Armenians both in Turkey and in Russia.
The Russian Revolutions of 1917
The February/March 1917 bourgeoisie revolution, which was warmly
welcomed by the Transcaucasians, caused the collapse of the Russian
front in Turkey. The native Russian Armenians and the Armenian
refugees from Turkey were thus put at risk of total annihilation by
the advancing Turkish army.
The Bolshevik revolution of October/November 1917 made matters worse.
In May 1918 the Transcaucasian Republic disintegrated, and on 30 May
(retroactive to May 28) the Armenians were forced to announce their
independence. Military matters went from bad to worse, especially
since the Bolsheviks sought and developed a rapprochement with Turkey.
On 30 November 1920, the leadership of the Armenian Republic accepted
the status of a Soviet Socialist Republic to secure Russian
protection, and in 1922 it was incorporated into the newly formed
Transcaucasian SFSR. The Soviet constitution of 1936 dissolved the
Transcaucasian Republic and made Armenia one of the union republics of
the USSR.
The Armenian church suffered grievously under Stalin, as did religion
in general in the Soviet Union. The situation during World War II was
only marginally better. In 1955, however, Vazgen I was elected to the
patriarchal throne and the situation in the Armenian church has
improved steadily ever since. Today there is an active seminary at
Echmiadzin, the veharan (home of the Catholicos) has been refurbished,
ecclesiastical museums built, churches restored, and Armenians from
all over the diaspora make frequent pilgrimages to the Mother See. The
Armenian SSR in general, and Echmiadzin in particular, are frequented
by Soviet and foreign visitors. The Catholicos is periodically allowed
to make trips to Europe and America to attend international
conferences and to visit his flocks.
Catholicosate of Cilicia
At the time catholicosate of the Armenians was returned to Echmiadzin
in 1441, the tradition of electing a "Catholicos of the Great House of
Cilicia" continued, as did the tradition of electing a catholicos in
Aghtamar (until 1915) with regional jurisdiction. The See was moved
from Sis to Antilias, Lebanon, following the Armenian genocide in
Turkey. The present occupant is Karekin II. While the Catholicos in
Echmiadzin is recognized as "Catholicos of All Armenians," as a
practical matter his jurisdiction over some dioceses in the Middle
East is presently nominal.
Until 1956, there were no fundamental disagreements between the two,
and the present contention is not doctrinal but administrative. During
the years 1953-1956, a dispute over the process by which the new
catholicos of Cilicia would be elected was aggravated by the Cold War
and the resultant temporary polarization of political division among
Armenians throughout the world. In 1956 the Catholicos of Cilicia
acquired the dioceses of Iran, Greece, and a split group in America.
This bifurcation now affects many Armenian church dioceses throughout
the world. Attempts to rectify this disharmony are currently being
made.
The Diaspora
The Armenians since the middle ages have been in large measure a
diaspora people. Today, there are perhaps 6,000,000 Armenians in the
world. Some 4,500,000 live in the USSR, of whom perhaps 3,400,000 live
in the Armenian SSR. The United States has an Armenian population of
500,000, and Canada has 45,000. France has some 250,000, while Iran
has 200,000, Lebanon 200,000, Syria 70,000, Argentina 65,000, and the
rest are scattered throughout colonies in Europe, the Middle East,
North Africa, South America, Australia, and Asia.
Each of these communities has an active church life and retains
important ties to the Mother See in Echmiadzin. While some dioceses
have primary allegiance to the Catholicos of Cilicia, probably nearly
a third of the Armenians in the diaspora, all Armenians continue to
acknowledge at least the titular primacy of the Catholicos of
Echmiadzin.
Armenian seminaries exist in Antilias, Jerusalem, New York, and in
Echmiadzin. Parochial schools are maintained all over the world
outside the USSR. Armenian involvement in the church in the diaspora
is very great; and church administration and governance involves a
high percentage of lay people. Lay delegates are involved in the
election of clerical leaders from the parish level up to the level of
the Catholicos.
There is every indication that the ancient Armenian church will
continue to contribute to the richness of the Christian ecumene into
the indefinite future.
Reproduced with permission from Dennis R. Papazian, Professor of
History, The University of Michigan, Dearborn.
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