Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia
Encyclopedia
The medieval
Kingdom of Armenia, also known as Bagratid Armenia , was an independent state established by Ashot I Bagratuni in 885 following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab
Umayyad
and Abbasid
rule. With the two contemporary powers in the region, the Abbasids and Byzantines
, too preoccupied to concentrate their forces in subjugating the people of the region and the dissipation of several of the Armenian nakharar
noble families, Ashot was able to assert himself as the leading figure of a movement to dislodge the Arabs from Armenia.
Ashot's prestige rose as he was courted by both Byzantine and Arab leaders eager to maintain a buffer state
near their frontiers. The Caliphate recognized Ashot as "prince of princes" in 862 and, later on, king in 884 or 885. The establishment of the Bagratuni kingdom later led to the founding of several other Armenian principalities and kingdoms: Lori-Tashir
, Taron
, Vaspurakan, Kars
, Khachen and Syunik
. Unity among all these states was sometimes difficult to maintain while the Byzantines
and Arabs lost no time in exploiting the kingdom's situation to their own gains. Under the reign of Ashot III
, Ani
became the kingdom's capital and grew into a thriving economic and cultural center.
The first half of the eleventh century saw the decline and eventual collapse of the kingdom. With emperor Basil II
's string of victories in annexing parts of southwestern Armenia, King Hovhannes-Smbat felt forced to cede his lands and in 1022 promised to "will" his kingdom to the Byzantines following his death. However, after Hovhannes-Smbat's death in 1041, his successor, Gagik II
, refused to hand over Ani and continued resistance until 1045, when his kingdom, plagued with internal and external threats, was finally taken by Byzantine forces.
The weakening of the Sassanian Empire during the 7th century led to the rise of another regional power, the Muslim
Arabs. The Umayyad
Arabs had conquered vast swaths of territory in the Middle East
and, turning north, began to periodically launch raids into Armenia territory in 640. Theodore Rshtuni, the Armenian Curopalates
, signed a peace treaty with the Caliphate although the continuing war with the Arabs and Byzantines soon lead to further destruction throughout Armenia. In 661, Armenian leaders agreed to submit under Muslim rule while the latter conceded to recognize Grigor Mamikonian from the powerful Mamikonian
nakharar
family as ishkhan (or prince) of Armenia. Known as "al-Arminiya" with its capital at Dvin
, the province was headed by an ostikan
, or governor.
However, Umayyad rule in Armenia grew in cruelty in the early 700s. Revolts against the Arabs spread throughout Armenia until 705, when under the pretext of meeting for negotiations, the Arab ostikan of Nakhichevan
virtually massacred the whole adult body of the Armenian nobility. The Arabs attempted to conciliate with the Armenians but the levying of higher taxes, impoverishment of the country due to a lack of regional trade, and the Umayyads' preference of the Bagratuni family over the Mamikonians (other notable families included the Artsruni
, Kamsarakan
, and Rshtuni
) made this difficult to accomplish. Taking advantage of the overthrow of the Umayyads by the 'Abbasids, a second rebellion was conceived although it too was met with failure partly because of the frictional relationship between the Bagratuni and Mamikonian families. The rebellion's failure also resulted in the near disintegration of the Mamikonian house which lost most of the land it controlled (members of the Artstruni house were able to escape and settle in Vaspurakan
).
A third and final rebellion, stemming from similar grievances as the second, was launched in 774 under the leadership of Mushegh Mamikonian and with the support of other nakharars. The Abbasid Arabs, however, marched into Armenia with an army of 30,000 men and decisively crushed the rebellion and its instigators at the battle of Bagrevand on April 24, 775, leaving a void for the sole largely intact family, the Bagratunis, to fill.
s to rule in newly created administrative districts (emirate
s). Fortunately for the Armenians, the number of Arabs residing in Armenia never grew in number to form a majority nor were the emirates fully subordinate to the Caliph. As historian George Bournoutian
observes, "this fragmentation of Arab authority provided the opportunity for the resurgence" of the Bagratuni family headed by Ashot Msaker (the "Meat-Eater").
Ashot began to annex the lands that formerly belonged to the Mamikonians and actively campaigned against the emirs as a sign of his allegiance to the Caliphate, who in 804 bestowed upon him the title of ishkhan. Upon his death in 826, Ashot bequeathed his land to two of his sons: the eldest, Bagarat Bagratuni received Taron
and Sasun and inherited the prestigious title of ishkhanats ishkhan, or prince of princes, whereas his brother, Smbat the Confessor, became the sparapet
of Sper
and Tayk
.
The brothers, however, were unable to resolve their differences with one another nor able to form a unified front against the Muslims. A new Armenian rebellion against Arab rule broke out in 850 led by Bagarat and Ashot Artsruni of Vaspurakan but like previous rebellions, it failed: an Arab army led by the Turkic
general Bugha al-Kabir
captured Bagarat, Smbat, and other Armenian princes and brutally put down the rebellion.
, whose successful military campaigns against the Arabs conclusively weakened Abbasid rule in Armenia. In 857, Smbat had been succeeded by his son Ashot I, who took a measured approach to gradually retake territories formerly held by the Arabs. He assumed the title prince of princes in 862 and appointed his brother Abas sparapet, as they began to push the Arabs out from their base in Tayk. His initial efforts to expel the ostikan of Arminiya failed, although this did not dissuade him in taking advantage of the Byzantine-Arab rivalry.
Early on, he was courted by a Byzantium desperate to secure its eastern flank so as to direct its full strength against the Arabs; although Ashot avowed his loyalty to the empire, Byzantine leaders continued their long-standing demand that the Armenian Church
make religious concessions to the Eastern Orthodox Church
. A synod of Armenian church leaders was convoked and a letter laden with equivocal wording sent to Constantinople
was able to sustain a temporary agreement between the two churches. In any case, religious differences mattered little to the Byzantines in consideration of the menace the Arabs continued to pose. In 884, the Caliph Al-Mu'tamid
, reacting to the demands of Armenian princes and religious leaders and, more importantly, the security risks in allowing Armenia to fall under the Byzantine orbit, sent a crown to Ashot, recognizing him as king. This act was not lost on Basil who similarly sent a crown to Ashot. Ashot relocated his throne to the fortress-city of Bagaran
and it was here where his coronation ceremony was held sometime in 884 or 885.
Thus, Ashot restored the Armenian monarchy and became Armenia's first king since 428. He secured the favor of both the Byzantines and Arabs but ultimately showed loyalty to Basil and chose to conclude an alliance with the Byzantines in 885. Ashot was not the sole Armenian prince of the region (other principalities existed in Syunik
, Vaspurakan, and Taron) yet he commanded the full support of the other princes who recognized his authority in his becoming of king. With his status of king, his authority also carried over to the neighboring states of Georgia
, Caucasian Albania
and several of the Arab emirates. Ashot's reign was brief and upon his death in 890, he was succeeded by his son Smbat I
.
Smbat I was crowned king in 892, following a brief attempt by his uncle Abas to disrupt his succession to the throne. Smbat continued his father's policy of maintaining cordial relations with Byzantium but he remained mindful of the Arabs' fears of the Armeno-Byzantine alliance. Speaking with the Arab ostikan Muhammad Ibn Abi'l-Saj
(Afshin), Smbat convinced him that the alliance would not only be for the dual benefit of Byzantium and Armenia but would also work to the economic favor of the Arabs. Smbat also achieved a major victory when on on April 21, 892, he recaptured the historic city of Dvin from the Arabs.
Smbat's successes shortly came to a halt when Afshin decided that he could not countenance a powerful Armenia so close to his domains. He retook Dvin and managed to take Smbat's wife as a hostage until she was released in exchange for Smbat's son and nephew. The wars against Armenia continued even after Afshin's death in 901, when his brother Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj
became ostikan of Arminiya. While Yusuf's reign was not immediately hostile, Smbat committed a series of blunders which led to several of his allies to turn their backs on him: having sought to placate his eastern ally, Smbat of Syunik, by ceding to him Nakhichevan city, Smbat inadvertently drove Gagik Artsruni of Vaspurakan into Yusuf's arms since the city was a part of Gagik's domains. Yusuf took advantage of this feud by awarding Gagik a crown in 908, thus making him King Gagik I of Vaspurakan and creating an Armenian state opposed to the one led by Smbat.
As Yusuf began a new campaign against Smbat in conjunction with Gagik in 909, neither the Byzantines nor the Caliph sent aid to Smbat; several Armenian princes also chose to withhold their support. Those who did ally with Smbat were dealt brutally by Yusuf's powerful army: Smbat's son Mushegh, his nephew Smbat Bagratuni, and Grigor II of Western Syunik were all poisoned. Yusuf's army ravaged the rest of Armenia as it advanced towards Blue Fortress, where Smbat had taken refuge, and besieged it for some time. Smbat finally decided to surrender himself to Yusuf in 914 in hopes of ending the Arab onslaught; Yusuf, however, showed no compassion towards his prisoner as he tortured the Armenian king to death and put his headless body on display on a cross in Dvin.
felt it appropriate to assume his father's throne. Ashot at once began to drive the Muslims out of his domains. Support for Ashot also arrived from the west: the Byzantine empress Zoe
had watched the Arab invasion of Armenia unfold with consternation and so she ordered the Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos
to write an official letter to the Armenian Catholicos
to form a new alliance with Armenia. The Catholicos responded amicably and in 914, Ashot accepted an invitation by Zoe to visit Constantinople. There, Ashot was well-received and a Byzantine force was created to assist Armenia in defeating the Arabs. The force, accompanying Ashot and led by the Domestic Leo Phocas
, moved out the next year and marched along Upper Euphrates
, entering Taron with scant opposition from the Arabs.
Meanwhile, Yusuf's efforts to crush Gagik had failed miserably; instead, Yusuf turned his attention to Ashot and attempted to weaken his position by crowning Ashot's cousin, Ashot Shapuhyan, king of Armenia. Ashot Shapuhyan's and Yusuf's armies, though, were unable to stop the Byzantine advance, which stopped short of capturing Dvin due to the onset of winter. Nevertheless, the force had returned Ashot to a powerful position in Armenia and managed to inflict heavy casualties against the Arabs. This still left Ashot, the anti-king, in control in Dvin and civil war raged on from 918 to 920, when the pretender finally conceded defeat. Numerous other rebellions in Armenia also took place but Ashot was able to defeat each one of them. In 919, Yusuf had instigated a failed rebellion against the Caliph and was replaced by a far more well-disposed ostikan, Subuk
. Subuk recognized Ashot as the legitimate ruler of Armenia and awarded him with the title of Shahanshah, or "king of kings."
Ironically, the Byzantines were distressed with Ashot's close relations with the Arabs and dispatched a new force under the Armenian Domestic of the Scholae John Kourkouas
to disrupt Ashot's position as king and to support the rebels fighting him. In 928, Kourkouas reached Dvin in an unsuccessful attempt to capture a city that was defended by both the Arabs and Ashot. In 923, the Caliph, facing troubles at home, released Yusuf, who traveled back to Armenia to unleash his fury against Armenia and especially Gagik I. He began demanding tribute from the Armenians rulers rule but faced considerable resistance by Ashot II. Time and again, Ashot was able to defeat and rout the Arab armies sent against him for several years. Finally, in 929, Yusuf died and an immense power struggle ensued between rival Iranian
and Kurdish
families in Azerbaijan
, thus reducing the Arab threat to Armenia. Byzantine emperor Romanus Lecapenus
also turned his attention from the east to fight the Arabs in Syria
. Ashot's efforts to preserve and defend the kingdom earned him the epithet
"Yerkat", or Iron; he died in 929 and was succeeded by his brother, Abas I
.
and Abas achieved numerous successes on both the foreign and domestic fronts. In the same year that he became king, Abas traveled to Dvin, where he was able to convince the Arab governor there to release several Armenian hostages and turn over control of the pontifical palace back to Armenia. Conflict between the Arabs were minimal too, with the exception of a military defeat Abas suffered near the city of Vagharshapat. He was far less conciliatory towards the Byzantines, who had repeatedly demonstrated their unreliability as allies by attacking and annexing Armenian territories. Fortunately for him, Romanus of Byzantium was more focused on fighting the Arab Hamdanids, leaving Abas virtually free to conduct his policies without foreign hindrance.
Another foreign threat that Abas steadfastly confronted was an invasion by king Ber of Abkhazia in 943: a new church had been completed in Kars under Abas' orders and prior to its consecration, Ber had appeared with an army along the river of the Araxes, demanding that the new church be consecrated under Chalcedonian
rite. Abas refused to make any concessions and ambushed Ber's forces in a dawn assault. Several more skirmishes took place, wherein Ber was finally captured by Abas' men. Abas took the king to his new church and told him that he would never see it again, blinding
him and sending him back to Abkhazia. Abas died in 953, leaving his kingdom to his two sons, Ashot III and Mushegh.
Ashot III
's official investiture
as king of Armenia took place in 961, following the relocation of the Holy See from Vaspurakan to Argina, near the city of Ani
. In attendance were several contingents of the Armenian military, 40 bishops, the king of Caucasian Albania, as well as Catholicos Anania Mokatsi who crowned the king with the title of shahanshah. In that same year, Ashot had also relocated the capital from Kars to Ani. The Bagratuni kings had never chosen a city to settle in, alternating from Bagaran
to Shirakavan
to Kars; Kars never did reach a status where it could become a capital and Dvin was disregarded altogether, given its proximity to the hostile emirates. Ani's natural defenses were well suited Ashot's desire to secure an area which could withstand siege and fell on a trade route that passed from Dvin to Trebizond.
Owing to this trade route, the city quickly began to grow and became Bagratuni Armenia's chief political, cultural and economic center. Shops, markets, workshops, inns were established by the city's merchants and populace while the nakharar elite went on to sponsor the building of magnificent mansions and palaces. The construction was also complemented by the King Ashot's own philanthropy, including the building of the famed "Ashotashen" walls that were erected around Ani, monasteries, hospitals, schools, and almshouses (his wife Khosrovanuysh also founded the monastery complexes at Sanahin
in 966 and Haghpat
in 976). Ashot's sponsorship of the construction of all these edifices earned him the nickname of "Voghormats", or "the Merciful." Ashot was also largely successful in foreign affairs. When a Byzantine army led by the Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes
entered Taron in 973, purportedly to avenge the death of his Domestic killed at the hands of the Arabs in Mosul
, Ashot mobilized an 80,000 man army to meet and force its withdrawal. In the following year, he concluded an alliance with Tzimiskes and sent 10,000 Armenian troops to campaign with the emperor against the Muslim emirates in Aleppo
and Mosul. Ashot also had unsuccessfully attempted to capture Dvin from the Shaddadid
emir in 953; he had laid siege to it for quite some time but was forced to lift it after finding the city too well defended.
, the progenitor of the Kyurikid line, in 966, who would later assume the title of king. The proliferation of so many kingdoms worked to the benefit of Armenia so long as the king in Ani remained strong and maintained his hegemony over other kings. Otherwise, the kings, as well their respective bishops who would claim the position of catholicos and formulate their own doctrines, would begin to test the limits of their autonomy.
. Ani had grown so large by the time of Smbat's accession in 977, that a second set of walls, known as the Smbatashen walls, were ordered built by the new king.
's numerous victories against the Arabs and internal Arab struggles helped clear a path towards the Caucasus. Constantinople's official policy was that no Christian ruler is equal to or independent of the Byzantine emperor, and even if it was at time masked with diplomatic compromises, the empire's ultimate goal was the complete annexation of the Armenian realms. By the middle of the tenth century, the Byzantine Empire lay along the full length of the western border of Armenia. Taron was the first Armenian region annexed by the Byzantine Empire. In a certain sense, the Byzantines considered the Bagratuni princes of Taron as their vassals, for they had consistently accepted titles, such as that of strategos, and stipends from Constantinople. With the death of Ashot Bagratuni of Taron in 967 (not to be confused with Ashot III
, his sons were not able to withstand the pressure from the empire, which annexed their principality outright and converted it to a theme.
This was soon followed by the annexation of the lands ruled by the curopalate David of Tayk to whom he had left territories in 979. In three campaigns in 1001, 1014, and 1021 or 1022, Karin
, Manazkert, as well as David's own hereditary principality of Tayk
were annexed to the Byzantine empire as the Theme of Iberia with Karin (called Theodosiopolis by the Byzantines) as its capital. This wide arc of lands comprised the western border regions of Armenia and curved eastward deep into the central plateau to reach as far as Manazkert north of Lake Van.
The Ardzruni kingdom of Vaspurakan was later annexed as well. In 1003, the last ruler of the kingdom Senekerim-Hovhannes, son-in-law of King Gagik I of Ani, had brushed aside his nephews to become the sole king of Vaspurakan. His rule became even more precarious in the second decade of the eleventh century with the plundering raids of various Turkmen
groups. In 1016, Senekerim-Hovhannes thus offered Basil II the lands of Vaspurakan, including 72 fortresses and 3000-4000 villages, in exchange for a vast domain farther west on the Byzantine territory centered on the city of Sebastia to which he moved in 1021 together with his family and 14,000 retainers. Basil II had meanwhile already sent an army from the Balkans to Vaspurakan (which they also called Basprakania, Asprakania, or Media) even before Senekerim-Hovhannes' offer and reduced it to another Byzantine theme with Van as regional capital. With the fall of the Ardzruni kingdom, Byzantine power was firmly established on the Armenian highlands, with only the Bagratuni and Eastern Syunik and Baghk
kingdoms remaining independent.
who received the territory of Ani and Ashot IV the Brave who kept a territory that should have included Dvin, but which he could not occupy because of its capture by Kurdish Shaddadids from Gandzak
. The two brothers fought throughout their lives. In these tumultuous days, embroiled in territorial quarrels, the childless Hovhannes-Smbat sent the catholicos Petros Getadarts to Byzantium in order to negotiate a partial respite by leaving his kingdom to the empire after his death. Immediate results of this action were unknown, but after the death of the two brothers in 1040-1041, the new Byzantine emperor and successor to Basil II claimed the kingdom of Bagratid Armenia. The son of Ashot, young Gagik II with the support of sparapet Vahram Pahlavouni and his followers, reigned only for a period of two years. Despite internal dissention led by pro-Byzantine overseer or stuard Sargis Haykazn, the Armenian king was able to repel a Turkmen attack. However, possibly with the persuasion of Sargis, he accepted the invitation of emperor Constantine IX to Constantinople, where he was obliged to cede his domain to the empire in exchange for a domain in Cappadocia
. In 1044, the Byzantines twice invaded Ani but failed to conquer it. In view of this dire situation, Catholicos Petros Getadarts, who governed Ani in the king's absence, surrendered Ani to the Byzantines in 1045. Ani was then annexed to the Theme of Iberia which was renamed "Iberia and Ani" or "Iberia and Armenia". 1045 is also remembered as the year when Armenian sovereignty in its traditional homeland was lost for a period of more than 850 years.
The Bagratid king of Kars, Gagik-Abas, still kept his throne even after 1064 when Ani fell to the Seljuk Turks, but even he was constrained to cede his lands to the Byzantines and retreat to Anatolia, only to see Kars captured by the Turks in 1065. In Baghk and Eastern Syunik, only a few Armenian fortresses remained.
, however, did not exist and insubordination by the nakharar elite could only be matched by the steadfastness of the king himself.
but there were elements in Armenian society who also adhered to the Eastern Orthodox Church
, the official religion of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium repeatedly demanded for communion with the Armenian Church as prerequisite for sending aid to the Bagratunis but most attempts failed to bear any fruit.
In the mid-tenth century, a new internal challenge to the authority of the Armenian Church and the kingdom arose when the Tondrakians
experienced a revival. An anti-feudal and heretical Christian sect that had been crushed by the Arabs with the Armenian Church’s support in the ninth century, the Tondrakian movement attracted many followers during this period. Ashot III had realized the danger the Tondrakians posed against the kingdom and this was of his reasons why he directly subjected the Church to him, gave it lands, and sponsored the construction of new monasteries and churches. The message of the Tondrakians, however, continued to spread and successive Armenian kings would work to suppress its expansion.
based on feudalism
and the other which was concentrated on mercantilism
in towns and cities. Peasants (known as ramiks) formed the lowest class in the economic stratum and largely busied themselves with raising livestock
and farming. Many of them did not own land, and lived as tenants and worked as hired hands or even slaves on the lands owned by wealthy feudal magnates. Peasants were forced to pay heavy taxes to the government and the Armenian Apostolic Church in addition to their feudal lords. Most peasants remained poor and the massive tax burden they shouldered sometimes culminated in peasant uprisings which the state was forced to put down.
The Bagratuni kingdom did not mint any of its own coins, and used the currency found in Byzantium and the Arab Caliphate. The expanded trade between Byzantium and the Caliphate established several trades routes which ran across Armenia. The most important route began from Trebizond, in Byzantium, and from there it connected to the cities of Ani, Kars, and Artsn. The city of Kars allowed trade to move north, to ports on the Black Sea
and to Abkhazia
; other routes were connected to cities in Anatolia
and Iran
; and the main route leading from the Caliphate to Kievan Rus was known as the "Great Armenian Highway." Ani did not lie along any previously important trade routes, but because of its size, power, and wealth it became an important trading hub. From Ani, Armenia exported textiles, metalwork, armor, jewelry, horses, cattle, salt, wine, honey, timber
, leather, and furs. Its primary trading partners were the Byzantine Empire, the Arabs but also traded with Kievan Rus and Central Asia
. Armenian-populated Dvin remained an important city on par with Ani, as evidenced in a vivid description by the Arab historian and geographer al-Mukadasi:
Dvin became famous throughout the Arab world for its wool and silk production and the export of pillows, rugs, curtains and covers. A village named Artashat near Dvin was so prominent a center for the production of cochineal
, that it received the name vordan karmiri gyugh ("red-worm village") for the distinctive red dye that was derived from worms. Cochineal and other Armenian goods were extensively found throughout the caliphate and for their eminence were referred to by Arabs as "asfin al-Armani" ("Armenian products").
specified that Armenian was used in Dvin
and Nakhichevan
. Regardless, there was a notable a Muslim presence in certain regions of Armenia. For instance, the southern region of Aghdznik
was heavily Arabized since earlier periods of Muslim dominance. On the north shore of Lake Van in the ninth and tenth centuries, there was also a considerable Muslim population that consisted of ethnic Arabs, and later Kurds
and Dailamites
from Azerbaijan.
The Arab raids and invasion of Armenia as well as the devastation wrought upon the land during the Byzantine-Arab wars
had largely stifled any expression of Armenian culture in fields such as historiography
, literature
and architecture
. These restrictions disappeared when the Bagratuni kingdom was established, ushering in a new golden age of Armenian culture.
The lack of a strong Arab presence saw a rise in the number of historian
s, who wrote and documented the relations between Armenia and other countries and described many events that took place from the seventh to eleventh centuries. Thanks to the patronage of the kings and nobles, monasteries became centers for the study and writing of literature throughout the kingdom. The monasteries of Haghpat
and Sanahin were well-known centers for higher learning. Notable figures in Armenian literature and philosophy during this period included the mystic Grigor Narekatsi and Grigor Magistros.
The art of illuminated manuscript
s and miniatures
illustrations were also revived during this era. The relative period of peace between Byzantium and Armenia during the second half of the tenth century led to a great deal of interaction between Armenian artists and their Greek counterparts. Armenian manuscript authors tended either to stress the natural look of the human body in illustrations or to forgo it and instead concentrate on the aspect of decoration.
Armenian architecture during the Bagratuni era was especially prominent and "most of the surviving churches in present-day Armenia are from this period." The city of Ani, situated on the important trade intersection between the Byzantines, Arabs, and merchants of other countries, grew throughout the ninth century both commercially and culturally, earning renown for its "40 gates and 1,001 churches." The churches of this period expanded on seventh century designs; they were often steeper in elevation, introduced donor portraits in the round and incorporated ideas from Byzantine and Islamic architecture. Armenian churches were invariably built out of stone or tuff
and had vaulted ceilings which supported a cylindrical dome. Many churches and other forms of architecture suffered vandalism or outright destruction following the Seljuk invasions of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Kingdom of Armenia, also known as Bagratid Armenia , was an independent state established by Ashot I Bagratuni in 885 following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
and Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
rule. With the two contemporary powers in the region, the Abbasids and Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, too preoccupied to concentrate their forces in subjugating the people of the region and the dissipation of several of the Armenian nakharar
Nakharar
Nakharar was a hereditary title of the highest order given to houses of the ancient and medieval Armenian nobility.-Nakharar system:Medieval Armenia was divided into large estates, which were the property of an enlarged noble family and were ruled by a member of it, to whom the title of Nahapet...
noble families, Ashot was able to assert himself as the leading figure of a movement to dislodge the Arabs from Armenia.
Ashot's prestige rose as he was courted by both Byzantine and Arab leaders eager to maintain a buffer state
Buffer state
A buffer state is a country lying between two rival or potentially hostile greater powers, which by its sheer existence is thought to prevent conflict between them. Buffer states, when authentically independent, typically pursue a neutralist foreign policy, which distinguishes them from satellite...
near their frontiers. The Caliphate recognized Ashot as "prince of princes" in 862 and, later on, king in 884 or 885. The establishment of the Bagratuni kingdom later led to the founding of several other Armenian principalities and kingdoms: Lori-Tashir
Kingdom of Lori
Kingdom of Lori alternatively known as the Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget or Kingdom of Albania, was an Armenian kingdom formed during the breakup of Bagratuni Armenia. The kingdom encompassed territories of modern-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia....
, Taron
Taron
Taron may refer to: * Taron , a region of historic Armenia* Taron , an ethnic group in Myanmar* Taron, a genus of gastropods in the family Fasciolariidae...
, Vaspurakan, Kars
Kars
Kars is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. The population of the city is 73,826 as of 2010.-Etymology:As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography as part of ancient Armenia...
, Khachen and Syunik
Syunik
Syunik is the southernmost province of Armenia. It borders the Vayots Dzor marz to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave to the west, Karabakh to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital is Kapan. Other important cities and towns include Goris, Sisian, Meghri, Agarak, and Dastakert...
. Unity among all these states was sometimes difficult to maintain while the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and Arabs lost no time in exploiting the kingdom's situation to their own gains. Under the reign of Ashot III
Ashot III
Ashot III the Merciful also known as Ashot the Gracious was an Armenian king. He ruled from Armenia's capital city of Ani....
, Ani
Ani
Ani is a ruined and uninhabited medieval Armenian city-site situated in the Turkish province of Kars, near the border with Armenia. It was once the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present day Armenia and eastern Turkey...
became the kingdom's capital and grew into a thriving economic and cultural center.
The first half of the eleventh century saw the decline and eventual collapse of the kingdom. With emperor Basil II
Basil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
's string of victories in annexing parts of southwestern Armenia, King Hovhannes-Smbat felt forced to cede his lands and in 1022 promised to "will" his kingdom to the Byzantines following his death. However, after Hovhannes-Smbat's death in 1041, his successor, Gagik II
Gagik II
Gagik II of Ani was the last Bagratuni King of Ani from 1042 to 1045.-Historical background:During the reign of John Smbat III, a feudal lord, David, who owned Taik during his battles against the Muslims, gained a large area which stretched all the way to Manzikert...
, refused to hand over Ani and continued resistance until 1045, when his kingdom, plagued with internal and external threats, was finally taken by Byzantine forces.
Background
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
Arabs. The Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
Arabs had conquered vast swaths of territory in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and, turning north, began to periodically launch raids into Armenia territory in 640. Theodore Rshtuni, the Armenian Curopalates
Curopalates
Kouropalatēs, Latinized as curopalates or curopalata and Anglicized as curopalate, was a Byzantine court title, one of the highest from the time of Emperor Justinian I to that of the Komnenoi in the 12th century...
, signed a peace treaty with the Caliphate although the continuing war with the Arabs and Byzantines soon lead to further destruction throughout Armenia. In 661, Armenian leaders agreed to submit under Muslim rule while the latter conceded to recognize Grigor Mamikonian from the powerful Mamikonian
Mamikonian
Mamikonian, Mamikoneans, or Mamigonian was a noble family which dominated Armenian politics between the 4th and 8th century. They ruled the Armenian regions of Taron, Sasun, Bagrevand and others...
nakharar
Nakharar
Nakharar was a hereditary title of the highest order given to houses of the ancient and medieval Armenian nobility.-Nakharar system:Medieval Armenia was divided into large estates, which were the property of an enlarged noble family and were ruled by a member of it, to whom the title of Nahapet...
family as ishkhan (or prince) of Armenia. Known as "al-Arminiya" with its capital at Dvin
Dvin
Dvin was a large commercial city and the capital of early medieval Armenia. It was situated north of the previous ancient capital of Armenia, the city of Artaxata, along the banks of the Metsamor River, 35 km to the south of modern Yerevan...
, the province was headed by an ostikan
Ostikan
Ostikan was the title of various oriental provincial governors.-Arab caliphate:After the prophet Mohammed and his testator heir and successor Abu Bakr has established the theocratic rule of Islam on most of the sparsely populated Arabian peninsula, the armies of the next caliphs victoriously...
, or governor.
However, Umayyad rule in Armenia grew in cruelty in the early 700s. Revolts against the Arabs spread throughout Armenia until 705, when under the pretext of meeting for negotiations, the Arab ostikan of Nakhichevan
Nakhichevan
The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is a landlocked exclave of Azerbaijan. The region covers 5,363 km² and borders Armenia to the east and north, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the northwest...
virtually massacred the whole adult body of the Armenian nobility. The Arabs attempted to conciliate with the Armenians but the levying of higher taxes, impoverishment of the country due to a lack of regional trade, and the Umayyads' preference of the Bagratuni family over the Mamikonians (other notable families included the Artsruni
Artsruni
Artsruni was an ancient Armenian noble family that claimed descent from Sennacherib, King of Assyria . Although it mirrors the Bagratuni claim of Davidic descent and the Mamikonian claim of descent from the royal Han Dynasty, it is usually interpreted as a piece of genealogical mythology...
, Kamsarakan
Kamsarakan
Kamsarakan was an Armenian noble family that was an offshoot of the Karen-Pahlav Clan, one of the seven great houses of Parthia of Persian Arsacid origin.Most of their lands were acquired by the Bagratuni during the last quarter of the eight century....
, and Rshtuni
Rshtuni
Rshtuni was an old Armenian noble house which ruled the region of Rshtuniq who were purportedly descendants of Rusas I of Urartu.The first attested member of the house is Manadjihr Rshtuni from about 330, brother of Zora, attested in 335 and 350 both of whom revolted against the King of Armenia...
) made this difficult to accomplish. Taking advantage of the overthrow of the Umayyads by the 'Abbasids, a second rebellion was conceived although it too was met with failure partly because of the frictional relationship between the Bagratuni and Mamikonian families. The rebellion's failure also resulted in the near disintegration of the Mamikonian house which lost most of the land it controlled (members of the Artstruni house were able to escape and settle in Vaspurakan
Vaspurakan
Vaspurakan was the first and biggest province of Greater Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered around Lake Van...
).
A third and final rebellion, stemming from similar grievances as the second, was launched in 774 under the leadership of Mushegh Mamikonian and with the support of other nakharars. The Abbasid Arabs, however, marched into Armenia with an army of 30,000 men and decisively crushed the rebellion and its instigators at the battle of Bagrevand on April 24, 775, leaving a void for the sole largely intact family, the Bagratunis, to fill.
Rise of the Bagratids
The Bagratuni family had done its best to improve its relations with the Abbasid caliphs ever since they took power in 750. The Abbasids always treated the family's overtures with suspicion but by the early 770s, the Bagratunis had won them over and the relationship between the two drastically improved: the Bagratuni family members were soon viewed as leaders of the Armenians in the region. Following the end of the third rebellion, which the Bagratunis had wisely chosen not to participate in, and the dispersal of several of the princely houses, the family was left without any formidable rivals. Nevertheless, any immediate opportunities to take full control of the region was complicated by Arab immigration to Armenia and the caliph's appointment of emirEmir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
s to rule in newly created administrative districts (emirate
Emirate
An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by a dynastic Muslim monarch styled emir.-Etymology:Etymologically emirate or amirate is the quality, dignity, office or territorial competence of any emir ....
s). Fortunately for the Armenians, the number of Arabs residing in Armenia never grew in number to form a majority nor were the emirates fully subordinate to the Caliph. As historian George Bournoutian
George Bournoutian
George A. Bournoutian is a Senior Professor of History at Iona College. He is the author of numerous books on Armenian history and has taught Armenian history at Columbia University, Tufts University, New York University, Rutgers University, the University of Connecticut, Ramapo College, and...
observes, "this fragmentation of Arab authority provided the opportunity for the resurgence" of the Bagratuni family headed by Ashot Msaker (the "Meat-Eater").
Ashot began to annex the lands that formerly belonged to the Mamikonians and actively campaigned against the emirs as a sign of his allegiance to the Caliphate, who in 804 bestowed upon him the title of ishkhan. Upon his death in 826, Ashot bequeathed his land to two of his sons: the eldest, Bagarat Bagratuni received Taron
Taron
Taron may refer to: * Taron , a region of historic Armenia* Taron , an ethnic group in Myanmar* Taron, a genus of gastropods in the family Fasciolariidae...
and Sasun and inherited the prestigious title of ishkhanats ishkhan, or prince of princes, whereas his brother, Smbat the Confessor, became the sparapet
Sparapet
Sparapet was a hereditary military rank that originated in the 2nd century BC, under the reign of King Artashes I, and was used in the Kingdom of Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , was supreme commander of the armed forces. It was the equivalent of the Parthian Spahbod Sparapet was a...
of Sper
Sper
Sper may refer to:*Sper , ancient Georgian principality*Sper , old region of old Armenia*South Pacific Electric Railway, which operates the Sydney Tramway Museum...
and Tayk
Tayk
Tayk was a historical province of the Greater Armenia, one of its 15 ashkars . Tayk consisted of 8 cantons:* Kogh* Berdats por* Partizats por* Tchakatk* Bokha* Vokaghe* Azordats por* Arsiats por....
.
The brothers, however, were unable to resolve their differences with one another nor able to form a unified front against the Muslims. A new Armenian rebellion against Arab rule broke out in 850 led by Bagarat and Ashot Artsruni of Vaspurakan but like previous rebellions, it failed: an Arab army led by the Turkic
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
general Bugha al-Kabir
Bugha al-Kabir
Bugha al-Kabir al-Sharabi or Bugha the Elder, also known as Bugha al-Turki , was a 9th-century Turkic general who served the Abbasids....
captured Bagarat, Smbat, and other Armenian princes and brutally put down the rebellion.
Establishment of the Kingdom
Armenian fortunes were reversed in 867 with the accession of the Armenian emperor of Byzantium Basil IBasil I
Basil I, called the Macedonian was a Byzantine emperor of probable Armenian descent who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a simple peasant in the Byzantine theme of Macedonia, he rose in the imperial court, and usurped the imperial throne from Emperor Michael III...
, whose successful military campaigns against the Arabs conclusively weakened Abbasid rule in Armenia. In 857, Smbat had been succeeded by his son Ashot I, who took a measured approach to gradually retake territories formerly held by the Arabs. He assumed the title prince of princes in 862 and appointed his brother Abas sparapet, as they began to push the Arabs out from their base in Tayk. His initial efforts to expel the ostikan of Arminiya failed, although this did not dissuade him in taking advantage of the Byzantine-Arab rivalry.
Early on, he was courted by a Byzantium desperate to secure its eastern flank so as to direct its full strength against the Arabs; although Ashot avowed his loyalty to the empire, Byzantine leaders continued their long-standing demand that the Armenian Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
make religious concessions to the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
. A synod of Armenian church leaders was convoked and a letter laden with equivocal wording sent to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
was able to sustain a temporary agreement between the two churches. In any case, religious differences mattered little to the Byzantines in consideration of the menace the Arabs continued to pose. In 884, the Caliph Al-Mu'tamid
Al-Mu'tamid
This article is about the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tamid of Baghdad. For the Andalusi Arabic poet who was also the Abbadid king of Seville, see Muhammad Ibn Abbad Al Mutamid...
, reacting to the demands of Armenian princes and religious leaders and, more importantly, the security risks in allowing Armenia to fall under the Byzantine orbit, sent a crown to Ashot, recognizing him as king. This act was not lost on Basil who similarly sent a crown to Ashot. Ashot relocated his throne to the fortress-city of Bagaran
Bagaran
Bagaran is a town and former fortress in the Armavir Province of Armenia, located 5 kilometers west of the right bank of the Akhurian River, and formerly a capital of Armenia....
and it was here where his coronation ceremony was held sometime in 884 or 885.
Thus, Ashot restored the Armenian monarchy and became Armenia's first king since 428. He secured the favor of both the Byzantines and Arabs but ultimately showed loyalty to Basil and chose to conclude an alliance with the Byzantines in 885. Ashot was not the sole Armenian prince of the region (other principalities existed in Syunik
Syunik
Syunik is the southernmost province of Armenia. It borders the Vayots Dzor marz to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave to the west, Karabakh to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital is Kapan. Other important cities and towns include Goris, Sisian, Meghri, Agarak, and Dastakert...
, Vaspurakan, and Taron) yet he commanded the full support of the other princes who recognized his authority in his becoming of king. With his status of king, his authority also carried over to the neighboring states of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Caucasian Albania
Caucasian Albania
Albania is a name for the historical region of the eastern Caucasus, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of...
and several of the Arab emirates. Ashot's reign was brief and upon his death in 890, he was succeeded by his son Smbat I
Smbat I
Smbat I , known as "the Martyr", was King of Armenia of the Bagratuni dynasty, son of Ashot I and the father of Ashot II Yerkat and Abas I. His rule was a period of unending wars against the Arab conquerors and the rebellious Armenian nobles...
.
Smbat I
Muhammad Ibn Abi'l-Saj
Muhammad al-Afshin , an Iranian appoined general of Mo'tazed, was the first Sajid amir of Azerbaijan, from 889 or 890 until his death. He was the son of Abi'l-Saj Devdad.-Early career:...
(Afshin), Smbat convinced him that the alliance would not only be for the dual benefit of Byzantium and Armenia but would also work to the economic favor of the Arabs. Smbat also achieved a major victory when on on April 21, 892, he recaptured the historic city of Dvin from the Arabs.
Smbat's successes shortly came to a halt when Afshin decided that he could not countenance a powerful Armenia so close to his domains. He retook Dvin and managed to take Smbat's wife as a hostage until she was released in exchange for Smbat's son and nephew. The wars against Armenia continued even after Afshin's death in 901, when his brother Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj
Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj
Yusuf ibn Abi'l Saj was the Sajid amir of Azerbaijan from 901 until his death. He was the son of Abi'l-Saj Devdad.-War with Armenians and Georgians:...
became ostikan of Arminiya. While Yusuf's reign was not immediately hostile, Smbat committed a series of blunders which led to several of his allies to turn their backs on him: having sought to placate his eastern ally, Smbat of Syunik, by ceding to him Nakhichevan city, Smbat inadvertently drove Gagik Artsruni of Vaspurakan into Yusuf's arms since the city was a part of Gagik's domains. Yusuf took advantage of this feud by awarding Gagik a crown in 908, thus making him King Gagik I of Vaspurakan and creating an Armenian state opposed to the one led by Smbat.
As Yusuf began a new campaign against Smbat in conjunction with Gagik in 909, neither the Byzantines nor the Caliph sent aid to Smbat; several Armenian princes also chose to withhold their support. Those who did ally with Smbat were dealt brutally by Yusuf's powerful army: Smbat's son Mushegh, his nephew Smbat Bagratuni, and Grigor II of Western Syunik were all poisoned. Yusuf's army ravaged the rest of Armenia as it advanced towards Blue Fortress, where Smbat had taken refuge, and besieged it for some time. Smbat finally decided to surrender himself to Yusuf in 914 in hopes of ending the Arab onslaught; Yusuf, however, showed no compassion towards his prisoner as he tortured the Armenian king to death and put his headless body on display on a cross in Dvin.
Resurgence under Ashot Yerkat
Yusuf's invasion of Armenia had left the kingdom in ruins and this fact resonated among the Armenian princes who were left aghast in witnessing the Arab ostikan's brutality. Gagik I was especially shaken and he soon disavowed his loyalty to Yusuf and began to campaign against him. With Yusuf distracted by the resistance put up by his former ally, Smbat's son Ashot IIAshot II
Ashot II the Iron was an Armenian King, the son of King Smbat I. His reign was filled with rebellions by pretenders to the throne, and foreign invasions, which Ashot fought off successfully. This is how he got the epithet the Iron. In 914, Ashot II visited Constantinople to get aid from Byzantine...
felt it appropriate to assume his father's throne. Ashot at once began to drive the Muslims out of his domains. Support for Ashot also arrived from the west: the Byzantine empress Zoe
Zoe Karbonopsina
Zoe Karbonopsina, also Karvounopsina or Carbonopsina, i.e., "with the Coal-Black Eyes" , was fourth wife of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise and the mother of Constantine VII....
had watched the Arab invasion of Armenia unfold with consternation and so she ordered the Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos
Nicholas Mystikos
Nicholas I Mystikos or Nicholas I Mysticus was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from March 901 to February 906 and from May 912 to his death in 925. His feast day in the Orthodox Church is May 16.Nicholas was born in the Italian Peninsula and had become a friend of the Patriarch Photios...
to write an official letter to the Armenian Catholicos
Catholicos
Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases is borne by the designated head of an autonomous church, in which case the holder might have other titles such as Patriarch...
to form a new alliance with Armenia. The Catholicos responded amicably and in 914, Ashot accepted an invitation by Zoe to visit Constantinople. There, Ashot was well-received and a Byzantine force was created to assist Armenia in defeating the Arabs. The force, accompanying Ashot and led by the Domestic Leo Phocas
Leo Phocas
Leo Phokas was an early 10th-century Byzantine general of the noble Phokas clan. As Domestic of the Schools, he led a large-scale campaign against the Bulgarians in 917, but was heavily defeated. He then plotted to seize the throne, but was outmaneuvered however by the admiral Romanos Lekapenos...
, moved out the next year and marched along Upper Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
, entering Taron with scant opposition from the Arabs.
Meanwhile, Yusuf's efforts to crush Gagik had failed miserably; instead, Yusuf turned his attention to Ashot and attempted to weaken his position by crowning Ashot's cousin, Ashot Shapuhyan, king of Armenia. Ashot Shapuhyan's and Yusuf's armies, though, were unable to stop the Byzantine advance, which stopped short of capturing Dvin due to the onset of winter. Nevertheless, the force had returned Ashot to a powerful position in Armenia and managed to inflict heavy casualties against the Arabs. This still left Ashot, the anti-king, in control in Dvin and civil war raged on from 918 to 920, when the pretender finally conceded defeat. Numerous other rebellions in Armenia also took place but Ashot was able to defeat each one of them. In 919, Yusuf had instigated a failed rebellion against the Caliph and was replaced by a far more well-disposed ostikan, Subuk
Subuk
Subuk was a ghulam who gained the governorship of Azerbaijan in 919 and held it for three years.In 919 Subuk's master, the Sajid Yusuf Ibn Abu'l-Saj, was captured by forces of the caliph, who he had been at war with. Acting in order to protect Yusuf's interests, Subuk took control of Azerbaijan...
. Subuk recognized Ashot as the legitimate ruler of Armenia and awarded him with the title of Shahanshah, or "king of kings."
Ironically, the Byzantines were distressed with Ashot's close relations with the Arabs and dispatched a new force under the Armenian Domestic of the Scholae John Kourkouas
John Kourkouas
John Kourkouas , also transliterated as Kurkuas or Curcuas, was one of the most important generals of the Byzantine Empire. His successes in battle against the Muslim states in the East definitively reversed the course of the centuries-long Byzantine–Arab Wars and began Byzantium's 10th-century...
to disrupt Ashot's position as king and to support the rebels fighting him. In 928, Kourkouas reached Dvin in an unsuccessful attempt to capture a city that was defended by both the Arabs and Ashot. In 923, the Caliph, facing troubles at home, released Yusuf, who traveled back to Armenia to unleash his fury against Armenia and especially Gagik I. He began demanding tribute from the Armenians rulers rule but faced considerable resistance by Ashot II. Time and again, Ashot was able to defeat and rout the Arab armies sent against him for several years. Finally, in 929, Yusuf died and an immense power struggle ensued between rival Iranian
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
and Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
families in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (Iran)
Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan , also Iranian Azerbaijan, Persian Azarbaijan is a region in northwestern Iran. It is also historically known as Atropatene and Aturpatakan....
, thus reducing the Arab threat to Armenia. Byzantine emperor Romanus Lecapenus
Romanos I
Romanos I Lekapenos was Byzantine Emperor from 920 until his deposition on December 16, 944.-Origin:...
also turned his attention from the east to fight the Arabs in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. Ashot's efforts to preserve and defend the kingdom earned him the epithet
Epithet
An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
"Yerkat", or Iron; he died in 929 and was succeeded by his brother, Abas I
Abas I of Armenia
Abas I of Armenia was king of Armenia from 928 to 953. Abas was of the royal Bagratuni Dynasty. He was the son of Smbat I and the brother of Ashot "Yerkat" II. In contrast to the way his predecessors' ruled, Abas' reign was marked by years of peace, stability, and prosperity that Armenia had not...
.
Stability under Abas
Abas I's reign was characterized with an unusual period of stability and prosperity that Armenia had not enjoyed for decades. His capital was based at the fortress-city of KarsKars
Kars is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. The population of the city is 73,826 as of 2010.-Etymology:As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography as part of ancient Armenia...
and Abas achieved numerous successes on both the foreign and domestic fronts. In the same year that he became king, Abas traveled to Dvin, where he was able to convince the Arab governor there to release several Armenian hostages and turn over control of the pontifical palace back to Armenia. Conflict between the Arabs were minimal too, with the exception of a military defeat Abas suffered near the city of Vagharshapat. He was far less conciliatory towards the Byzantines, who had repeatedly demonstrated their unreliability as allies by attacking and annexing Armenian territories. Fortunately for him, Romanus of Byzantium was more focused on fighting the Arab Hamdanids, leaving Abas virtually free to conduct his policies without foreign hindrance.
Another foreign threat that Abas steadfastly confronted was an invasion by king Ber of Abkhazia in 943: a new church had been completed in Kars under Abas' orders and prior to its consecration, Ber had appeared with an army along the river of the Araxes, demanding that the new church be consecrated under Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian describes churches and theologians which accept the definition given at the Council of Chalcedon of how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus Christ...
rite. Abas refused to make any concessions and ambushed Ber's forces in a dawn assault. Several more skirmishes took place, wherein Ber was finally captured by Abas' men. Abas took the king to his new church and told him that he would never see it again, blinding
Blinding
Blinding can refer to:*The act of making someone blind**Metaphorical and extended uses of same: see blindness#Metaphorical uses*Blinding , a technique by which an agent can provide a service to a client in an encoded form without knowing either the real input or the real output*Blinding , a novel...
him and sending him back to Abkhazia. Abas died in 953, leaving his kingdom to his two sons, Ashot III and Mushegh.
Armenia's Golden Age
Ashot III
Ashot III the Merciful also known as Ashot the Gracious was an Armenian king. He ruled from Armenia's capital city of Ani....
's official investiture
Investiture
Investiture, from the Latin is a rather general term for the formal installation of an incumbent...
as king of Armenia took place in 961, following the relocation of the Holy See from Vaspurakan to Argina, near the city of Ani
Ani
Ani is a ruined and uninhabited medieval Armenian city-site situated in the Turkish province of Kars, near the border with Armenia. It was once the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present day Armenia and eastern Turkey...
. In attendance were several contingents of the Armenian military, 40 bishops, the king of Caucasian Albania, as well as Catholicos Anania Mokatsi who crowned the king with the title of shahanshah. In that same year, Ashot had also relocated the capital from Kars to Ani. The Bagratuni kings had never chosen a city to settle in, alternating from Bagaran
Bagaran
Bagaran is a town and former fortress in the Armavir Province of Armenia, located 5 kilometers west of the right bank of the Akhurian River, and formerly a capital of Armenia....
to Shirakavan
Shirakavan
Shirakavan also known by the name Yerazgavors was a medieval Armenian town that, during the 9th century AD, served as the capital for the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia...
to Kars; Kars never did reach a status where it could become a capital and Dvin was disregarded altogether, given its proximity to the hostile emirates. Ani's natural defenses were well suited Ashot's desire to secure an area which could withstand siege and fell on a trade route that passed from Dvin to Trebizond.
Owing to this trade route, the city quickly began to grow and became Bagratuni Armenia's chief political, cultural and economic center. Shops, markets, workshops, inns were established by the city's merchants and populace while the nakharar elite went on to sponsor the building of magnificent mansions and palaces. The construction was also complemented by the King Ashot's own philanthropy, including the building of the famed "Ashotashen" walls that were erected around Ani, monasteries, hospitals, schools, and almshouses (his wife Khosrovanuysh also founded the monastery complexes at Sanahin
Sanahin
Sanahin is a village in the northern province of Lori in Armenia, now considered part of the city of Alaverdi...
in 966 and Haghpat
Haghpat
Haghpat is a village in the Northern Lori province of Armenia, close to the city of Alaverdi and the state border with Georgia.It is notable for Haghpat Monastery, a religious complex founded in the 10th century and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List along with monasteries in nearby Sanahin...
in 976). Ashot's sponsorship of the construction of all these edifices earned him the nickname of "Voghormats", or "the Merciful." Ashot was also largely successful in foreign affairs. When a Byzantine army led by the Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes
John I Tzimiskes
John I Tzimiskes or Tzimisces, was Byzantine Emperor from December 11, 969 to January 10, 976. A brilliant and intuitive general, John's short reign saw the expansion of the empire's borders and the strengthening of Byzantium itself.- Background :...
entered Taron in 973, purportedly to avenge the death of his Domestic killed at the hands of the Arabs in Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
, Ashot mobilized an 80,000 man army to meet and force its withdrawal. In the following year, he concluded an alliance with Tzimiskes and sent 10,000 Armenian troops to campaign with the emperor against the Muslim emirates in Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
and Mosul. Ashot also had unsuccessfully attempted to capture Dvin from the Shaddadid
Shaddadid
The Shaddadids were a Kurdish dynasty who ruled in various parts of Armenia and Arran from 951-1174 AD. They were established in Dvin. Through their long tenure in Armenia, they often intermarried with the Bagratuni royal family of Armenia....
emir in 953; he had laid siege to it for quite some time but was forced to lift it after finding the city too well defended.
Sub-kingdoms
A new phenomenon that began under Ashot III's reign, and continued under his successors, was the establishment of sub-kingdoms throughout Bagratuni Armenia. Ashot III had sent his brother Mushegh I to rule in Kars (Vanand) and had allowed him to use the title of king. The administrative district of Dzoraget near Lake Sevan was given to Ashot's son GurgenKiurike I
Kiurike I was the first king of the Kingdom of Lori. He was succeeded by his son David I Anhoghin.-References:...
, the progenitor of the Kyurikid line, in 966, who would later assume the title of king. The proliferation of so many kingdoms worked to the benefit of Armenia so long as the king in Ani remained strong and maintained his hegemony over other kings. Otherwise, the kings, as well their respective bishops who would claim the position of catholicos and formulate their own doctrines, would begin to test the limits of their autonomy.
Progress under Smbat and Gagik
This prosperous age which Armenia lived through continued unabated under the reign of Ashot's son and successor, Smbat IISmbat II
Smbat II King of Armenia , son of Ashot III and ruled from Ani. He fortified the city and began the construction of the Cathedral of Ani. Smbat II succeeded to Ashot III, and continued his father’s work. He ordered the construction of a wall around the city of Ani and built towers and...
. Ani had grown so large by the time of Smbat's accession in 977, that a second set of walls, known as the Smbatashen walls, were ordered built by the new king.
Decline and Byzantine Encroachment
The Byzantines had slowly been creeping eastward towards Armenia in the final decade of the tenth century. Emperor Basil IIBasil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
's numerous victories against the Arabs and internal Arab struggles helped clear a path towards the Caucasus. Constantinople's official policy was that no Christian ruler is equal to or independent of the Byzantine emperor, and even if it was at time masked with diplomatic compromises, the empire's ultimate goal was the complete annexation of the Armenian realms. By the middle of the tenth century, the Byzantine Empire lay along the full length of the western border of Armenia. Taron was the first Armenian region annexed by the Byzantine Empire. In a certain sense, the Byzantines considered the Bagratuni princes of Taron as their vassals, for they had consistently accepted titles, such as that of strategos, and stipends from Constantinople. With the death of Ashot Bagratuni of Taron in 967 (not to be confused with Ashot III
Ashot III
Ashot III the Merciful also known as Ashot the Gracious was an Armenian king. He ruled from Armenia's capital city of Ani....
, his sons were not able to withstand the pressure from the empire, which annexed their principality outright and converted it to a theme.
This was soon followed by the annexation of the lands ruled by the curopalate David of Tayk to whom he had left territories in 979. In three campaigns in 1001, 1014, and 1021 or 1022, Karin
Karin
Karin is a common feminine given name in various Germanic languages , and in some French-speaking areas, as well as Japanese...
, Manazkert, as well as David's own hereditary principality of Tayk
Tayk
Tayk was a historical province of the Greater Armenia, one of its 15 ashkars . Tayk consisted of 8 cantons:* Kogh* Berdats por* Partizats por* Tchakatk* Bokha* Vokaghe* Azordats por* Arsiats por....
were annexed to the Byzantine empire as the Theme of Iberia with Karin (called Theodosiopolis by the Byzantines) as its capital. This wide arc of lands comprised the western border regions of Armenia and curved eastward deep into the central plateau to reach as far as Manazkert north of Lake Van.
The Ardzruni kingdom of Vaspurakan was later annexed as well. In 1003, the last ruler of the kingdom Senekerim-Hovhannes, son-in-law of King Gagik I of Ani, had brushed aside his nephews to become the sole king of Vaspurakan. His rule became even more precarious in the second decade of the eleventh century with the plundering raids of various Turkmen
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
groups. In 1016, Senekerim-Hovhannes thus offered Basil II the lands of Vaspurakan, including 72 fortresses and 3000-4000 villages, in exchange for a vast domain farther west on the Byzantine territory centered on the city of Sebastia to which he moved in 1021 together with his family and 14,000 retainers. Basil II had meanwhile already sent an army from the Balkans to Vaspurakan (which they also called Basprakania, Asprakania, or Media) even before Senekerim-Hovhannes' offer and reduced it to another Byzantine theme with Van as regional capital. With the fall of the Ardzruni kingdom, Byzantine power was firmly established on the Armenian highlands, with only the Bagratuni and Eastern Syunik and Baghk
Syunik
Syunik is the southernmost province of Armenia. It borders the Vayots Dzor marz to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave to the west, Karabakh to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital is Kapan. Other important cities and towns include Goris, Sisian, Meghri, Agarak, and Dastakert...
kingdoms remaining independent.
Internal Quarrels and Fall
After the death of King Gagik I (in 1017 or 1020), the kingdom of Bagratuni Armenia was split between his two sons Hovhannes-SmbatHovhannes-Smbat
Hovhannes-Smbat was King of Ani . He was preceded by his father Gagik I of Ani but was eventually dethroned by Ashot IV Qadj .-Reign of Hovhannes-Smbat:...
who received the territory of Ani and Ashot IV the Brave who kept a territory that should have included Dvin, but which he could not occupy because of its capture by Kurdish Shaddadids from Gandzak
Ganja, Azerbaijan
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...
. The two brothers fought throughout their lives. In these tumultuous days, embroiled in territorial quarrels, the childless Hovhannes-Smbat sent the catholicos Petros Getadarts to Byzantium in order to negotiate a partial respite by leaving his kingdom to the empire after his death. Immediate results of this action were unknown, but after the death of the two brothers in 1040-1041, the new Byzantine emperor and successor to Basil II claimed the kingdom of Bagratid Armenia. The son of Ashot, young Gagik II with the support of sparapet Vahram Pahlavouni and his followers, reigned only for a period of two years. Despite internal dissention led by pro-Byzantine overseer or stuard Sargis Haykazn, the Armenian king was able to repel a Turkmen attack. However, possibly with the persuasion of Sargis, he accepted the invitation of emperor Constantine IX to Constantinople, where he was obliged to cede his domain to the empire in exchange for a domain in Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
. In 1044, the Byzantines twice invaded Ani but failed to conquer it. In view of this dire situation, Catholicos Petros Getadarts, who governed Ani in the king's absence, surrendered Ani to the Byzantines in 1045. Ani was then annexed to the Theme of Iberia which was renamed "Iberia and Ani" or "Iberia and Armenia". 1045 is also remembered as the year when Armenian sovereignty in its traditional homeland was lost for a period of more than 850 years.
The Bagratid king of Kars, Gagik-Abas, still kept his throne even after 1064 when Ani fell to the Seljuk Turks, but even he was constrained to cede his lands to the Byzantines and retreat to Anatolia, only to see Kars captured by the Turks in 1065. In Baghk and Eastern Syunik, only a few Armenian fortresses remained.
Government
The king of Bagratuni Armenia held unlimited powers and was the ultimate authority when it came to resolving questions on foreign and domestic affairs. The princes and nakharars were directly subordinate to the king and received and kept their lands only through his permission. Should certain nobles have disobeyed the king's orders, he would have the right to confiscate their lands and distribute them to other nobles. The concept of divine rightDivine Right of Kings
The divine right of kings or divine-right theory of kingship is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God...
, however, did not exist and insubordination by the nakharar elite could only be matched by the steadfastness of the king himself.
Religion
Most Armenians belonged to the Armenian Apostolic ChurchArmenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
but there were elements in Armenian society who also adhered to the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
, the official religion of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium repeatedly demanded for communion with the Armenian Church as prerequisite for sending aid to the Bagratunis but most attempts failed to bear any fruit.
In the mid-tenth century, a new internal challenge to the authority of the Armenian Church and the kingdom arose when the Tondrakians
Tondrakians
Tondrakians were members of an anti-feudal, heretical Christian sect that flourished in medieval Armenia between the early 9th century and 11th century and centered around the city of Tondrak, north of Lake Van in Western Armenia.-History:...
experienced a revival. An anti-feudal and heretical Christian sect that had been crushed by the Arabs with the Armenian Church’s support in the ninth century, the Tondrakian movement attracted many followers during this period. Ashot III had realized the danger the Tondrakians posed against the kingdom and this was of his reasons why he directly subjected the Church to him, gave it lands, and sponsored the construction of new monasteries and churches. The message of the Tondrakians, however, continued to spread and successive Armenian kings would work to suppress its expansion.
Economy
The Bagratuni kingdom was based on essentially two economies: one which was centered around agricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
based on feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
and the other which was concentrated on mercantilism
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
in towns and cities. Peasants (known as ramiks) formed the lowest class in the economic stratum and largely busied themselves with raising livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
and farming. Many of them did not own land, and lived as tenants and worked as hired hands or even slaves on the lands owned by wealthy feudal magnates. Peasants were forced to pay heavy taxes to the government and the Armenian Apostolic Church in addition to their feudal lords. Most peasants remained poor and the massive tax burden they shouldered sometimes culminated in peasant uprisings which the state was forced to put down.
The Bagratuni kingdom did not mint any of its own coins, and used the currency found in Byzantium and the Arab Caliphate. The expanded trade between Byzantium and the Caliphate established several trades routes which ran across Armenia. The most important route began from Trebizond, in Byzantium, and from there it connected to the cities of Ani, Kars, and Artsn. The city of Kars allowed trade to move north, to ports on the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and to Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
; other routes were connected to cities in Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
; and the main route leading from the Caliphate to Kievan Rus was known as the "Great Armenian Highway." Ani did not lie along any previously important trade routes, but because of its size, power, and wealth it became an important trading hub. From Ani, Armenia exported textiles, metalwork, armor, jewelry, horses, cattle, salt, wine, honey, timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
, leather, and furs. Its primary trading partners were the Byzantine Empire, the Arabs but also traded with Kievan Rus and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. Armenian-populated Dvin remained an important city on par with Ani, as evidenced in a vivid description by the Arab historian and geographer al-Mukadasi:
Dvin became famous throughout the Arab world for its wool and silk production and the export of pillows, rugs, curtains and covers. A village named Artashat near Dvin was so prominent a center for the production of cochineal
Cochineal
The cochineal is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the crimson-colour dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessile parasite native to tropical and subtropical South America and Mexico, this insect lives on cacti from the genus Opuntia, feeding on plant moisture and...
, that it received the name vordan karmiri gyugh ("red-worm village") for the distinctive red dye that was derived from worms. Cochineal and other Armenian goods were extensively found throughout the caliphate and for their eminence were referred to by Arabs as "asfin al-Armani" ("Armenian products").
Demographics
During the Bagratuni period, the great majority of the population of Armenia remained Armenian. Tenth-century Arab sources attest that the cities of the Araxes valley remained predominantly Armenian and Christian despite Arab Muslim rule. In fact, the tenth century Arab geographer Ibn HawqalIbn Hawqal
Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal was a 10th century Muslim writer, geographer, and chronicler. His famous work, written in 977, is called Ṣūrat al-’Arḍ ....
specified that Armenian was used in Dvin
Dvin
Dvin was a large commercial city and the capital of early medieval Armenia. It was situated north of the previous ancient capital of Armenia, the city of Artaxata, along the banks of the Metsamor River, 35 km to the south of modern Yerevan...
and Nakhichevan
Nakhichevan
The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is a landlocked exclave of Azerbaijan. The region covers 5,363 km² and borders Armenia to the east and north, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the northwest...
. Regardless, there was a notable a Muslim presence in certain regions of Armenia. For instance, the southern region of Aghdznik
Aghdznik
Aghdznik , also known as Altzniq or Arzanene, was a province of Greater Armenia. It covered an area of , divided into 11 districts:*Angegh-home*Tigranakert*Arzn*Qagh*Ketik*Tatik*Aznvadzor*Erkhetq*Gzeghq*Salnodzor*Sasun....
was heavily Arabized since earlier periods of Muslim dominance. On the north shore of Lake Van in the ninth and tenth centuries, there was also a considerable Muslim population that consisted of ethnic Arabs, and later Kurds
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
and Dailamites
Dailamites
The Daylamites or Dailamites were an Iranian people inhabiting the mountainous regions of northern Iran on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. They were employed as soldiers from the time of the Sassanid Empire, and long resisted the Arab conquest of Iran and subsequent Islamization...
from Azerbaijan.
Art and literature
Byzantine-Arab Wars
The Byzantine–Arab Wars were a series of wars between the Arab Caliphates and the East Roman or Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 12th centuries AD. These started during the initial Muslim conquests under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs and continued in the form of an enduring...
had largely stifled any expression of Armenian culture in fields such as historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
. These restrictions disappeared when the Bagratuni kingdom was established, ushering in a new golden age of Armenian culture.
The lack of a strong Arab presence saw a rise in the number of historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
s, who wrote and documented the relations between Armenia and other countries and described many events that took place from the seventh to eleventh centuries. Thanks to the patronage of the kings and nobles, monasteries became centers for the study and writing of literature throughout the kingdom. The monasteries of Haghpat
Haghpat
Haghpat is a village in the Northern Lori province of Armenia, close to the city of Alaverdi and the state border with Georgia.It is notable for Haghpat Monastery, a religious complex founded in the 10th century and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List along with monasteries in nearby Sanahin...
and Sanahin were well-known centers for higher learning. Notable figures in Armenian literature and philosophy during this period included the mystic Grigor Narekatsi and Grigor Magistros.
The art of illuminated manuscript
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
s and miniatures
Miniature (illuminated manuscript)
The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...
illustrations were also revived during this era. The relative period of peace between Byzantium and Armenia during the second half of the tenth century led to a great deal of interaction between Armenian artists and their Greek counterparts. Armenian manuscript authors tended either to stress the natural look of the human body in illustrations or to forgo it and instead concentrate on the aspect of decoration.
Armenian architecture during the Bagratuni era was especially prominent and "most of the surviving churches in present-day Armenia are from this period." The city of Ani, situated on the important trade intersection between the Byzantines, Arabs, and merchants of other countries, grew throughout the ninth century both commercially and culturally, earning renown for its "40 gates and 1,001 churches." The churches of this period expanded on seventh century designs; they were often steeper in elevation, introduced donor portraits in the round and incorporated ideas from Byzantine and Islamic architecture. Armenian churches were invariably built out of stone or tuff
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
and had vaulted ceilings which supported a cylindrical dome. Many churches and other forms of architecture suffered vandalism or outright destruction following the Seljuk invasions of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
See also
- Bagratuni DynastyBagratuni DynastyThe Bagratuni, Bagratid or alternatively Pakradouni royal dynasty of Armenia was a royal family whose branches formerly ruled many regional polities, including the Armenian lands of Sper|presently Ispir in Tayk Province of the Armenian Kingdom, Bagrevand in Ayrarat Province of the Armenian...
- Bagrationi DynastyBagrationi DynastyThe Bagrationi dynasty was the ruling family of Georgia. Their ascendency lasted from the early Middle Ages until the early 19th century. In modern usage, this royal line is frequently referred to as the Georgian Bagratids, a Hellenized form of their dynastic name.The origin of the Bagrationi...
- KarsKarsKars is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. The population of the city is 73,826 as of 2010.-Etymology:As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography as part of ancient Armenia...
- Lori-TashirKingdom of LoriKingdom of Lori alternatively known as the Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget or Kingdom of Albania, was an Armenian kingdom formed during the breakup of Bagratuni Armenia. The kingdom encompassed territories of modern-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia....
- Principality of Khachen
- TaronTaron (historic Armenia)Taron was a canton of the Turuberan province of Greater Armenia, now in the Muş Province, Turkey. It was divided into four districts: Mamikonian, Palauni, , Artokh Taron was a canton of the Turuberan province of Greater Armenia, now in the Muş Province, Turkey. It was divided into four districts:...
- Vaspurakan
External links
- Armenian History; Tacentral.com
- VirtualANI: Dedicated to the Deserted Medieval Armenian City of Ani On the architecture of Ani as well as general Armenian architecture.
- The Arts of Armenia by Dickran Kouymjian. Armenian Studies Program at California State University, FresnoCalifornia State University, FresnoCalifornia State University, Fresno, often referred to as Fresno State University and synonymously known in athletics as Fresno State , is one of the leading campuses of the California State University system, located at the northeast edge of Fresno, California, USA.The campus sits at the foot of...
.