1. Brief history of the period from saint
Gregory to the present, written by Kirakos of the renowned congregation
of Getik
The desire to want to learn about things
which have transpired or about events which will take place,
is implanted in the nature of man by the care of the Creator.
It is not possible to know about and
become competent in such endeavors without much work and lengthy
efforts.
It is necessary to become fatigued and
exhausted through labor and many pains that perchance something
useful be discovered which may satisfy the desires of the inquisitive.
[g3]
One must read Christian and pagan histories
with diligence, not negligence.
To make the ignorant wise, and the irrational
rational, the power of the Holy Spirit must also be considered.
One must believe in Him with unwavering
and unblemished faith.
[2] For everything is created and directed
according to His will, both the visible and the invisible.
With a pure holy heart, and without
bias must one hear the celestial and inner divine words, and read
the writings, which can give to the seeker what he seeks. [Translator's
note: The first letter of each first word of the preceding paragraphs form
an acrostic which reads K-I-R-A-K-O-S in the Armenian.]
For these are divine precepts: "Fathers
must teach their sons so that the next generation learns"
[Psalms 78. 5,6] as the prophet David enjoins, and as the great
prophet Moses advised the sons of Israel: "Meditate on this
by day and by night, sitting at home, travelling along the way,
sleeping and arising" [Joshua I. 8; II Deuteronomy 6, 7;
11, 19]. Among those who have helped in this education have been
many men of God who left behind a living monument--their writings
for all generations succeeding them. Such a person was [g4] the
great Eusebius who left two books. One is the Chronicle
which begins with the ancestor Adam, in which Eusebius compared
the barbarous names of the Patriarchs found in pagan histories
to the names in Christian histories, continuing [3] until the
Coming of Christ and beyond, and including the names of chiefs
and kings of many peoples of this region. The other book is the
History of the Church which begins with the birth of the
Sun of Righteousness and contains accounts of the kings and the
missionary activities of the holy Apostles, describing who of
them did what and where each went and how he was martyred. It
describes the holy bishops and the work and bravery of distinguished
men, down to the days of the pious Constantine, where the book
ends. The book of the learned Socrates Scholasticus, written with
forceful expression, begins with saint Sylvester, the bishop of
Rome, describes Constantine the Great and proceeds until the days
of Theodosius the Younger, narrating the deeds and accomplishments
of each of the kings and bishops, the virtuous and the wicked,
the acts of many councils, good and bad, in a lengthy and extensive
work. [g5]
Many Armenian historians have produced
works [Isk hayots' azgi patmagirk' yolovk' ts'uts'in ashxatut'iwn].
Among them are the venerable and brilliant Agat'angeghos (which
translates "glad tidings") who, at the order of the
mighty, brave king Trdat, put down the details of events which
transpired among the Armenians at the hands of saint Gregory the
Parthian, the confessor of Christ; deeds, miracles and [4] wonders,
and the circumstances of the illumination of the land of Armenia,
all in a beautiful and clear narration. After Agat'angeghos was
Movses Xorenats'i, richer in knowledge and wisdom than many holy
men of God, who composed the history of the Armenians concisely
and carefully beginning with the first man and including the affairs,
works and deeds of many peoples from the days of Trdat and saint
Gregory to the death of saint Sahak, patriarch of the Armenians.
He concludes with a lament pronounced over the land of Armenia.
After Xorenats'i was the blessed Eghishe who narrated the brave
deed. of Vardan, saint Sahak's grandson, and his companions who
(in the hope of Christ) gave themselves up [g6] to death and were
crowned by Christ. He wrote about the courageous deaths of the
blessed Yovsep'eants', how the Armenian naxarars willingly
surrendered to the royal fetters out of conviction for Christ,
voluntarily; and about the patient martyrdom of the saints Xoren
and Abraham, which this wonderful man set forth precisely. And
then there is the rhetorician, Ghazar P'arbets'i, who begins with
the days of saint Sahak and narrates events in the same style.
And following him P'awstos Biwzand, who relates what transpired
in Armenia between the Iranians and us. And the history of Heraclius
was written by bishop Sebeos. And the history of the wonderful
Koriwn. And Xosrov. And the history [5] of the priest Ghewond
which is about what Mahmet and his successors did all over the world and
especially among the Armenian people. And the vardapet
T'ovma historian of the house of Artsrunik'. And Shapuh Bagratuni.
And lord Yovhannes kat'oghikos of the Armenians. And Movses
Kaghankatuats'i, historian of [Caucasian] Aghbania. And Uxtanes
bishop of Urha (Edessa) who wrote about the separation of the
Georgians from the Armenians by Kiwrion. And the vardapet
Step'annos, surnamed Asoghik. And the vardapet Aristakes
called Lastivertts'i. And Samuel the priest from the [g7] cathedral
of Ani. And the learned and brilliant vardapet called Vanakan.
It was the concern of each of these
blessed men to leave behind a good written memorial for the future,
for the benefit of the listeners and as a recompense for these
same saints, an undying memorial to endure until the coming of
Christ.
Now as for our undertaking, let no one
consider it bold. But rather, it is a work of good emulation.
For our mind has compelled us not be be silent about such calamitous
disasters which we heard with our own ears and saw with our own
eyes. These times brought to mind all the prophecies previously
prophesized about the difficulties which would [6] come later
on; and this came to pass in our own time. As our Savior and God,
Lord Jesus Christ, said: "Nations shall rise up against nations,
and kingdoms against kingdoms", "and this is but the
beginning of the sufferings" [Matthew 24.7-8; Mark 13.8.].
The appearance of the son of destruction whom we fear, may happen
in our own day. For everything done today points to this. Love
has dried up, cruelty reigns, worship has declined [g8] irreligion
has increased. Altars and masses are silent and priests have fallen
to the sword without mercy. Women and children are taken into
slavery and men suffer violent deaths. For what saint Nerses,
that man of God, prophesied about the Nation of the Archers and
about the destruction of the land of the Armenians has now been
fulfilled by the people called T'at'ars. For they have wiped out
many nations and tribes as we shall relate in the proper place,
if the Lord allows.
Each of the former scholars working
before us found a certain place, [his work] being sponsored either
by a distinguished king or by nahapets of distinguished
families. Yet now we are deprived of any such support since the
Arsacid and Bagratid kingdoms have long since vanished and nowhere
are there princes of the line of Hayk remaining except for those
who are crouched and hiding in foreign lands. The one hope we
have we place on the grace and the might of the mystery of this
day. For today, the day on which we began this work, is the feast
of the coming of the most Holy Spirit to the Upperchamber among
the ranks of the [g9] Apostles, when Christ sent them throughout
the world fortified with fiery tongues, to summon all to Life
Everlasting, with the net of the Gospel.
We, confident of the same Spirit, have plunged ourselves into a task which is above our abilities. Therefore, we beseech those coming after us, not to denigrate our work, not to scoff at or disdain it as unlettered, but accept it with brotherly condescension and let it be for your remembrance, for posterity. For among the disciples of Christ all must be accomplished through conciliation as we learn in the Scriptures. But let us attack the task which we have started and present first, concisely, the names of the occupants of the [kat'oghikosal] throne of saint Gregory, beginning with the latter and extending to our own times. Let it be for us a cemetary monument, not like the pillar of Absolom [II Kings 18.18], but a living memorial on which the name of Kirakos will be remembered.[8]
Brief history of saint Gregory and
a list of the names of his successors on the [kat'oghikosal]
throne.
Our spiritual father, saint Gregory,
born in Christ, [g10] is worthy of all praise and exalted by a
good memory. After he had enlightened the land of Armenia [zHayastan
ashxarhis] with the knowledge of God, with orthodox regulations
and canons, and after ordaining more than 430 bishops, he went
with the great king Trdat to Rome to see the relics of saints
Peter and Paul, and the great king Constantine and the holy patriarch
Sylvester to make a vow and an alliance with them. Blessed Constantine
and the great patriarch received the blessed Gregory at court
with great honors, exalting him as a confessor and a witness of
Christ, possessing the gifts of an Apostle. They gave him the
dignity of patriarch, like a vicar of Peter. And they gave him
a part of the relics of the Apostles: the left hand of the Apostle
Andrew, and many other gifts.
In Jerusalem [There seems to be a lacuna
in the Armenian text after the word Jerusalem.] they showed Golgotha,
the place of Christ's crucifixion, [the church] of saint James,
and a place for saying mass in the rear of [the church] of the
Holy Resurrection. [9] They say that saint Gregory placed a lamp
over the tomb of Christ and beseeched God with his prayers that
on the feast of Easter, the place be lit with an immaterial light,
something which occurs down to our own day. Likewise they honored
the great Trdat in a manner befitting his valor, making an alliance
by the blood of Christ and with faith in Him to maintain inviolable
love between the two peoples, in times after themselves. [g11]
Constantine asked saint Gregory, "How
great is the joy of the angels at the discovery of so many sheep
which have strayed"? He replied: "Very great indeed.
But let us, the sons of Adam, not be considered as sheep by the
Heavenly Host". And the emperor said: "Let us, the saved,
never stop associating with them during your coming".
And he ordered all the cities to celebrate
with the sacrificing of sheep. The Jews and pagans who had remained
unconverted were washing with the blessed salt, for saint Gregory
and Sylvester had blessed salt. And saint Gregory said to the
Jews: "You perform circumcision on the uncircumcised, contrary
to the laws. Animals offered in sacrifice to God as a dedication
to the saints, or in memory of the dead without the blessing of
salt, are like the sacrifices of pagans" .
[10] He then came to our land with great
rejoicing and spiritual gladness, and our lands were greatly adorned
with all the Christian laws. During his life he ordained his blessed
son Aristakes head bishop of the Armenians, Georgians and [Caucasian]
Aghbanians. He himself then pursued a solitary life, so that he
be crowned with every sort of crown - Apostle's [g12] martyr's,
patriarch's, cenobite's-which more accustoms man to speaking with
God tranquilly. When Aristakes returned from the Council of Nicea,
saint Gregory thereafter appeared to no one. After a long life,
he passed away in Christ, having occupied the patriarchate for
30 years. Shepherds, discovering him dead, piled a heap of stones
over his body.
Later, under the influence of the Spirit, a certain hermit and saint named Garhnik found him and took him to T'ordan village. In the days of the emperor Zeno [ 474-91], they took some of his remains and those of the holy Hrhip'simeans to Constantinople, and, fashioning a coffin of silver, they put the relics of the saints in it. Writing upon it the names of each [saint], they placed [the reliquary] in a marble sepulcher and sealed it with a ring. It remained obscure for a long time, no one knowing whose remains it contained, only that it was of some saint. [g13]
[11] Now in the days of the emperor
Basil [I, 867-86] and of Ashot Bagratuni, king of the Armenians,
it came to light in the following way. A youth was seized by an
evil spirit while praying in that very church where the relics
of the saints were. The child was lifted up by the dew
and thrown upon the tomb of the saints, crying and saying: "Saint
Grigorios, illuminator of the Armenians, don't torture me. And
you, lady Hrhip'sime, have come to torture me; and you, Gayane
are torturing me". He was shouting this for a long while.
When the multitude heard these words,
they notified the king who ordered the coffin opened. As soon
as they opened it, a strong light gleamed forth from the relics
of the saints. And the emperor ordered that the marble coffin
be overlaid with gold and that the names of the saints be written
on it, so that everyone would know whose tomb it was. An imperial
eunuch came and related all this to king Ashot, and when he heard
it, he glorified God and instituted a feast of saint Gregory on
that day, Saturday in the sixth week of Lent. This feast is observed
to this day.
Now the blessed Aristakes cared well
for the flock which was entrusted to him, and reprimanded without
exception those [12] not reforming. It happened that a certain
Ark'eghayos who [g14] had been made supervisor of so-called Fourth
Armenia, had been reprimanded by Aristakes because of his evil
deeds. Meeting [Aristakes] in Tsop'k' district, Ark'eghayos killed
him and went as a fugitive to Cilician Tarsus, out of fear of
king Trdat. Aristakes held the episcopacy for seven years and
was translated to Christ with a martyr's death.
In place [of Aristakes] king Trdat put
on the patriarchal throne the great Vrt'anes, senior son of saint
Gregory, the brother of saint Aristakes. And he himself [Trdat]
liked the solitary life as had saint Gregory. Thenceforth from
time to time he did not appear among his forces, instead fasting
and praying for forty days at a time. Going to him, his forces
beseeched him to occupy the throne. But he did not agree to this,
calling them traitors, superficially practising their piety. They
swore vows and sealed decrees to practise Christianity with sanctity
and to serve [the king) without prevarication. And Trdat acceded
to their wishes, occupied his throne, and became an example of
all kinds of virtues. [g15]
But becoming weary of his piety, they
planned to kill him treacherously.Taking him to the hunt, they
attacked him [13] with bow and arrow, as if by accident. Seeing
that he did not die from that, they gave him poison. And thus
they murdered him. They snuffed out the life of this man, an individual
whose enemies had been unable to hurt him due to his titan-like
bravery, because he triumphed in every battle. What was considered
impossible to accomplish by force--since the reputation of [Trdat's]
bravery had spread throughout the entire world--they accomplished
with treachery and so extinguished the glowing torch of their
own lives. The pious and God-loving Trdatios thus died, having
reigned for 56 years.
Now the great Vrt'anes went to the emperor
Constantine to have Xosrov, son of the brave and virtuous Trdat
made king. This was done and Xosrov was given much support to
oppose the Iranian king Shapuh in war.
But Sanatruk (who had been set up as
overseer of the Aghbanian areas by Trdat), as soon as he learned
of the king's death, murdered the blessed Gregoris, son of Vrt'anes
and [g16] brother of Yusik, by tying him to the tail of a wild
horse in the Vatnean [Mughan] plain. Sanatruk himself then went
[14] to Shapuh, king of Iran, and adopted the appearance of sovereignty,
separating his land from Xosrov.
Xosrov, considering his remaining land
sufficient, did not care to make war but spent his life peacefully,
obedient to the advice of great Vrt'anes. He transferred [the
capital] from the city of Artashat to Dwin and planted oak forests
for a place of recreation. Having reigned for nine years, he died
in piety. His son Tiran [c. 339-50] ruled in his stead.
Now saint Vrt'anes spent his life doing
good deeds. Although the naxarars wanted to kill him many
times, God did not allow this to occur. Instead, Vrt'anes died
peacefully and passed to Christ, the hope of all. King Tiran
replaced him with his son, the blessed Yusik, brother of Gregoris,
kat'oghikos of Aghbania.
However, Tiran did not rule the kingdom
according to the rules of God, but with evil deeds which the blessed
Yusik vigorously reprimanded. [g17] Tiran despised Yusik and later
murdered him for the following reason. After the death of the
son of the great Constantine, emperor Constantius, Julian the
Apostate ruled over the Romans [361-63]. He sent a tablet on which
was painted the picture of satan and next to [15] him that of
Julian, in order that it be placed in the Armenian church. Tiran,
out of fear of Julian, did as he was ordered. However, the blessed
Yusik was opposed to this and did not allow the painting to enter
the church. Instead he grabbed it from [Tiran's] hands, threw
it on the ground and trampelled it with his feet, shattering it
to bits. The angered Tiran ordered Yusik to be beaten to death
with clubs. [Yusik] occupied the episcopal throne for six years.
Then Tiran called the great suffragan bishop Daniel, an Assyrian, whom saint Gregory had placed as overseer over [certain] districts. He was a saint and a miracle-worker. And when he arrived, Daniel reprimanded the king with severe curses on account of the murder of the holy chief priest Yusik. Tiran became angry and ordered him strangled. Thus the blessed man died a martyr's death. Tiran then placed on the patriarchal throne a certain P'arhnerseh, not of the line of saint Gregory, but from the village of Ashtishat in Taron. He reigned for five years. [g18]
The king of Iran, Shapuh, perfidiously
called Tiran before him, and on the way had his eyes blinded with
coals. This was revenge granted by God for Tiran's unjust murder
of Yusik and Daniel. Later his own son Arshak strangled him. [Tiran]
ruled [16] for thirty years.
By the order of Shapuh, Arshak occupied
the throne of his kingdom [350-67]. And all his naxarars
and all the bishops of the land of Armenia came to him requesting
a patriarch from the worthy clan of saint Gregory. They found
a youth of fine stature, pleasing to the sight of the Lord, whose
name was Nerses, son of Yusik's son At'anagines. Yusik had two
sons, one called Pap and the other At'anagines. While Yusik was
alive he did not ordain either of them for any work in the church
because they were unworthy. But after Yusik's death, they were
forcibly ordained deacons. But they abandoned the work of the
church occupying themselves with eating and drinking. Instead
of psalms and spiritual songs, they contented themselves with
gusans [minstrels], singing women and whores.
One day, when they were sitting in the
church, eating [g19] and drinking with women and servants, a fire
fell from heaven and consumed both of them, disgracing them with
an unheard-of death. And they remained inside the church for many
days, since no one dared enter and remove the corpses.
Nerses the marvellous was worthy of
the epithet by which [17] he was called, for he was a rightous
and blessed man. He had been a soldier of king Arshak who raised
his steel sword in service to the king and considered himself
unworthy of such honor. But king Arshak ordered the old bishop
P'ostos to ordain him deacon. And gathering together a great force,
the king sent him to Caesarea to be ordained patriarch. Returning
from Caesarea, Nerses enlightened the land of Armenia with diverse
laws, he built monasteries and poor-houses, and he gathered together
the lepers and afflicted ones and arranged for their maintenance
and stipulated stipends.
But Arshak did not rule the kingdom
according to the law of God, for he slayed his brother's son Gnel
and took Gnel's wife P'arandzem for his own wife. The blessed
man of God, Nerses, then cursed him; while Shapuh, king of the
Iranians, and Valens emperor of the Greeks who ruled piously after
Jovian became his enemies. Arshak beseeched Nerses to go to emperor
Valens [364-78] in an embassy. [g20]
Saint Nerses went to make peace between
the two kings. However, Valens was then persecuting the orthodox,
since he was fermenting in the sects of Arios and Makedon. As
soon as he saw saint Nerses and heard that the man was a miracle-worker,
he said to him: "Heal my son, for he is sick unto death".
And the saint said: "If you turn from [18] your ill-advised
sect, I will cure him". And [the emperor] agreed. The holy
man prayed and the child came out of his illness. But Valens then
returned to the same heresy as before and the child died immediately.
Valens ordered that the blessed man
be exiled to an uninhabited island where there would be no green
plants,but only sand. At the saint's prayers, a fountain with
delicious water flowed forth and the sea threw onto the shore
fish and wood which burst into flame at its own accord. They dined
this way for nine months.
When Arshak learned that saint Nerses
had been exiled he began to work great evil. He built a city and
gathered all the criminals there and said that there would be
no trial against anyone who commited crimes and then went there.
The city filled up with injustice. It was named Arshakawan. [g21]
Valens the emperor was killed barbarously,
giving an example to this world of the future eternal gehena.
He was burned to death. T'eodos [Theodosius I, 379-95] the Great
took the crown at the order of Gratianos. And he released saint
Nerses from exile and kept him near himself with great [19] honor
until the gathering of the Council of One Hundred Fifty in Constantinople,
at which were assembled Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of
Nisa, brother of saint Basil and many other fathers, because of
the heresy of Macedonius.
Now Nerses was sent to his [patriarchal]
throne. He saw the unjust deeds of Arshak and cursed Arshakawan.
Its population wickedly perished and the populous city became
deserted. Shapuh called Arshak to him and had him put in prison.
Arshak killed himself with his own hands. He reigned for thirty
years.
Saint Nerses beseeched the great Theodosius
and he enthroned Pap, Arshak's son, over the Armenians [367-74].
Because Pap was a dissolute man, saint Nerses went to reprimand
him. Pap gave him poison and caused that upright man to die. Dying,
[Nerses] called his flock to him and blessed it, and prophesied
much about the Nation of the Archers [the Mongols] and the destruction
of Armenia, about the Antichrist and the troubles he would spread
throughout the entire world. Then the saint died a martyr's death,
leaving his weeping flock. [g22] He held the patriarchate for
thirty-four years. A certain Shahak succeeded him on the [patriarchal]
throne. Shahak was not of the same [Gregorid] line, but [20] rather
was a son of Albianos, from Manazkert in Hark'. He ruled for four
years.
When pious Theodosius saw the evil deeds
which Pap was doing, he ruined him in accordance with his wicked
actions. [Pap] ruled for seven years. Then Theodosius the Great
enthroned as king of Armenia a certain Varazdat of the Arshakuni
line, a powerful, strong man. After Shahak, his brother Zawen
held the kat'oghikosate for four years.
Varazdat planned to rebell against Theodosius
and to ally with the Iranians. Manuel Mamikonean, brother of the
brave sparapet of the Armenians, Mushegh , whom Varazdat
treacherously killed, chased the king away. Varazdat went to Greece
[Byzantium] where he died, after ruling four years.
After Zawen, the brother of Shahak and
Zawen, Aspurakes, ruled the kat'oghikosate for five years.
Manuel seated on the throne Pap's two sons, Arshak and Vagharshak,
and made them his sons-in-law. They ruled for four years. [g23]
Then the Byzantine and Iranian kings
divided the land of Armenia [in 387] into two parts. In the Byzantine
sector Arshak ruled at the command of Arcadius and Honorius, sons
of Theodosius the Great. Now Shapuh enthroned as king in [21]
his sector a certain Xosrov of the same Arsacid line. And there
was a battle between Arshak and Xosrov since the princes who were
under Arshak made off with his treasury and went over to Xosrov.
Xosrov, after the death of Aspurakes,
seated the blessed Sahak, son of Nerses the great, on the patriarchal
throne. In these days the patriarch of Constantinople was the
wonderful blazing torch of the Church, saint John Chrysostom who
enlightened the universal Church of Christ with doctrine of the
Word of Life. He was at first ridiculed by some people for not
being able to speak Greek well, because on his father's side he
was Syrian. After he was baptised he did not drink wine, he did
not laugh or swear or make people take oaths, and he did not anathematize
anyone. When they took him into exile, he stretched forth his
hand to the Church, saying: "Be well, holy Church, abode
of the glories of the Lord, and do not forget my work; for of
the gifts which I received [g24] from God the most valuable are
the eight hundred books and twelve thousand homilies". He
was patriarch for five years, was in exile for three years, and
died in [the city of] Comana at fifty years of age.
When Xosrov had ruled for five years,
the Iranian king deposed him and enthroned Vrhamshapuh. More than
anyone [22] saint Sahak made the Church of Christ resplendent
with various virtuous laws and with canonical legislation.
In this period, a great light of learning
dawned in Armenia since the venerable Mesrop went to saint Sahak
to inquire whether it would be possible to create letters for
the Armenian language. [Mesrop] found [Sahak] more than desirous
of such a thing, because until that time they did not have Armenian
letters but used Greek or Syriac characters. They acquainted king
Vrhamshapuh with the plan. And the king said: "While I was
in the Syrian areas, a certain Syrian bishop named Daniel told
me that he had characters for the Armenian language. I neglected
this matter at the time". And they sent a certain naxarar
named Vaxrich (Vahrich) to Daniel to request the alphabet from
him. He sent it [to them] by [g25] the priest Habel. As soon as
they saw it, they rejoiced and began to translate into Armenian
all the books of the Bible. But looking at it, they realized that
it was not sufficient for correctly producing all the syllables,
conjunctive particles, and words, and again they became concerned.
When they had exhausted all human possibilities, they took refuge
with Him for whom all is possible, petitioning the Lord with prayers
and undertaking rigorous fasting and prayers. He who fulfills
the desires of His pious followers and listens [23] to their prayers
did not neglect their goodly requests. A mighty writing on stone
appeared to Mesrob and it made manifest all the particulars. Arising,
Mesrob created the alphabet.
Thereafter they gathered many children
and instructed the entire land. They divided the young children
the learned, the soft-voiced and patient into two groups, and
founded Syrian and Greek schools. Those youths, after studying
all sorts of Christian and profane disciplines, became veracious
translators. They translated all the books of the Old and New
Testament, beginning with the Proverbs of [g26] Solomon. They
did them all. They were not only translators, but doctors and
teachers and prophets speaking of the future.
They were filled with the Holy Spirit,
speakers of the languages of nations, translators from generation
to generation, they transformed the obscure into the evident;
they explained deep words, making them clear.
They were pillars of the Church and
the well-fastened gates for Her sons. They were light-giving towers
and blazing torches, generally spreading their rays to the extremities
of the universe.
They were theologians of the Word of
Life, givers of [24] drink to the thirsty, coolers of the fiery
heat of the devil and bringers of warmth to those cooling in the
faith.
They were singing swallows, sweet voiced
and prudent doves, lovers of holiness and dishononers of impurity.
They were teachers of the children and
good examples for the youth, ornaments of virgins, laws of the
married, comforters of the old, counselors of the weak, callers
to those sinking, who turned sinners from their ways. They [g27]
served as goads to awaken the lazy, encouraging the enthusiastic.
They were lovers of study and reprimanders of the wicked.
Their vardapets and teachers
were saints Sahak and Mesrop and their principal students, the
blessed Yovsep', Yovhan, Ghewond the Priest (erets'), Sahak,
Movses K'ert'oghahayr,and Mambre Veratsanogh, his brother Eznak,
Koriwn, the blessed Eghishe, the philosopher Dawit', Yovhannes,
lord Abraham, Ardzan, Mushe, Ardzan, Xosrov, Ghazar, and then
Step'annos bishop of Siwnik' and Hrhap'anos Samostats'i who fashioned
the beautiful characters, and many others some of whom had reached
the rank [25] of bishop, others who were set up as leaders over
the people. And some composed their own books, beyond the translations,
such as the History of the Armenians of the marvellous
Movses at the request of Sahak Bagratuni and his History of
the Holy Mother of God and Her Picture at the request of the
Artsrunid princes and Petk' at the request of a certain
T'eodos, and the Eulogy of the Blessed Hrhip'simeans, and
On the Transfiguration (Vardavarh) and other sermons and
philosophical homilies. Koriwn wrote the History of Saint Mesrop
and of other times. Eghishe's History of the Holy Vardaneans,
[g28] the Book of Canons and exegeses of sacred writings
and the passion of our Savior. And Ghazar's book. Eznak too left
many discourses for the benefit of posterity. Dawit' the philosopher's
Book of Limits and Being, the Interpretation of Aristotle,
the Introduction of Porphry and other questions and answers,
the Eulogy on the Holy Cross, and On the Birth of Our
Lord Jesus Christ. Similarly, Mambre Vertsanogh wrote a eulugy
on Palm Sunday, on the coming of Christ to Jerusalem, riding on
a donkey. Then the great bishop Step'annos of Siwnik' left many
interpretations of sacred writings, a summary of the Gospels,
and of the books of Job, Daniel and Ezekiel and the answers to
the letter of the patriarch of Constantinople, Germanos.
[26] They also wrote sharakans
(hymns) of a sweet and lovely quality and with great imagination
on the birth of Christ and the forty days of His coming to the
temple, on His baptism and His arrival in Bethany and Jerusalem
on the great week of His Passion and Resurrection, His Ascenscion
and the coming of the Spirit on the Cross, and the Church and
on other feasts [g29] of the Lord and on all the saints, on repentance
and on all the reposed, varied, diverse and numberless, [hymns]
which to this day are used in the churches of Armenia.
Now the holy vardapet Mesrop,
as soon as he elevated Armenia through learning and translations,
entrusted his works to kat'oghikos Sahak and went to Aghbania
where he created an alphabet for them too. Leaving vardapets
there for them, he went to Georgia and created an alphabet for
them in accordance with the grace given him from on High. And
thus gladdening all the lands with boundless joy he left them
vardapets from among his students and he himself returned
to Armenia and found the great Sahak occupied with translating.
Now king Vrhamshapuh, having ruled the
country for twenty-one years, died in peace. Then his brother
Xosrov ruled again for one year and then Artashes (or Artashir)
ruled after him.
[27] During that time the pious Theodosius
the Lesser [II, 408-450], son of Arcadius ruled the Byzantines.
And saint Sahak [g30] sent the vardapet Mesrop and his
own grandson Vardan [Mamikonean] with a letter to emperor Theodosius
so that he give an order to those under his sway to study the
Armenian alphabet for [the emperor's] overseers had not given
permission to do this, out of their jealousy. Then the mild Theodosius
accused [Mesrop], saying: "Why did you search for an alphabet
from the Syrians and not from the Greek scholars who are in our
city"? And Mesrop replied that the completion of the alphabet
took place because of the grace of the Spirit. Then the pious
king thanked God and ordered that Mesrop be honored as a true
and wise vardapet. He and the patriarch Attikos, together
with all the faithful of the Church and the king enrolled Mesrop
among the foremost doctors of the Church: with At'anasius and
the two Gregories, Basil and John Chrysostom.
The pious Theodosius made Vardan stratelat.
They also wrote letters to the great Sahak giving him exalted
honor. [The emperor] gave the order throughout his kingdom to
assemble [g31] intelligent young men to study the alphabet, while
maintenance and expenses were seen to by the court. He gave an
order to build a city in the Karin district of Armenia and named
[28] the city Theodosiopolis (T'eodopolis), which presently is
called Karin city. When Mesrop arrived he also instructed that
half [of the Armenian] people under Theodosius' rule.
Now the king of Armenia, the youth Artashir,
was lewd and wanton, worked unworthy deeds not only at night,
but during the day, and did not heed the advice of saint Sahak.
Therefore, all the naxarars became disgusted and went to
saint Sahak so that together with him they might denounce Artashir
to the Iranian king and overthrow him. But saint Sahak refused
to toss a lamb to the wolves. [The naxarars] went to the
Iranian king Vahram [(Vrham) Gur, 421-438/39], removed Artashir
from the throne and also removed the blessed Sahak from his throne
for he had not agreed with them. Thus the kingdom of the Arsacids
was ended following Artashir, who reigned for six years. The Arsacid
kingdom in Armenia lasted 568 years. The pontificate ended in
the worthy clan of saint Gregory, [g32] although the blessed
Sahak lived sixteen years after this event and made the land resplendent
with his luminous doctrine. This was during the time of unworthy
overseers and Iranian marzpans such as Vehmihrshapuh in
place of king Artashir and the vengeful Surmak instead of saint
Sahak. [Surmak] [29] lived one year. After Surmak came the Syrian
Brkisho, who was worse than his predecessor. He ruled for three
years. And then Shmuel ruled for five useless years.
Now saint Sahak was occupied with prayers
and doctrine. Then all the naxarars of Armenia threw themselves
before him confessing their sins, requesting a pardon from him,
and begging him to return to his throne, but he did not consent.
And when they had pressed him a great deal, he related to them
the vision which he saw, [namely] that it was because of the Lord
that the line of saint Gregory ceased to occupy the patriarchate
and the Arsacid house had ceased to occupy the throne. And that
close to the appearance of the antichrist, God would again restore
the kingdom of the Arsacids and the [g33] patriarchate in the line
of saint Gregory. The naxarars gave him leave to do as
he wished. The Iranian king made Vardan marzpan of Armenia
and placed the country in his hands.
After occupying the patriarchate for
fifty-one years, saint Sahak passed in peaceful death to the ranks
of the angels, giving his throne to saint Mesrop, who also passed
from this life during the same year, leaving a good testimony
of himself to the future. He died at the beginning of the first
year of [the reign of] Varham II's son Yazkert [II, 439-457],
the king of Iran. [30] Their blessed student, Yovsep', occupied
the patriarchal throne.
Yazkert the king forced all Christians
to apostasize and to turn to the Mazdaean faith, a thing which
the Armenian troops did not accept. They turned against the order
and killed the mogs and mogpets who had come to
destroy the churches and extinguish the faith. As soon as Yazkert
heard all about that he sent many troops to war with the Armenian
forces (whose leaders were the holy Vardan and his comrades).
The Iranians devastated the country and at the advice of the apostate
Vasak took into slavery the remaining naxarars and the
blessed Yovsep', Sahak, Ghewond, and their comrades, [g34] taking
them to the [Iranian] court in shackles. Subsequently they killed
the blessed Yovsep' and his companions, keeping the naxarars
in prison until the days of king Peroz [459-84] when, by the grace
of God, they were freed from their bonds and, having inherited
the name of confessors, they returned to the land of Armenia.
After the death of the pious emperor Theodosius, Marcian [450-57] took over the kingdom. He convened the council of 636 bishops at Chalcedon, to wreck the orthodox faith; and their blasphemy spreads throughout the world until the present.
Return to Historical Sources Menu