Ashot I of Armenia
Ashot I | |
---|---|
Armenian Apostolic |
Ashot I (
Life
Early life
Ashot was born around 820 to
Prince of princes of Armenia
During the
Ashot annexed Bagrevand in 862, shortly after the death of the ruling Mamikonian dynasty's head, Grigor Mamikonian.[3] Ashot mediated between Grigor-Derenik Artsruni and Gurgen Artsruni, cousins and members of the Artsruni family who controlled Vaspurakan.[3] Ashot then captured Grigor-Derenik[12] and reduced the size of the cantons around Van.[13] Ashot released Grigor-Derenik to avoid further conflict with the Artsruni family. Ashot later arranged a marriage between his daughter, Sophie, and Grigor-Derenik, in order to reconcile.[14] Ashot also strengthened relations with the Siunia dynasty by arranging another marriage between his second daughter, Mariam, with Prince Vasak Gabur IV.[15] These familial ties helped strengthen relations between Ashot's sons and the surrounding dynasties.
Ashot used this support to wage war against the emirs. He began by defeating the
Ashot's reach also extended to Caucasian Iberia, where some of his Bagratuni family had settled in the late 7th century. There, around 875, he formed an alliance with Bagrat I of Iberia, his stepbrother, against Bagrat's brother, Guaram Mampali.[22] Together, Ashot and Bagrat defeated Guaram. In 881, Ashot formed an alliance with David I of Iberia and Adarnase IV of Iberia, Bagrat's son and grandson, respectively, to defeat Guaram's son, Nasra of Tao-Klarjeti.[23]
King of Armenia
Several contemporary prominent Armenians, including Grigor-Derenik Vaspurakan, insisted on Ashot's coronation.
Despite his status, Ashot remained a subordinate to the Caliph and was put under the supervision of the emirs of Azerbaijan.[27] Every Armenian prince fell under Ashot's authority (though in the effect of primus inter pares[28]). Dvin and the emirates of Manazkert and Karin (and, according to Constantine VII, Khoy and Salmas)[29] also fell under Ashot's control, despite the local governments' unwillingness to accept.[27] The emir of Manazkert was in this way defeated and was forced to submit to Ashot's rule in 885.[30]
Ashot's influence continued not only in Armenia but also in Iberia. After the death of Grigor-Derenik Artsruni in 887, Ashot placed his own grandson (and Grigor-Derenik's son), Ashot-Sargis Artsruni, under the rule of relative Gagik Aboumerwan Artsruni.[31] In 887 and 888, Ashot supported his nephew Adarnase IV of Iberia in overthrowing Bagrat I of Abkhazia.[29] Also in 888, Ashot sent his brother Abas to Kars to stop a rebellion led by Prince Sahak-Mleh of Vanand.[29]
Ashot travelled to Gugark to stop another rebellion, fighting alongside his son and heir, Smbat I. He died in 890. Contemporary historian Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi gives an account of his death:
Since he died on the road, in an inn at a rocky place called K'arsparn, they carried away his body in a coffin and brought it to the town (awan) of Bagaran, the royal residence, where they covered the coffin with robes and veils interwoven and adorned with gold; and carefully selected detachments of military forces clad in arms and ornaments stood guard. The great katholikos, accompanied by the rest of the clerics of the church, also came forth and solemnly chanted psalms and raised the voice of [their] praise. His three sons, the senior [gaherec'] princes of the royal house and other friends followed the coffin, and thus they arrived at the cemetery....Then, building a tomb [suitable] for royalty, they buried him in the cemetery of his ancestors.[32]
Smbat I succeeded him.
Armenian growth under rule
Ashot's restoration of the Armenian monarchy was accompanied by economic growth[28] and a revival of the arts and religion.[33] Several cultural buildings were restored and renovated. Under Ashot's reign, the first khachkar was created in 879 as a tribute to Ashot's wife, Katranide.[34] Urban growth began to occur[35] and agriculture flourished. Vineyards became a very successful industry.[36]
Religious affairs
Ashot supported the Armenian Apostolic Church during his reign.[38] Ashot saw the possibility of the church merging with the Orthodox Byzantine Church, due to the Byzantine Empire's influence in the region,[7] and feared that the Byzantine Empire would deny him his claim to the throne. In 862, when the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Photios I attempted to unite the Armenian Church by sending two letters to Catholicos Zacharias I and Ashot, Zacharias and Ashot summoned a council in Yerazgavors;[39] the ambiguous response[10] was formulated by Ashot.[7] Ashot continued to receive epistolary communication; in 882, he received a letter with a piece of the True Cross awarded to Catholicos Mashtots I, who was a friend of Ashot (the cross has since been lost).[40] Ashot also supported the Armenian Church's desire to separate from the Church of Caucasian Albania.[25] Ashot donated several treasures to the Armenian Catholicos to distribute to the churches.[41]
Family
Ashot the Great Queen of Armenia (885–890) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
king of Armenia (890–914) | Sahak | David (†902) | Shapuh sparapet (†912) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sofya | Grigor-Derenik prince of Vaspurakan (857–887) | daughter | Vahan Artsruni | Mariam (†914) | Vasak Syuni prince of Syunik (855–859) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parskahayk (904–925) | Grigor prince of Syunik (855–859) (859–913) | Sahak | Vasak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
king of Armenia (928–953) | Gurgendukht Bagratuni | Seda | son | Ashot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
- ^ Toumanoff 1990, p. 121.
- ^ Grousset 2008, pp. 367, 378.
- ^ a b c d Martin-Hisard 2007, p. 236.
- ^ Martin-Hisard 2007, p. 234.
- ^ Donabédian & Thierry 1987, p. 124.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 372.
- ^ a b c d Martin-Hisard 2007, p. 237.
- ^ Cowe 2000, p. 78.
- ^ Lang, David Marshall (1970). Armenia: Cradle of Civilization. SOAS University of London. p. 188.
- ^ a b Garsoïan 2004, p. 147.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 373.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 374.
- ^ Thierry 2007, p. 275.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 375.
- ^ Garsoïan 2007, p. 272.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 376.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 385.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 386.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 387.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 391.
- ^ Dorfman-Lazarev 2004, p. 65.
- ^ Toumanoff 1990, pp. 121, 129.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 392.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 394.
- ^ a b Garsoïan 2007, p. 244.
- ^ Cheynet 2006, p. 41.
- ^ a b Martin-Hisard 2007, p. 238.
- ^ a b Martin-Hisard 2007, p. 239.
- ^ a b c Garsoïan 2007, p. 245.
- ^ Thierry 2007, pp. 291–292.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 389.
- ^ Manuk-Khaloyan 2013, p. 134.
- ^ Redgate 2000, p. 196.
- ^ Donabédian & Thierry 1987, p. 530.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 396.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 397.
- ^ Donabédian & Thierry 1987, p. 573.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 384.
- ^ Grousset 2008, p. 383.
- ^ Dorfman-Lazarev 2004, p. 85.
- ^ Durand 2007, p. 198.
References
- ISBN 1-4191-0751-8.
- Cheynet, Jean-Claude (2006). "L'expansion byzantine durant la dynastie macédonienne (867-1057)" [Byzantine Expansion During the Macedonian Dynasty (867-1057)]. Le monde byzantin : L'Empire byzantin (641-1204) [The Byzantine World: The Byzantine Empire (641-1204)]. Nouvelle Clio — L’histoire et ses problèmes (in French). Vol. 4. Paris. pp. 23–42. ISBN 978-2-13-052007-8.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 9781568591308.
- Donabédian, Patrick; ISBN 2-85088-017-5.
- Dorfman-Lazarev, Igor (2004). Arméniens et Byzantins à l'époque de Photius : Deux débats théologiques après le triomphe de l'orthodoxie [Armenians and Byzantines in the Time of Photius: Two Theological Debates After the Triumph of the Orthodoxy] (in French). Louvain: Peeters Publishers. ISBN 978-90-429-1412-4.
- Durand, Jannic (2007). "Reliquaires et orfèvrerie liturgique" [Reliquaries and Liturgical Goldsmithery]. Armenia sacra — Mémoire chrétienne des Arméniens (IVe ‑ XVIIIe siècle) [Sacred Armenia – Christian Memory of Armenians (4th - 18th Centuries)] (in French). Paris: Somogy / Musée du Louvre. pp. 198–225. ISBN 978-2-7572-0066-7.
- Garsoïan, Nina (2004) [First published 1997]. "The Independent Kingdoms of Medieval Armenia". Armenian People form Ancient to Modern Times, vol. I : The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1403964212.
- Garsoïan, Nina (2007) [First published 1982]. "Indépendance retrouvée : royaume du Nord et royaume du Sud (IXe-XIe siècle) - Le royaume du Nord" [Independence Found: Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom (9th - 11th Century) - The Northern Kingdom]. Histoire du peuple arménien [History of the Armenian People] (in French). Toulouse. ISBN 978-2-7089-6874-5.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Ghazarian, Jacob G. (2001). The Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia During the Crusades. UK: Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-1418-9.
- ISBN 978-2-228-88912-4.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Manuk-Khaloyan, Armen (2013). "In the Cemetery of their Ancestors: The Royal Burial Tombs of the Bagratuni Kings of Greater Armenia (890-1073/79)". Revue des Études Arméniennes. 35.
- Martin-Hisard, Bernadette (2007) [First published 1982]. "Domination arabe et libertés arméniennes (VIIe ‑ IXe siècle)" [Arab Domination and Armenian Freedom (8th-9th Century)]. Histoire du peuple arménien [History of the Armenian People] (in French). Toulouse. pp. 213–241. ISBN 978-2-7089-6874-5.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 0-631-22037-2.
- ISBN 978-2-7089-6874-5.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Toumanoff, Cyrille (1990). Les dynasties de la Caucasie chrétienne de l'Antiquité jusqu'au XIXe siècle : Tables généalogiques et chronologiques [The Dynasties of the Christian Caucasus of Antiquity Until the 19th Century: Genealogical and Chronological Tables] (in French). Rome. pp. 121, 129.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link