Gayane Khachatryan

The Bible and the Royal Power: Legitimation of the Bagratid Dynasty in Medieval Armenian Historiography

Gayane Khachatryan - Graduate Student at the Russian State University for the Humanities; Research Associate at the Governance and Problem Analysis Center (Moscow, Russia), iamgaya@mail.ru

The article deals with "constructing of the past" and legitimation of power of the Bagratid dynasty in medieval Armenian historiography. It focuses upon the use of biblical symbols by the medieval historians and the role of these symbols in the consolidation of power of the ruling dynasty. The article draws upon three sources belonging to the beginning, the middle, and the end of the Bagratid rule (History of Armenia by Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi; General History by Stephanos Taronetsi; History of Vardapet Aristakes Lastiverttsi).

Keywords: legitimation of power, the Bagratid dynasty, historical memory, constructing the past, medieval Armenia, Stephanos Taronetsi, Aristakes Lastiverttsi, Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi.

Introduction

The problem of legitimation of power is inextricably linked with the construction of the past and the creation of a political myth that is based on collective memory, tradition, etc.-

Khachatryan G. The Bible and the Royal Power: legitimation of the Bagratid Dynasty in medieval Armenian historiography//State, religion, and Church in Russia and abroad. 2015. N2 (33). pp. 11-33.

Khachatryan, G. (2015) "The Bible and the Royal Power: Legitimation of the Bagratid Dynasty in Medieval Armenian Historiography", Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom 33 (2): 11 - 33.

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lectures and commemorations 1. On the one hand, the sources of legitimation are in the past, on the other hand, the authorities recognized as legitimate are given the opportunity to shape the past that corresponds to their interests and establish new, politically important symbols. History is constructed, but this construction is based on the historical memory of a social group/society.

In such a situation, the figure of the historian becomes particularly important, as the Medieval researcher B. Genet notes: "A social group, political society, and civilization are determined primarily by their memory, i.e., their history, but not by the history that they actually had, but by the history that historians created for them" 2. A historian formed by the past, who has a certain historical memory, gives a new form to the past, updates it in accordance with the interests of the present - whether it is the interests of his social group, the client or society as a whole. The historian who constructs the past is limited, to use the terminology of Maurice Halbwax, by the social framework of memory; he has a certain range of literature, he is included in the cultural matrix of his era, and the text he creates is formed within a certain genre. According to Halbwax's concept, social groups create their own image of the world by agreeing on certain versions of the past. Thus, studying the Armenian historiography of the Bagratid era, to which this article is devoted, we turn not to the private opinion of the authors of historical texts, but to the historical memory of a social group, its self-identification and methods of legitimization. As in any other similar case, real historical events are combined with imaginary ones, and understanding these events can at the same time be a way of political manipulation of the mass consciousness.

Medieval historians aimed to create a complete picture of the world. Local questions of the origin of the clan, custom, and institution were interwoven into world history and traced back to the past.

1. Ricketson, P. (2001) "Political Myth: the Political Uses of History, Tradition and Memory", University of Wollongong Thesis Collection [http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2438&context=theses, accessed on 22.02.2014]; Hobsbawm, E., Ranger, T. (eds) (2003) The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Hutton P. History as an art of memory. St. Petersburg: Vladimir Dahl Publishing House, 2004, et al.

2. Gene B. History and culture of the medieval West. M.: Languages of Slavic culture, 2002. S. 19.

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up to the time of writing the work 3. A distinctive feature of medieval historiography is its functional significance. Events acquire meaning only when they are inscribed in the divine plan, i.e. they are connected with the past and the future; at the same time, events of the past are actualized in connection with the needs of the present, including for political purposes, to legitimize a particular ruler or action. Since in the Christian worldview of medieval man all world history has a single point of view and moves towards a certain goal, the task of the historian is to understand the divine plan, covering the entire history from Adam to the Second Coming. For medieval man, Biblical history was a kind of scheme according to which the whole world is organized, it is a model of history as such, so the same methods were applied to history as to the interpretation of the Bible. The task of the medieval historian is to accurately record the events or, more precisely, the deeds of significant people of the present, comparing them with the biblical history.4 Mythological motifs merge with historical ones and create a single whole. For example, researchers of Armenian medieval history often mechanically discarded mythological / biblical subjects from the historical narrative; but one can understand a medieval historian only through the prism of his worldview, which is largely based on the Bible.

In medieval historical texts, you can find many repetitive toposes. In particular, in the preamble, the historian often states that he has studied the works of his predecessors and intends to write a true narrative based on them and others.-

3. S. Y. Senderovich, a researcher of medieval literature, noted that the inclusion of the history of his people in the universal history made it possible "to connect it to the historiographical tradition, to extract it from the field of extra-historical existence and fabulousness, and, in fact, to make it history." Senderovich S. Ya. The Shakhmatov method, the early chronicle and the problem of the beginning of Russian historiography / / From the History of Russian Culture, Moscow: Yazyki russkoi kul'tury, 2000. Vol. 1: Drevnyaya Rus', pp. 477_478. The so-called centon-paraphrase principle was used to build ancient and medieval texts. For more information, see Danilevsky I. N. Povest vremennykh let: hermenevticheskie osnovy istochnikovedeniya letopisnykh tekstov [The Tale of Bygone Years: Hermeneutical foundations of Source Studies of Chronicle texts]. Moscow: Aspekt-Press, 2004, pp. 55-76; Averintsev S. S. Literatura / / Kul'tura Vizantii: IV-pervaya polova VII v. Moscow: Nauka, 1984, pp. 281. Structuralism and literary criticism // Genette J. Figures: In 2 volumes. Moscow: Izd-vo im. Sabashnikov, 1998, vol. 1, p. 159.

4. Popov I. N. Historical memory in Byzantium: representations of the Byzantine chroniclers of the VI-XII centuries. on the era of the formation of the Christian kingdom: dissertation ... Candidate of Historical Sciences, Moscow: IVI RAS, 2009, p. 27; McKitterick, R. (1997) "Constructing the Past in the Early Middle Ages: The Case of the Royal Frankish Annals", Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 6 (7): 101-129.

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trying something new 5. A modern researcher can find in these works a very limited range of literature, hagiographic and oral sources. It is impossible to distinguish any general principles of work of medieval authors with sources - some built their narrative based on one source, 6 others used many heterogeneous sources, 7 accurately quoting a new source in almost every sentence. Armenian historians inherited all these methods of historical description from the Jews, Greeks, Romans, and early Christians, and applied various schemes, ideas, and sources to varying degrees, depending on the purpose. Of particular interest to us are the texts in which the author creatively processed historical material, constructing the past in accordance with the political needs of the present. In historical literature, the Bagratid era is commonly referred to as the period of Armenian history from the 980s to the 1070s AD, the period of restoration of statehood after a long period of foreign rule. 8 The internal political situation in Armenia during the Bagratid era was unstable. In the IX-X centuries. Armenia consisted of several culturally and historically distinct regions, and within these regions independent small kingdoms were formed, which it was not possible to unite. At various times, hopes for the revival of the Armenian kingdom were pinned on the influential princely family of Mamikonyan and on the ancient royal family of Artsruni. Unlike the Mamikonian fiefdoms, which extended from the Taron region to the mountains of Ararat and Aragats, and the vast Artsrunid possessions east of Lake Van (Vaspurakan region), the Bagratids ' lands were insignificant, they were scattered throughout Armenia. Despite this, the names of-

5. Popov I. N. Istoricheskaya pamyat v Vizantii [Historical memory in Byzantium], pp. 299-300.

6. In Byzantium, the chronicle of George the Monk was most often used as such a source, in Armenia - Movses Khorenatsi, Agatangelos.

7. For example, in Armenia Stepanos of Taron, Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi, Tovma Artsruni, in Byzantium-John Malala, George Sinkell, Theophanes the Confessor, George the Monk.

8. On the restoration of the Armenian Kingdom in more detail: Ter-Gevondyan A. N. Armenia and the Arab Caliphate. Yerevan: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR, 1977. Melik-Bakhshyan S. G. Armenia in the period of Arab rule (VII-IX centuries): dissertation ... Doctor of Historical Sciences Yerevan: YSU, 1965; Yuzbashyan K. N. Armenian states of the Bagratid era and Byzantium of the IX-XI centuries. Moscow: Nauka, 1988; Bartikyan R. M. Byzantium and Armenian statehood in the X-XI centuries.//Bulletin of Social Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. 1996. N2. С. 592; Garso'ian, N. (2004) "The Independent Kingdoms of Medieval Armenian" in Hovannisian, R. G. (ed.) The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, vol. 1. New York: Macmillan.

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but the Bagratids managed to restore the Armenian monarchy and gain recognition from Arab and Byzantine rulers. During the Bagratid era, a special interest in history and its fixation appears in Armenia. In a difficult political situation, it was important for the Bagratid princely family to consolidate its view of history and modern events. As a rule, historical works were written by direct order of a representative of the supreme power, sometimes chroniclers even stipulated this fact at the beginning of their narrative.9 Placing accents in the way that was beneficial to the customer, they thereby justified their rights to power (this was especially important for the Bagratids, whose claims to the throne were questionable) and thereby strengthened it and increased the authority of the clan. It was necessary to show that a new, powerful state had emerged, which at the same time kept in touch with the past and relied on this past.

One of the ways to legitimize power was to build a kind of legendary ancestor. There were archetypal images of ideal rulers for the entire Christian medieval culture - the biblical kings David and Solomon, who, in turn, were prototypes of King Christ10. Since in the Christian tradition the Old Testament king David is a key Messianic figure, a prototype of Jesus Christ and at the same time his ancestor, early Christian and medieval authors often used his image not only for religious, but also for political purposes 11. The figure of King David made it possible to recognize as legitimate a king who does not have the right to the throne by blood, - the biblical account asserts the priority of divine grace over the legal and historical right to power.12 Comparing the king with the biblical David or building a kind to him gave the power a sacred character and unshakable authority.

It is no coincidence that this is exactly what the Bagratids used, who raised their family to King David. According to a historically unconfirmed legend, Movses Khorenatsi was commissioned by one of the Bagratids (Sahak Bagratuni)in the fifth century

9. For example, Movses Khorenatsi, Hovhannes Draskhanakertsi, Stepanos Taronski, etc.

10. Cook, M. L. (2011) "A Tale of Two Kings: The Use of King David in the Chronicle of Pere III of Catalonia" [http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4242&context=etd, accessed on 22.02.2014]; Hillgarth, J. N. (1978) The Spanish Kingdoms, 1250 - 1516:1410 - 1516, Castilian Hegemony. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

11. Cook, M. L. "A Tale of Two Kings".

12. David himself, according to the biblical account, was a shepherd, the youngest son of a certain Jesse, who actually came to power as a result of a political coup, after the prophet Samuel, by divine revelation, anointed him with oil.

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He writes the history of Armenia. Praising his sovereign, he also writes about the origin of this family. He relies on the information of a certain chronicler and reports on the Jewish roots of the Bagratid family. During the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, the Armenian king:

..He begged Nebuchadnezzar for one of the captive Jewish leaders, named Shambat, and brought him and settled him in our country with great honors. The chronicler claims that it is from him that the Bagratuni family originates, and this is true. We will then describe in detail how much effort it cost our kings to persuade them to idolatry, or how many of them and who exactly paid with their lives for their worship of God.13
The same legend can be found in many Armenian and Georgian historians. In the IX century. Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi adds to the legend that, according to rumor, the Bagratid family goes back to the family of David, and the Georgian historians Juanshir and Sumbat directly speak about the origin of the Bagratids from the house of David14.

A number of modern Western researchers attribute Movses Khorenatsi's activity to the 7th-9th centuries, the time of the struggle of the Armenian princely families for power, in which the Bagratids won 15. Robert Thomson claims that Movses Khorenatsi used sources that were not known in the fifth century, and refers to evidence that appeared only in the sixth and seventh centuries. Thomson believes that the Armenian historian "tendentiously altered Armenian sources in order to extol his Bagratid patrons, and consistently denied the role of their Mamikonian rivals." 16 There is no consensus on this point, but the existence of this legend and its dissemination served as a solid foundation for legitimizing the power of the Bagratids and their allies. further confirmation on the Armenian throne. Historians of the IX-XI centuries.,

13. Movses Khorenatsi. History of Armenia. Yerevan. 1990. p. 23.

14. Matevosyan R. On the question of the origin of the Bagratids//Armenian Textbook: Society and Politics. Journal: Renewed, ed. 2001. N1-2. pp. 112-115.

15. The most famous researchers: Robert Hewsen, Kirill Tumanov, and Robert Thomson: Thomson, R. W. (1997) "Armenian Literary Culture through the 11th Century" in Hovannisian, R. G. (ed.) The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century. New York: St. Martin's Press; Toumanoff, C. (1949) "The Early Bagratids. remarks in connection with some recent publications", Le Museon: Revue d'Etudes Orientates 62; Hewson, R. Н. (1975) "The Primary History of Armenia: An Examination of the Validity of an Immemorially Transmitted Historical Tradition", History in Africa 2: 91 - 100.

16. Thomson, R. W. "Armenian Literary Culture through the 11th Century".

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Already referring to the authority of Movses Khorenatsi, the image of King David was widely used, comparing the Bagratid kings with him and drawing parallels between the Kingdom of Israel and the Armenian one.

This correlation was further strengthened by the fact that the Biblical king, like the Bagratids, was at the origin of the creation of the new kingdom. The events of the emergence of the Jewish state and the activities of King David are described in the Bible and were widely known in Christian Armenia. In order to construct a new "political myth", to show the divine choice of the Bagratid family, their inclusion in world (biblical) history, it was important to ensure the unity of interpretation of divine revelation and history. This was possible in the case of the union of the state with a strong church, which has a monopoly on the spiritual sphere. The fight against heresies, which strengthened and shaped the state/ecclesiastical system, gained particular importance in this situation.17 It is no coincidence that it was during the heyday of the Bagratid kingdom that the most intense struggle against heresies (Tondrakians, Paulicians)began18.

Below we will focus in more detail on three written sources of the Bagratid era: "History of Armenia" by Catholicos Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi (c. IX-early X c.), whose activity dates back to the period of the formation of the Armenian Kingdom; "Universal History" by Stepanos Taronsky (Con. X - ser. XI century), who lived in the heyday of the Bagratid kingdom; and Aristakes Lastivertzi's "Narrative of the Miseries of the Armenian People" (XI century), which described the decline of the country. Thus, it is possible to trace how the historical image of the Bagratids transformed and developed from the beginning of their rule to the period of decline. Of particular interest to us will be the "History" of Stepanos Taronsky, since it was written during the period of the greatest power of the Bagratids and best reflects the official ideology.19
17. The English historian Robert Moore has convincingly shown in his works that the apparent increase in the number of religious movements is directly dependent on the policy of the church, which in its own interests at certain periods singled out and excluded certain groups of people from society. This approach has been gaining more and more support in modern medieval studies since the 1980s. The same point of view is shared by the author with regard to medieval Armenia. См. Moor, R.I. (2007) The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Authority and Deviance in Western Europe, 950 - 1250. Maiden (MA): Blackwell; Moor, R.I. (2012) The War on Heresy: Faith and Power in Medieval Europe. London: Profile Books.

18. Ter-Gevondyan A. N. Armenia and the Arab Caliphate. p. 220.

19. Since the dating of Movses Khorenatsi's "History of Armenia" remains open, we will not consider it in this article.

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Legitimation of power during the formation of the Bagratid Kingdom

Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi, an Armenian Catholicos who lived at the turn of the 9th-10th centuries, wrote his "History of Armenia", presumably commissioned by Ashot II Bagratuni.20 The exact time of writing the work is unknown. Some researchers believe that the work was carried out throughout the life of the Catholicos, others - that the entire "History" was written at the end of the X century. 21 The book can be divided into two parts: the first part is devoted to the events from the Flood to the end of the IX century, and the second covers the events of the first quarter of the X century. In writing the first part, he used the works of Koryun 22, Yeghishe 23 and other historians. In the introduction, Draskhanakertzi briefly describes the structure of his narrative, from which the position and sympathies of the Catholicos become apparent. He describes the coming to power of Ashot Bagratuni as the salvation of Armenia: "We saw the kingdom renewed anew, which long ago ceased "24, he accompanies the names of all the kings of this family with exalted epithets, Ashot I" was recognized as the greatest among almost all his predecessors", with" good intentions","great-wise and eloquent", "good behavior", "The high-born Ashot accepted honors, but ignored offerings" 25. The enmity between the princes is explained by external reasons - the machinations of enemies.

20. P. Alabyan Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi//Prominent figures of Armenian culture (V-XVIII centuries)/Edited by G. H. Sargsyan. Yerevan: YSU, 1982, p. 119.

21. See Darbinyan-Melikyan M. O. [Introductory article] // Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi, History of Armenia. Yerevan: Sovetakan Grokh Publ., 1984.

22. Koryun-historian, translator, writer of the fifth century, student of Mesrop Mashtots, author of "The Life of Mashtots".

23. Yeghishe-historian, writer of the 5th-6th centuries, Bishop Amatuniev and secretary of Vardan Mamikonian, author of "The History of Vardan and the Armenian War".

24. The article will use the Russian translation from ancient Armenian by M. O. Darbinyan-Melikyan (Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi, History of Armenia. Yerevan: Sovetakan Grokh Publ., 1984). For the first time, the Ancient Armenian text of the" History "was published in 1843 in Jerusalem, then in 1853 under the editorship of N. Emin (History of Armenia by Catholicos Iovan Draskhanakert, Moscow: Printing House of the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, 1853). The first incomplete critical text of the "History of Armenia" was published in Tbilisi in 1965 under the editorship of E. V. Tsagareishvili. The translation by M. O. Darbinyan-Melikyan is based on the critical text of E. V. Tsagareishvili and N. Emin's edition with the use of some manuscripts, provided with extensive comments, source studies and historiographical analysis.

25. Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi. History of Armenia, p. 114.

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Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi quite clearly sets out the task that he sets for himself: to reliably describe the events of which he is a contemporary. Nevertheless, it is easy to see that in reality its task is much broader. Draskhanakertzi does not just describe events, he includes them in the history of Armenia and the history of the world, this allows him to set a certain vector of interpretation of modern events and give them legitimacy. Indirect and direct quotations from the Holy Scriptures and other historians refer the reader to the "predecessor text" and its context, and as a result form new semantic structures that reveal the essence of modern events in the right way.

Unlike many of his predecessors, in particular Movses Khorenatsi, Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi begins the biblical story not with the creation of the world, but with the Flood, the cleansing of the earth from sinners.26 He also highlights the genealogical chain from which, according to legend, the Armenians originated. Highlighting the events after the Flood from the biblical narrative allows readers to focus on the problem of the" Promised land " in conjunction with the history of Armenia. Although, following Movses Khorenatsi, Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi notes the secondary nature of Armenian history in relation to the history of Israel, the story of Noah's descent with his sons "to dry land in Armenia" gives the entire history of the Armenian people a sacred status (the status of the chosen people) and confirms the right of Armenians to sacred lands. At the same time, claims to the chosen one/Promised land presuppose a special relationship with God. Beginning with the story of Noah, the idea of a covenant between God and His people runs through the Old Testament narrative. The chosen people are constantly in a state of choosing the path of "life and death", and the fate of the Promised Land and the entire nation depends on this choice. The same concept is central to Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi's "History of Armenia". Like the Old Testament narrative, this work has an open end, periods of prosperity interspersed with periods of decline, and the ultimate fate depends on loyalty to God and his vicegerents.

26. It should be noted that the author of another medieval literary work, The Tale of Bygone Years, does exactly the same thing. Analyzing this fact, I. N. Danilevsky comes to the conclusion that the author of the "Story" identified the Russian land with the Promised land, thereby reducing the whole story to clarifying the boundaries of the Promised Land. Danilevsky I. N. Povest vremennykh let: hermenevticheskie osnovy istochnikovedeniya letopisnykh tekstov [The Tale of Bygone Years: hermeneutical foundations of source studies of Chronicle texts]. Moscow: Aspekt-Press, 2004, pp. 142-144.

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Almost at the very beginning of the story, Draskhanakertzi inserts a legend borrowed from Movses Khorenatsi about the origin of the Bagratids. The mention of the Bagratids in the" prehistory " gives the princely family more authority: the deeper the roots and the earlier the clan was involved in the history of the country, the more significant it is for the present. Moreover, the Bagratid family is sacralized, since its origin is traced back to the legendary King David and at the same time is associated with the ancient Armenian kings.

First he puts Bagarat, a descendant of the Jew Shambat, who, according to rumor, was from the family of King David, crowned with the crown, because he was the first to surrender to him (the king) with all his soul. He also made him sparapet and chief of the ten thousand and twenty-seven.

Draskhanakertzi emphasizes that the Bagratid ancestor, Bagarat, " earlier than anyone else surrendered to him (the Armenian king) with all his soul." But the Catholicos does not stop there. Demonstrating the antiquity of the Bagratid family, their connection with the biblical King David, and their devotion to the Armenian throne, Draskhanakertzi connects their family with another key moment in Armenian history - Christianization. The Bagratids in the person of their ancestor Tubius, according to the Catholicos ' narrative, played the role of intermediaries between the Apostle Thaddeus and the pagan king of Armenia. At the level of prehistory, before the adoption of Christianity, which was perceived as a new birth of the country, the Bagratids are endowed with great authority: 1) they were associated with the first Armenian kings; 2) they were always loyal to the country; 3) they were of noble descent from King David; 4) they promoted the adoption of Christianity - they served as a link between the king and the apostles.

Draskhanakertzi gives the founder of the royal dynasty Ashot Bagratuni the qualities of a holy ruler. This detailed description of the righteous life is necessary for the Catholicos to explain his ascension to the throne, bypassing the royal family of Artsruni. Ashot's personal achievements are so great that they can serve as a basis for obtaining the royal title. Draskhanakertzi describes Ashot's beautiful appearance for greater credibility.

27. Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi. History of Armenia, p. 17.

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He was tall, statuesque, and broad-shouldered; he had a pleasant face, with black eyebrows that looked as if they had been painted, and his eyes had fine veins of blood in them, as if a red ruby had been born in pearls, and his hair was beautifully gray.28
The description of appearance in the Biblical tradition has a functional meaning 29: God's chosen one 30 must be beautiful and without external flaws, this archaic idea of the connection between appearance and internal qualities is found not only in the Bible, but also in many other ancient texts.

If in the" prehistory " Draskhanakertzi wrote the history of the Bagratid family in the history of Armenia, giving it a high status, now he justifies the claims of the Bagratids by personal qualities of the founder of the family: his righteousness and beautiful appearance. There are obvious allusions to the biblical account of King David, who had no rights to the throne, but because of his personal qualities and piety was chosen by God and accepted by the people. The biblical story also highlights the beauty of David (1 Samuel 16: 12). The same description can be found in the election of King Saul (1 Samuel 9: 2).

Draskhanakertzi pays a lot of attention to internecine wars, disasters and devastation (the next generation historian Stepanos Taronsky will keep these descriptions to a minimum). All these misfortunes, according to the historian who follows the biblical tradition, befell the Armenians because of their sinfulness. Describing the clash with the Arabs, he uses rich biblical symbolism and correlates the destruction of Armenia with the destruction of Jerusalem. At the same time, he sees the words of the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.) about Israel as prophecies about the Armenian calamities:

The prophet also weeps for us, saying, "Thus is Jerusalem destroyed," and the glory of Zion is humbled. For they have lost the care of the Most High even by God

28. Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi. History of Armenia, p. 78.

29. The description of the beauty of Sarai, Abraham's wife, is necessary to explain why Pharaoh was attracted to her; Potiphar's wife fell in love with him because of Joseph's beauty; David was captivated by the beauty of Bathsheba, etc.

30. V. A. Harutyunova-Fidanyan notes that the idea of the divine origin of tsarist power was new to Armenian historians and only from Draskhanakertzi penetrates into Armenian political thought. According to the researcher, this idea penetrated Armenia under the influence of Byzantium. Arutyunova-Fidanyan V. A. Obraz Vizantii v armyanskoi srednevekovoi historiografii [The Image of Byzantium in Armenian medieval Historiography]. 1991. Vol. 52 (77), pp. 113-126.

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the established churches of Christ, which were like "a tent in the vineyard and a tent in the garden", "tore down the gates [of the church] with axes and birdshaws" and defiled the altar of his name, and the inheritance of the Lord was trampled under the feet of the wicked and" those who pass through the way", who search the earth with their eyes like swine, shed the immaculate blood of the servants of the church, "as water around Jerusalem " 31

The images of Jerusalem and Armenia are so intertwined that it seems that Armenia is Jerusalem, and the destruction of the church is the destruction of the Temple. Other historians will also draw this analogy.

The "History of Armenia" ends with a disturbing biblical teaching, where again the words addressed by the Old Testament prophet to the people of Israel are interpreted as an appeal to the Armenians:

If, according to what the Creator has ordained for us, we were ready to turn our eyes to heaven and walk like the Creator, then, truly, by the life-giving power of the Lord, we would have been saved, and not delivered into the hands of our enemies; we would have thrown our opponents at our feet, and they would have fallen exhausted to the ground, and many the earth would be caressed before us. "If only my people would listen to Me,"He says," and Israel would walk in My ways, I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their oppressors." But because they have become like a flock of foolish cattle that stare at the ground, and have distorted the image and likeness of the Lord, so those who hate the Lord have deceived us, the boars of the forest and the men of the road have trampled us down like the mud of the streets, and the stones of the valley of Achor have hung over our heads.32
The themes of the Covenant and the "promised land"that were discussed at the beginning come up again. Draskhanakertzi is concerned about the fate of Armenia, despite the fact that for him the Bagratid rule is the best period of history, and throughout the book he demonstrates the divine grace that accompanies this family. The story remains as if open - everything depends on the obedience of the people, this is a repetition of the biblical scheme: the narrative is incomplete every time, everything depends on the choice of the path - with or without God.

31. Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi. History of Armenia, p. 162.

32. Ibid., p. 237.

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The image of Bagratids in Armenian historiography during the heyday of the Kingdom

At the turn of the X-XI centuries, Stepanos Taronsky, nicknamed Asohik ("talker"), wrote the Universal History 33 at the behest of Catholicos Sarkis I. The biography of Stepanos Taronsky is practically unknown. From his work, it can be concluded that for a long time he lived in a monastery, and after the accession to the throne of Catholicos Sarkis I, he performed various assignments for church administration, as a result of which he traveled a lot. It begins its history from the creation of the world and ends with the construction of the temple in Ani by Tsar Gagik I. The book is divided into three parts. The first book describes the events from the creation of the world to the accession of King Trdat the Great (286); the second book begins with the reign of Trdat and ends with the accession of George II and the accession of Ashot the Great Bagratuni in 885; the third chapter covers the history of the Bagratids for 119 years, starting from 885 to 890.

This structure already shows how the rule of the Bagratid dynasty is legitimized: starting with world history, he narrows it down to the history of Armenia in the second chapter, and devotes the third to the Bagratids as an organic continuation of the history of Armenia and even more broadly-the history of the world. The title of the book itself has a claim to universality, he writes not "The History of Armenia", like Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi, but "Universal History". Thus, the history of the Bagratid rule, to which most of the work is devoted, goes beyond the national history and becomes part of the world history, which was initiated by God himself.

At the same time, the role of the historian is reduced to the role of a mediator/prophet, who simply records the divine plan conveyed to them by the Holy Spirit:

Armenian and foreign creators and rhetoricians, overshadowed by divine grace, are zealots for the Holy Spirit of the fulfilled prophets and, like them, from the creation of the world by the Creator, present in strict sequence the picture of the future

33. The Universal History was first published by K. Shahnazaryan in 1859 in Paris. In 1885, S. Malkhaseants published a critical edition of the Universal History in St. Petersburg. In this article, we will quote the Russian translation from the Ancient Armenian language by N. Emin from the publication: Stepannos Taronsky (Asogik). Universal History / Translated by N. Emina, Moscow: Tip. Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, 1864.

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in an accurate representation of the past, starting from the first-created man and reaching his own time 34.

Asohik puts his work on a par with the Old Testament texts, thus including his narrative in the Sacred History. He recounts the Bible very briefly, highlighting key events. How it does this and what events it highlights requires separate consideration. For him, the motives of losing and gaining land, foreign rule, changing power and building a Temple are very important, and the moral component - the people's deviation from the commandments, unlike Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi and the biblical narrative, is minimized. The motifs identified by him unite the history of Israel and the history of Armenia, for which the loss of land and foreign rule was an event of the recent past, and the acquisition of the kingdom was an event of the present. Asohik begins the story with the moment of expulsion from paradise, but it is described not as a punishment, but as a voluntary exodus and " inheritance of the earth." He skips the story of Noah and goes straight to Abraham. Since Stepanos of Taron lived during the heyday of the Armenian Kingdom, there was no need for him to legitimize and sacralize the Armenian lands and the Armenian people-this was no longer in doubt, his task was to write a "universal history".

First of all, he is interested in events and motives that are consonant with modern history. The chronicler dwells in detail on the books of kings and the problem of changing kings, and several times he talks about the construction of the Temple by Solomon, from which he traces the chronology. Asohik's description of Jewish history echoes what happened in Armenia from the time of the destruction of the kingdom to the Bagratids - the rule of the Persians and Byzantines, the replacement of the royal power by the Catholicos, the arrival of Arabs who were inclined to Islam, the subsequent struggle for independence and the victory of the Bagratids.35
Asochicus describes in detail the period of the Maccabees ' rule, the change of power, and the discord between Aristobulus and Hyrcanus, which led to Pompeii seizing Jerusalem and desecrating the Temple. For the Christian interpretation of Sacred history, the Maccabean period is not the most significant, and the fact that Asochik singles out two whole chapters to describe these events indicates that for some reason these events were particularly interesting to the historian.

34. Stepannos Taronsky (Asogik). Universal History, p. 1.

35. Ibid., pp. 10-11.

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important ones. The political situation during the Maccabean period was indeed very similar to that in Armenia during the Bagratid era. The Maccabees took advantage of the weakening Seleucid power, which rivaled the Ptolemies in Egypt, and briefly achieved independence. The Maccabees, as well as the Bagratids, were not from the royal dynasty, and not everyone supported them. There were constant quarrels between successive rulers. The internal struggle for power in Judea weakened the country, and the involvement of Rome in the conflict led to the final destruction of the kingdom. Ahsohik ends the story of Israel with the prophecy of the birth of Jesus, which is quoted twice: "The prince of Judah will not fail, nor the ruler of his loins; the time will come when he will receive tribute, and the nations will submit to him." 36 In the light of these parallels with Armenian history, the prophecy sounds ambiguous. Since the Bagratids traced their lineage back to the biblical king David, this prophecy may also apply to them. The Bagratids are the "princes of Judah", and the history of the Kingdom of Israel continues in Armenia. In the last chapter of the first part, Asohik moves from the history of Israel to the history of Armenia and brings it to the reign of King Trdat. In the preface to the second part of the Universal History, Asohik draws parallels between all the parts:

Starting their history from the first-created man, our forefather Adam.... - they brought it to the reign of Trdat, the first king enlightened by faith in Christ. We will begin this second book with our second father and the first educator of the Armenian people. Gregory] and consistently bring it to our days 37.

Thus, in Asohik, Adam is associated with Gregory the Illuminator, and the first Christian king Trdat is associated with the Bagratids, with whom he ends the story.

Asohik begins the history of the Bagratids with a genealogy and traces it back to the "tribe of Abraham" (it is no coincidence that in the retelling of the Bible, Asohik immediately goes from Adam to Abraham, omitting Noah). He repeats the legend described by Movses Khorenatsi and Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi, and elevates the Bagratid family even above the royal Arshakid family.

36. Stepannos Taronsky (Asogik). Universal History, pp. 10, 16.

37. Ibid., p. 39

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Since the time of Arshakid Vakharshak, our pagan kings have conferred on the Bagratids the honorary title of Taghadir and aspet, they have suffered many torments for worshipping God, and when the enlightenment of Armenia was accomplished, they received the grace of the gospel in addition to the Mosaic Law through faith in Christ.38
Asohik emphasizes that the Bagratids " repeatedly took [into their own hands] the administration of the Armenian kingdom." The sovereign, who has divine grace, serves as a guarantor of the country's prosperity, so his legitimacy should not be questioned, God himself has blessed him.

What follows is an almost hagiographic description of the reign of Ashot Bagratuni and his successors. Asohik emphasizes the flourishing of spiritual life, dwells in detail on the descriptions of monasteries, their construction and the righteous life of the Bagratids. "In his days and during the government of his father, peace reigned in our country, and every man, according to the words of the prophet, reclined at table under his vineyard and fig tree."39 All conflicts between princely families, the struggle for power are described in terms of the war of good (Bagratids) with evil (any opponents), and good always wins. Stepanos Taronski creates an image of an ideal kingdom, in contrast to the story of Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi, who emphasized disasters and strife.

Some historical events are accompanied by quotations from the Bible, presenting this as the fulfillment of a prophecy. The biblical scheme described by him at the beginning unfolds in the history of Armenia. He describes a series of conquests, losses of land, and its acquisition, and the "Universal History" ends with the construction of a temple by King Gagik Bagratuni, similar to the construction of the Temple of Solomon. Unlike Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi, whose country's future is uncertain, Asohik is confident in the success of the Bagratids, the construction of the majestic Gagik I temple is a guarantee of this.

The image of Bagratids in the historiography of the period of Decline of the Armenian Kingdom (Aristakes Lastivertzi)

Almost nothing is known about the author of the "Narrative of the Armenian People's Misery"40, except that he was a Vardape-

38. Stepannos Taronsky (Asogik). Universal History, p. 107.

39. Ibid., p. 109.

40." Narration " by Aristakes Lastivertzi was first published by the mkhitarists in Venice in 1844 on the basis of four manuscripts, presumably of the XVIII or XIX century.

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volume 41 from Lastivert. The Narrative consists of a prologue, 25 chapters, and an afterword. It covers the events beginning with the arrival of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II Bolgaroboitsa (976-1025) in Transcaucasia in the Southern Caucasus, and ends with the battle of Manzikert in 1071 and the capture of the Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes by the Seljuks. Aristakes Lastivertzi's book focuses on three main themes: Armenian-Byzantine relations, the Seljuk invasion, and the Tondraki movement. Like the previous two historians, Aristakes supports the Bagratid rule, which by his time was established and does not require justification. He does not need to write the history of the Bagratids into the history of Armenia or world history, so he immediately begins to describe the modern events - the disasters of the Armenian people. The emphasis on this aspect of history unites Aristakes with Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi, who also paid a lot of attention to the disasters of Armenia, and distinguishes him from Stepanos Taronsky, who wrote a "ceremonial" history of Armenia.

The "narrative" begins with a lament for the Armenian land, which resembles the lament of Jeremiah. Aristakes Lastivertzi laments the sins of the Armenian people that led the country to ruin. Then he goes on to describe the historical situation in Armenia. The image of the Bagratids and their kingdom, like that of previous historians, is filled with biblical symbols. The reign of Gagik Bagratuni is likened to the Messianic era from the prophecy of Isaiah:

He brought peace to Armenia, church affairs flourished under his rule, and the children of the holy vow were enlightened, for, as the prophet foretold," the earth was filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as great waters fill the sea " (Isaiah 41:9).42
Gagik's reign takes on the features of an almost mythological, ideal past. If Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi and Stepanos Taronski were forced to justify the Bagratids ' rights.

The article uses the Russian translation of K. N. Yuzbashyan's critical text: Aristakes Lastivertzi. Narration of Vardapet Aristakes Lastivertzi / Translated from Ancient Armenian, introductory article, comment. and adj. by K. N. Yuzbashyan, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1968.

41. Vardapet is an academic degree held by monks in the Armenian Church, which gives them the right to preach and instruct their flock.

42. Aristakes Lastivertzi. Narration of vardapet Aristakes Lastivertzi. p. 26.

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putting them in a broader context, then for Lastivertzi, the reign of Tsar Gagik is already an ideal past, which can be considered a starting point. After Gagik, there is a gradual degradation associated with the sins of the people (not the king), which led to enemy invasions. Enemies are described, on the one hand, as the embodiment of evil, on the other hand, as punishing weapons of God. All this serves the moral purpose that Aristakes Lastivertzi set out in his Narration:

Nevertheless, we have set out all this so that when you read it, you will know that sin was the cause of everything that befell us. So that when you look at us, you will tremble before God, tremble in fear of his power, and by timely confession and repentance prevent [punishment], and not cause [retribution] by becoming his victim.43
Aristakes Lastivertzi describes in detail the spread of the Tondraki heresy and the struggle against it. It is interesting that Hovhannes Draskhanakertzi, who lived during the spread of this sect, does not say a word about it. In his "History" there is not even a hint of its existence. Stepanos Taronsky casually speaks about the Tondraki people, the founder of the movement Smbat Zarekhavansky. And only from the" Narrative " of Aristakes and other sources do we learn about this large-scale movement in medieval Armenia. As noted above, in modern historiography, the appearance of heresy is increasingly seen as the result of the actions of the church, which at some point excludes certain groups of people from society. In the case of the Armenian heretics, the conclusion drawn by the Cathar scholar Anne Brenon concerning the situation in medieval Europe seems to apply. The researcher notes that the medieval church itself was imbued with "Manichaean" ideas of the struggle between two opposing principles. Identifying itself with the angelic figures, it contrasted itself with the Legion of the dragon, whose role was assigned to the "Manichaeans" .44 Such dualism and apocalyptic sentiments were also characteristic of medieval Armenia. Aristakes '"narrative" is filled with images of the struggle between light and darkness; heretics are " servants of Draco-

43. Aristakes Lastivertzi. Narration of vardapet Aristakes Lastivertzi. P. 137.

44. Brenon, A. (2003) Les Archipels cathares dissidence chretienne dans l'Europe medievale, Cahors: l'Hydre Editions; Brenon, A. (1995) "Les heresies se l'AnMil. Nouvelles perspectives sur les origines du catharisme", Heresies 24: 21 - 36.

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na", "champions of the interests of Satan", "voluntary servants of Satan", they were one of the reasons for the destruction of the Armenian kingdom. Aristakes Lastivertzi gives colorful images of the harmful impact of the Tondrakians on Armenian society:

So, for example, when home-made food is mixed with poison and [someone] starts eating it as if it were [healthy] food, the deadly potion kills him. In the same way, anglers hide the hook with a nozzle so that the fish that is tempted by the bait will fall on it. Such are the servants of wickedness. They dare not reveal to anyone the pernicious abyss into which they are rolling - who would be willing, even if they were completely devoid of reason, to willingly plunge into the abyss from which there is no escape? Therefore, in order to deceive those who lack courage, they hide behind our pious faith and seduce the thoughts of the innocent with a sweet word. And their words are like cancer. It is difficult to treat this disease, and similarly, those who are caught up in [wickedness] hardly recover 45.

It is a curious fact that Armenians who converted to Islam or Byzantine Orthodoxy are condemned by all three historians, but their description is not made in terms of the struggle of light with darkness, the battle with Satan. It seems that these groups of people are not well suited to be demonized by the church. Apostate Armenians who have betrayed their faith for material gain or political reasons are understandable and therefore cannot serve as a pure symbol of evil. Tondrakians do not pursue any material gain, on the contrary, they are persecuted by everyone-both the Armenian authorities, and the Arab and Byzantine ones; they are a kind of spiritual competitors of the official church. Formally, they fall under the category of martyrs, but since they oppose the church, they automatically become "Antichrists" within the Armenian people, which is evil for evil's own sake.

Draskhanakertzi and Asohik, who strive to show the unity and righteousness of the people in the Bagratid era, faced the problem that just at the time of their heyday, a large group of people did not fit into the model of an ideal kingdom with a single spiritual center. Draskhanakertzi solved the problem with silence, Asohik mentioned, but in passing, emphasizing the victory over them (which has not yet taken place);

45. Aristakes Lastivertzi. Narration of vardapet Aristakes Lastivertzi. p. 119.

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However, for Aristakes Lastivertzi, this division is not a problem, but a logical explanation of why Armenia is in a difficult situation. Tondraki appear in historical literature only in connection with decline, and they are pushed out of the ideal model as if they did not exist. We can say that in Aristakes ' "Narrative" heretics have a functional meaning, it is an image of evil, which is intended, on the one hand, to contrast with the ideal image of the Bagratids, and on the other hand, to free the ruling power from responsibility for the destruction of the kingdom.

The legitimation of Bagratid power took place in several stages, with different goals set in different periods. At the beginning of the reign, it was important to demonstrate the Bagratids ' connection with the history of Armenia, their rootedness in it, but the future raised concerns. Then, in the heyday, the greatness of the Bagratids expanded to the scale of Sacred history, the Bagratid kingdom was perceived as a continuation of the Kingdom of Israel, and the Bagratids themselves were associated with the biblical kings. In the period of decline, there was a need to explain the plight and decay. The starting point begins with the reign of Tsar Gagik as an unquestionable period of the ideal kingdom. And the blame for the gradual destruction of the kingdom is laid on various strata of society and the treacherous policies of some princes, 46 with the Tondraki movement gaining particular importance, which, according to the historian, contributed to the disintegration. All three historians of the Bagratid era form a holistic view of the Armenian history and contemporary ruling power, which is given a central place in their works. Striving for an accurate description of reality, which in the framework of the Christian worldview means understanding God's plan for the world, medieval Armenian historians "ideologized" their works, considering the Bagratid rule and the entire history of Armenia through the prism of their ideas about this plan. Due to the fact that medieval Armenian historians considered their mission to interpret history, rather than dispassionately describe it, their writings served to legitimize power to a large extent. Armenian historians, supporters of a strong tsarist government led by the Bagratids, interpreted the past from the position of Bagratid legitimacy, their divine power.-

46. Yuzbashyan K. N. Narration of Aristakes Lastivertzi: A philological study of creativity. Author's abstract ... Doctor of Historical Sciences Yerevan: YSU, 1977; Harutyunova-Fidanyan V. A. The image of Byzantium in medieval Armenian historiography of the XI century. 1994. Vol. 55, pp. 146-151.

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swear words. On the one hand, the past gave the Bagratids greater authority and strengthened the existing power, on the other hand, the real authority of the Bagratids influenced the interpretation of history.

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