hresh
Registered User
Posts: 1
(8/4/03 1:52 am)
Reply
|
Armenian History
Is it a coincidence that Armenia was at the height of its power during the reign of the Artaxian dynasty in the Hellenic period?
~~~
Introduction
We hope that this page will introduce our visitors to the Armenian Nation, Culture and History in a nutshell. The White Race (known in contemporary anthropology as the Europoid race) has the following sub-races: Nordic, Alpine and Mediterranean. Armenians belong to the Mediterranean sub-race of the White Race. Modern media slams the Europoid Race and claims that such a race does not exist and blames the 'angry White man' for preaching 'hate'. If there was no White Race, there could be no such thing as a White male, angry or otherwise. The fact that there are different types of Europoids, and that there are certain areas where race mixing has blurred the lines through the invasions of various savages mainly Semites and Mongols, is used to try and prove that there is no Europoid Race at all. A future for all Europoid people would be mono-racial, but multi-ethnic where Whites of every nationality are represented, and where most Whites have at least two nationalities, and where admixture of White nationalities is an accomplished and irreversible fact. However, there must be no opposition against sub-races or White nationalities who want to keep themselves distinct. Unity is the only way to preserve the White Race and our culture. Political alliance is the key and a necessity.
Geography
The present-day Republic of Armenia occupies less than ten percent of ancient Armenia, which extended from the lesser Caucasus Mountains south across the Armenian plateau to the Taurus Mountains. Frequent earthquakes still remind us that the land lies near the great geological fault between subcontinent plates. The Armenian plateau is a highland which rises directly above its surrounding regions. Geography undoubtedly played a key role in the history and culture of Armenia. Forming an important coin of vantage and a highway of great value for trade and commerce between Asia and Europe, Armenia it seems was destined to be at grips with adversity. The land with its untold riches and its strategic position of primary import, stirred the ambitions of many 'superpowers' of the region. For a succession of centuries, the Armenians were in constant warfare with invaders and conquerors - friend/foe: Assyrians, Romans, Byzantines, Parthian's - adversaries: Arabs, Mongols and Turks - who rolled over their homeland, although certainly not without meeting the most stubborn resistance. Throughout these turbulent centuries, the Armenians successfully asserted their historical identity and upheld their national heritage against greater odds. Although on occasions overpowered by superior forces and reduced to the status of vassals, they nevertheless enjoyed a semblance of national autonomy. Yet, the very vicissitudes that troubled its existence contributed to the creation of a varied and original culture, held together by the constants of social, intellectual and religious institutions.
Origins
Armenian tradition has preserved several legends concerning the origin of the Armenian nation. The most important of these tells of Hayk, the eponymous hero and forefather of the Armenians who called themselves Hay (pronounced as 'high' and has the same Aryan linguistic origin – meaning 'higher ones', 'nobles ones') and their country Hayk ('higher country', 'country of the noblemen'). Hayk is famous for his battles with Babylonian ruler Bel. Noah had three sons, Shem (the oldest), Ham and Japheth. Japeth is believed to be the progenitor of the White Race. In the legend recorded by the Armenian historian Moses of Khoren and according to Armenian tradition, we are direct descendants of Aram, the direct descendant of Hayk from the year 2492 BC (when the Armenian nation was founded), who is a descendant of Japheth the son of Noah. This appellation was first initiated by German anthropologists of the 18th century who advanced the theory that the White Race originated in ancient Armenia. The Hayasa (Proto-Armenians/Hittites) formed the Nairi union, Hayk is believed to be one of their earliest leaders. It is known that in 5000 BC Aryans spoke one language, some say the location was in Southern Russia perhaps Ukraine but most people seem to agree that it was somewhere in the Armenian Highlands originally, maybe near the Lake Van. The first split in the Aryan (Indo-European) language was between dialect A and dialect B. Dialect A later developed into Germanic-Baltic-Slavic-Greek-Armenian-Indo-Iranian. Dialect B later developed into Italo-Celtic, Tocharian, and Hittite (Anatolian).The historian of the 5th century, Moses of Khoren(Movses Khorenatsi), also relates at some length the valiant deeds of Aram (mythological parallels in other Aryan legends, remarkably reminding Germanic Irmin and Roman Romus who share the same Aryan root in their names) whose fame extended far beyond the limits of his country. Consequently, the neighboring nations called the people Armens (from Ari + Men = 'noble men', Aryans) which later developed into Arimens or Armenians. Archeology has extended the prehistory of Armenia to the Acheulian age (500,000 years ago), when hunting and gathering peoples crossed the lands in pursuit of migrating herds. The first period of prosperity was enjoyed by inhabitants of the Armenian upland in the third millennium B.C. These people were among the first to forge bronze, invent the wheel, and cultivate grapes. One of the first written records to mention the inhabitants of Armenia come from hieroglyphs of the Hittite Kingdom, inscribed from 1388 to 1347 B.C., in Asia Minor. Hittite culture is based on Hurrian culture. Hittite king Suppilulima took over the Hurrian Kingdom. The earliest inscription to be found directly upon Armenian lands, carved in 1114 B.C. by the Assyrians, describes a coalition of Aryan kings of the central Armenian region referring to them as "the people of Nairi" (the name of that union derives from “n” + “airi” meaning “Aryan realm”).
Urartu/Armina, First Armenian Kingdom
By the 9th century B.C., a confederation of local tribes flourished as the unified state of Ararat (known from the Assyrian inscriptions as Urartu 1260 B.C.), the first Armenian Kingdom. Although the Assyrians refer to its Northern neighbour as Urartu with inscriptions in cuneiform, the Persians refer to its Western neighbour not as Urartu but as Armina. This shreds to pieces the theory brought forward by Armophobic sources that allegedly Armenians migrated to Urartu after 600 B.C. from the Balkans. Urartu grew to become one of the strongest kingdoms in Eastern Europe and constituted a formidable rival to Assyria for supremacy in the region. The Hayasa tribes inhabited Urartu from 3000 B.C. The Hittites called its Eastern neighbour not Urartu nor Armina but rather Hayasa. Thraco-Phrygian's migrated to Urartu in 1000 B.C., they were called Armens by the Greeks who joined the Hayasas. The Armens (Thraco-Phrygians) in fact came to Armenia from the Balkans. Urartians, Armenians, Hayasians are in fact the names of how different sources were referring to the Armenians (union of Hayasas and Armens). The beautiful mixture of two ancient European peoples, Armens with the indigenous Hayasa eventually produced the Armenian people as it is known today. The time frame is the same and so is the geographic location. So these are all different names of the same thing - Armina, Hayastan, Ararat (Urartu). Argishti I built a royal capital at Erebuni 782 B.C., current capital of Armenia known as Yerevan. The Urartians produced and exported wares of ceramic, stone and metal, building fortresses, temples, palaces and other large public works. It is archeologically proven, and the proof is undeniable, that in the entire region of ancient Europe - the first place where the iron tools were ever produced - was the Armenian Highland. The first tools were produced at about 2000 BC. Coincidentally, at about 1700 BC Northern India is invaded by Aryans, whose war munitions is made of iron, which easily destroys munitions of other tribes made from other metals. What is the significance of this? The reason for Aryan migrations, which established the language and cultural superiority of Aryans over this vast territory was the discovery of iron. Aryans were masters of iron. The first place of proven iron processing was at the Armenian Highland, the Aryans are from this area. Some so called 'historians' place the Aryan homeland North of the Black Sea, identifying them with Scythians. However, there are no known deposits of iron to the North of Black Sea. Plus, the excavations of iron metalwork in Northern Black Sea Kurgans proved the chemical composition of metal to be from the Armenian Highland. Scythians were just another branch of Aryans, who, unlike other Aryans, migrated to the North of Black sea. But this in no way places the origins of Scythians in that area. Ossetians (no, not Russians) are the modern descendants of Scythians who now speak the old dialect of Farsi. In addition, migrations originated on the Armenian Highland involved numerous tribes, who were speaking substantially similar languages, descending from proto-Armenian. All aborigines of these new territories (Central Asia/India), which were invaded by migrants, called the new metal that the migrants brought with them, by the name of the migrants. Migrants called themselves Aryans, so that the metal they brought was called after them - iron. Scythian invasions weakened Armenia in late 7th century B.C. One of the ancient Armenian irrigation canals is still used today in Yerevan, Armenia's capital - a city which stands upon the ancient fortress of Erebuni.
Zoroastrian Era
In the 6th century Urartu fell to the Medes, but not long after, the Persian conquest of the Medes, led by Cyrus the Great, displaced them. Persia ruled over Armenia from the 6th century until the 4th century B.C. Its culture and Zoroastrian religion greatly influenced the spiritual life of the Armenian people who absorbed features of Zoroastrianism - which derived from the ancient Aryan (Indo-European) religious beliefs - into their traditional beliefs. As part of the Persian Empire, Armenia was divided into provinces called satrapies, each with a local governing satrap (viceroy) supervised by a Persian. The Armenians paid heavy tribute to the Persians, who continually requisitioned silver, rugs, horses and military supplies. The governing satraps of Armenia's royal Yervanduni (Orontid) family governed the country for some 200 years, while Anatolia became acquainted with invading Greeks from the west.
Hellenistic Era
With the fall of the Persian Empire to Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 331 B.C., the Greeks appointed a new satrap, an Orontid named Mithranes, to govern Armenia. The Greek Empire, which stretched across Asia and Europe, was one in which cities rapidly grew, spreading Hellenistic architecture, religion and philosophies. Armenian culture absorbed Greek influences as well. As centers at the crossroads of trade routes connecting China, India and Central Asia with the Mediterranean and the rest of Europe, Armenian cities thrived on economic exchange. The Greeks also infused Armenia's religion (known as Armenism) with facets of their religious beliefs. After Alexander's sudden death in 323 B.C., the partitioning of his empire and warring among his generals led to the emergence of three Greek kingdoms. Despite pressure from the Seleucid monarchy, one of the Greek kingdoms, the Orontids, continued to retain control over the largest of three kingdoms into which Armenia itself had been divided into Greater Armenia and Lesser Armenia.
The Renaissance of the Armenian Empire, Artaxian Dynasty
Seleucid influence over Armenia finally dissolved when, in the second century B.C., a local general named Artaxias (Artashes) declared himself King of Greater Armenia and founded a new dynasty in 189 B.C. Artaxias expanded his territory by defining the borders of his land and unifying the Armenian people. The "renaissance of Armenia" was accomplished during the reign of Tigran the Great (95-55 B.C.), who proclaimed himself "King of Kings." Under Tigran II, Armenia grew to a great degree of military strength and political influence. According to the Greek biographer Plutarch, the Roman general Lucullos said of this king, "In Armenia, Tigran is seated surrounded with that power which has wrested Asia from the Parthians, which carries Greek colonies into Media, subdues Syria and Palestine and cuts off the Seleucids." And Cicero, the Roman orator and politician, adds, "He made the Republic of Rome tremble before the powers of his arms." Armenia's borders extended from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean.
The Arshakunian/Arsacid Dynasty
Tigran's victories were, however, destined to hasten his downfall, which occurred in 66 B.C. His son, King Artavazd II, governed Greater Armenia for 20 years untill Marc Anthony attacks and loses 80,000 troops. He captures King Artavazd of Armenia and his family, who he sends to Cleopatra of Egypt in golden chains. Artavazd refused to name Cleopatra as his queen and is beheaded in Egypt without revealing the whereabouts of the royal Armenian treasury. By 64 A.D. the new Arsacid dynasty, a branch of the Parthian Arsacids, came to power, and the country as a whole soon became a buffer zone over which the Romans and Parthians fought for domination. At this period Armenia and Persia enjoyed a long period of peace and cooperation, until in 251 AD the Sassanid dynasty came to power in Persia. Regarding Armenia as the ally of the overthrown dynasty, the Sassanids adopted anti-Armenian policy, trying to eliminate the Armenian state and to assimilate the Armenian nation. Since the Armenian religion of that period bared similarities to both Zoroastrianism and Greco-Roman polytheism, in the realization of their anti-Armenian policy the Sassanids were trying to capitalize on the religious closeness. King Trdat III (Tiridates) is crowned by Nero in Rome and given 50,000,000 sesterces, reimbursed for the cost of his 9 month overland journey to Rome, and skilled artisans to rebuild his capital. In order to deprive the Persians of this advantage, the Armenian king Trdat III in 301 AD declared Christianity the state religion of Armenia, thus making Armenia the first Christian state in the world, with Gregory the Illuminator as the first head (Catholicos) of the Armenian Church. Christianity was officially legalized in the Roman Empire 12 years after Armenia became officially Christian.
First Christian State In The World & The Armenian Alphabet
As mentioned above one of the most crucial events in Armenian history was the conversion to Christianity. By adopting the new religion, Armenia established a district Christian character of its own and, at times, was the sole protector of the Western world and culture in the region. King Tiridates III (Trdat), having been converted by Gregory the Illuminator, proclaimed Christianity as the religion of the state in 301 A.D. Thus, Armenia became the first nation to embrace Christianity officially. This was 12 years before the Emperor Constantine's Edict of Milan which declared tolerance of Christians in the Roman Empire. Gregory the Illuminator, later canonized, was elected Catholicos of the new Armenian national Church, the first in a long line of such clergy to be elected supreme head of the Armenian Church. Battle of Bagrevand against the Persians is won by a
combined Roman and Armenian army. The creation of the Armenian alphabet in 405 A.D. solidified the unifying factor of the Armenian language for the divided nation. The Armenian language is the language of Armens, which is the sole survivor of the now extinct Thraco-Phrygian group. It incorporated a large number of Hayasa words and grammatical features. Mesrop Mashtots, a scholar and clergyman, shaped the thirty six (three characters were added later) letters that distinguished Armenia, linguistically and liturgically, from the powers surrounding it. Until that day various forms of cuneiforms had been used in Armenia. Mesrop Mashtots travelled to Alexandria, then the biggest cultural and scientific centre of the civilized world, and studied there various principles of writing. He came to the conclusion that the Greek alphabet was the most advanced one of that time since it had one letter for each sound and was easy to memorise and to use. So he created an alphabet which followed the principle of 'one letter for one sound' and was written from left to right and had capital letters, unlike all other languages of the region, which were mostly written from right to left and had no capitals. The Armenian translation of the Bible, which contains more words than the Hebrew and Greek originals, was so perfect that it soon came to be known as the 'Queen of Translations'. The new alphabet stimulated an unprecedented boom in literature, and the V century was later called the 'Golden Age of Armenian Literature'. Mashtots was also canonized by the Church. The alphabet representing the many distinct consonants of Armenian has remained unchanged for almost 1600 years being the oldest Aryan language without any non-Aryan influence.
Battle For Faith
The conversion to Christianity was inevitably to bring in its wake complications of a political nature and to arouse grave anxieties in neighboring Persia. The Arshakuni dynasty was dissolved in the year 428, and eastern part of Armenia was annexed to Persia, while the western part was put under friendly Byzantine rule. The Armenian "Dark Ages" begin. The Sassanian Persians took advantage of Armenia's current inner weakness and launched a campaign to stamp out Christianity there and replace it with Mazdaism. Under this common threat, the princes, nobility and the people of Armenia rallied, and in 451 under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief (sparapet) Vartan Mamikonian the Armenians heroically faced the Persians at Avarayr in defense of their faith and national heritage. Heavily outnumbered, they were defeated; Vardan Mamikonian and many valiant men fell fighting. But guerrilla warfare continued in the mountainous regions. Vahan Mamikonian, a nephew of Vardan, continued the struggle. This time the Persians, realizing the futility of their policy, were obliged to come to terms with the Armenians. Freedom of religious worship was restored with the Treaty of Nvarshag. The spiritual independence of Armenia was further asserted in 554, when the second Council of Dvin (capital of Armenia of that period) rejected the dyophysite formula of the Council of Chalcedon (451), a decisive step that cut Armenians off from the Roman and Greek churches as fra as Church goes as surely as they were already ideologically severed from the East. By the time of Arab invasion in 634 Armenia, ruled by prince Theodore Rshtuni, was independent. After conquering Persia, the Arabs started to concentrate their armies against Armenia, but didn't manage to conquer the country until 654
The Bagratid/Bagratunian Dynasty & Semite Savages
In the 7th century, the Semitic Arabs stormed into Armenia and conquered parts of the country. Beginning in the 9th century, Armenia enjoyed a brilliant period of independence when the powerful Bagratid Dynasty asserted political authority and defeated the Semitic hordes of savages. Resumption of international trade brought prosperity and the revival of artistic and literary pursuits. The capital of Ani grew to a population of about 100,000, more than any urban center in Europe. Religious life flourished and Ani became known as the "city of one thousand and one churches." Armenian architecture of the period significantly influenced Byzantine and Western European architectural styles. During early 11th century, most of Armenia had been annexed by Byzantium even though ruled by an imperial dynasty of Armenian origin. In a sense this deprived Armenia and the Byzantine Empire of an effective shield against disastrous invasion of Turkic nomads from Central Asia.
Asiatic Savage Invasions & The Birth Of Cilicia
The destruction of the Bagratid Kingdom was completed by raids of new savage invaders, the Seljuk Turks from Central Asia. These 'people' virtually destroyed almost all of Armenian & Greek culture in the region. With little resistance from weakened Byzantium, the Seljuk Turks spread into the Armenian highlands as well as Eastern Europe. This invasion compelled a large number of Armenians to move south, toward the Taurus Mountains close to the Mediterranean Sea, where in 1080 they founded, under the leadership of Ruben (Rubenid/Rubinian dynasty), the Kingdom of Cilicia. Close contacts with the Crusaders and with fellow Europeans led to the creation of a new European state, absorbing feudal class structure. Cilician Armenia became a country of barons, knights and serfs. The court at Sis adopted European clothes. Latin and French were used alongside Armenian.The close relationship with Western European countries played a very important role during the Crusades. Cilicia provided the Christian armies a safe haven and provision on their way towards Jerusalem. Intermarriage with European crusading families was common, and Western European religious, political, and cultural influence was strong. Many Latin terms entered the Armenian language. Cilician Armenia also played an important role in the trade of the Venetians and Genoese with the East. The Cilician period is regarded as the Golden Age of Armenian Illumination, noted for the lavishness of its decoration and the frequent influence of contemporary Western manuscript painting. Their location on the Mediterranean coast soon involved Cilician Armenians in international trade between the interior of Eurasia and Europe. Enduring constant attacks by the Turks, Mongols and Mamelukes, Cilician Armenia survived for three centuries and fell to Egyptian Mameluks in 1375. The last Armenian king of Cilicia, Levon VI Lousinian, emigrated to France, where his grave still can be seen in the St. Denis Cathedral of Paris. The title "King of Armenia" passed to the kings of Cyprus, then to the Venetians, and was later claimed by the house of Savoy.
The Crusades & Cilicia
1096-1102 - The First Crusade: Bagrat contacts the crusading forces at Nicaea and accompanies them across Asia Minor. He forms an alliance with Baldwin of Boulogne. The Franks enter parts of Cilicia but their hold is insecure because of Byzantine invasions and the objections of the native Armenian princes who get the upper hand in the late 1130s. Byzantine takes over Cilicia followed by seven years of relative peace ruled by Byzantium. On April 8th, 1143 John Comnenus Emperor of Byzantine dies as a result of a poisoned arrow. The Second Crusades begin in 1147. Rubenid family allies and marries Franks and fights the Turks and Byzantines together. Hromkla is given to the Armenian catholicos by Beatrice Princess Of Lorraine. In 1179 a religious synod is held at Hromkla to discuss the celebration of Christmas on December 25, instead of the Armenian custom of combining it with the Epiphany on January 6; the method for choosing the date of Easter; the use of fermented bread at mass; and changes in the church services. Emperor Manuel Comneus dies in 1180. In 1189 the Third Crusades begin. Note: Armenian Kings Leon/Levon are numbered differently by various historians, it's easier to understand who is who by the dates instead of I, II etc. Leon sends Nerses of Lampron as ambassador to meet Emperor Frederick Barbarossa when he approaches Cilicia, but on June 10 Barbarossa drowns in the Saleph River near Silifke, ending negotiations for Levon's royal crown. Catholicos Grigor Tgha dies and his nephews, Hetoum and Shahnshah, are assassinated. Gregory V is elected as the new catholicos but doesn't get along with Levon and is imprisoned later killed while trying to escape. On January 6, 1198 Levon/Leon I is crowned as King of Lesser Armenia (Cilicia) by the new Armenian catholicos with a crown from the Hohenstaufen emperor. In return, he is forced to recognize the German emperor as his lord and the pope in Rome as the head of the Armenian Church. The Armenian church however stalls and does not change or adopt the Roman Catholic forms of worship. Constantinople is sacked by crusaders of the Fourth Crusade(1202-1204). Catholicos John of Sis accuses Isabelle of Austria, Levon's queen and mother of his daughter Rita, of adultery and she is imprisoned at Vahka where she died. King Levon of Cilicia marries Sybilla of Lusignan, the daughter of King Aimery of Cyprus and Queen Isabeau Plantagenet, and later mother of Levon's daughter and heir Isabelle (Zabel). Levon's wife's sister, Helvis marries to Raymond-Roupen of Antioch. Two years after the start of the Fifth Crusades, King Levon dies in 1219 reigning 32 years. Isabelle becomes queen, Adam of Baghras the regent. Phillip the son of Raymond count of Tripoly marries Isabelle in 1222. He is later imprisoned and killed in the fortress of Sis. King Levon I's daughter Isabelle is forced to marry Hetoum I (or Hetum I) which joined the Rubenid and Hetumian families. Isabelle runs away from her forced marriage to Hetoum, but eventually reconciles to it. Seljuk Turk animals invade other neighbouring Armenian kingdoms next to Cilicia. Genghis Khan later shatters the Seljuk grip on the region. King Hetoum I (or Hetum I) goes to visit the Genghis Khan for three years and comes back through Greater Armenia, the homeland no Cilician ruler had previously been able to visit. He acquires guarantees that the Mongol savages will protect the Christian Churches in their conquered lands. Bohemond VI of Tripoli marries Hetoum's daughter, Sybille and Prince Levon is knighted at Mamistra. Prince Constantine follows his father as lord of the fortress of Servandikar which dominates the main roads to Cilicia from the east and at Sis he marries King Hetoum's daughter Rita. Prince Levon of Cilicia marries Keran, daughter of Hetum of Lambron. Keran and two of their children died of the plague that struck Europe after 1272 and before Hetoum's death in 1270. Baybars, Mamluk leader, takes Syria, Caesarea, Haifa, Arsuf, Tibnin, and Safad and then turns on Europe. King Hetoum goes to the Mongols for help and while he is gone Princes Levon and Thoros are imprisoned in Cairo and the Mamluks sack Sis, Mamistra, Adana, Ayas, and Tarsus. On May 12, 1268 the Mamluks take Antioch and massacre the inhabitants. Hetum gets his son released from Egypt, abdicates in Levon's favor, and enters a monastery. King Hetum I; father of Fimi (Countess of Sidon) and Levon (crown prince); brother of Bishop Johannes dies in 1270. Marco Polo sets out for Cathay from the Armenian port of Ayas in 1271, not long after the Mamluks try again to conquer Europe through Cilicia. General Smbat, Levon's uncle, traps Mamluk troops in a mountain pass and wins a major battle. Smbat and 300 knights die in the battle. Hetum II abdicates in favor of his brother Thoros (who was strangled by their brother Smbat). Hetum retires to a Franciscan monastery and resumes the throne in 1294. Temporary allied Mongols and Armenian Knights with various other European Knights fight the Mamluks at Homs and win, regaining all their Cilician property. In 1304, The Grand Khan, nicknamed Gazan (which means savage), declares Islam the official religion in his lands and later his son orders all Christians throughout his lands to wear a black linen strip over the shoulder. Hetum II and his nephew, now King Leon, are murdered by the savage Mongols (now even more animalistic under Islam) Anavarza with all their followers. Oshin, Hetum's brother, chases the Mongol troops out. Oshin is poisoned Young Levon is forced to marry his regent's (Oshin of Corycus) daughter, Alice. King Levon in 1329, aged nineteen, takes charge of the kingdom and has his unfaithful wife and her father both killed. King Levon marries Constance Eleanor of Aragon, daughter of Frederick II of Sicily and widow of Henry II of Cyprus. Mamluks attack and take the Cilician port city of Ayas. King Leon V, stays in the citadel of Sis instead of fighting the Mamluks, waits for Western European help, the dissapointed barons murder him in 1341. The following year, barons offer the crown to John of Lusignan who offers the Cilician crown to his brother Guy. Guy agrees and comes to Cilicia. He brings Western European influence to the monarchy and encourages union with the Roman Church. Guy Lusignan sends his younger brother, Bemon, to the Pope in Avignon, France for help; but the negotiations rouse resentment in the barons. Guy, Bemon and their bodyguards are murdered. Constantine III, son of Marshall Baldwin of Neghr, is elected king. He marries Marie, daughter of Oshin (a former regent) and Jeanne of Anjou. Peter I of Cyprus gets the port castles of Korykos in Cilicia in return for helping Constantine VI against the Karamanids Constantine III dies of natural causes and Constantine IV becomes king of Cilicia and marries Marie widow of Constantine III in 1363. Peter of Cyprus is murdered by the Muslims so Constantine VI makes a treaty with the sultan of Cairo, the barons are not very happy that Constantine signed a treaty with non-Europeans. Queen Marie sends Pope Gregory XI a letter requesting military help against the Muslims. Constantine is murdered, and the Pope wants Marie to marry Othon of Brunswick. Leon, son of John of Lusignan and Soldane, is invited by the barons to become king. (Soldane, daughter of King Georgi VII of Georgia, may have been John of Lusignan's mistress and not his wife, and her sons may or may not have been legitimate. Levon's claims to his grandmother Isabella's estates were rejected on those grounds by the Pope.) Levon, delayed in Cyprus on his wife's lands, is "taxed" by the Genoese 280 livres of gold plus 300 ducats ransom for his crown, silver plate, and clothing. His wife's lands are forfeited to Catherine of Aragon. Levon is forced to sell his personal possessions to travel and hire troops. In 1374, Levon VI, a Roman Catholic, and his wife, Margaret of Soissons, are crowned at Sis on September 14 in both an Armenian and Latin ceremony. To their surprise they discover an empty treasury. Next year on January 15 the Mamluks of Egypt capture parts of Sis. February 24, the rest of Sis is evacuated and burned by Levon and his supporters. April 13, Levon VI, his wife, and their twin baby daughters surrender to the Mamluks. July, Levon is taken to Cairo as a captive where he is released from jail, constantly watched by the Arabs and given a daily pension of 60 dirhems. Levon's wife, Marguerite de Soissons, and daughters die in Cairo. In 1382, Levon is ransomed using money from the Kings of Castile and Aragon, 300 squirrel pelts, a gold and silver cup, and a gilded jar. In 1386 Levon serves as an envoy to King Richard II of England. November 29, King Levon VI (John de Lusignan) dies. He is interred with French Royalty in the Basilica of St. Denis. He was in France for help to regain Cilicia. His son Guyot becomes a military man and Philippe becomes an archdecon. The Tartar barbarians invade Asia Minor in 1402. Forty years later the seat of the Armenian Catholicos is moved from Sis to Etchmiadzin. 1453, the Ottoman savages capture Constantinople. 1605, after burning and destroying what they could in the former area of eastern Greater Armenia, the Persians require their Armenian subjects to move to New Julfa and away from the invading Turkish troops. Many Armenians escape north to the Eastern European states such as Poland. 1620, the Persian rule of Eastern Armenia begins...
The Persian Rule
While in the 13th century the Armenians prospered in the Cilician Kingdom, those living in Greater Armenia witnessed the invasion of the savage Mongols. Later, in the 16th and 17th centuries, Armenia was divided between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran. With the annexation of the Armenian plateau, the Armenians lost all vestiges of an independent political life. The Persian leader Shah Abbas I inaugurated a policy of moving populations of entire Armenian regions to his country to create a no-man's land in the path of the Ottoman advance, and to bring a skilled merchant and artisan class to his new capital, Isfahan aside from purifying the Persian genepool with untouched Armenian genes. The Armenian community of New Julfa, a suburb of Isfahan, was held by Shah Abbas I in great esteem and became one of the economic bases of the Safavid state. Persians ruled Eastern Armenia until 1828, when it was annexed by Russia. However, it was the Ottoman Turks who governed most of the Armenian land and population (Western Armenia).
Ottoman Savages & The Armenian Holocaust
During the 19th century, Armenians under Turkish rule suffered from discrimination, heavy taxation and armed attacks. As Christians and White Europeans, Armenians lacked legal recourse for injustices. They were taxed beyond their means, forbidden to bear arms in a country where murdering a non-Muslim often went unpunished, and were without the right to testify in court on their own behalf. During the late 19th century, the increasingly reactionary politics of the declining Ottoman Empire and the awakening of the Armenians culminated in a series of Turkish massacres throughout the Armenian provinces in 1894-96. In the spring of 1909, yet another orgy of bloodshed took place in Adana, where 30,000 Armenians lost their lives after a desperate resistance. World War I offered a good opportunity for Turks to "solve the issue." In 1915, a secret military directive ordered the arrest and prompt execution of Armenian community leaders. Armenian males serving in the Ottoman army were separated from the rest and slaughtered. The Istanbul government decided to deport the entire Armenian population to the Middle East. Armenians in towns and villages were marched into deserts of Syria, Mesopotamia and Arabia. During the "relocation" many were flogged to death, bayoneted, buried alive in pits, drowned in rivers, beheaded, raped or abducted into harems. Many simply expired from heat exhaustion and starvation. 1.5 million people perished in this first genocide of the 20th century. Another wave of massacres occurred in Baku (191 . Shushi (1920) and elsewhere.
The First Republic & The Bolsheviks
The defeat of the Ottoman Turks in World War I and the disintegration of the Russian Empire gave the remaining Armenians a chance to declare their independence. On May 28, 1918, the independent Republic of Armenia was established, after the Armenians forced the Turkish troops to withdraw in the battles of Sardarapat, Karakilisse and Bashabaran. Overwhelming difficulties confronted the infant republic, but amid these conditions the Armenians devoted all their energies to the pressing task of reconstructing their country. But due to pressure exerted simultaneously by the Turks and Communists, the republic collapsed in 1920. Finally, the Soviet Red Army moved into the territory (Eastern Armenia) and on November 29, 1920, declared it a Soviet republic. First the Young Turk party implemented the Armenian Genocide, then after the Treaty of Sevres was signed (to which President Woodrow Wilson demanded that Armenians receive a sea outlet and all the villages in Eastern Armenia, from where they were removed during the march all the way down to the Middle East into the Syrian desert) but also Mustapha Kemal Ataturk violated Sevres and continued the Genocide by attacking then independent Armenia while the Communist Red Army moved in. Armenia was made part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic in 1922, and in 1936, it became one of the Soviet Union's constituent republics. The tumultuous changes occurring throughout the Soviet Union beginning in the 1980's inevitably had repercussions in Armenia. Armenia became the first Soviet republic to declare independence.
Current Republic Of Armenia and Karabakh
In 1988, a movement of support began in Armenia for the constitutional struggle of Nagorno Karabagh Armenians to exercise their right to self-determination. This predominantly Armenian populated autonomous region had been placed under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan against the will of the majority of the local population by an arbitrary decision of Stalin the Georgian in 1923. That same year, in 1988, Armenia was rocked by severe earthquakes that killed thousands, and supplies from both the Soviet Union and the West were blocked by the Azerbaijani Government fighting the Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh. Both of these issues have dominated Armenia's political arena since the first democratic election held in Armenia after the end of the Soviet era. In 1990, the Armenian National Movement won a majority of seats in the parliament and formed a government. On September 21, 1991, the Armenian people overwhelmingly voted in favor of independence in a national referendum, and an independent Armenia came into being.
Everybody has a right to answer to your post!
Edited by: canaris at: 8/7/03 2:22 am
|
Email This To a Friend
Topic Commands
Click to receive email notification of replies 
Click to stop receiving email notification of replies