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E00152: The Epic Histories, traditionally attributed to P'awstos, written in Armenian in the second half of the 5th c., recount the martyrdom of Katholikos *Yusik (katholikos of Armenia, S00068) in c. 350, for rebuking king Tiran, and his burial next to his father *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251).

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posted on 2014-11-04, 00:00 authored by naleksidze
The Epic Histories, Book XII, Chapter 3:

The chapter recounts the ascent to the Armenian throne of Tiran the same time as Yusik became katholikos of Armenia. However, soon the king and his magnates proved to be unworthy and did not behave according to God's will. Yusik firmly and fearlessly chastised and rebuked the king and his court.

Որ իբրեւ օր մի յաւուրց տարեկանաց, դիմեաց գալ թագաւորն Տիրան հանդերձ այլովք աւագանւովն մտանել յեկեղեցին, իսկ ընդդէմ բարբառեալ ասէր. Չես արժանի, հի՞մ գաս, մ'ի գար ի ներքս: Վասն որոյ անդէն ի ներքս քարշէին զնա յեկեղեցւոջն. բրածեծ եղեալ ջաղջախեալ քահանայապետն Աստուծոյ սուրբ, երանելի մանուկն Յուսիկ, կիսամահ կոշկոճեալ ընկեցեալ լինէր: Զոր բարձեալ պաշտօնէիցն դրան եկեղեցւոյն ի Բնաբեղ բերդէն արքունի` մեծ Ծոփաց գաւառին, եկին բերին ի գաւառն Դարանաղեաց ի գեւղն Թորդան. եւ անդ ոչ ինչ յետ բազում աւուրց հանգեաւ, եւ եդաւ մօտ առ Գրիգորի եւ ընդ հարս իւր:

'And so, King Tiran with others from the nobility presented himself on a day of annual [celebration] to enter into the church, but [Yusik] spoke out against him and said: "You are unworthy! Why have you come? Do not go inside!" For this, they dragged him at once into the church. Beaten with rods and shattered, the holy high-priest of God, the blessed youth Yusik was flung there battered and half dead. [Then] the ministers from the palatine church of the royal fortress of Bnabel in the district of Great Cop'k' (= Sophene) raised him up and bore him to the district of Daranalik', to the village of T'ordan, and he died there after a few days, and was laid [to rest] near Gregory [the Illuminator] and his fathers.'

Text: Garsoïan 1984. Translation: Garsoïan 1989, 82-84.

History

Evidence ID

E00152

Saint Name

Yusik, Katholikos of Armenia : S00068 Gregory the Illuminator, Converter of Armenia : S00251

Saint Name in Source

Յուսիկ Գրիգոր

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Language

  • Armenian

Evidence not before

460

Evidence not after

470

Activity not before

341

Activity not after

347

Place of Evidence - Region

Armenia

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Hadamakert Հադամակերտ Hadamakert Başkale

Major author/Major anonymous work

Epic Histories (Buzandaran Patmut'iwnk')

Cult activities - Places

Burial site of a saint - unspecified

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Burial ad sanctos

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Monarchs and their family

Source

The History, traditionally attributed to a certain P‘awstos Buzandac'i (usually translated as 'Faustos of Byzantium') covers Armenian history from the later Arsacid dynasty (c. AD 330) to the partition of the Armenian kingdom between Byzantium and Iran (AD 387). The History is the earliest source covering this specific period of history, which was later treated by Movsēs Xorenac'i. As N. Garsoïan points out, despite the evident importance of the material contained in the History for the study of 4th century Armenia, it was never included into the received Armenian tradition, and medieval historians preferred to refer to Movsēs Xorenac‘i, the most authoritative source for later authors, as the sole authority for 4th century events. Łazar P'arpeci, for example, considered the information provided by P‘awstos as false and absurd, and so apparently did the rest of medieval scholarship. Date and language The authorship of the text has long been debated. The author claims to have been an eyewitness of the events he describes, but if this was indeed the case he could not have written in Armenian, as the Armenian script was only created in the 5th century. Thus, he was often considered a Greek historian, a supposition 'supported' by a misunderstanding of the word Buzand (in his name) as 'Byzantium' (see below). Other external evidence has also been cited to favour the idea that the work was originally written in Greek, and only later translated into Armenian. There has also been a theory in favour of a Syriac original, mostly advanced by Peeters and based on multiple Syriacisms in the text. The most convincing theory, however, favours an Armenian original, and is mostly based on internal linguist evidence, such as the use of scriptural quotations that derive from the Armenian version of the Bible, various colloquialisms, and the spelling of proper names. As to the date of the composition, the author’s own claim cannot be accepted as trustworthy as he is far too ignorant of 4th century events to be considered a contemporary; he presents 4th century historical events as filtered through folk memory, often projecting events of the 5th century into the previous century. Based on the Epic Histories' quotations from Koriwn (who wrote in the first half of the 5th century), and a reference to the Histories by Łazar P‘arpeci (writing at the very end of the 5th century), who places 'P‘awstos' immediately after Agathangelos, Garsoïan suggests convincingly that the date of composition was around 470, arguing that 'it is difficult to imagine a time more suitable for a work glorifying the role of the Mamikonean family in Armenian history than the generation immediately following the sparapet Vardan Mamikonean's heroic defense of Armenian Christianity in 451' (Garsoïan, Epic Histories, 11). The author The claim by some late antique and medieval sources that P‘awstos was Greek rests on a misunderstanding of the word Buzand, which was considered to mean 'Byzantium'. Medieval reception 'corrected' the form Buzand to Buzandac‘i ('from Byzantium') to support the Greek origin of the author. The actual title appended to the text is Buzandaran Patmut‘iwnk‘. A. Perikhanian has found a definitive solution to the problem, showing that the word buzand derived not from the toponym ('Byzantium') but from the Parthian bozand , 'a reciter of epic poems, a bard' , with the suffix –aran as an adjectival qualifier. The title can thus be translated as Bardic or Epic Histories. So, as N. Garsoïan has shown, the work generally titled History of Armenia and attributed to Faustos of Byzantium is in fact a compilation of tales assembled by an anonymous historian in the 5th century. In our database the text will be consistently referred to as the Epic Histories. The author’s agenda From the perspective of the author’s representation of cultic practices, Garsoïan’s conclusion (as follows) is noteworthy: 'The author may have been a native of the southwestern district of Taron because of his unreserved devotion to the Mamikonean lords of the district and to its holy site Aštišat, which he invariable presents as the original centre of Armenian Christianity, as against the focus of the contemporary 'Agathangelos Cycle' on the northern city of Vałaršapat'/Dwin, and the nearby holy site of T'ordan' (Garsoïan, Epic Histories, 16). The author is a rigourous defender of Nicene orthodoxy and is thus strongly antagonistic toward the Armenian crown, which 'sought to conform with the Arianizing policy of the successors of Constantine through much of the fourth century' (Garsoïan, Epic Histories, 15).

Discussion

Yusik was the grandson of *Gregory the Illuminator, and the son of the patriarch *Vrt'anes (Gregory's immediate successor). He was buried at T'ordan (within a patriarchal domain), beside his father and grandfather. This was as much a dynastic act (establishing a mausoleum for the Gregorid patriarchs of Armenia), as a cultic one (a burial next to the grave of earlier saintly men). But in the early Armenian tradition, with dynasty and sainthood closely associated, the two motivations are not easily separated. The Epic Histories do not tell us why Yusik rebuked the king; whereas Movsēs Xorenac’i and later, following Xorenac’i, the History of Albanians both claim that Tiran had tried to set up an image of Julian the Apostate in the church (MX, III xiii-xixl MK, 266-267). N. Garsoïan has suggested that the conflict with Tiran may have been caused by Arianizing tendencies within the Arsacid dynasty, while Yusik was trying to defend the Nicene Orthodoxy of his own dynasty.

Bibliography

Edition: Buzandaran Patmut'iwn (The Epic Histories) also known as Patmut'iwn Hayoc' (History of Armenia) Attributed to P'awstos Buzandac'i, a facsimile reproduction of the 1883 St. Petersburg edition with an introduction by Nina G. Garsoïan (New York: Caravan Books, 1984). Translation: Garsoïan, N.G., The Epic Histories Attributed to P'awstos Buzand (Buzandaran Patmut'iwnk') (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989).

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