Der Mugrdechian Gives Vartanantz Talk

STAFF REPORT

Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program was the invited guest speaker at the Annual Commemoration of the Battle of Vartanantz, sponsored by the Chicago area Knights of Vartan on Saturday, January 29.

Der Mugrdechian’s talk was titled, “St. Vartan and the Battle of Vartanantz in the 21st century.” Below are some excerpts from the talk.

“It is a pleasure to be with you here tonight to speak on the occasion of the Feast of St. Vartan and the celebration of the Battle of Vartanantz.

When one considers that the event we are here to commemorate took place one thousand five hundred and fifty three years ago, it is indeed a special day.

I would like to talk not only about the historical events that occurred in the middle of the fifth century, but also about the interpretation of those events, how we today carry on the process of reinterpretation of the importance of the day and how we can also continue the living tradition that is St. Vartan.

If I were to ask you this evening to name a hero or heroes in today’s world, some names might quickly come to mind, or maybe it would be a little more difficult. The newspapers and television are often filled with heroes. Some of the younger generation would probably name a sports figure, others a little older might mention a political figure or a military figure. In fact it is unlikely that different generations would choose the same heroes. Times and circumstances change and we live in a world where things lose their relevance very quickly.

But the point is that each society, each generation defines its own heroes. It is rare that a hero can remain a hero to many people over many generations, unless there is an impact which is felt broadly, and unless the story has meaning to each generation. In reality then, the hero lives in memory only, through our collective reiteration of that memory. And, each generation must “reinvent” the hero, so that the hero can be passed on to future generations. Simply put, the conscious choice to spend time and remember and observe a special day such as the Battle of Vartanantz, is in and of itself an act of memory. It also ties each of us together because of the choice to be part of a larger cultural entity.

Clearly as we look back, St. Vartan fits these definitions of hero. The historical story places him at the center of a fifth century narrative, one where there are choices which will have consequences for generations to come. But in Armenian historiography, St. Vartan is not the only hero, indeed it is the Armenian people themselves, along with St. Vartan, who opposed the Persian policy of forcibly changing their religious beliefs. This idea of collective identity and a collective sense of peoplehood are at the heart of what we need to remember about St. Vartan. We are individuals, but also part of a collective community. By remembering, we actively join the Armenian community and validate the value that we give to St. Vartan and his companions. Therefore, in a sense St. Vartan represents each of us, and the qualities which he embodies are actually qualities which we ourselves also have, in varying degrees.

The main Armenian source on St. Vartan is the historian Yeghishe, whose work, The History of Vartan and the Battle of Vartanantz, is devoted to a single event in Armenian history. Yehishe wrote in the fifth century, when the Armenian alphabet had just come into widespread use. He is one of a handful of primary historians whose works laid the foundation of our knowledge of the early history and culture of the Armenian people...

The fifth century historian Yeghishe was a priest, and wrote his history from that point of view.

Christianity is a main focus of his work, and he frames his work in Christian terms... There is little ambiguity or idea of spiritual struggle-everything is laid out in stark choices of good and evil...

But in Yeghishe’s work, St. Vartan is not only depicted as a hero, embodying noble virtues of leadership and self-sacrifice, but St. Vartan is also depicted as a man, a human being. He also has doubts, and second thoughts, concerns about family, about his future, his status in the society in which he lived, and about the overarching issues of life and death.

Because if one talks of St. Vartan as only a historical figure, as a hero only, and not as a person, we would miss the real reason why he has remained alive in the Armenian people today. It is his very human frailty and weakness that makes him so appealing to us today. We can identify more closely with a hero who is also a human in thought and feeling, a man who had to struggle to make the right decision for himself and for his family and ultimately for his people....

St. Vartan belonged to the nakharar class of the people. The nakharars were the political and military leaders of Armenia, from which Armenian kings has also risen. They had power, prestige, and virtually unlimited influence. The Mamigonians were the hereditary commanders in chief of the Armenian military, the sparapets. There were other families which had other responsibilities, such as the Bagratuni. Thus a man like St. Vartan, who had grown up in this privileged class, had much to lose and his choices became even more important.

By the middle of the fifth century, the Armenians had lost their own kingdom (according to historian Movses Khorenatsi due to the fact that the nakharars requested that the Persian king put an end to the kingdom). Since 387 Armenia had been partitioned between the powerful Byzantine Empire to the West and the Persians to the East. Armenia was caught between two superpowers, and faced the possibility of total assimilation in one or the other empire. The last Armenian king of the Arshakouni dynasty was deposed in 428. Thus politically Armenia was in a dangerous position, with the nakhararas having to choose to which empire to pay their loyalty, constantly under pressure to conform to the wishes of either the Emperor or the Shah.

The discovery of the Armenian alphabet in the early part of the fifth century had become a powerful tool to combat the cultural influences threatening to overcome the Armenians.

In this context arose the struggle for religious freedom that we know today as the Battle of Vartanantz.

Persia’s Shah Yazdgird equated religious conformity to political conformity. This too the Armenians had faced from the Byzantines. Although the Armenians had constantly reasserted their political loyalty to the Persians, their Christian faith put them under constant doubt before the Persians. No amount of faithful service could change this fact.

According to Yeghishe, in the years before 451, under pressure from the Persian court, St. Vartan and the leading figures of Armenian society, nakharars and princes, had been forced to travel to the capital of Persia at the behest of the king, apostasized, that is had accepted Zoroastrianism and had denied their Christianity. They had done this in order to save their own lives, and their family’s lives This had been done in the presence of the Persian King, who had then restored their privileges and who had heaped additional honors on them. This is important to the St. Vartan story, because again General Vartan has made a human decision, one which he knew would make the people of Armenia angry, because of the breach of the oath that he and the other nakhararas had made together with the people.

Yet upon his return to Armenia, facing the humiliating condemnation from the people, St. Vartan made another fateful decision-to again renounce Zoroastrianism and take the path back toward the Christian faith, with the support of the people and the clergy. Yeghishe focuses on the idea of the “covenant,” or ukht, a binding belief in a shared destiny. In the case of the Armenian people it was framed in the initial response of the Armenian people through a letter of defiance to the Persian king Yazdigerd. This covenant was a promise to each other to stay true to the teaching of the Christian faith. It is one of the most beautiful of Yeghishe’s passages, with its comprehensive and succinct presentation of the Christian faith.

The Armenians offered their political loyalty to the Persians without reservations, but from their faith they remained unshakable. In the words of the Bible, render unto Caesar what is Caesuras, and render to God what is God’s.”

It is in the immortal words in Yeghishe that we have the following passage, “From this faith no one can shake us, neither angels nor men, neither sword nor fire nor water, nor any kind of cruel torture.”......

For the covenant of our faith is not with a man that we may be deceived like children, but it is indissolubly with God, from whom it is impossible to be divided or separated, not now, not in the future, not forever, not forever, and ever.” This concept is another that we have much to learn from because it is the basis of “sacrifice.” Sacrifice of everything one has held, for a higher cause. This is St. Vartan and his actions, as he sacrificed his own life, the highest price that he could pay.

The covenant put the Armenians on an inevitable collision course with the Persian king and his policy of forced conversion. Facing an enemy army of tremendous proportions, and having themselves a numerically deficient army, the outcome could have probably been predicted before the onset of battle.

There was only one possible outcome in the Armenian defiance-the physical destruction of the Armenian people. Practically speaking, it would have seemed impossible for the numerically weaker Armenians to defeat the military superpower of the day. Yet the Armenians did not hesitate to place themselves on this course, since Christianity promises life after death. The Armenians had gambled, maybe that isn’t the right word, perhaps a better way to say it is that they made an informed choice with critical consequences for the Armenian people. The critical element in this is the soul, that the Armenians would sacrifice their physical bodies, for the eternal pledge of fidelity to their faith.

Therefore the covenant put the Armenians on a collective path, and their Christian faith was the final cement. This collective path would serve the Armenians well throughout the centuries, facing impossible odds, on a variety of fronts. The oath gave he Armenians the strength to always look forward.

Looking back over the long history of the Armenian people, it has often been commented that three critical events occurred within a span of 150 years. Three critical events, which sealed the Armenian soul in a way that has remained fundamentally unchanged until today.

The first was the adoption of Christianity as the state religion of Armenia, the second was the development of the Armenian alphabet in the early fifth century, and finally the 451 Battle of Vartanants.

An essentially Armenian character was formed-completely tied to its Christianity, and at the same time exhibiting a uniquely Armenian personality.

The core of the St. Vartan story comes down to the willingness to sacrifice ones self. This man, the man who would become forever associated with heroism, was at the core an Armenian, willing to defend his way of life at all cost. Yes, he was a prince, a man of wealth, but he had steel in his soul. He represents the best of what the Armenians had to offer.

In a world which is filled with uncertainty, there are always moments where one has to make a stand.

It is something which each of us must face in the course of our lives. Are we prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice? Or rather, what are we prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for? And this is what makes the story of St Vartan so understandable so approachable, and alive.

If we believe, and I do believe, that we as Armenians will survive in exile, in the diaspora, as Armenians, it will only be if we can again recapture the spirit of the covenant of the Armenian people of the fifth century, and the belief that there is hope through collective action. If we are inspired, it is through living examples, the stirring, heart rendering, imagination capturing events which occurred so many years ago.

Our generation has had more safety and security than virtually any other society in which Armenians have ever lived. Here in the United States we have had the freedom and opportunity to become materially successful, to achieve greatness.
While St. Vartan and his companions faced a challenge to their physical existence, we face our greatest challenge on the spiritual side. Which is more challenging and which more fulfilling? We can and must overcome this challenge as well.
The spiritual challenge is to continue our existence as an Armenian people in the world, continuing to stand for the virtues and strength of our ancestors.

Are we also willing to lose everything? To gain we must lose, we must put everything on the line, to reinterpret our generation’s role in the history of our people.

Then we can truly be the living people who can walk confidently in the footsteps of St. Vartan, directly into a future with greater promise than anytime in our history.