The Armenian Studies Program web page is sponsored by a grant from
The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable
Foundation, Fresno.
The Christianization of
Armenia in the beginning of the fourth century marked a turning point in the
history of
On March 3rd in the Peters
Auditorium
on campus, Dr. George Bournoutian gave a brief, but concise
presentation on “The Armenian Church Under Persian Rule: 1600-1800,” analyzing
especially
the history of the Armenian Catholicosate at Etchmiadzin in their
encounters with Persian rule.
Dr. Bournoutian is the
Kazan Visiting
Professor of Armenian Studies at
This was the first in a
three-part series of talks on the
general topic of “The Armenian Church Under
Foreign Rule:
Beginning with a brief
introduction
about Etchmiadzin, Dr. Bournoutian described the Armenian Church
as a National Church—one that had developed its own customs and traditions
and
where only Armenians, for the most part, belonged, in contrast to the Roman
Catholic Church, that is multi-national. He outlined
how the Church was a
spiritual leader, a provider of political leadership, and a secular leader of
Armenians. He noted the history of
the movement of the Armenian Catholicosate,
and its eventual return to Holy Etchmiadzin in 1441.
Dr. Bournoutian shifted in an
organized
manner towards the problems that arose during the Ottoman Turkish and
Safavid Persian wars that were fought for more than one hundred
fifty years,
primarily in Armenian lands.
Dr. Bournoutian mentioned
the constant struggle to maintain economic survival and that one
way the Church
did survive was through the granting of village properties to the Church, which
then provided income to the Church. Holy
Etchmiadzin had to constantly protect
the people and the churches through petitions to the Persian Shah, who often
allowed the Armenians
to establish waqfs (an inalienable religious
endowment of property), event though the Armenians were Christian. The Armenian
Church
often had to defend its rights to own the waqfs and interestingly
enough, the Church was able to win more than ninety per cent of the
cases that
were disputed in Persian Sharia courts.
“You think the church now has it tough,” noted
Bournoutian humorously.
The Armenian
Church at
Etchmiadzin had periods of prosperity and also poverty under Persian rule, but
ultimately emerged from the difficult period
with the tools to progress.
Dr. Bournoutian gave a
passionate presentation regarding the Armenian Church under the Persians. He
spoke
confidently and concisely and ended his presentation with time for
questions and comments.
Dr. Bournoutian will
revisit the topic of
the Armenian Church under Russian rule and the Armenian
Church in