Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - X. Chapters in the history of Armenia
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF ARMENIA 263
the lower classes. The national culture was an upper-class
culture, in which the other inhabitants of the country and the
dwellers in the towns had little or no part, for their houses
were evidently simple in the extreme, and little now remains
of them, whereas innumerable mins of the finer buildings still
survive.’ The latter serve at least as a notable testimony to
the vitality and capabilities of the Armenian race.
The Armenian Katholikate led at this time a somewhat
roving existence. In 93 1 it removed from Dvin to Akhthamar,
an island in Lake Van ; then in 959 to Argina, north of Ani ;
and in 992 to Ani, which was its seat until 1072.
After the death of Gaghik in 1020 the kingdom was divided
between his sons Johannes Sembat (1020-1041) and Ashot IV
(1021-1040). Factious dissensions arose among the noble
and the petty kings, of whom there were now four, in Vaspu
rakan, Aghvan, Kars, and Lori respectively ; the national
power of resistance was sapped, and that at a moment when a
new danger was threatening the country, for the Seljuk Turks,
who had obtained the ascendancy in the East, were pressing
on, drawing ever nearer and nearer. These uncivilized hordes,
who came swarming over the mountains and plains, their
long hair waving in the breeze, with innumerable bowmen
who outmanæuvred the Christian soldiery armed with swords
and lances, were sinister foes indeed. The rich country of
Vaspurakan was first attacked, and after suffering a defeat its
king, Senekherim Artsruni, was so disheartened and appre
hensive that he handed over his kingdom with its 72 strong
holds, 8 towns and 4,000 villages to the emperor of Byzantium,
in return for permission to settle with his people near the
town of Sebastia (Sivas), in Asia Minor, where he thought
he would be in safety. Wc are told that he migrated thither
about the year 1021, accompanied by 14,000 men, besides
women and children.
Ani was tåken and sacked in an unexpected attack by the
kings of Georgia and Abkhazia, both of whom were Bagratids ;
then the valley of the Araxes was overrun and devastated by
the Seljuk hordes under their prince Toghrul bey, a grandson
of Seljuk. The Armenian nobles showed themselves incap
able of making a united stand against the invaders, and King
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
