Browsing by Author "Keshishian, Varty"

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    Կիլիկիոյ Կաթողիկոսութիւնը Հալէպի Մէջ (ԺԶ.-ԺԷ. Դարեր)
    (2018) Keshishian, Varty
    Armenians have been acquainted with Aleppo from the earliest times. Basically due to trade, and sometimes for military reasons, Armenians gradually became established in Aleppo, particularly as of the 13th century. After the fall of the Cilician Armenian Kingdom in 1375, large numbers of Armenians left Cilicia and took refuge in Aleppo. The Aleppine Armenian community grew and developed in the 15th-16th centuries, when Armenian tradesman and Khodjas acquired significance and held powerful positions in Aleppo in trades and administration. The convergence of Armenian Khodjas coincided with the temporary relocation of the Sis Armenian Catholicosate to Aleppo in the 16th-17th centuries, at a time when the Great See and the whole area were under the menace and domination of Turkmen tribes. Particularly in the late 16th century the Sis Catholicosate was in danger due to the Djelali movement. Therefore, the Catholicosate was transferred to the premises of the Aleppo Karasnits Mangants and Surp Asdvadzadzin churches. Alongside the Catholicos other high-ranking clerics and cultural figures converged on Aleppo, which became a spiritual-cultural center for the Armenians. During the 16th and 17th centuries the Aleppo Armenian community had its golden age, as all aspects of Armenian medieval culture developed and reached new heights. Aleppo, thus, became a natural preserve of medieval Armenian arts and safeguarded the continuity of its rich traditions. Indeed, when in the 15th-16th centuries all of Asia Minor and Cilicia had become an area of operation for the Djelali brigands, Aleppo turned out to be a safe haven for the Cilicia Catholicosate and the Armenians of the region.