The Life of Mashtots

that Koriwn, in praising Prince Vasak of Syunik, honors him with an epithet that opens a door to suspicion... Should we not assume that Koriwn was in agreement with the unfortunate marzpan governor and his party, and therefore remained detached from the movement... Koriwn knows of Vahan Amatuni in the office of hazarapet chiliarch/chief of a thousand, and he knows of his death... Who is this Hovhan... whoever he may be... his return cannot be placed earlier than the release of Abraham and the nobles in the 5th year of Peroz, that is, 462 AD; there are signs, then, that Koriwn stepped into the second half of the 5th century." Adonts even places Koriwn in the midst of the disputes of the third quarter of the 5th century. A wild horse ride.

The cause of these diverse opinions is the corrupted text of Koriwn. Two passages in particular have been a stone of stumbling: "after three years had passed, it was successful for Vahan Amatuni to build with Christ-loving haste a wonderful khoran altar/sanctuary with hewn stones"; and "and the benevolent Vahan was [taken] to the sudden life of all" (XIX. 7 and 9). These passages in the reconstructed source text read: "after three months," in accordance with manuscript H, and "and the benevolent Vramshapuh was [taken] to the sudden life, desirable to all the saints," in accordance with manuscripts HAU (see Note 89).

To verify the year of the writing, I consider that the introductory text can serve as a cornerstone, where Koriwn confesses that when he was thinking of writing the Life of Mashtots spontaneously, the order from Hovsep arrived for me to "quickly and without delay" chronicle the same. When did Koriwn have that thought, and when did the order of the locum tenens Hovsep reach him? Undoubtedly after the death of the Vardapet (Feb 17, 440) and the days of mourning; specifically, when it was decided by Vahan Amatuni to build a "sanctuary of hewn stones." The order was: quickly and without delay. Why this urgency? Because it was decided that after the preparation of the sanctuary, the relics of the Saint were to be transferred there with a general assembly ceremony; and there was an intention to read the Life of the Great Vardapet at this ceremony. Vahan was pursuing the construction of the sanctuary with "Christ-loving haste." Neither a church nor a chapel was to be built, but simply a sanctuary, for which three years of work were not needed, as manuscript B assumes, but three months were sufficient, as H has it. Therefore, the transfer of the relics under that sanctuary must have taken place in the month of June, that is, "after three months had passed" (March—May). This month was also surely designated to perform the memory of the saint year by year. In fact, this memorial feast has continued until today in the same village of Oshakan, as we saw above. Koriwn read the Life of Mashtots at the ceremony of the transfer of the relics in June 440. He undoubtedly worked afterward to refine it, fill in the gaps, and so on.

Koriwn, in XIX. 8, mentioning the election of Hovsep as head of the assembly and Hovhan as supervisor, writes that the latter "after the passing of the Saint (Mashtots) was subjected to various trials and captive sufferings in Ctesiphon and returned to Armenia with the name of confessor."