History of Aristakes Lastivertts'i

"The days of suffering have arrived for us,
And impossible distresses have found us,
For the measure of our sins has been filled to overflowing,
And our cry has risen before God."

Lastiverttsʻi lived in a time when urban life was developing in Armenia day by day; cities, the "brightest flowers of the Middle Ages," were gaining new substance and gradually becoming major centers of trade and craftsmanship. The urban elite strove to absorb small property owners, and new class contradictions were born within the city. The class struggle between the "powerful" and the "poor" developed and sharpened, and as the most striking expression of this struggle, heretical movements spread. These phenomena inspired terror in the author, whose heart was already wounded by the pains coming from the outside.

Aristakes was a clergyman not only by the rank of vardapet doctor of theology, but with his entire being. He was a faithful son of his time, and he explained the storm passing over Armenia only through human sins. However, while in the past the cause of evils was linked to the sins of the individual, for Lastiverttsʻi, the guilty party is the nation, which must repent for its salvation. Manuk Abeghyan is entirely correct when he says that for Aristakes, "repentance is preached to be freed from torment and for the salvation of the nation, which must happen in this world, and that not by killing the flesh, but by the purity of customs and the moral regulation of life." Perhaps more than any other contemporary author, Aristakes makes quotations from the Bible, paraphrasing large and small sections from the Psalms and the books of the Prophets, yet his own thoughts are not lost and form a special ideological unity behind which stands a substantial social stratum.

Aristakes Lastiverttsʻi's work consists of a series of historical essays, each dedicated to a self-contained theme. The largest part is devoted to the Seljuk invasions of Armenia. He is the first Armenian author to write about the Seljuks, and most importantly, he writes as an eyewitness. In that respect, the corresponding pages of his work have great source-critical value. The History has a cohesive chronological foundation.

During Lastiverttsʻi's time, the Armenian medieval city was experiencing a stormy economic upswing. The author touches upon these new phenomena, inadvertently providing information that makes it possible (along with data on material culture) to reveal the life of Ani, Artsn, and other cities.

Two chapters of the History are devoted to the Tondrakian movement. Aristakes, a representative of the clerical class, is filled with hatred...