[69]
The circumstances surrounding transfer of the catholicate to Holy Etchmiadzin in 1441, the election of a new catholicos, the background information on this event and related facts have been recorded by T'ovma of Mets'op', one of the leaders of the transfer movement. The desire to return the catholicate to its original home did not emerge suddenly. We have already referred to some earlier attempts on the part of catholicoi to return the Holy See to historic Armenia. Such feelings largely subsided for the duration of the kingdom of Cilician Armenia. Even at the height of the Cilician period, however, one may find exceptions such as Archbishop Step'anos Orbe'lean, who at the end of the fourteenth century dreamt of seeing Holy Etchmiadzin restored to her former glory. It has been suggested that Orbe'lean's dream may have been connected to serious political aspirations. We have already noted that after the fall of Cilicia in 1375, some of the Catholicoi of All Armenians who resided in Sis called themselves "bishop of Vagharshapat." One must also mention the general inclination of the eastern vardapets and bishops--especially those who came from the monastic traditions of Orotnavank' and Tat'ew, and who had contacts with Hovhanne's Orotnets'i and Grigor Tat'ewats'i--towards strengthening the administrative structure of the church.
Such an attempt required discipline and a restructuring of an Armenian Church hierarchy which operated under two catholicoi: one in Cilicia, known especially to Westerners as the catholicos of Lesser Armenia; the other, still de facto under anathema, presiding at Aght'amar and referred to, again by Westerners, as the catholicos of Greater Armenia. The situation in Cilicia during the first half of the fifteenth century, the establishment of relative stability in eastern Armenia for a short period of time, and a number of other important factors encouraged both clerical and lay leaders to take a bold step and bring to realization a dream that had been entertained since the time of Catholicos Gregory III and his brother St. Nerse's Shnorhali in the 1130s.
[70] The movement to transfer the Holy See began in the east and was headed by the pupils of St. Gregory of Tat'ew. T'ovma of Metsop' lists the following among the considerations of this movement which led to the final act of transfer:
1. The disruption of discipline in the church--a reference to the introduction of Latin traditions into the rituals and rites of the Armenian Church, beginning in 1293 and sanctioned by the councils of Sis (1307) and Adana (1316). A related accusation charged that the church in Cilicia gave dispensation to catholicoi and bishops dismissed from their posts to return to office.These charges were not inveighed exclusively against Catholicos Gregory IX and his contemporaries, but generally against the religious establishment in Cilicia since the beginning of the fourteenth century. From a canonical point of view, the most serious among these accusations must have been that of simony, since Catholicos Kirakos, the first catholicos at Holy Etchmiadzin in 1441, emphasizes this sin in his encyclical (201).2. The murder of six catholicoi since 1392.
3. The alienation of some Armenians in Nigdah from their church and their conversion to Islam as a result of the behavior of certain bishops.
4. The wanton behavior of the high-ranking clergy.
5. The substitution of olive oil for the Holy Myron.
6. Simony (the selling and buying of ecclesiastical offices).
7. The ordination of three or four bishops over a single episcopal jurisdiction, with ensuing conflict as each bishop tried to win over to his side even non-Christians.
8. The ordination to the episcopal rank of only those who had money.
9. The accusation that for the love of money, the catholicos anathematized the bishops, the bishops the clergy, and the clergy the people (200).
There was considerable deliberation about the transfer of the Holy See before coming to a decision to hold an election at Holy Etchmiadzin. According to Fr. Ch'amch'ian, who probably used an older source for his information, the eastern bishops and vardapets first wrote a letter to Catholicos Gregory Musabe'geants', inviting him to come to Holy Etchmiadzin. When he refused to come, they decided to hold a large assembly and elect a new catholicos (202). The invitation for the assembly [71] came from Hovhanne's Vardapet, the prior of the Monastery of Hermon and one of the chief pupils of St. Gregory of Tat'ew. After acquiring the consent of Ya'kub Beg, the governor of Erevan in the service of the Turkic Kara-Koyunlu [Black Sheep] dynasty, the assembly took place in Holy Etchmiadzin, shortly before Pentecost. The bishops of many dioceses attended the council, and others who could not come sent their consent for the transfer by letter. T'ovma of Metsop' gives us a large list of names representing the different ecclesiastical jurisdictions:
1. Hovhanne's Vardapet of the Monastery of Hermon, accompanied by his pupils Dawit' Vardapet and Step'anos Vardapet from Siwnik'. The latter two had brought with them many priests;[72] In certain sources we find the names of other clergymen as well who attended the election. T'ovma says that there were many other representatives of monasteries, monks and priests, more than three hundred in number. In addition to these there were several solitaries, noblemen, people of noble birth serving as government officers [dzer'nawork'], landlords and a large crowd of men and women (203). Ch'amch'ian's source states that all together there were as many as seven hundred electors (204). T'ovma also gives the names of some of the clergymen who could not attend but sent letters stating their consent. Among these were:2. Shmawon Vardapet, the bishop of the Monastery of Tat'ew;
3. Grigor Vardapet, the bishop of the Monastery of St. Thaddeus in Artaz;
4. the other Grigor Vardapet, bishop of Haghbat;
5. from the province of Ararat Kirakos Vardapet R'shtuni, Sargis Vardapet of Dzagavank', Tirats'u Vardapet Vanandets'i of Siwnik';
6. from Vaspurakan: T'ovma Vardapet and Mkrtich' Vardapet from the monastery of Metsop';
7. Hovse'p' Vardapet and Karapet Vardapet of the holy order of Khar'abast;
8. Ghazar vardapet of Baghesh;
9. Step'anos Vardapet and Hovhanne's Vardapet of Artske;
10. Zak'are' Vardapet of Varagavank';
11. Lord [Bishop] Hovhanne's;
12. Bishop Zak'aria of the Monastery of Hawuts't'ar';
13. Bishop Gabrie'l of Holy Etchmiadzin;
14. Bishop Karapet of the Monastery of Hovhannavank';
15. Bishop Hovhanne's of Bjni;
16. Bishop Anton of the Monastery of Khorvirap;
17. Bishop Hovhanne's of Archesh, from the Monastery of Metsop';
18. Bishop Hakob of Koghb;
19. Bishop Mkrtich' of Bagran;
20. Bishop Martiros of Haghbat [Sewordik'];
21. Bishop Azaria of Gandzasar;
22. Bishop Zak'are' of Noravank';
23. Bishop Step'anos, the locum tenens of Siwnik';
24. Bishop Kirakos of Salnapat.
1. Awetis Vardapet Surbkhach'ets'i;Most of these places are located either in the south or in the west.2. Hovhanne's Vardapet Aparanets'i;
3. Hovhanne's Vardapet of the Monastery of Gamaghie'l;
4. Karapet Vardapet of Khizan;
5. Hovhanne's Vardapet of Baridzor;
6. the other Hovhanne's Vardapet of Gamaghie'l;
7. Bishops Dawit', Sahak and Step'anos from Baghesh;
8. Bishops Barsegh, Awetis, Hovse'p', Grigor, T'oros from the Monastery of Surb Karapet in Mush;
9. Bishops Po'ghos and Zak'are' of the brotherhood of the Ar'ak'elots' monastery;
10. Bishop Kirakos of the Monastery of Vanatur;
11. Bishop Hovhanne's of Sasun;
12. Bishop Hovhanne's of Varagavank';
13. Bishop Kirakos of Salnapat;
14. four anonymous bishops from Cilicia (205).
The election was not simple. "We summoned many of the brothers to take over the leadership of the race of T'orgom," says T'ovma, "but they did not wish to carry the bitter burden of the highest rank" (206). On the day set for the ordination, the participants in the meetings had still been unable to elect anyone. According to Archbishop Ormanian, there were four major candidates for the office of catholicos: Catholicos Zak'aria of Aght'amar, a very able churchman; Bishop Zak'aria of Hawuts't'ar, the most senior prelate; Hovhanne's Vardapet of the Monastery of Hermon, the representative of the pupils of St. Gregory of Tat'ew; Archbishop Grigor of Artaz, the prelate of the largest and most prosperous diocese at that time. All of these men were worthy candidates, but the factions backing them [73] could not come to an agreement, since Catholicos Zak'aria of Aght'amar was probably unacceptable to the pupils of St. Gregory of Tat'ew who wished to shut down the see of Aght'amar, and there was friction between the prelate of Artaz and the bishops from the north (207). The participants of the assembly finally decided "to cast lots on the Holy Gospel," as the apostles had done (Acts 1:26) "and the lot fell to the Patriarch Kirakos" (208). It is not clear how the Holy Gospel was used in casting lots. Archbishop Ormanian, having in mind the example of the election of the early seventh-century Catholicos Abraham, felt that an agreement had already been reached on an entirely neutral person, namely Kirakos Khor Virapets'i, and that the Gospel was used only to locate a suitable passage (209). Yet T'ovma is specific about lots being cast and the lot falling to Kirakos.
This was the first election in which the common people took part, presumably as spectators held the right to express their consent or disagreement with the decision of the electors. This is also the first time that the participation of women in a patriarchal election is recorded.
The decision of the assembly was unanimous in the resolution to transfer the Holy See to its earlier site in Vagharshapat, and also unanimous about the fact that it was electing a Catholicos of All Armenians. Catholicos Kirakos himself used this title in one of his two encyclicals which have survived: "Kirakos, servant of the servants of God, in the name of uncreated God the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, with mercy and grace Catholicos, at the apostolic See of our St. Gregory the Illuminator in Holy Etchmiadzin of Vagharshapat, and of All Armenians...." (210). In another encyclical he released the anathema on the see of Aght'amar, blessed the catholicoi of Aght'amar, Albania [Aghuank'] as well as the past and present catholicoi of Sis, and dismissed all the excommunications pronounced by them (211). The tone of both encyclicals indicates that the office--and title--of the catholicos residing at Holy Etchmiadzin in Vagharshapat was recognized by the other catholicoi, since neither Kirakos' election to office, nor the regulations set by him and addressed to the catholicoi, bishops and vardapets--"I command the catholicoi, bishops and vardapets" [patuirem kat'oghikosats', episkoposats, vardapetats'] (212) (emphasis added)--were, in so far as is known, ever challenged by the contemporary catholicoi of Aght'amar, Albania or Sis.
Catholicos Kirakos of Khorvirap did not justify the expectations of those who elected him. As a monk who had spent most of his time in the solitude of monasteries, he did not have the kind of administrative experience needed to pull together the different factions. On the contrary, during his [74] tenure of office, clergy of the see of Aght'amar from Vaspurakan got the upper hand in Holy Etchmiadzin. This is detected in the works of T'ovma of Metsop' and Kirakos Vardapet R'shtuni, both of whom had secured positions for themselves in the catholicate (213). Soon, the bishops and clergy in the eastern provinces of Armenia reacted against them. In 1443 they bribed the Kara-Koyunlu governor of Erevan to remain neutral and allow them to designate a new catholicos. Thereafter, they forced the abdication of Kirakos, who retired first to the house of a nameless Christian and later to Vaspurakan. In his stead, they set up Grigor Jalalbe'gean, the archbishop of Artaz, as catholicos in 1443. The movement to elect Grigor was headed by Markos the bishop of Tiflis and the eastern clergy, with the obvious exception of the Vaspurakan faction.
A number of chroniclers state that Grigor Jalalbe'gean was set up "by a Turk and through a [T'urk'ov ewghabalov]." This obviously is in reference to the bribe given to Ya'qub, the governor of Erevan. It is now possible to trace the source of this statement to Kirakos Vardapet R'shtuni, who was a member of the ousted Vaspurakan faction (214). This phrase has been frequently repeated, especially by the Armenian Uniates and those Armenians who for various reasons wish to belittle the importance of the Holy See and the Catholicate of All Armenians, not considering at all the serious consequences of such an irresponsible act. We are fortunate to have the work of T'ovma of Metsop', which gives us a full account of the events. Though he was much, if not more, involved in the activities of the catholicate as Kirakos Vardapet R'shtuni, T'ovma clearly states that Ya'qub Beg was so disgusted with the bickering of the factions that he dismissed all from his presence. Subsequently, Bishop Zak'aria of Hawuts't'ar' alone came to him and offered him a bribe, saying: "I shall offer you countless amounts of silver. What do you care whether they oust him [Kirakos] or not? Consenting [to accept] the bribe in silver, he gave the order to ordain the bishop of [the see of] the Apostle St. Thaddeus" (215).
The decision to remove Kirakos and replace him with Grigor Jalalbe'gean did not come from Grigor himself but from the council of the eastern bishops. We must note that Hovhanne's of Hermon and Zak'aria of Hawuts't'ar', who had been opponents of Grigor Jalalbe'gean, now favored the removal of Kirakos and the designation of Gregory as catholicos, and Bishop Markos, who headed the movement, was a pupil of Hovhanne's of Hermon. They had with them as many as thirty or forty bishops and priests, among whom were representatives of the major episcopal jurisdictions in Armenia. It is obvious that all the factions in eastern Armenia had [75] joined forces against the clergy from Vaspurakan, who were originally under the jurisdiction of the catholicos of Aght'amar and were now in a position of authority. We must also note that T'ovma does not mention any bishops who supported Kirakos.
Bishop Grigor Jalalbe'gean, a pupil of the school of St. Gregory of Tat'ew, was ordained as catholicos at the cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin. However, when the news of Kirakos' removal and Gregory's ascent to the throne of St. Gregory reached Sis, Bishop Karapet of Tokat was declared Catholicos of All Armenians there (216). According to Ch'amch'ian, this Karapet
turned to the emir of Cilicia who was under the rule of the sultan of Egypt, and promising to pay him annually three hundred dekans, received from him the authority over the catholicate of Sis, which was still under the rule of the Egyptians (217).
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