Armenia and the Crusades: Tenth to Twelfth Centuries: The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa: Translated from the Original Armenian with a Commentary and Introduction

390 Pages·1993·17.71 MB·English

by  Ara Edmond Dostourian

Armenia and the Crusades
Tenth to Twelfth Centuries
The Chronicle
of
Matthew ofEdessa
Translatedfrom the OriginalArmenian
with a Commentary and Introduction by
Ara Edlllond Dostourtan
Foreword by
Krikor H. Maksoudian
NationalAssociation for Annenian Studies
and Research
ARMENIAN HERITAGE SERIES
University Press ofAmertca
Lanham· NewYork · London
Copyright©1993 bythe
National Association for
Armenian Studies and Research
University Press of'America~ Inc.
4720 BostonWay
Lanham,Maryland20706
3HenriettaStreet
LondonWC2E8LUEngland
All rightsreserved
Printedin theUnitedStatesofAmerica
BritishCatalogingin Publication InformatiollAvailahle
Copublishedby tIITangclllcnt withlhc
Nutional AssociationforArmenianStudiesandResearch
LibraryofCongress Cataloglng-In-PubllcatlonDatil
Matthew,ofEdessa, 12lhcent.
[Patmowt'iwn.English)
AmlcniaundtheCrusades : tenth to twelfthcenturies : theChronicle
ofMatthewofEdess'l I translatedfrom theoriginalArmenian witha
commentaryandintroductionby AraEdmond Doslourian ; foreword
byKrikorH.Maksoudian.
p. em.- (Armenianheritageseries)
ByMatthewofEdessa,continuedbyGrigorErels'.
Includesbibliographical referenccsand index.
1. Armcnia-History-TurkicMongoldomination,1045-1592.
2. Armenin-History-Bllgratunidynasty, 885-1045. 3. Islamic
.Empire-History-7S0-1258. 1. Dostourian,AraEdmund.
II. Orifor,Erets', 12thcent. III. Title. IV. Series.
DS186.M3713 1993 956.6'20I3--<:lc20 92-39679 eIP
ISBN0-8191-8953-7(cloth: alk. paper)
Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeets the minimumrequirementsof
§TM
American National Standard for Infonnation Sciences-Permanence
ofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials,ANSIZ39,48-1984.

Dedication
To my mother Zepure (nee Panikian) of Bardizag
(Constantinople/Istanbul), who nurtured me in the
culture of my forebears and in the proper use ofthe
Armenian language;
To my father Levon ofYaraisar-Shghni (Sepasdia/
Sivas), who inculcatedin me a love for anddevotion to
the native soil ofmy ancestral homeland;
To Mary (Mariam) MeIjian (nee Aahjian), a loyal
daughter of Edessa (Urha1Urfa), who inspired me in
the writing ofthis tome.

Table of Contents
Foreword by Krikor H. Maksoudian ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
Text, Part I 19
Text, Part II 83
Text, Part III 181
Text, Continuation 241
Notes, Part I 283
Notes, Part II 307
Notes, Part III 335
Notes, Continuation 351
Glossary 361
Maps:
Historic ArmeniaDuring the Medieval Period 363
Cilicia, Syria, andPalestine, 10·12th Centuries 364
Select Bibliography 365
Index 367

Foreword
The Chronicle ofMatthewofEdessaand that ofhis continuator,
Gregory the Priest, are indispensable sources on the period from the
mid-tenth to the mid-twelfth centuries. The renowned Seljuk
specialist Claude Cahen puts Matthew in the same class with
Michael the Syrian and Anna Comnena, calling him an "illustrious
writer" ofChristianfaith: The Chronicle serves as a primary source
not onlyfor Armenian, but also for Byzantine, Crusader, Syriac, and
Islamic history, including otherwise unknownfacts and documents.
Since the beginning ofthe nineteenth century, western scholars
have frequently cited Matthew's work, usingpartialFrench transla
tions ofexcerpts by Chahan de Cirbied (1811 and 1812) and particu
larly byE. Dulaurier (1850). In 1858 Dulaurierpublishedthe entire
text, but left out certain sections. The works ofboth ofthese authors
appeared before the editio princeps (Jerusalem, 1869), which was
based on two manuscripts, and the complete edition ofVagharshapat
(Etchmiadzin, 1898), based on five manuscripts and the readings of
the Jerusalem text.
After more than thirteen decades, the French translation, longout
ofprint and out ofdate, remains the onlytranslation available to the
western reader. The scholarly works that appeared in the past one
hundred and thirtyyears and the important advances in Byzantine,
Armenian, Crusader, Syriac, and Islamic studies make the notes of
Dulaurier's work obsolete. The accuracy ofthe translation also leaves
much to be desired.
The needfor a new translation ofMatthew's Chronicle was felt for
a long time, and Dostourianhas come forward to fill that gap. Unlike
Dulaurier, he has used the Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin) text, which
contains much better readings, and has refrained from leaving out
any sections. Moreover, being a native speaker ofArmenian and a
former seminarian, he has a much better command of Matthew's
language, which is the classical idiom mixed with words and
'Claude Cahen, "Historiography ofthe Seljuqid Period," Historians of
the Middle East, Bernard Lewis and P. M. Holt, eds. (London, 1962),78.
x MATTHEW OF EDESSA
expressions characteristic ofthe twelfth century spoken Armenian.
Dostourian also had the good fortune of having at his disposal
linguistic works on Middle Armenian, the vernacular in Matthew's
time, and the scholarship ofthe past century and a half.
The scholar ofArmenian, Byzantine, or Middle Eastern history
may expect more copious notes on Matthew's Chronicle than what
Dostourian has provided. He has restricted his comments mostly to
explain the text to the western reader with no background in
Armenian, Byzantine, or Middle Eastern history. An attempt other
than that would have meant a voluminous work, which would have
taken several decades to complete. Thus, the value of the present
volume lies particularly in the translation ofthe Chronicle.
Very Rev. Dr. Krikor H. Maksoudian
Zohrab Information Center
Diocese ofthe Armenian Church
New York, New York
September 1991