Integrazione, Assimilazione, Esclusione E Reazione Etnica

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Integrazione, Assimilazione, Esclusione E Reazione Etnica INTEGRAZIONE, ASSIMILAZIONE, ESCLUSIONE E REAZIONE ETNICA A cura di Gianfranco Giraudo e Adriano Pavan Postfazione di Gianfranco Giraudo Volume II Editura Muzeului Ţării Crişurilor, 2012 ISBN: 978-973-7621-37-5 Indice INTEGRAZIONE, ASSIMILAZIONE, ESCLUSIONE E REAZIONE ETNICA Ebraistica Ivana Burđelez La minoranza Ebraica nella storica multiculturalità di Ragusa/Dubrovnik 7 Catherine Poujol Les nouvelles diasporas ou minorités en quête de statut en Asie centrale post- soviétique. 16 Balcanistica 33 Peter Schreiner Metodi d’integrazione etnica nell’impero bizantino 35 Vera Costantini Le frontiere dell’infedeltà: commercio, amministrazione e controspionaggio nell’Adriatico orientale del Cinquecento. 44 Florina Ciure Creţ Da minoranza a maggioranza i mercanti della Transilvania tra il Quattrocento e il Settecento 55 Viviana Nosilia Petr Mogila (Petru Movilă, Petro Mohyla, Piotr Mohyła), difensore di una maggioranza trattata da minoranza 77 Ioan-Aurel Pop INDICE Le Nationes transilvane nei secoli XVI-XVII: tra accettazione ed esclusione 125 Aleksander Naumow I martiri atoniti del XIX secolo e la loro lotta contro l’assimilazione etnica e religiosa 142 Krassimir Stantchev Assimilazione alla rovescia Ovvero quando la minoranza vuole dominare Il programma politico dei Cattolici bulgari nel secolo XVII 158 Anna Vlaevska La Bulgaria convertita – la Bulgaria integrata A proposito del materiale sulla storia bulgara, contenuto nel Ms. Cicogna 3226 del Museo Correr di Venezia 178 Vassja Velinova Il Cristianesimo e l’Islam – conflitto e coesistenza (materiali tratti da testi letterari medioevali dal ’400 al ’600) 187 Oleg Rumyantsev Minoranze nella Bulgaria post-comunista 203 Francesco Leoncini La questione dei Sudeti e la questione del Kosovo: conflitti etnici e strategie 247 internazionali INTEGRAZIONE, ASSIMILAZIONE, ESCLUSIONE E REAZIONE ETNICA Luca Tramontin Ma giocano anche loro 265 Caterina Carpinato Il supplizio d’ un italiano in Corfù: un caso di intolleranza etnica nell’Eptaneso della seconda metà dell’Ottocento e la fallita mediazione di Dionisios Solomós. 271 Antoine Guillaumie La Dalmatie des Vénitiens et des Croates: disputes autour d’une histoire commune et pour de nouveaux intérêts. 293 Andrea Franco La frontiera di Franco Vegliani: identità complesse e identità multiple al tempo della Finis Austriae e della Seconda Guerra Mondiale Una possibile chiave interpretativa 359 Caucasologia 375 Luigi Magarotto La ricezione in Italia del trattato del 1783 tra Russia e Kartl-K’axeti 376 Aldo Ferrari La nobiltà armena nell’Impero russo tra integrazione e assimilazione 388 Ebraistica La minoranza Ebraica nella storica multiculturalità di Ragusa/Dubrovnik Ivana Burđelez La storia degli Ebrei di Ragusa/Dubrovnik non si può raccontare senza prendere in considerazione la storia dei vari Paesi Mediterranei in quanto esiste ed è sempre esistita una storia comune per tutti i paesi bagnati dal Mare Nostrum, il Mediterraneo. Sinteticamente parlando, questa storia del Mediterraneo è il frutto di un processo millenario che vide il susseguirsi di generazioni e civiltà, assorte nel tentativo di scoprire, controllare ed arricchire l’esistenza umana. Pero non dobbiamo dimenticare il fatto che il Mediterraneo ha da sempre vissuto momenti cruciali. I conflitti considerati impossibili, quantunque fossero proclamati come guerre sante o no, gravano tutt’oggi. Però, dalla dissoluzione dell’Impero Romano in poi, malgrado ripetuti conflitti tra gli Stati di questa zona, i suoi abitanti hanno generalmente mantenuto fra loro rapporti intensi e proficui. A partire all’incirca dall’VIII secolo e poi sopratutto dopo l’anno 1500 il Mediterraneo si e spartito in due vasti spazi – quello Cristiano e quello Musulmano, ma le differenze di civiltà, oltre che di religione, non hanno fatto venir meno fitti e regolari scambi culturali ed economici tra le varie sponde. E oggi, com’è il Mediterraneo d’oggi? Oggi siamo testimoni di nuove fratture che producono tra i popoli conflitti difficilmente rimarginabili. Gli squilibri che intercorrono tra le due sponde sul piano dello sviluppo, delle risorse finanziarie, dell’innovazione tecnologica della crescita demografica hanno fatto assumere al bacino Mediterraneo la funzione di confine tra due mondi, il Nord ed il Sud, sempre più distanti e potenzialmente ostili, favorendo l’istaurarsi di incomprensioni e chiusure, cui si tende reagire talvolta in termini militari. 7 IVANA BURĐELEZ La cultura dei Paesi del Nord del Mediterraneo, caratterizzata dalla nuova civiltà industriale-informatica su scala globale, “assedia” le altre civiltà, sopratutto quelle della sponda sud e tende a conquistarle imponendo, con le merci e i media, propri modelli di vita e propri valori. Le società dell’altra sponda tendono a reagire al pericolo dell’assimilazione attraverso un violento radicalismo, si chiudono alle influenze esterne, richiamandosi al proprio peculiare patrimonio storico. È un contrasto che si propaga anche all’interno della società Europea, ove con l’emigrazione dal Sud, si diffondono pericolosi sintomi di rigetto verso chi mantiene la propria diversa identità culturale. Eppure il fatto era ed è che il Mediterraneo ha rappresentato, durante i secoli fino al giorno d’oggi, un punto di contatto tra antiche civiltà e religioni, che si sono vicendevolmente influenzate e arricchite durante la loro lunga storia. Tra le città Mediterranee con i loro porti come luoghi d’incontro, Ragusa figura come una città ben conosciuta per la sua multiculturalità con minoranze (ebraica, ortodossa, italiana, mussulmana, albanese) che convivono per secoli in questa città. Questo è la storia di una delle minoranze ragusee che, anche se piccola, ha lasciato le tracce significative nella storia della città. Benché, secondo fonti archivistiche dal 1324 in poi, sia stata evidenziata la presenza degli Ebrei a Ragusa, fu solo dopo l’espulsione dalla penisola Iberica che un primo nucleo Ebraico si stabilì nella città di quella piccola Repubblica1. La prima metà del Cinquecento si considera il periodo dell’adattamento dei Sefarditi ragusei alla loro nuova patria, 1 Jorjo Tadić: “Jevreji u Dubrovniku”, La Benevolencia, Sarajevo 1937 8 INTEGRAZIONE, ASSIMILAZIONE, ESCLUSIONE E REAZIONE ETNICA ma, allo stesso tempo, fu il periodo dell’adattamento dei Ragusei ai loro nuovi concittadini. Molto presto il grande afflusso di Ebrei provocò tra i Ragusei, specialmente tra i mercanti, una crescente paura della loro concorrenza. Dopo il presunto omicidio rituale di una donna nel 1502 il Governo emanò nel 1514 il decreto d’espulsione di tutti gli Ebrei e Marrani che si trovavano sul territorio della Repubblica di Ragusa2 («quod predicti omnes et singuli Marani et Judei tam masculi quam femine, existentes et habitante in civitate, suburbis, insulis et aliis locis districtus nostri…»). Non sappiamo se questo decreto sia stato attuato, ma già nel 1538 il Governo emanò un altro decreto con il quale diede il permesso agli Ebrei di abitare di nuovo in città3 . Evidentemente molti Ebrei incominciarono di venire a Ragusa, i loro affari si moltiplicarono, e la loro permanenza si prolungò. Perciò nel 1540 i Senatori decisero all’unanimità di dare sei case per loro alloggio4. Questo fu il primo cenno d’un Ghetto ebraico nella parte centralissima della città dove ancora oggi si trova la Via Ebraica (Žudioska) e la Sinagoga5. All’inizio, il Ghetto conteneva quattro case e sei magazzini di proprietà dello Stato, gli accessi alla Via erano limitati da una porta che rimaneva chiusa durante la notte. Gli Ebrei pagavano le tasse per la manutezione del Ghetto e per il salario del guardiano della porta. Un loro rappresentante, il cosidetto «Console Ebreo» aveva il dovere di contattare le autorità ragusee. Molto spesso troviamo anche i nomi di Ebrei che affittavano case fuori del Ghetto, mentre alcuni di loro, come Josef Mandolfo o Raffael Constantini, erano proprietari dello loro case. Nel 1631 Isaach e Samuel Naamias stipularono il contratto d’affitto di una casa in un 2 Archivio statale di Dubrovnik (ASD), Consilium Rogatorum , vol. 33, 109’;/b i d. p. 160-161 3 ASD, Consilium Rogatorum, vol. 44, p. 75 4 ASD, Consilium Rogatorum, vol. 44, p. 313’ 5 ASD, Consilium Rogatorum. vol. 47, p. 249’-250’ 9 IVANA BURĐELEZ sobborgo di Ragusa. La lista con l’inventario del giardino e della casa è inclusa nel documento6. La presenza degli Ebrei crebbe soprattutto nel periodo della Seconda Santa Lega quando il loro intenso commercio incominciò a svolgersi attraverso Ragusa. Gli Ebrei approfittavano dalla neutralità della Repubblica che garantiva un sicuro traffico della loro merce, mentre i Ragusei riempivano la tesoreria dello stato grazie alle varie tasse che dovevano pagare. Il commercio marittimo e carovaniero formò una rete complessa tra le varie regioni del Adriatico e del retroterra, dando vita al mondo Mediterraneo braudeliano, nel quale gli Ebrei svolgevano un ruolo assai significante7. Ragusa diventò il punto importantissimo del commercio Adriatico e di ciò ci parlano anche gli agenti spagnoli in una delle lettere mandate al loro re: «se nos conviene mucho mantener aquel puerto de Ragusa que es la Genoua del Adriatico».8 Le lettere commerciali dell’Archivio di Stato di Dubrovnik testimoniano l’importanza e il valore dei commercianti Ebrei nello scambio delle merci. Le carovane, caricate di lana, pelle, seta, cera, spezie ecc., partivano per l’Occidente, mentre i prodotti finali, come i panni Veneziani, i gioielli e le armi preziose, arrivavano all’Oriente. Ma a Ragusa non venivano solo i mercanti
Recommended publications
  • In Search of Armenian Nobility: Five Armenian Families of the Ottoman Empire
    J. Soc. for Armenian Stud. 3 (1987) Printed in the United States of America 93 Robert H. Hewsen IN SEARCH OF ARMENIAN NOBILITY: FIVE ARMENIAN FAMILIES OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE The importance of the nobility in Armenia before the loss of its independence cannot be overestimated, but the history of this nobility was characterized by a steady decline in the number of families of which it was composed. From about fifty in the fourth century A.D., the number of Armenian princely houses steadily dwindled to some forty-two in the fifth century, to thirty-five in the sixth, and to twenty in the eighth.1 Ultimately, only seven Armenian noble families are known for certain to have survived the fall of the last Armenian monarchy in 1375.2 Of these, five continued to exist in Georgia3 while three others, the House of Artsruni, the House of Siwni, and the House of Orbelian, survived on Armenian soil, the first until the Turkish occupation of Van; the remaining two under Persian and, later Russian rule.4 For all this, however, there are not lacking some Armenian fam- ilies of the Ottoman Empire who claim descent from the princely houses of the Armenia of old, and some of these families have played a conspicuous role in modern Armenian history. The basic problem in dealing with their claims lies in proving their legitimacy on grounds other than those of the family's own traditions, which valid though they may possibly be, by their very nature cannot always be verified. In the egalitarian world of Islam, and especially in the Ottoman Em- pire (which, unlike Russia, recognized no hereditary nobility beyond the imperial house itself), the lack of official recognition of nobiliary descent leaves us with very little support for nobiliary claims.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded from Brill.Com10/04/2021 08:59:36AM Via Free Access
    Chapter 12 Aristocrats, Mercenaries, Clergymen and Refugees: Deliberate and Forced Mobility of Armenians in the Early Medieval Mediterranean (6th to 11th Century a.d.) Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 1 Introduction Armenian mobility in the early Middle Ages has found some attention in the scholarly community. This is especially true for the migration of individuals and groups towards the Byzantine Empire. A considerable amount of this re- search has focused on the carriers and histories of individual aristocrats or noble families of Armenian origin. The obviously significant share of these in the Byzantine elite has even led to formulations such as Byzantium being a “Greco-Armenian Empire”.1 While, as expected, evidence for the elite stratum is relatively dense, larger scale migration of members of the lower aristocracy (“azat”, within the ranking system of Armenian nobility, see below) or non- aristocrats (“anazat”) can also be traced with regard to the overall movement of groups within the entire Byzantine sphere. In contrast to the nobility, however, the life stories and strategies of individuals of these backgrounds very rarely can be reconstructed based on our evidence. In all cases, the actual signifi- cance of an “Armenian” identity for individuals and groups identified as “Ar- menian” by contemporary sources or modern day scholarship (on the basis of 1 Charanis, “Armenians in the Byzantine Empire”, passim; Charanis, “Transfer of population”; Toumanoff, “Caucasia and Byzantium”, pp. 131–133; Ditten, Ethnische Verschiebungen, pp. 124–127, 134–135; Haldon, “Late Roman Senatorial Elite”, pp. 213–215; Whitby, “Recruitment”, pp. 87–90, 99–101, 106–110; Isaac, “Army in the Late Roman East”, pp.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction the Role of the Nobility in Armenian and in Christian Caucasian His- Tory Is Certainly Remarkable
    NOBILITY AND MONARCHY IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ARMENIA: PRELIMINARY REMARKS TO A NEW STUDY ALDO FERRARI Universita “L’Orientale”, Naples Introduction The role of the nobility in Armenian and in Christian Caucasian his- tory is certainly remarkable. According to Cirill Toumanoff, “...the dinastic aristocracy of Caucasia—and not the Crown, not even the Church, nor the gentry, nor the burgesses, nor the peasants—were the natural and unquestioned leaders of the community, the creative mi- nority that set for it the pattern of behaviour, the style of life”.1 In spite of the studies of Toumanoff and other scholars, mainly of Armenian or Georgian origin, the importance of this Caucasian perspective is still neglected in comparative research on nobility, even by those fo- cussing upon Eastern Europe.2 While the origin and the structure of the Armenian nobility in An- cient and Medieval times have been largely studied,3 much work has still to be done on the evolution of this social class in modern times. Such a lack of attention can be partially understood if we consider that the fall of the national kingdoms in the motherland (11th century) and in Cilicia (1375) led to the almost complete extinction of the nobility, 1C. Toumanoff, Studies in Christian Caucasian History, Georgetown, 1963: 144. 2See for instance I. Banac, P. Buskovitch (eds.), The Nobility in Russia and Eastern Europe, New Haven, 1983, and H. M. Scott (ed.), The European Nobilities in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. II. Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, London-New York, 1995. 3See N. Adonc, Armeniya v ¥poxu Yustiniana.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnic Violence in the Former Soviet Union Richard H
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2011 Ethnic Violence in the Former Soviet Union Richard H. Hawley Jr. (Richard Howard) Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES ETHNIC VIOLENCE IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION By RICHARD H. HAWLEY, JR. A Dissertation submitted to the Political Science Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2011 Richard H. Hawley, Jr. defended this dissertation on August 26, 2011. The members of the supervisory committee were: Heemin Kim Professor Directing Dissertation Jonathan Grant University Representative Dale Smith Committee Member Charles Barrilleaux Committee Member Lee Metcalf Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii To my father, Richard H. Hawley, Sr. and To my mother, Catherine S. Hawley (in loving memory) iii AKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people who made this dissertation possible, and I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of them. Above all, I thank my committee chair, Dr. Heemin Kim, for his understanding, patience, guidance, and comments. Next, I extend my appreciation to Dr. Dale Smith, a committee member and department chair, for his encouragement to me throughout all of my years as a doctoral student at the Florida State University. I am grateful for the support and feedback of my other committee members, namely Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Civilizational Factors of Armenian Sea Trade Development and the International Competition in the 17Th Century1
    CIVILIZATIONAL FACTORS OF ARMENIAN SEA TRADE DEVELOPMENT AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION IN THE 17TH CENTURY1 Eduard L. Danielyan* Prior to the great geographical discoveries international trade relations had been de- veloping within the boundaries of the known world or œcumene [1] in the Eastern hemisphere, via land, river and sea routes [2]. Participation of various countries in the international trade depended on availability of raw material sources and product lines. Armenia had been involved in international trade since ancient times, given its important strategic location between the East and West and its civilizational de- velopments [3, pp. 203-227]. As far back as the Neolithic and Chalcolithic, obsidian had been exported from the Armenian Highland to Mesopotamia and regions of the Eastern Mediterranean [4, p. 46]. In the Early Bronze Age Sumerians made use of copper mined in the Armenian Highland [5, pp. 21-25; 6, ɾʒ 140]. In the Bronze and the Early Iron Ages metallurgy in Armenia allowed exporting processed metal prod- ucts to the countries of the Orient. With high appreciation of Armenia’s contribu- tion in the world civilization, David M. Lang wrote in his book Armenia: Cradle of Civilization: “The ancient land of Armenia is situated in the high mountains... Al- though Mesopotamia with its ancient civilizations of Sumeria and Babylon, is usually considered together with Egypt as the main source of civilized life in the modern sense, Armenia too has a claim to rank as one of the cradles of human culture… Again, Armenia has a claim on our attention as one of the principal homes of ancient metallurgy, beginning at least five thousand years ago …” [7, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Cilician Armenian Mediation in Crusader-Mongol Politics, C.1250-1350
    HAYTON OF KORYKOS AND LA FLOR DES ESTOIRES: CILICIAN ARMENIAN MEDIATION IN CRUSADER-MONGOL POLITICS, C.1250-1350 by Roubina Shnorhokian A thesis submitted to the Department of History In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada (January, 2015) Copyright ©Roubina Shnorhokian, 2015 Abstract Hayton’s La Flor des estoires de la terre d’Orient (1307) is typically viewed by scholars as a propagandistic piece of literature, which focuses on promoting the Ilkhanid Mongols as suitable allies for a western crusade. Written at the court of Pope Clement V in Poitiers in 1307, Hayton, a Cilician Armenian prince and diplomat, was well-versed in the diplomatic exchanges between the papacy and the Ilkhanate. This dissertation will explore his complex interests in Avignon, where he served as a political and cultural intermediary, using historical narrative, geography and military expertise to persuade and inform his Latin audience of the advantages of allying with the Mongols and sending aid to Cilician Armenia. This study will pay close attention to the ways in which his worldview as a Cilician Armenian informed his perceptions. By looking at a variety of sources from Armenian, Latin, Eastern Christian, and Arab traditions, this study will show that his knowledge was drawn extensively from his inter-cultural exchanges within the Mongol Empire and Cilician Armenia’s position as a medieval crossroads. The study of his career reflects the range of contacts of the Eurasian world. ii Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without the financial support of SSHRC, the Marjorie McLean Oliver Graduate Scholarship, OGS, and Queen’s University.
    [Show full text]
  • Between Old and New Rome
    Jonas Thungren Lindbärg “A burdensome matter it is today to abandon the delicate and subtle customs of the Latin people, i.e. the Franks, and to return to the Between Old and New Rome dullness of the old Armenians.” Thus wrote the Armenian archbishop Nerses, not without a hint of Armenian and Bulgarian Contacts with the Papacy around 1204 sarcasm, when defending his endeavour to unite the Armenian Church with the Roman in the late twelfth century. What this old dullness was is less clear but it seems that Latin customs had indeed become both Jonas Thungren Lindbärg desirable and powerful, for this ecumenical endeavour met with success and only a handful of years later something similar occured in the Between Old and New Rome Old and New Between Balkans, when a newly founded Bulgarian empire submitted to the Roman Church as well. The rulers of these realms would not only profess their loyalty to the Roman Church but would also carry papal banners into battle and exchange letters with the pope. This study examines how these rulers used their relationships with the Papacy, as well as how the pope used his relationship with them. It is a study of ideas and of symbolic power, of how kingdoms and empires were imagined and expressed. It is a study of the new and the old, of two new power-centres emerging from the old peripheries of the crumbling Byzantine Empire, of leaders weaving together real and imagined histories with new influences in order to establish and profess their legitimate rule. ISBN 978-91-7911-504-3 Department of Culture and Aesthetics Doctoral Thesis in History of Ideas at Stockholm University, Sweden 2021 Between Old and New Rome Armenian and Bulgarian Contacts with the Papacy around 1204 Jonas Thungren Lindbärg Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History of Ideas at Stockholm University to be publicly defended on Monday 14 June 2021 at 13.00 online via Zoom, public link is available at the department website.
    [Show full text]
  • The Making of Nagorno-Karabagh: from Secession to Republic
    1 Introduction Levon Chorbajian “Soviet Reports Major Unrest in Armenian Areas in South” New York Times, February 24, 1988, p. A-1 “News Cut Off as Armenian Protests Continue” New York Times, February 26, 1988, p. A-6 “Gorbachev Urges Armenians to End Nationalist Furor” New York Times, February 27, 1988, p. A-1 “Soviet Reports a Major Oil Center in Azerbaijan Hit by Riots” New York Times, March 1, 1988, p. A-1 “Soviet Said It Used Troops to Quell Riots” New York Times, March 2, 1988, p. A-10 Background In February 1988, Nagorno-Karabagh rocked the Soviet Union.1 The above headlines were typical of the global attention that focused on Armenian protests which had no precedent in scale and intensity since the early years of the Soviet Union. Continuous mass demonstrations, marches, vigils, and hunger strikes along with Azerbaijani repression, placed Nagorno-Karabagh, Armenia, and Azerbaijan center stage. Yet few people had ever heard of Nagorno-Karabagh, the small, 4400 sq km Soviet enclave then known as the Nagorno-Karabagh Autonomous Oblast. And less was known about the forces that were driving people into the plazas, squares and streets of Yerevan and Stepanakert, the respective capitals of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh, by the hundreds of thousands. 1 2 The Making of Nagorno-Karabagh For a time, Nagorno-Karabagh continued to be front page news, and justifiably so. In rapid succession beginning on February 13, there was the resolution from the region’s legislature, the Supreme Soviet, asking that the region be transferred from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR.
    [Show full text]
  • How Armenians Made Byzantium
    Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History Volume 6 Issue 2 Article 2 11-2016 Inside and Outside the Purple: How Armenians Made Byzantium Michael Goodyear University of Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Goodyear, Michael (2016) "Inside and Outside the Purple: How Armenians Made Byzantium," Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History: Vol. 6 : Iss. 2 , Article 2. DOI: 10.20429/aujh.2016.060202 Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh/vol6/iss2/2 This article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Goodyear: Inside and Outside the Purple: How Armenians Made Byzantium Inside and Outside the Purple: How Armenians Made Byzantium Michael Goodyear University of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois) In the past few decades, there has been an increasing academic and popular focus on ethnic minorities, even turning minority studies into a viable academic field. In this new trend, however, minority studies are primarily focused on the present and recent past. This ignores the importance of historical minorities, especially ones that impacted states to such a degree as the Armenians impacted the Byzantine Empire. In addition to their own national history and culture, ethnic Armenians were also a highly important minority inside the Byzantine Empire.1 During the middle centuries of Byzantium, from 610 to 1071, the Armenian populace served as an important source of manpower, and individuals of Armenian descent rose to the highest dignities in the Byzantine Empire as generals, politicians, patriarchs, intellectuals, and even emperors.
    [Show full text]
  • Hazelhofman.Pdf
    ABSTRACT AN INTERPRETATION OF TEXTILE WEALTH IN THE ELEVENTH-CENTURY ARMENIAN MINIATURE FAMILY PORTRAIT OF KING GAGIK-ABAS OF KARS The eleventh-century miniature family portrait of Christian King Gagik- Abas is the only known Armenian painting of a Bagratuni dynastic family. Established interpretation of the image suggests that indicators of rank and status are displayed within the iconography and mannerisms of the figures. My analysis focuses on the profusion of sumptuous textiles and the intriguing compositional placement of the female figures in the picture. I interpret these pictorial elements as allusions to dowry wealth and matrilineal inheritance. My thesis suggests that the composition of the image and the opulence of the represented textiles convey dynastic affluence in an effort to support the central figure, the young daughter, within the socio-political context of medieval life in the region. As the only heir of the last Bagratuni king in Greater Armenia, Princess Marem was to inherit the dynastic lineage from her father. Their kingdom was threatened by Seljuk invasions and Byzantine land annexation policies. The image was created during this tumultuous period in the history of the Bagratunis. In such a situation, I suggest that the miniature painting reveals the family’s response to the hostile situation of regional politics for Armenian nobles in their homeland. Within the historical context of the image, marital alliances between Armenian nobles were not uncommon and intermarriages existed between Armenian and non-Armenian dynastic families. Showing dynastic lineage and textile wealth in the image was a plausible way to secure a future for Marem through marital arrangements.
    [Show full text]
  • 08 Aldo Ferrari
    Persia and Persians in Raffi’s Xamsayi Melikʻutiwnnerə Aldo Ferrari Ca’ Foscari University, Venice Abstract This paper takes into consideration the image of Persia and Persians in Raffi’s Xamsayi melikʻu– tʻiwnnerə. It is not a literary work, but a kind of history of Łarabał/Arcʻax, especially of the Arme- nian nobility of that region, the so-called meliks. During almost the whole period described by Raffi—1600-1827—Łarabał was part of the Persian empire, although in a position of strong auton- omy. Therefore it is not surprising that we find in Xamsayi melikʻutʻiwnnerə many remarkable con- siderations about Persia and Persians, obviously according to the peculiar ideological perspective of Raffi. As a matter of fact, the western-minded Armenian writer often addresses to the Persians the “orientalist” biases of “religious fanaticism”, “cruelty” and “barbarism”. Nevertheless his text provides an interesting description of the secular relations between Persia and the Armenians, mainly but not only those of Łarabał, in the fields of politics, religion and customs. Xamsayi meli- kʻutʻiwnnerə can also be considered an important evaluation of the transition from the Persian in- fluence to the Russian one undergone by Eastern Armenia in XVIII-XIX centuries. In spite of his warm, but not uncritical, support to the Tsarist conquest of Transcaucasia, Raffi was indeed able to give a multisided picture of this process. Keywords Armeno-Persian Relations, Armenian Nobility, History of Łarabał/Arcʻax, Russian Empire, Russian Orientalism RAFFI AND THE MELIKʻS OF ŁARABAŁ Raffi (Yakob Melikʻ-Yakobean, 1835-1888) is one of the most famous Armenian writers.1 My paper will take into consideration some aspects of his attitude to- wards Persia and Persians, which is an interesting page of a millenary relation (on this topic see Zekiyan 2005).
    [Show full text]
  • History of Medieval Armenia
    QUANTUM COLLEGE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA PROGRAMME HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL ARMENIA COURSE COMPANION YEREVAN – 2016 Recommended by the Academic Council of Yerevan State University Faculty of History Malkhasyan Mikayel, PhD in History, Yerevan State University History of Medieval Armenia. Course companion. - Yerevan, Quan- tum College, 2016. – 102 p. The course companion is set for the medieval period of the History of Armenia course (Armenian Curriculum) in the IB DP of Quantum College. The course aims to explore the decisive events and essential characteristics of the medieval history of Armenia, providing students with different research perspectives and recent development in the area. This book can also be helpful for the Armenian studies educational pro- grams for high school and undergraduate students in the Republic of Armenia and the Diaspora. Scientific editor: Artak Movsisyan, Doctor of History, Professor, YSU Editors: Yevgenya Ghalumyan, Armen Gabrielyan & Lusya Manukyan ISBN 978-9939-846-12-5 ¡ ¡ 2 Course Companion definition The IB Diploma Programme Course Companions are resource materials designed to support students throughout their two-year DP course of study in a particular subject. They help students gain an understanding of what is expected from the study of an IB DP subject while presenting content in a way that illustrates the purpose and aims of the IB. They reflect the philosophy and approach of the IB and encourage a deep understanding of each subject by making connections to wider issues and providing opportunities for critical thinking. The books mirror the IB philosophy of viewing the curriculum in terms of a whole-course approach; the use of a wide range of resources, interna- tional mindedness, the IB learner profile and the IB DP core require- ments, theory of knowledge, the extended essay, and creativity, action, service (CAS).
    [Show full text]