Theodoros Rštuni

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Theodoros Rštuni ( Armenian Թեոդորոս Ռշտունի , also Rshtuni , Rechtuni ; * around 590; † 656/659 in Damascus ), presumably identical to the Patrikios Pasagnathes (Πασαγνάθης) at Theophanes , was a Byzantine general of Armenian origin who was responsible for his resistance against the first Arab incursions into Armenia became known.

Life

Before the Islamic expansion , Theodoros had been raised by Emperor Herakleios to Sparapet (commander) of the Armenian troops and Marzban of Armenia. After the fall of David Saharuni (638 or 640), he was appointed as his successor with the rank of Kuropalate . Together with the Byzantine general Prokopios , Theodoros successfully defended Armenia in 640 against the first attack by the Arabs. In 642 he could not prevent the Muslims from sacking the capital Dvin , but defeated them on August 10, 643 near the Arcapk fortress in the Kogovit district of the historic province of Ayrarat (today divided between Armenia and Turkey), for which he was led by Emperor Constans II was recognized as the prince ( Iškhan ) of Armenia. Konstans was particularly interested in his family's homeland and preferred Byzantine generals of Armenian origin to stop the advance of Arab troops.

After the Arabs had continuously intensified their attacks on Armenia, Theodoros finally agreed an armistice in 651 with the governor of Syria , the later Caliph Muʿāwiya , after which the Arabs could devote themselves to the complete subjugation of the Sassanid Empire . In 652 or 653 (the chronology is controversial in research), he accepted Arab suzerainty and in return was contractually guaranteed extensive autonomy for Armenia. As part of this agreement, Arminiya became an autonomous state and had to provide 15,000 men a year for the Arab army.

This behavior of Theodoros was regarded as high treason in Constantinople . Constans II moved with an army to Armenia in 653 and deposed Theodoros, who fled to a monastery on the island of Akdamar in Lake Van . After the emperor's hasty withdrawal, Theodoros requested 7,000 soldiers from the Arabs and stationed them in the districts north of Lake Van that had fallen away from Byzantium. He went to Muʿāwiya in Damascus, who confirmed him as governor of Armenia. When the military confrontation with the Byzantines came to a head in 655, the Arabs deported a large number of Armenian aristocrats to Syria, including Theodoros, who died hostage at the latest in 659. His son-in-law and rival Hamazasp Mamikonian was installed in his place and his body was transferred to his home in Rshtunik (Ռշտունիք), where he was buried in his family's crypt.

legacy

Some scholars, including Manuk Abeghian, identify Rshtuni with the figure of K'eṛi T'oros in the epic " David of Sasun ". The Armenian writer Tserents (Ծերենց, - Hovsep Shishmanyan Հովսեփ Շիշմանյան 1822-1888) wrote a historicizing novel with the title Theodoros Rshtuni .

swell

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Mark Whittow: The Making of Byzantium, 600-1025. University of California Press, Berkeley 1996, ISBN 0-520-20497-2 , p. 209.
  2. ^ Warren Treadgold: A History of the Byzantine State and Society . Stanford University Press, Stanford 1997, ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 , pp. 310-313.
  3. ↑ See Walter E. Kaegi : Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1992, ISBN 0-521-48455-3 , pp. 196-197.
  4. ↑ a b Vrezh M. Vardanyan: «Թեոդորոս Ռշտունի» (Theodoros Rshtuni). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia . vol. iv. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences , 1978: 172.
predecessor Office successor
David Saharuni
Varaztirots II. Bagratuni 		Ishkhan Ishkhanats'
638-645
645-653, 654-655 		Mushegh II. Mamikonian
Hamazasp II. Mamikonian
personal data
SURNAME Theodoros Rštuni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Theodoros Rshtuni; Theodoros Rechtuni; Pasagnathes; Թեոդորոս Ռշտունի (hyS)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine general of Armenian origin
DATE OF BIRTH around 590
DATE OF DEATH between 656 and 659
Place of death Damascus