Published | Parrésia - Ročenka pro východní křesťanství

Arménské kroniky od jezera Van

16.-18. století

Translated by Petra Košťálová from Armenian sources

This anthology of Armenian chronicles offers an overview of the daily life of the Armenian community between the 16th and 18th centuries in Eastern Anatolia. The authors of these historical sources were educated monks (vardapets) from monasteries around the region of Lake Van, but also lay scribes. The present translation is the first version of these texts from medieval Armenian into any European language.  The Armenian chronicles from Lake Van provide the reader with a unique insight into to the realities of the life of Christians on the periphery of the Ottoman realm, where, in addition to Armenians, Greeks and Asyrians, Kurdish, Turkish and Jewish inhabitants all lived together. The chronicles thus afford an understanding of both Armenian and Ottoman history and mentalities. In addition to ten or so chronices and a bilingual text of the celebrated ballad on “Hovhannes and Ayshe”, which also originated from the Van region, the book includes a literary-historical study, a substantial glosssary and list of place names and personalities, as well as unique illustrations.