Translated by Robert Bedrosian
T'ovma Metsobets'i's History describes events taking place on the Armenian highlands and in Georgia during the Turco-Mongol invasions of Timur Leng (Tamerlane). These invasions were made upon a society which already had been gravely weakened by the preceding decades of warfare and persecution from Turkmen, Kurdish, and Ottoman groups now resident in the area, and from Mongols of the Golden Horde in the north Caucasus.
The History begins with the devastations wreaked on the district of Siwnik' by the northern Tatars in 1386. Tamerlane's invasions are described with the blood-curdling immediacy of a terrified eye-witness. The account is more detailed for the first three decades of the 15th century, describing the impact on Armenian economic, intellectual and religious life of this dismal period.
T'ovma was born in 1378 in the district of Aghiovit, north of Lake Van. He received his early education at the monastery of Metsob (or Metsop') north of the city of Archesh, but the invasions of Timur and the attacks of Turkmen bands obliged him to move from place to place, frequently fleeing for his life. T'ovma Metsobets'i was one of the major protagonists involved in transferring the Armenian Catholicosate from Sis in Cilicia back to Etchmiadzin in 1441. After the realization of his dream, T'ovma returned to Metsob where he died three years later, in 1446.
The Sophene Dual Language series places the original Armenian text side-by-side with its English translation, making for the most accessible editions of the finest works of Armenian literature.
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Book Details
Length: 210 pages
Format: Hardcover and Paperback
Publication Date: July 13, 2021
Original Language: Armenian
Translated Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1-925937-46-6 (hardcover) and 978-1-925937-75-6 (paperback)
Medieval Literature
The books in the medieval Armenian literature set address important episodes in Armenian and Near East history, including the Mongol and Seljuk invasions, the fall of Ani, the Battle of Manzikert, the Crusades, etc. The books also contain a welter of information about Armenian anthropology and folklore, and are invaluable learning tools for students of Classical Armenian (Grabar).
The five editions of this set are translated by the renowned Armenologist Robert Bedrosian, who received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1979, specializing in ancient and medieval Armenian history, and went on to have a decades-long successful career in computer programming. These books respect Armenia’s great literary and cultural legacy, as well as Robert’s lifetime contributions to Armenian history, literature and culture.