[41] In the year 526 A.E. [1077] Lord Sargis died and they ordained T'oros, surnamed Alaghutik, [as a kat'oghikos]. In the same year Vasil, son of Apuk'ap, assembled horsemen at Philaretus' order and went against Edessa. He harassed the city for six months, after which the citizens turned against the duke, Lewon, who fled and took refuge in the citadel, while the proximus fled for refuge into the church. [The people] brought him outside and killed him and gave the city to Vasil, who was a mild and benevolent man and a builder of the land. Now the Byzantine emperor Melissenus ruled for six months, before they rose against him and deposed him. They installed [as emperor] prince Alexius (Alek's) [Alexius Comnenus I, 1081-1118], who was Romanus' brother's son, a goodly, God-loving man who was brave in battle. And then there was peace in the House of the Byzantines [g85].

In the year 528 A.E. [1079] a severe famine occurred throughout the entire world, a result of the [actions of the] impious people of Muhammed, since they had spread throughout the world and destroyed the lands. As a result, there was a very grave famine and no one could find food or a place of rest, except in Eypt and in the territories of Antioch in the land of the Cilicians. And everyone came there from all the districts, mobbing the place like locusts. Rich and lofty men and women begged like the poor and died from the severity of the famine, while there was no one [left] to bury them. Many became food for the birds and beasts. This was the start of the destruction of the House of the East. In the same year King Gagik went with many troops to the Armenian prince Aplgharip in the capital city of Tarsus, summoned by Aplgharip over some matter concerning their kinship. However for some reason the matter did not end amicably. Gagik, with 1,000 cavalry, returned growling with anger and came to the plain of Ar'chias, close to the fortress called Kitr'o'skap. The lords of the fortress were three Byzantine brothers, the sons of Mantale'. Gagik left his troops and turned aside [g86] from the road with three men, and went up to see them. Now previously [the Byzantines] with 50 horsemen had set an ambush for Gagik, and when he approached the fortress, the three Byzantine brothers came out to do obeisance to him. When Gagik bowed to kiss them, they seized him by the neck and dragged him from his horse, while the ambushers took and brought him to the fortress of Kitr'o'skap. When his troops heard this, they scattered. After eight days the entire House of the Armenians gathered at the fortress [including] Abas' son, Gagik, and the entire clan of Senek'erim (Sinak'erim), Atom and Apusahl and all the Armenian princes, and they harassed the fortress for many days, though they were unable to accomplish anything. The princes who had seized Gagik did not dare to let him go. Philaretus wrote to them inquiring how they dared do that to the king and [saying] that whether or not they released him, they had effected their own ruination. Then those God-forsaken people strangled King Gagik, hanged [his body] on the wall for a day, and then, removing him from the fortress, buried him. After six days a man from their city named Banik came and stole Gagik's body and took it to his city [of Pizu] and to his folk. The Armenian people deeply mourned him and buried him in his monastery of Pizu. He had left a son, Yovhanne's. After this [g87] royal rule among the Armenians ceased being held by the Bagratid clan.

[42] In the year 530 A.E. [1081] the archbishop of Ani Shirakan, Lord Barsegh, went to the Lo're' district of Aghuania, to the Armenian king Gorge', son of David the Landless, son of Gagik, and requested that they hold an ordination for the Armenian kat'oghikosate. The king and Lord Step'anos so ordered and they held an assembly with many bishops and ordained Lord Barsegh as kat'oghikos of the Armenians [Barsegh I Anets'i, 1105-1113], amidst great rejoicing. The same year a certain emir of the Persians came with numerous troops to Edessa, ruining places here and there. Some Christians encountered him near Samusat and were defeated and put to flight. Going along [the Saljuqs] enslaved whomever they chanced upon as far as Harran. There an Arab emir fell upon them and made them fugitives and he looted what they had taken and enslaved everyone.

In the year 532 A.E. [1083] the lord of Edessa, Vasil, son of Apuk'ap, died and [the people] were in great mourning [g88] over the loss of such a goodly prince. They gave the city to Smbat, who was a brave man and an in-law of Vasil, [being married to] his brother's daughter. He went to Philaretus and handed the city over to him. But after a few days that impious man seized prince Smbat and all his clan, destroyed all their homes, and then took them to Marash, where he blinded Smbat and his brother T'or'nik. He also killed prince Arjuk and kept other Armenian princes in bondage because of his evil nature and enormous greed.

[43] In the year 533 A.E. [1084], a certain Emir Sulaiman, Kutlumish's son [Sulaiman ibn Kutlumish, c. 1077-1086, Saljuq Sultan of Rum], who resided in Nicaea in Bithynia, came with many troops to Antioch. Finding it unprepared and undefended, he seized it from the side of Aleppo with [only] 300 followers. The next day when the citizens saw what had happened, they were terrified since they did not have any fighting men there. Then the forces of the foreigners began to increase day by day. The men of the city were Peletikk' ["Belted Ones"], effeminate and soft, and they all fled into the citadel. Sulaiman harassed them and made a treaty, and no one damaged the city. At that time Philaretus was in the city of Edessa. He was unable to do anything [about this] except to complain bitterly. And Sulaiman ruled Antioch [g89] and all the districts of the Cilicians. In this manner he took great Antioch from the wicked Pelitik men, who so loathed the Armenians that they had adopted the following custom: whenever a foreigner entered the city, they seized him, cut off his beard, and expelled him from the city in disgrace. Twenty years before [Antioch's] capture by Emir Kutlumish, [the Pelitikk'] had seized someone [visiting] from the city of Ani, took his belongings, shaved his beard, and threw him out of the city with insults. Hurt, [that man] went back to his home, took some 500 Turkish horsemen, and returned to capture the entire district of Antioch. He burned twelve of the duke's villages, slaughtered the inhabitants, threw them into the river, and had it announced in the city: "I am Gorg Shirakats'i whose beard you cut off, and [what I have done] was in return for that one beard." Then he returned to his home with a great deal of booty. Similarly, on the day of Barekendan [the Sunday preceding the start of Lent], a caravan arrived [at Antioch] bearing tarex fish for sale. There were eighty select men [of that caravan], who sat near the custom-house drinking wine and [watching] the minstrels dancing. [The Pelikikk'] became enraged by the sound of the songs and fell upon them, starting to beat them and expel them from the city. But the eighty men attacked the citizens and made [g90] them flee as far as [the church of] St. Peter, smashing the hands and heads of many of them. The citizens became frightened and came before [Georg's troops] carrying crosses and gospels, and they swore that they would never bother them again. So they made peace and ceased their [insulting] activities.

In the year 533 [1084 A.E.] the Armenian vardapet, Yakovbos K'arap'nets'i, died in deep old age in Edessa. The same year the Arab king, Sharaf-ad-Daulah (Sharafto'ln), the son of Kuraysh, a good and merciful man, assembled a force of 100,000 Arabs. He went and captured Aleppo and made the daughter of the lord of Aleppo his wife. Then he moved against great Antioch and Sulaiman, lord of Antioch, came against him at Pzah to fight. When the battle had been joined, the troops of the Arabs were put to flight and their king was slain. Then Sulaiman returned to Antioch in great triumph. There his wife bore him a son whom he named Kilij-Arslan (Xlich-Aslan). In the same year a certain emir named Po'ltachi seized the district of Jahan from Philaretus. The kat'oghikos, Lord T'oros, remained under his authority. Philaretus sent and summoned him to come to Marash, but the kat'oghikos refused. As a result, [Philaretus] became furious with him and summoned the archbishop of [the monastery of] the Holy Icon, Lord Yovhanne's, to occupy [g91] the kat'oghikosal throne. But because he was a blessed and virtuous man, he refused. Then [Philaretus] summoned the abbot of Varag monastery, Po'ghos, and they made him [a] kat'oghikos of the Armenians. But after a few days, he quit the kat'oghikosate and returned to his monastery.

[44] In the year 534 A.E. [1085] the sultan of Egypt, who was named Tutush (Ttush), came with many troops to fight against Sulaiman, who was then lord of Antioch. They clashed between Antioch and Aleppo, and both sides lost many men. Sulaiman was slain and his troops took to flight. Thus Tutush ruled Antioch and all its borders. He was a sultan, the son of Alp-Arslan and the brother of Malik-Shah. Six years earlier he had captured Damascus from Atsiz (Axsis), a brave man who had ruled over Egypt and all the coastal areas.

In the year 535 A.E. [1086] the impious Philaretus went to do homage to the world-conquering Sultan Malik-Shah requesting [g92] kindness toward the Christian believers. [Philaretus] left in his place prince Parakamanos [the paracoemomenus]. Then one of Philaretus' princes named Parsama hatched a wicked plot with his comrades: on Sunday they came to the citadel of Edessa, found Parakamanos praying in church, and killed him there. The citizens made the murderer, Parsama, duke of the city because of Parakamanos' slaying. When Sultan Malik-Shah heard about this he removed Philaretus from honor. [Philaretus], in complete despair, apostasized that [Christian] faith which he had falsely held, thinking thereby that he would be glorified by the sultan. But nothing helped him. On the contrary, he became hateful before God and man alike. That same year the world-conqueror, Malik-Shah, moved westward with numerous troops. First he ruled over the land of the Armenians. Then he came and ruled over Aleppo and Antioch and all the shores of the land. He had a kind and merciful heart and loved everyone. After ruling Antioch, he came to the sea at as-Suwaidiyah (Sew oti) and went into the water on his horse. Unsheathing his sword, he struck the water three times, descended from his horse, praying and thanking God who had empowered him more [g93] than his father and had given him [territories] from the Persian sea to the Ocean [Mediterranean Sea]. He put a wicked man named Yaghi-Siyan (Asxian) over Antioch and a good and constructive man named Aksungur (Axse"ngoyr) over Aleppo. That same year the emir Buzan, at Malik-Shah's order, besieged the city of Edessa. The sultan himself came there and then departed, while Buzan continued to harass the city. The citizens rose against Duke Parsama who, in desperation, threw himself from the walls and perished. The citizens gave Edessa to Buzan who designated a ruler for the city, and there was peace during his day. Meanwhile Sultan Malik-Shah went against Gandzak and took it. Lord Step'anos, kat'oghikos of the Aghuanians, was there but got away with God's help. Now during the reign of Alexius [I, Comnenus, 1081-1118] over the Byzantines, the Pechenegs caused a disturbance in Byzantium. The Pechenegs triumphed and caused Alexius to flee. Alexius opened up his treasury and allocated funds for many troops. The Pechenegs came to take Constantinople from him. Emperor Alexius armed his troops with fasting and prayers while he himself, for eight days, did not leave the church where he sought aid from the Lord. Then the emperor attacked the Pechenegs and the two sides engaged in a ferocious battle. The Pechenegs were bowmen who fought from carts with amazing skill. The emperor ordered [g94] that oil be thrown onto the carts, and thus he triumphed and turned them back while he himself pursued and slaughtered them with their women and children. Then he returned in great triumph. In that same year an evil-doing Byzantine monk, a worshipper of Satan, appeared in Constantinople. He kept a dog with him and worshipped it with wicked sorcery, corrupting many believers including the mother of Emperor Alexius. The emperor's mother had so deviated [from Orthodoxy] that she had taken a portion of the Lord's Cross and put it in the emperor's shoe, such that he would always be stepping on it. When the emperor learned about this, he immediately deposed his mother from [the imperial] glory and drowned that impious monk and his collaborator, Mushegh, and others in the sea.

[45] In the year 539 A.E. [1090] the blessed patriarch, Lord Barsegh, arose and went before Sultan Malik-Shah since he saw that the Christians were being oppressed by various taxes, especially the priests, bishops, and all ranks of the clergy. He took along with him honored clerics from among the bishops, priests and gentry. With valuable gifts he went to the God-loving sultan. The sultan received him with great honor, since he was a wise and brilliant man, eloquent and handsome. Through his wisdom he got the sultan to agree with everything he discussed with him. The sultan granted all his requests and gave him a document [granting tax] freedom to the churches and monasteries, and then sent him back with honor and joy [g95]. Then Lord Barsegh went to the district of Jahan and deposed T'oros Alagho'tik from his see. The impious Philaretus had installed him there. Lord Barsegh, the blessed patriarch, circulated throughout the entire country and made peace with all the churches, leading everyone according to God's will. He also went to Caesarea of the Cappadocians, then again to Antioch, and from there to Edessa. Everyone was pleased with him, and he loved everyone with spiritual love.

In the month of September in the year 540 A.E. [1091] there was an earthquake throughout the entire country which did great damage in Antioch and Nisibis, and numerous men and women perished under their [collapsed] dwellings.

In the year 541 A.E. [1092] there was widespread death throughout the entire country, to the point that [the living] were unable to bury the dead. In the same year, Lord Po'ghos brought to Edessa the Holy Cross [of Varag] and the icon of the blessed Mother of God. The prince of the city received him with honor, but a few days later he sacrilegiously stole the Holy Cross from Lord Po'ghos. In the same year, at Sultan Malik-Shah's order, Buzan massed Persian troops. He took along his wife as well as the lord of Aleppo and the lord of Antioch, and went with an enormous multitude and encamped against Constantinople. But he was unable to accomplish anything. In the same year the goodly Sultan Malik-Shah died. News of his death reached Buzan who left Constantinople and came to Edessa, and each of the [military] chiefs returned to his own place [g96]. The kat'oghikos, Lord Barsegh, who was then in Edessa, went as a refugee to Ani. Sultan Malik-Shah had two sons, the elder was named Berk-Yaruq (Pakiarux) and the younger, Sap'ar (Tap'ar). Berk-Yaruq ruled in his father's stead. He was a good man and started the rebuilding of the land of the Armenians, and kept free the monasteries, churches, and priests throughout his entire country.

[46] In the year 542 A.E. [1093] Tutush, lord of Damascus, son of Sultan Alp-Arslan, and brother of Malik-Shah, assembled many troops and went to Antioch. He took along the lord of Antioch and the lord of Aleppo and went to the land of the Persians. The troops of the Persians massed in an incalculable multitude, and all the troops of the district of the Babylonians came to the district of Mosul. The head of the Arab troops was Ibrahim (Prehin), son of Kuraysh (Kurish). Tutush reached Nisibis and captured it, while the troops of the Armenians who were with the sultan killed as many as ten thousand Tachiks. The army of the Arabs came to the borders of Nisibis. Meanwhile Sultan Berk-Yaruq sent to Buzan and brought him to help him, by an oath [g97]. He then went against the chief of the Arabs in the plain of Nisibis. When the battle raged, the Arabs turned to flight and their chief was slain. The Persian troops, loaded with spoil, turned [to Persia]. Now the king of the Persians supported Berk-Yaruq and placed Ismael, his mother's brother, as commander-in-chief. This was the same man who had been designated [ruler] over the land of the Armenians, and he was a good man who was merciful toward the Christians. Subsequently Buzan and Aksungur strangled him outside the army and then fled, Buzan to Edessa and Aksungur to Aleppo. Ismael was slain by them.

In the year 543 A.E. [1094] Tutush came with numerous troops against Aleppo, killed Buzan and Aksungur, and captured Aleppo. Putting Buzan's head on a pike, he took it to Aleppo. Tutush came to Edessa and designated as mayor the Byzantine prince T'e'odos [T'oros], son of Het'um, while he himself went on to Persia with many troops to fight against Berk-Yaruq. He received a letter from his brother's wife, inviting him to come and be her husband. Tutush, agreeing, reached the plain of [g98] Isfahan (Aspahan). Berk-Yaruq sent to Tutush entreating him: "Give me only Isfahan." But [Tutush] ignored him. Then both sides attacked each other. Yaghi-Siyan fled and Tutush was killed, while Berk-Yaruq took all of Tutush's goods. Tutush's son, whose name was Ridvan (R'aswan/R'atuan), fled to his home. Curopalate T'oros was in Edessa at that time, and began building the city walls, aiming at ruling over it. The citadel was [in the hands of] Persians in which there were Turkish guards. There were also a few Armenian [guards] who had been put there by Tutush. When the aspasalar realized that [T'oros] had gained control of the citadel of Maniaces, he notified the neighboring emirs that T'oros had seized the city.

[47] In the year 544 A.E. [1095] Sokman, the son of Artuk, and Balduk, the emir of Samosata, massed troops and came against Edessa. Curopalate T'oros fortified the city and held it with great bravery, while the foreigners turned back in disgrace. They gave the citadel into his hands and there was peace in the city.

In the year 545 [1096] the sultan of the West, Kilij-Arslan (Xlich Aslan) [1092-1107] came against the city of Melitene with many troops and besieged it terribly. The prince of the city, whose name was Gabriel (Ghavr'il) and who was the father-in-law of [g99] of Curopalate T'oros, bravely defended the city of Edessa, and Sultan Kilij-Arslan returned to his own land in shame. In the same period prominent princes of the nation of the Romans [the Crusaders], came with an enormous host to aid the Christians, at the command of a monk among them named Petros Sargis [Peter the Hermit]. His history is fully written with the names of the princes [who came with him] in the Frankish histories. With them came bishops, doctors of the church, priests and deacons as great in number as the stars in the sky. They reached Constantinople. Emperor Alexius sent a force to oppose them in battle, but [the Byzantines] were put to flight and many of them were killed. Then Emperor Alexius made peace with them, but not wholeheartedly, as is recorded in their histories. Emperor Alexius gave them treasures of gold and silver and [g100] they promised that the lands which the Muslims had seized from the Romans would be given to him. They went on to the land of Cappadocia. The lord of that land, Kilij-Arslan, who was besieging Melitene, heard about this and went against them. There was a ferocious battle, and the brave soldiers of Christ, resembling eagles attacking a flock of pheasants, fell upon the troops of the foreigners, blanketing the ground with their corpses. The troops of the foreigners took to flight and the country filled up with their bodies. [The Crusaders] took myriads upon myriads of captives as well as their belongings, as booty. But after three days Kilij-Arslan again massed troops and came against them, and once again they slaughtered them and captured Nicaea, and gave it to Emperor Alexius.

[48] In the year 546 A.E. [1097] during the patriarchate of Lord Grigoris Vkayase'r, [there arose] a certain prince from a great family, from among Gagik's princes. His name was Kostandin, son of Ruben (R'ube'n), who [g101], following the death of King Gagik, had come to the Taurus Mountains and with valiant bravery came to rule over many fortresses and districts. Now this Kostandin, Ruben's son, and the prince of Edessa, T'e'odoros, sent a letter to the princes who had arrived from Rome, whom we mentioned earlier, that they should come here [to Cilicia] to expel the foreigners. At their urging they came with an incalculable host through the pass of Po'tand and thence to Adana and Anarzaba, then on to great Antioch. There they encamped and covered the plains, and trapped the Persian military commander, Yaghi-Siyan, in the city. They besieged the city for ten months. When the surrounding Persian princes learned about this, they came against [the Crusaders] with many troops. They had assembled the [troops of] Damascus, Jerusalem, and all the coastal areas bordering them—He'ms, Hama, Aleppo and the entire land of Syria as far as the Euphrates River. They came in an enormous multitude and encaped in the plain of Aleppo, to battle against the Christian troops. When the princes of the Romans heard this they started to prepare for war, armed their troops and went out against them to fight. Count St. Gilles (Gundsanjil) [Raymond IV] and [g102] Bohemond (Pemunt) took brigades of 10,000 troops and attacked them like lions in the borders of Antioch. [The Crusaders] put them to flight, slaughtering 60,000, and chased them as far as the gate of Aleppo. Then they turned back, loaded with spoil.

In the year 547 A.E. [1098] Emir Sokman (Suk'man), son of Artuk, a brave and martial man, assembled some 30,000 troops from Mosul and Babylon and came against the Christians. Brave Count St. Gilles with 7,000 horsemen battled with him in the borders of Aleppo and, by the grace of God, was victorious. With his lance he pinnioned Tughtikin (Tushtikin), lord of Damascus, and put his troops to flight, killing them mercilessly. Then they gathered up all their belongings and brought them to camp. However, the Christian troops, due to their multitude, were bothered about victuals. So the Armenian princes who held the Taurus Mountains—Kostandin, son of Ruben, and Bazuni and Oshin—continually sent them the food they needed. Similarly the monks of Black Mountain and all the believers encouraged [the Crusaders] and showed them friendship. Nonetheless, disease and death were visited upon them, to the point that [g103] they were depleted by a fifth. The same year a comet appeared again and manifested itself as a marvel in the heavens, since the sky was [as though] on fire, frightening beholders with its deep red color.

Return to Historical Sources Menu
Return to History Workshop Menu