"Zamość in Armenian Memorial Records of 1600-1657" - Tatevik SARGSYAN

The article by Tatevik Sargsyan is devoted to the analysis of Armenian memorial records (colophons) from 1600–1657, created in the town of Zamość, and their significance as a source for the history of the Armenian resettlement community of this Polish town, founded by the Crown Hetman Jan Zamoyski.

Introduction and Methodology

The author points out that Zamość was founded as a fortified trade and craft center on the most important international trade route, and Jan Zamoyski, on privileged terms, invited there Armenians who had already proven themselves as skilled craftsmen and enterprising merchants. The primary source of the study is the memorial records (colophons) of Armenian manuscript books created in Zamość, whose originals have been published but very rarely translated into Russian. The author introduces these texts into scholarly circulation for the first time in her own translation.

Characteristics of the Source

Sargsyan explains in detail the nature of memorial records as a genre of Armenian book culture:

• primary records contain information about patrons, scribes, the place and time of the book's creation, as well as about the spiritual and secular rulers of the era;
• secondary records document the further fate of the book — its ransom, sale, restoration;
• besides canonical data, the records often contain information about political events, construction, the movements of the clergy, and natural phenomena;
• for their compilers, the records held a sacred meaning — as a form of petition to God for the salvation of the soul.

Key Monuments and Their Content

The author systematically examines a number of memorial records:

• a record from 1600 in a collection of liturgical works (kept in Jerusalem) attests to the existence in Zamość of an Armenian Church of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God, to the Armenians' recognition of Catholicos David, and also contains unique details about the Polish-Moldavian conflict and Jan Zamoyski's campaign against Mihai the Brave; the first Armenian judge of the town, Alexandros, son of Khacheres, is also mentioned, which indicates the presence of internal self-government within the Armenian community;
• a record from 1603 in the "Commentary on the Pentateuch by Ephrem" contains an indication of the completion of the construction of the town's fortress walls;
• a record from 1614 ("The History of the Seven Wise Men"), compiled by Yakob Tokhatetsi, attests to the presence in Zamość of émigrés from Lesser Armenia (Tokat, Amasya) who had left their homeland due to the Jelali movement;
• a record from 1626 in the Vienna Homiliary describes a journey by Catholicos Melkisedek and his envoys through the Armenian colonies of Poland with the aim of collecting donations and founding a new church in Zamość;
• records from 1627–1628, appended to a collection of versified Psalms by Yakob Tokhatetsi, reflect the literary and scribal activity of the local Armenian community.

Conclusion

The author concludes that, despite the small number of surviving Armenian manuscripts from Zamość — a consequence of the subsequent Polonization and Catholicization of the community, as well as the political instability of the region — the memorial records represent an exceptionally valuable historical source. They make it possible to reconstruct not only the internal life of the Armenian colony (the existence of a church, a judicial system, a tradition of book copying) but also important events of regional political history, including Polish-Moldavian relations and the migration processes of Armenians from Asia Minor to Eastern Europe in the early 17th century.