Łewond () or Leontius was a late 8th-century

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

priest and historian. Very little is known about his life, except that he was an eyewitness to the events he describes after 774. His historical work was commissioned by Sapuh, son of

Smbat VII Bagratuni Smbat VII Bagratuni (; died 25 April 775) was an Armenian noble of the Bagratuni (Bagratid) family. He and his brother Vasak were the sons of Ashot III Bagratuni. He served as presiding prince of Armenia in 761–775, playing a leading role i ...

, the

presiding prince of Armenia Arminiya, also known as the Ostikanate of Arminiya (, ''Hayastani ostikanut'yun'') or the Emirate of Armenia (, ''imārat armīniya''), was a political and geographic designation given by the Muslim Arabs to the lands of Greater Armenia, Cauca ...

in 761–775, and covers the years 632 to 789. It is an indispensable source for the early history of Arab rule over Armenia; indeed for the years 662–770 his account is the only testimony of note. It also contains important information on the

Arab–Byzantine wars The Arab–Byzantine wars or Muslim–Byzantine wars were a series of wars from the 7th to 11th centuries between multiple Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire. The Muslim Arab Caliphates conquered large parts of the Christian Byzantine empir ...

of the period. The work includes a letter supposedly sent by the

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Leo III the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian (; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was the first List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor of the Isaurian dynasty from 717 until his death in 741. He put an end to the Twenty Years' Anarchy, a period o ...

() to the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

caliph

Umar II Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (; February 720) was the eighth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 717 until his death in 720. He is credited to have instituted significant reforms to the Umayyad central government, by making it much more efficient and ...

() that contains a defence of the Christian faith, but this version is a later Armenian composition.

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