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Grigor Magistros ( hy, Գրիգոր Մագիստրոս; "Gregory the ''
magistros The ''magister officiorum'' (Latin literally for "Master of Offices", in gr, μάγιστρος τῶν ὀφφικίων, magistros tōn offikiōn) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early cent ...
''"; ca. 990–1058) was an
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 across the ...
prince,
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingui ...
, scholar and public functionary. A layman of the princely
Pahlavuni Pahlavuni ( hy, Պահլավունի; classical orthography: Պահլաւունի) was an Armenian noble family, a branch of the Kamsarakan, that rose to prominence in the late 10th century during the last years of the Bagratuni monarchy. Orig ...
family that claimed descent from the dynasty established by
St. Gregory the Illuminator Gregory the Illuminator ( Classical hy, Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ, reformed: Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ, ''Grigor Lusavorich'';, ''Gregorios Phoster'' or , ''Gregorios Photistes''; la, Gregorius Armeniae Illuminator, cu, Svyas ...
, he was the son of the military commander Vasak Pahlavuni. After the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
annexed the
Kingdom of Ani The Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia, also known as Bagratid Armenia ( xcl, Բագրատունեաց Հայաստան, or , , 'kingdom of the Bagratunis'), was an independent Armenian state established by Ashot I Bagratuni of the Bagratuni dynasty ...
, Gregory went on to serve as the governor ('' doux'') of the province of Edessa. During his tenure he worked actively to suppress the Tondrakians, a breakaway Christian Armenian sect that the Armenian and Byzantine Churches both labeled
heretics Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
. He studied both ecclesiastical and secular literature, Syriac as well as Greek. He collected all Armenian manuscripts of scientific or philosophical value that were to be found, including the works of
Anania Shirakatsi Anania Shirakatsi ( hy, Անանիա Շիրակացի, ''Anania Širakac’i'', anglicized: Ananias of Shirak) was a 7th-century Armenian polymath and natural philosopher, author of extant works covering mathematics, astronomy, geography, chron ...
, and translations from
Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide variet ...
, Andronicus of Rhodes and Olympiodorus. He translated several works of Plato — '' The Laws'', the ''Eulogy of Socrates'', '' Euthyphro'', ''
Timaeus Timaeus (or Timaios) is a Greek name. It may refer to: * ''Timaeus'' (dialogue), a Socratic dialogue by Plato * Timaeus of Locri, 5th-century BC Pythagorean philosopher, appearing in Plato's dialogue *Timaeus (historian) (c. 345 BC-c. 250 BC), Gree ...
'' and '' Phaedo''. Many ecclesiastics of the period were his pupils. Foremost among his writings are the "Letters," which are 80 in number, and which provide information about the political and religious problems of the time. His poetry bears the impress of both Homeric Greek and the Arabic of his own century. His chief poetical work is a long metrical narrative of the principal events recorded in the Bible. This work was purportedly written in three days in 1045 at the request of a Muslim scholar, who, after reading it, converted to Christianity. Grigor was almost the first poet to adopt the use of rhyme introduced to Armenia by the Arabs. Grigor II Vkayaser, a son of Grigor Magistros, was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1066 and 1105. Like his father, he was also a scholar and author; his name ''Vkayaser'' ("Lover of martyrs") refers to his work compiling and editing the lives of Armenian martyrs.


Works

* ''Գրիգոր Մագիստրոսի թղթերը'' he letters of Grigor Magistros
Alexandropol Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city w ...
: Georg Sanoeants' Publishing, 1910. An English translation, with commentary, by Professor Theo van Lint at Oxford, is currently underway.Professor Theo M. van Lint
. Faculty of Oriental Studies, Oxford.


Studies

* Muradyan, Gohar, "Greek Authors and Subject Matters in the Letters of Grigor Magistros," ''
Revue des Études Arméniennes ''Revue des Études Arméniennes'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles relating to Classical and medieval Armenian history, art history, philology, linguistics, and literature.11th-century Armenian writers 990s births 1058 deaths Byzantine people of Armenian descent 11th-century Byzantine writers Byzantine governors Magistroi
Grigor Grigor is a masculine given name and a surname. Variants include Gregory, Gregor, Grigori, Grigory, and in Western Armenian as Krikor. People with the given name * Grigor III Pahlavuni (1093-1166), Armenian catholicos * Grigor Artsruni (1845-1 ...
Armenian male writers