Aristakes Lastivertsi (; – 1080) was a medieval

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 ...

historian and chronicler. The author of many works, Aristakes's most valuable contribution in the field of the historiography was his ''History About the Sufferings Occasioned by Foreign Peoples Living Around Us'', which describes

Bagratid Armenia Bagratid Armenia was an independent Armenian state established by Ashot I of the Bagratuni dynasty in the early 880s following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab Umayyad and Abbasid rule. With each of t ...

's relations with the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and the devastating

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

invasions of the 11th century and the torture of Christians by the Seljuks.

Biography

Once thought to have been born in a village called either Lastivard or Lastivert, scholars now believe that Aristakes was born in a village called Lastiver, the location of which is unknown. Details about his life are fragmented. The date of his birth has been estimated as 1002, and he is assumed to have died in old age not long after completing his history in 1079. As a , he was well versed in Christian theology and rhetoric and knew

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and probably several other languages. He wrote his history from 1072 to 1079, without the support of a patron, recounting contemporary history of which he was an eyewitness. Composed of 25 chapters and a unique colophon, Aristakes describes the Seljuk invasions in 1047-48 through the capture of

Ani Ani (; ; ) is a ruined medieval Armenian city now situated in Turkey's province of Kars, next to the closed border with Armenia. Between 961 and 1045, it was the capital of the Bagratid Armenian kingdom that covered much of present-day Armen ...

in 1064 and the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, Iberia (theme), Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army ...

in 1071.

Manuscript history

There are more than 25 extant manuscripts of Lastivertsi's history, the oldest of which was begun in the 14th century and completed in 1567. Besides a manuscript copied in 1599, the others were produced in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Notes

References

External links

Full online translation of Aristakes's history
by Robert Bedrosian

1963 critical edition of Aristakes Lastivertsi's history
at the Digital Library of Armenian Literature 11th-century Armenian historians 1000s births 1080 deaths {{armenia-historian-stub