Pre-Christian
Era
The historic connection between
the Armenian people and the Holy Land (or Palestine) goes back
to the days of Assyria and Babylon before the advent of Jesus
Christ. At one time, Armenia and Palestine were part of the
same empire. According to recorded history, the Armenian King
Tigran II (95 to 55 B.C.), The Great "King of Kings,"
conquered most of the northern part of the fertile crescent
including Syria and for a short time, extended his political
influence over Palestine which at the time was ruled by the
Jewish Hasmonean kings.
Early Roman
Era
There is recorded evidence that
during the Roman era ( 55 B.C. to A.D. 323) Armenian traders,
artisans, Legionaries and government administrators were recruited
by the Romans to settle in what they called Palestina. After
the total destruction of Jerusalem in A.D.70 by the Roman general
Titus and the expulsion of all Jews from the city and its surroundings,
a small number of Armenians were part of the remaining non-Jewish
population living in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem which
was in total ruins for more than a decade.
Early Christian
Communities in The Holy Land
During its early years Christianity
was essentially an underground movement whose followers were
persecuted by the suspicious Romans who believed that the early
Christians were members of another Jewish sect since Jesus himself
and most of the apostles, disciples and followers were of Jewish
origin. By A.D.100 Christianity had spread throughout Asia Minor
including Armenia where the disciples Thaddeus and Bartholomew
separately arrived and spread the words of the Gospel among
a small community of Jews, and converted some influential members
of the Armenian nobility as well. The early Christians in Armenia
were persecuted and martyred like their brothers and sisters
in the Roman Empire. Therefore, they sought support and guidance
from like-minded people in Greek cities such as Antioch, Ceasaria,
Jerusalem and Alexandria. Although the original Christians were
primarily Jews, by the beginning of the second century non-Jewish
(gentile) Christians became a majority and dominated the hierarchy
of the church. This fact was exacerbated by the continued persecution
by the Roman emperors of non-Christian as well as Christian
Jews who were not permitted to reside inside the walls of Jerusalem.
Christians were not permitted to
build their own places of worship inside the city. Instead,
they held clandestine meetings in existing buildings. One of
these buildings was the Upper Room, a house on Mount Sion located
outside the city walls, which they liked to call "Mother
of the churches." They also owned a throne which they believed
belonged to St. James, the brother of Jesus, considered being
the "First Bishop of Jerusalem." The current St. James
Cathedral is named after him and it is believed that his head
is housed in its main sanctuary. Here, the Armenian presence
cannot be disputed since the current Armenian Quarter is acknowledged
to include the site of the original Mount Zion.
In A.D. 135, Emperor Hadrian crushed
the last Jewish rebellion and systematically wiped out the entire
Jewish population of Jerusalem and its surroundings. He proclaimed
that Jews will no longer be permitted to live in Jerusalem which
again, was in total ruin. At the same time he renamed the city
"Aelia Capitolina," a name officially used by the
Romans until A.D.326. By the end of the third century very few
people remembered the original name of the city.
There is no clear documentary evidence that Armenians lived
in Jerusalem and its surroundings during the second and third
centuries. The only viable testimony is recorded by Christian
historian Eusebius (260-339) who in A.D. 313 was installed Bishop
of Ceasaria. Eusebius, universally acknowledged as the father
of ecclesiastical history, writes about written contacts between
Bishop Dyonesius of Alexandria and Moushegh, Bishop of Armenia
in 254. It is believed that this type of communication could
have only been done through the Armenians in Jerusalem. Although
there is no tangible historical evidence that Jerusalem was
a center of Christian pilgrimage in the second and third centuries,
and few sites were identified as holy sanctuaries, documents
in the archives of the St. James Monastery in Jerusalem speak
of a Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem presiding over the discovery
of holy sites and the construction of edifices as mentioned
in communications with bishops in Armenia between 325 and 335.
It must be noted here that up to
the beginning of the fifth century, there was no denominational
difference among the followers of Christ. The prominent languages
in the church were Greek, Syriac or Aramaic and the church hierarchy
was invested in the bishops of various cities without any regard
to nationality or ethnicity. Hence, the scant number of the
Christian Church sanctuaries in the Holy Places was used by
all Christians. They shared the multiracial monastic facilities,
and in due time they founded a number of private monasteries
and churches throughout the Holy Land. In essence, as an underground
organization the Church was multinational, international and
ecumenical.
Beginning
of Formal Christian Era
Two important events at the beginning
of the fourth century changed the nature and dimension of the
Christian world:
1) In 303, King Terdat III proclaimed
Christianity as the only official religion of Armenia with
the help of St. Gregory the Illuminator.
2) Constantine I, Emperor of
the Roman empire, proclaimed Christianity in his Edict of
Milan in 323, as one of the accepted religions of his empire,
which made it as one of the official religions along with
paganism.
The primary benefit derived from
these two events was that Christians were no longer persecuted
and marginalized. They were able to move about freely, perform
religious services and practice their religion without fear
of persecution. For the next hundred years Christians lived
side by side in harmony.
The process for the discovery and
construction of Holy sites began in earnest with the visit of
dowager empress Helena, mother of Constantine. Armenians were
active in this process. Now that Christianity was an accepted
religion Christians began to work in the open without fear of
persecution. The sites of Golgotha, the Nativity of Christ in
Bethlehem, St. Mary's birthplace, what is now known as The Holy
Sepulcher and other important sanctuaries of today were discovered
through the efforts of Queen Helena assisted by Armenian religious
leaders..
The fourth century also saw the
beginning of the great monastic age in which Armenians have
had a crucial historical role. One of the earliest founders
of monasticism in the Holy Land was Bishop Euthymius (377-473)
of Melitene (Malatia). He is internationally recognized as one
of the major pioneers of monasticism. He is also credited for
establishing at least fifteen monasteries in locations between
Masada in the south and Bethlehem in the north. He was regarded
by his contemporaries as the second Adam. His exemplary life
was thought to have launched a new era for humanity. As a talented
organizer and reformer he set the pattern for future monastic
endeavors by all nations. He authored regulations and a comprehensive
code of living patterns and conduct for all aspects of monastic
life which became the model for future monastic periods. Soon,
monasticism became the "fad"of the time. Latins. Ethiopians,
Persians, Georgians, and others flocked to the Judean monasteries
thus giving the movement an international flavor and character.
Archives in the St. James convent
indicate that many other illustrious Armenian monks followed,
contributing to the development of the canons, liturgy and customs
of the Armenian Church. It is believed that between the fourth
and eighth centuries Armenians had established more than seventy
monasteries throughout the Holy Land. The monks or hermits who
flocked into the mountains surrounding Jerusalem as well as
the Sinai desert were highly motivated individuals whose primary
goal was to work in the service of God under primitive and austere
living conditions. In their monasteries the monks planted their
own gardens and fruit trees contributing to the blooming of
the area in general. Monasteries were populated by a minimum
of two and a maximum of 400 monks. Each monastery undertook
a project or projects ranging from handwriting books, copying
manuscripts, creating colorful illustrations, preparing liturgical
procedures and hymns as well as formulating church dogma. Some
undertook the manufacture of goods. Rope-making was a favorite
trade. Some were the predecessors of our modern day think-tanks
where they prepared the guidelines for religious laws, church
services, hymns and theological positions which affected all
Christendom.
Invention of Armenian Alphabet
The above described endeavors could
not have been realized without the most important event that
took place in Armenia and changed the destiny of the Armenian
people: the invention of the Armenian alphabet and grammar in
A.D.405 by St. Mesrob Mashtotz, encouraged by Catholicos St.
Sahag Bahlavouni. The first undertaking following this miraculous
event was the translation from the original Greek and Aramaic,
of the Old and New testaments of the Bible which they named
"Asdvadzashoonch," meaning, The Breath of God. Church
scholars translated a large number of Christian writings into
Armenian and historians were able to document national and international
events in Armenian. The development of the Armenian alphabet
provided an impetus for the establishment of monasteries not
only in Armenia proper but throughout the Holy Land where, between
the fifth and eighth centuries, thousands of Armenians made
their pilgrimage to pursue scholarly endeavors: writing theological
works and developing what is currently known as the Armenian
Lectionary which consists of sacred liturgical services, the
calendar of church holidays, the dates for the commemoration
of saints and an inventory of appropriate hymns. It must be
pointed out that Jerusalem played a major role not only in the
formation and evolution of the Armenian church liturgy and rites
in Jerusalem, but it exercised great influence in the crystallization
of Christian rituals into fixed forms throughout the Armenian
world. The uniqueness of Jerusalem is vested in the fact that
to this day it adheres faithfully to the exact letter of the
forms, customs and traditions established by the scholarly monks
and church leaders of the earlier Christian era.
At present, the Armenian Patriarchate
maintains more than 4000 manuscripts and colorful illustrations
carefully stored and catalogued in an underground vault in St
Toros Church adjacent to the St. James Cathedral. They are vivid
and irrefutable testimony of the legacy passed on over the past
fifteen hundred years by the dedicated and hardworking monks.
What is remarkable about the influence of monasticism in the
Holy Land is that many facets of Armenian church liturgy practiced
today originated in Jerusalem. The liturgical calendar is a
remarkable document in that it provides guidelines and procedures
for church services for every day of the year. This pocket-sized
document continues to be published by the Patriarchate annually.
In essence, it is a compact encyclopedia and a compendium of
relevant religious events, chronological facts and organizational
data. It also provides a schedule for the commemoration of Saints
in the Latin church as well as information on the Islamic calendar.
Mosaic floors excavated during
the second half of the nineteenth century in and around Jerusalem
provide indisputable evidence of the existence of a great number
of Armenian establishments believed to be constructed in the
fifth and sixth centuries. Most of the finds were mainly on
Mount of Olives on the grounds of the current Russian Convent.
These archeological finds consist of six mosaic floors of different
sizes accidentally uncovered from under the rubble while digging
for the foundation of the Russian monastery. All six have inscriptions
in Armenian letters.
In 1895, another mosaic floor bearing
Armenian inscriptions, was uncovered in the Moslem Musrara Quarter
about 200 meters from Damascus Gate. This intact floor made
up of forty medallions each depicting a bird and arranged in
rows of five, measures about ten by twenty feet. This writer
visited this site in the summer of 1992. An inscription in Armenian
letters reads: For the memory and salvation of all the Armenians
whose names the Lord knows. It is believed to be the funerary
chapel of St. Poleucte, an officer of the twelfth Roman legion,
who along many of his soldiers lies buried under the floor.
The room in which this floor is located was purchased by the
Patriarchate in 1912. It is the only significant mosaic floor
owned by the St. James Brotherhood. The remainder of the building
including the second floor is still owned by one of two original
Moslem families assigned as the doorkeepers of the Holy Sepulcher.
As recently as in 1992, while the
Israeli Government was excavating a hill outside the old city
of Jerusalem for the construction of a major boulevard, workers
came upon a mosaic floor containing an inscription in Armenian
letters. After much debate and litigation, it was agreed that
the floor is the property of the Armenian Patriarchate, and
in order not to disturb the relatively large floor it should
remain in place for the time being. Today, it is preserved in
place in a cement chamber under the boulevard.
Concept
of ONE CHURCH splintered
During the first half of the fifth
century we see the birth of sectarianism in the One And Only
Church. It was caused by Christological pronouncements on the
part of certain bishops. Prominent among these was Nestorius,
Patriarch of Constantinople, who believed in the separate and
distinct character of Christ's divine and human natures. In
A.D.431, the Third Ecumenical Council was convened at Ephesus.
Although the council condemned Nestor and his followers as heretics
(called Nestorians), the debate over this controversy continued
for twenty years, while the Christian Church was divided into
two camps for the first time in its short history. The Armenian
church leadership in Etchmiadzin, being under Persian domination,
did not send representatives to Ephesus., thus was not informed
of the decisions made. Following Ephesus, the banished Nestorians
were welcomed by the Persian rulers as enemies of Byzantium
, and by implication the Armenian Church was erroneously considered
Nestorian since they were under Persian control.
Since at the time, Armenia was
partitioned between the Persians who occupied the eastern two-third
of the country and the Byzantium emperors who occupied the western
one-third , the Armenian Church was generally left alone in
its conduct of its religious and cultural affairs, holding its
own church councils. After A.D.439, with the ascension of King
Hazgerd II to the Persian throne, the relatively peaceful situation
in Armenia changed dramatically. Hazgerd and his court wanted
to assimilate the Armenians by imposing Zoroastrianism on all
non-Persian people within his empire . His despotic treatment
of the Armenians culminated in the Battle of Avarair in A.D.451followed
by the protracted Vartanank rebellion and guerilla warfare which
lasted until 484 when the Persians were finally defeated.
The final blow to the unity of
the Christian world was struck at the Council of Calcedon in
A.D.451, while at the same time Armenians were deeply involved
in resisting Persian persecution which in May of that year culminated
in the Battle of Avarair. Again, the Armenian Church was not
represented at the council, and for many years information about
its decisions trickled into Armenia while the country was immersed
in the Vartanank wars.
The final splintering of the Christian
World was the direct result of certain Christological decisions
made at the Council of Calcedon, which created a serious theological
and ecumenical breach among the Christian leadership practically
dividing them into two opposing camps. The primary point of
contention between those attending the council had to do with
the nature of Christ while revisiting Nestorianism. The majority
faction (consisting of the Bishop of Rome, the Greek Patriarch
of Constantinople and other Byzantine bishops) decreed that
Christ's two natures were not separate as Nestorius claimed
in Ephesus, but that they were united without confusion, change
or division. Hence the term Dyophysite. The minority faction
consisting of the Eastern churches ( the Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian
and others, led by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt), contended
that Christ had only one nature, partly divine, partly human.
They were known as Monophysites. Thus, the splintering of the
Christian Church had begun in earnest. For many years thereafter
religious leaders, realizing the seriousness of the chasm, attempted
to find ways to reconcile the dissenting groups. Several councils
were held and edicts issued to modify as well as clarify the
previous wording. They were not successful.
Over the next thirty years the
decisions of Calcedon and its variations gradually arrived in
Armenia in a variety of versions. Finally, when the Persian
threat had subsided, the Armenian bishops convened in Vagharshabat
in A.D.491. They rejected the decisions at Calcedon. At a subsequent
convocation in A.D.506, they also rejected the Monophysite label
placed upon them by the Roman and Greek churches. Essentially,
the Armenian church is not Monophysite; but, according to church
experts it comes close to it. The Armenian Church has followed
its own unique interpretation regarding the nature of Christ.
It views the two natures as one and indivisible. It believes
in the divinity of Christ and by recognizing the humanity it
does not emphasize it.
The wide breach created by the
Council of Calcedon at first did not seriously affect the religious
harmony among the homogeneous Christian communities in the Holy
Land and Jerusalem. For about a century thereafter, all Christians
remained under the spiritual authority of one patriarch regardless
of his ethnic origin. They maintained the Holy Places and worshiped
in common with harmony while the Greek Patriarchs in Constantinople
were exerting their authority upon other churches in Asia Minor,
and the Patriarch of Rome claimed supremacy over all Christians
since the emperors ruled from Rome. There was much quibbling
and strife among the "Faithful".
The harmonious relationship among
the Christians in Jerusalem ended with the reign of Emperor
Justinian I (527-565 ), an avowed dyophysite, who proclaimed
that all Christians residing in the Roman empire must become
dyophysites and began persecuting all those who did not comply.
Many monophysite clergy abandoned their monasteries in Jerusalem
and sought refuge in other inaccessible regions of the Holy
Land and in neighboring countries. Those capable of remaining
in the Holy Land established their own distinct episcopal hierarchy
independent of the Calcedonian Greek Patriarch. With the encouragement
of the Catholicoi in Etchmiadzin, the Armenians in Jerusalem
installed their own independent bishopric and established a
hierarchy having authority over the Eastern monophysite communities
(Jacobites, Syrian, Coptic and Abyssinian), a practice essentially
in effect in Jerusalem to this day. On the other hand, the Greek
Patriarch exercised his authority over the dyophysites, all
Christians in the Roman empire regardless of nationality or
language. There was no Latin patriarch in Jerusalem at the time.
The actual extent of Armenian religious
establishments in he Holy Land during the Byzantine period is
not easily determined. A document in the archives of the St
James Monastery attributed to a seventh century monk, Anastas
Vartabed, contains a list of seventy monasteries and churches
owned by the Armenians at the time in and around Jerusalem.
The document asserts that a number of monasteries confiscated
by the Greek Church during the dyophysite persecutions were
eventually returned after some Armenian princes paid large sums
of money to Emperor Justinian I. Soon after, when the Byzantine
authorities in Jerusalem warned the monophysites, including
the Armenians, that unless they adhered to the Calcedonian doctrine
they would not be allowed to live in Jerusalem, it is said that
some five hundred monks were advised by Catholicos Hovhannes
II (557-574 ), to abandon their monasteries rather than submit
to the threats of the Greeks and compromise their core beliefs.
Many monks are said to have left for the city of Ceasaria on
the coast of Palestine and to Cairo , Egypt , where large Armenian
communities existed at the time. However, some Armenian clergy
somehow remained in Jerusalem to maintain and protect the Holy
Sites and institutions in spite of heavy-handed harassment by
the Greeks who were eager to lay their hands on the Armenian
properties. Thus, in the face of constant Byzantine coercion
Armenians held on until after the Persian conquest of Jerusalem
in A.D.614 and the subsequent Arab conquest in A.D. 638.
In retrospect, the Council of Calcedon
proved to be a crucial milestone and a highly significant watershed
in the history of Christianity. It demonstrated the human shortcomings
of the people who preached the message of love and peace proclaimed
by the Son of God. Yet in practice they germinated the seeds
of dissension and intolerance. The legacy of Calcedon can be
characterized by a spirit of distrust and a deep chasm along
Christological, ethnic and racial lines resulting in the eventual
fragmentation of the Christian world and the establishment of
a multitude of denominations, sects, and constantly warring
religious groupings well into the twentieth century where brother
still kills brother in the name of God.
As to the Armenian Church, by affirming
both a unique doctrinal position and their apostolic traditions,
the Armenians maintained their National Church and distinct
identity. Pressures from Byzantium, and in later years by the
Latin Church, over the past fifteen hundred years has not shaken
the Armenian people from their deep-rooted faith. By the start
of the sixth century the Armenian Church made a clean break
from the dominance of the Byzantine Church.
In A.D.551, it adopted its own
calendar and in A.D.554, at the second Council of Dvin, a complete
break from Constantinople was officially proclaimed. By A.D.609,
an independent National Armenian Church was declared, which
meant that the Bishop of Jerusalem among others, became directly
responsible to the Catholicos.
After the wide-spread destruction
of Jerusalem by the invading army of the Persian king Khosrov
II in A.D.614, Armenians took an active part in the reconstruction
of the Holy sites. Preserved correspondence between Patriarch
Modestus of Jerusalem and Catholicos Komidas of Armenia show
the extent and importance of their cooperation.
Muslim Arab
Era
The rule of Byzantine (Roman) emperors
ended when the army of Arab Caliph Omar Ibn-El- Khattab (634-644)
entered Jerusalem in February 638. Thus began the first phase
in the era of Muslim rule lasting until July 15,1099, when the
Crusaders entered Jerusalem under the command of Godfrey De
Bouillon.
There is a historical irony in
that the Muslim conquest of Palestine which the Arabs called
"Falastin", also gave impetus to the growth of the
Armenian presence in the Holy Land. Under the rule of the Roman
emperors the Armenian church was relegated to a secondary position
behind the Greek church and was represented by a small bishopric
while the Greeks had a Patriarch. However, the situation changed
with the arrival of Caliph Omar who seemed to have been well
disposed toward the Armenians. Having fought the Byzantine emperors,
he distrusted the Greeks, and it seemed to him that he could
rely on the loyalty of the Armenians.
The first Armenian Patriarch on
record is Bishop Abraham I (638-660). He was elevated to the
position of Patriarch under a charter issued by Caliph Omar
in A.D.640. Since then there have been uninterrupted successive
regimes of patriarchs, suffragans and lay custodians to this
day. The current Patriarch is His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom
Manoogian who ascended the holy throne in September 1990.
Throughout three successive Arab
dynasties, the Umayiad (638-749), the Abbasid (749-970) and
the Fatimid (971-1099) spanning over 400 years, Armenians enjoyed
with very few exceptions, the goodwill of several Caliphs. There
is ample historical evidence through both Arab and Armenian
as well as European chroniclers, proving that Arab rulers enjoyed
the trust and loyalty of the Armenians not only in Jerusalem,
but also in Egypt during the Fatimid dynasty.
Caliph Omar in his charter also
enumerated the rights and privileges of the Armenian Patriarchate
over certain Holy Places thus guaranteeing the integrity and
safety of the properties and lives of the Armenians in Jerusalem
. Consequently, each successive dynasty recognized and reaffirmed
this right.
One significant aspect of the Arab
conquest of Palestine is that for the first time in the history
of the country an invading army entered Jerusalem peacefully.
Not a single life was lost or any property forcibly taken by
the Islamic soldiers. Caliph Omar, one of the most austere and
passionate Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, continued to
live as simply as Muhammad had done. In spite of the riches
conquered by his armies he lived a Spartan life and insisted
that his officers do the same. He had more compassion than any
previous conqueror and true to the Prophet's belief, he considered
Jerusalem a revered and holy city. The Arabs continued to call
the city Ilya (Aelia) or Bayt al-Maqdes ( house of the holy)
and in later years as Al-Quds (The holy place).
As a result of the tolerant nature
of the Islamic religion, Armenians developed close relationships
in several regions of the Arab empire. It is said that because
of their apolitical nature Armenians got along with the Arab
rulers. During the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt they enjoyed special
status not only in Egypt but in Jerusalem as well. Many high
ranking officials in the military and the government were known
to be of Armenian descent. History also records two Abassid
Caliphs whose mothers were Armenian including several Grand
Viziers and generals.
Armenians settled in Egypt early
in the Roman era. However, their numbers increased appreciably
during the Fatimid rule. It is said that during this period
the Armenian population in Egypt numbered more than 30,000 .
It is believed that this was due to the fact that Armenians
who were in key positions of leadership encouraged their countrymen
to settle in countries ruled by the Fatimid Caliphs. This fact
obviously enhanced the position of Armenians in the Holy Land.
There is tangible evidence that the Armenian community had begun
to congregate around the original site of the St. James Church
and several churches and monasteries in the immediate vicinity
on Mount Zion, which constituted the core of the Armenian Quarter
as we know it today.
Crusader Period
The Crusader period (1099-1187)
is also considered an era in which Armenians enjoyed growth,
prosperity and fair treatment. Several factors contributed to
this situation:
1) Even though at first the Crusader
hordes came in as conquerors pillaging and ransacking cities
and committing many misdeeds and atrocities in Cilicia or
Lesser Armenia, their leaders soon realized that they would
benefit more by creating alliances with the prevailing Armenian
kings and princes in the region. On the other hand, the Armenian
princes welcomed this unruly invasion of more than 100,000
soldiers who assisted them in defeating and expelling the
Seljuk Turks in the east. They agreed to the establishment
of Norman and Frankish princedoms and Kingdoms in the area
as a buffer. Thus crusaders became the Lords of Antioch and
Edessa where the inhabitants were mainly Armenian.
2) Wherever the Crusaders went,
they found influential Armenian allies in the population of
the cities. Armenians were found in all major cities along
the Mediterranean coast a well as in the main cities of Palestine:
Jerusalem, Acre, Ceasarea, Gaza, Kerak, Nablus and surrounding
areas.
3) Intermarriage was common between
the Frankish nobility and the Armenian Royal Houses of Cilicia.
It was a means of guaranteeing binding alliances between the
parties .For example: Queen Arda, daughter of Baron Toros
of Cilicia, was the wife of Baldwin of Boulogne, prince of
Edessa, who became King Baldwin I of Jerusalem after the untimely
death of his brother Godfrey of Bouillon of typhoid fever
in July 1100. Morphia, daughter of Gabriel, Governor of Melitene
(Malatia), was married to King Baldwin II of Jerusalem . Upon
the death of Baldwin II in 1131, his daughter Melisend succeeded
him as Queen along with her husband Fulk, Count of Anjou.
In the spring of 1099 the Crusader
armies arrived outside the walls of Jerusalem preceded by their
reputation as ruthless warriors. Their cruelty and ruthlessness
was so bad even Christians, including the Greek Patriarch, fled
the city. It is said that the Armenian Patriarch, Simeon (1090-1109),
did not think it necessary to leave the city until the actual
siege began. The Crusaders laid siege to the city and since
they did not have the basic knowledge and the means to scale
the walls of a highly defended city as Jerusalem, they remained
outside the walls of the city for several months, until a fleet
of ships arriving in Jaffa from Genoa, Italy, brought in the
necessary materials. They also dismantled their ships using
ropes , hooks and the masts to build two wooden towers which
they were able to wheel up to the walls- a device totally unfamiliar
to the defending Muslims.
On July 15, a soldier in Godfrey's
command managed to penetrate into a tower of the city wall through
one of these wooden towers. He was followed by the rest of the
soldiers who entered the city in sufficient numbers to not only
overwhelm the Arab and Jewish defenders; but for three days
they killed every Saracen and Turk they found in the city. It
is said that more than 30,000 people, including women and children
were put to the sword. They pillaged the city and cold-bloodedly
appropriated houses as they pleased without any distinction
between them . It is said, the streets were literally filled
with blood of their enemies. Those Muslims and Jews they did
not kill were chased out of the city. By the time peace and
normalcy resumed in Jerusalem out of a population of 100,000
only a few hundred remained.
For some time the city was in shambles
until Baldwin arrived in the Holy City on the ninth of November
1100. He was welcomed with enthusiasm and joy not only by the
remaining Crusaders but by the local Christians including the
Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, who waited for him outside the
walls of the city. Baldwin realized that if his countrymen had
to survive in the Middle East he had to trust the local Christians
in particular the Armenians since his wife was Armenian. He
proceeded to gain the trust and confidence of the Christians.
On November 11, 1100, Baldwin was
crowned "King of the Latins" in the Nativity Church
in Bethlehem. During his reign many Armenians flocked into Jerusalem
from Antioch, Edessa, Tarsus, Cilicia and Cappadocia; some establishing
permanent residence . Until 1187, Armenians thrived in the Holy
Land and were given preference . Special laws were enacted granting
Armenians and other Christians trade privileges, tax exemptions
and other incentives to promote their settlement in Jerusalem.
Ancient maps depicting the layout of the walled city of Jerusalem
in Crusader times show the existence of an Armenian compound
at its southwest corner. Although relatively small in number,
Armenians seemed to be well established in the Holy Places.
In historical perspective the Crusader
era was relatively short-lived. (it lasted about 88 years).
However, the Frankish rulers left a solid legacy that has made
its mark on Jerusalem to this day. The fanatically religious
and intolerant invaders, in time, became civilized secular leaders
who rebuilt the city and introduced a Western flavor to the
society, that has lasted to this day. Their architectural accomplishments
are living testimony to their sense of decorum. For example,
the current edifice of the Holy Sepulcher was rebuilt during
this era and remains today as proud monument of religious art
and beauty. The most enduring accomplishment of this period
was the construction of the large Armenian cathedral of St James
consisting of a complex of sanctuaries which, besides the relics
of the apostles James the Great and James the Younger, included
the chapels containing the tombs of St Makar and St. Minas.
Ayyubid Period
In 1174, a Kurdish general by the
name of Yusuf Ibn Ayyub vanquished the Shiite Fatimid sultan
of Egypt and began conquering most of the Middle East and by
1187 he entered Palestine from the north. He defeated Guy De
Lucignan, then King of Jerusalem, in July of that year effectively
ending Christian rule in Palestine. Yusuf is usually known in
the West as Saladin, an abbreviation of his title Salah ad-Din
( "The Righteousness of the faith"). A charismatic
man, he was known for his kindliness and piety as well as tolerance
toward non-Islamic religions.
On October 2, 1187, Saladin entered
Jerusalem. It was the day Muslims celebrate The Prophet's Night
Journey before he went to heaven. For the second time in the
history of Jerusalem, not a single Christian was killed or molested.
The Frankish Barons and the rich simply paid ransom and left
the city. Although the entire population was considered prisoner,
Saladin set them free to go about their business. Ironically
Christian chroniclers depict Saladin as a man of charity who
behaved more Christian than the Crusaders. It is said that Saladin
had a very positive attitude toward Armenians. He is considered
the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. As such he set the tone
for future Sultans in their treatment of Christians and in particular
the Armenians, with respect and dignity.
As an avowed enemy of the Latins
and ever suspicious of the Greeks, Saladin found it expedient
to endow the Armenians of the Holy Land with greater privileges.
The Armenian Patriarch Abraham III (1180-1191) and his leading
clerical associates are said to have hastened to pledge their
loyalty to the sultan and to pay the prescribed poll taxes.
Unlike other Christians, the Armenian population of the city,
comprising some five hundred monks and one thousand families,
were neither expelled nor taken as slaves by the lieutenants
of the Sultan. Instead, Saladin granted the Armenian Patriarch
a charter guaranteeing the security of all Armenians, the integrity
of their possessions, the prerogative of keeping their Holy
Places and the freedom to worship throughout his entire domain.
The Ayyubid period was relatively
less turbulent until the invasion of the Karizmian Turks in
1244. There was widespread destruction and loss of life. The
city was sacked and destroyed and the population expelled. The
Holy Roman Emperors continued sending Crusader expeditions to
Jerusalem but to no avail. They were either defeated or disintegrated
before they arrived at their destination. It took three years
(1096-1099) for the first Crusader to arrive at the gates of
Jerusalem. The seventh and last crusade was headed by King Louis
IX of France. Not only the venture was an abject failure, he
and his entire army was taken prisoner in Egypt in 1250, and
remained captive for a few months until they were ransomed,
by the Memluk general, al-Zahir Baybars who in 1251, led a rebellion
against Sultan Turan Shah, the last Ayyubid sultan.
Memluk Period
Sultan Al-Zahir Baybars (1260-1276)
is considered the founder of the Memluk dynasty. The Memluks
(or Mamaliks ) were not Arab. They were a mixture of Eurasian
tribes mostly of Turkish origin from the steppes of central
Asia. It is said that they were sold as slaves to an Egyptian
sultan by Jinghis Khan.( In Arabic the word Mamluk or Mamalik
means "possessed", "slave"or "serf").
They converted to Islam and being naturally good horsemen, they
became an elite cavalry force in the Muslim army.
While occupied in conquering the
rest of the Middle Eastern kingdoms including Cilicia, the Memluks
were not in a hurry to capture Jerusalem since they did not
consider it a strategic city and upon entering it they did not
bother to reinforce its walls. However, until the end of their
dynasty in 1513 (over 250 years), historical evidence shows
that they did not persecute the Christians in Jerusalem and
because of the existence of an Armenian colony in Egypt they
looked favorably toward the Armenians.
Unfortunately, during this period
considerable manipulation, bribery and intrigue on the part
of the Christian denominations for the possessive rights of
the Holy places were prevalent. Arbitrary decisions taken by
certain Memluk rulers were motivated by bribery, favoritism
and sheer whim. For instance, the Georgian church whose members
had close family ties with the Memluks, became the main beneficiaries,
usurping properties and holy places owned by other Christians
including the Armenians, by simply bribing the sultan of the
day.
One very important negative pattern
characterizing this period which continued throughout the subsequent
Ottoman rule and through our time, is the emergence of clear
divisions within the Christian communities in the Holy Land
resulting in three principal and adversary communities: Greek,
Armenian and Latin. They eventually became the principal custodians
and uneasy partners of the Holy Places. In the process, greed,
intrigue and political machinations were the norm of the day.
The Latins and the Greeks constantly conspired to usurp the
rights of the Armenians. At the end, the Greek Orthodox Church
became the greatest beneficiary of the infighting.
Being part of a relatively small
nation and without the backing of a strong country, Armenians
had the added burden of defending their rights against the larger
and more influential churches backed by the strength of the
Latin and Greek governments in the West. Without a doubt, the
leadership and statesmanship of the Armenian Patriarchs had
a great deal to do with the survival of the Armenian presence
in Palestine coupled with the fact that pilgrimage to the Holy
Places continued on by Armenians living in many countries of
the Middle East and elsewhere.. Some chose to settle there and
help the church to built income properties and provide support
and protection.
One bright period in the Memluk
era was the ascendance to the Memluk throne of Sultan Al-Zahir
Chaqmaq (1438-1453) who, because of his dislike of the Crusaders,
was fiercely intolerant toward the Latins . He closed their
churches and did not allow them to rebuild their sanctuaries.
However, for some unexplained reason he was positively disposed
toward the Armenians whom he favored. One possible reason is
that even though they were closely involved with the Crusaders,
Armenians never espoused their hatred of Islam. As a result
of past tribulations they had learned not to take sides in political
conflicts and remained neutral. Consequently, they were the
only community that had remained in its own quarter without
being dislodged or molested during the upheavals of the previous
three hundred years .
In 1438, Sultan Chaqmaq issued
a special decree in favor of the Armenians, forbidding the emir
of Jerusalem to harass them with unnecessary taxation and instructed
that an inscription to this effect be engraved at the entrance
of St James Convent. Today, as the visitor enters the main gate
of St. James Convent, on the back wall behind an ornate stone
fountain there is an elaborately carved inscription in Arabic
letters, which loosely translated warns all intruders:
"This decree
from Our Lord Sultan and King Al-Daher Abu Sayid Muhammad
, cursed be all those and their sons through generations and
may the Almighty Allah curse whosoever causes harm or inflicts
an injustice of any kind upon this holy place. Abu Kheyer
Razan hereby guarantees this to the Armenian Convent of Jerusalem.
In the year of Muhammad 854" (1438 A.D.)
Like most Oriental cities, Jerusalem
was divided into distinct neighborhoods or quarters. The inhabitants
of Jerusalem tended to live in separate districts according
to their religion and ethnic origin. The Armenians and the Maghribis
(Westerners) lived together in one quarter in the southwestern
corner. Muslims from various countries in Asia ( including Iranians,
Afghanis and Indians) lived next to the Haram or the Mosque
of Omar in the northwest corner. The relatively small group
of Jews lived in the southeastern corner. However, there was
no strict rule for segregation. There were neighborhoods where
Muslims, Jews and Christians lived side by side. Shops, trades
and businesses were conducted without distinction between the
various religious and ethnic groups.
Ottoman Period
Sultan al-Ashraf Aqnouk al-Ghuri
(1513-1516) was the last Memluk ruler. In a crucial battle outside
Cairo in 1515, he was defeated by Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman
dynasty effectively bringing the end of 250 years of Memluk
rule. In December 1516, Sultan Selim arrived outside Jerusalem.
The leaders of the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities
welcomed him with opened arms. Hence, there was no bloodshed
nor forceful conquest. In reality, the people of Jerusalem were
greatly relieved to see the Turks and gladly handed the sultan
the keys to the city.. Being a pious man , it is said that upon
seeing the El-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, Selim jumped
off his horse, got on his knees and shouted "Thank be to
God! I am the possessor of the sanctuary of the first Qiblah
(House of God) !".
The subsequent history of the Holy
Places in Jerusalem and its environs has been a long story of
bitter animosity and contention among rival Christian churches,
as well as the cause of international conflicts. As one of the
principal custodians of the dominical sites, the Armenian Church
was frequently victimized by these developments. The stronger
and continuous challenge to the Armenians and their holdings
in the Holy Land came from the Greeks who continuously attempted
to ignore and bypass the charters issued in march 1517, to the
Armenian and Greek Patriarchs by Sultan Selim I on the basis
of ancient edicts issued by the previous Arab sultans who effectively
had sanctioned a status quo in the holy Land. Sultan Selim's
edict guaranteed the integrity of the age-old Armenian possessions
within and outside Jerusalem, as well as those of their dependent
communities. The edict also prohibited members of imperial families,
government officials and other communities from disturbing the
ecclesiastical rites of the Armenians as well as those of their
dependent communities; it prohibited the molestation of Armenian
monasteries , sanctuaries and other possessions.
The Ottomans, as the westerners
call them, were originally Seljuk Turkish tribes out of the
steppes of central Asia, who migrated west to Asia Minor following
the armies of Jenghis Khan. Initially they dominated parts of
Anatolia. Osman I (or Uthman Ghazi, 1258-1326) overthrew the
Seljuk sultan and began the conquest of the rest of Asia Minor.
He is considered being the founder of the Osmanli, hence Ottoman,
empire. By the time Sultan Selim entered Jerusalem the Ottoman
empire was establish throughout the entire fertile crescent
, Egypt, Persia and parts of Europe. After the capture of Constantinople
from the Byzantines in 1453, the empire extended to the Balkans.
At first the Ottomans brought law
and order to the city of Jerusalem. In spite of their Islamic
beliefs they were quite tolerant of Christians and Jews. However,
as a result of their battles in the conquest of Europe they
distrusted the Latins who in turn hated them. This situation
benefitted both the Greeks and the Armenians since they were
already well known to the Turks and were classified as official
"Millet"(nations) within the vast Ottoman Empire.
Of course the existence of Greek and Armenian Patriarchates
in Istanbul (Constantinople) was of great help to both nations.
The status of Jerusalem improved
dramatically during the reign of Sultan Suleiman The Magnificent
(1520-1566). Jerusalem was the chief beneficiary of a cultural
awakening. Between 1536 and 1541, he rebuilt the walls around
the city which stand to this day . He also undertook the construction
of many buildings that benefitted all the communities in the
city. He promulgated laws and administrative procedures that
lasted 400 years . Since the entire Asia Minor was under one
rule pilgrims began visiting the Holy Places in large numbers.
Armenians of all classes made their pilgrimage to the Holy Land
through land and sea. The Convent of St Nicholas in Jaffa, the
seaport, was the starting point for the seafarers who came from
Anatolia and points in Europe. These pilgrims brought gifts
and riches to enhance the status of the Armenian Church. Some
settled to form a sizable community which over the years became
the Armenian Quarter as we know it today.
After the death of Suleiman in
1566, weaker sultans began to neglect Jerusalem. They assigned
minor functionaries to govern the city which eventually ended
up being governed by local Arab families. The Greek Orthodox
patriarchs were well placed in Istanbul to pull strings in the
royal court bribing the sultans and high level functionaries.
Corruption, graft and intrigue were encouraged by the sultans
as a means of keeping the adversaries off balance, and the ownership
of the Holy Places changed hands according to who gave the most
bribe. By the middle of the nineteenth century total chaos prevailed.
There were daily fights among the followers of the "Man
of Peace" for the control and maintenance of the Holy Places.
Competition was so fierce and ruthless between the Greeks and
the Latins, it compelled European and Russian governments to
interfere in the internal affairs of the Ottoman empire. It
may sound quite incongruous for our time, the bitter feuding
between the Greeks and the Latins led to a full-scale war between
the European powers. In 1847, a very serious brawl took place
between the Greek and Latin priests which led to bloodshed amid
accusations over the disappearance of a silver star belonging
to the Latins in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. This led
to a diplomatic clash between France and Russia, the so-called
"protectors " of the two churches. This quarrel gave
Britain and France the excuse to start the Crimean war in 1854,
in which the Turkish sultan Abdul Majid fought the Russians
on the side of the allies. The Russians were defeated.
In February 1852, Abdul Majid issued
his famous Firman (edict) on the status of the Holy Places.
It became the official declaration of Status Quo which established
and regulated all religions in the Holy Places and froze in
place the rights and privileges of the parties as they stood
at that time. The document also promulgated that these rights
cannot be amended or modified in any way shape or form . The
main beneficiaries of this edict turned out to be the Greek
Church. The Status Quo was confirmed and recognized by the Paris
Convention in 1856, the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, the Versailles
Peace Treaty in 1919 and the Palestine Order-in-Council in 1922,
after the defeat of the Ottomans in World War I.. This last
council added the following statement. "It is understood
that no alterations can be made in the Status Quo of the Holy
Places". Since 1967, the Israeli government has given partial
acceptance to the Status Quo as it pertains to the Christian
sites, reserving their right to those holy places they consider
historically and traditionally belonging to the Jewish people.
The reader may ask, "How did
the Armenians come through all these struggles?". History
tells us that for a small nation, Armenians have done quite
well. Deserved credit must be given to the leaders of the Armenian
Church namely, the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem
backed by certain strong-willed Catholicoi in the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries .It is demonstrated by the fact that
the Status Quo recognized the Armenian Church as one of three
principal custodians of the Holy Places on equal standing with
the Latin and Greek churches. No other denomination has standing
within this scheme.
In all matters of principle relating
to the Status Quo in the Christian Holy Places,. only the three
major rites - Greeks, Armenians and Latins were taken into exclusive
consideration. The three Patriarchs had the right to enter the
Holy Sepulcher in formal procession. They alone had the right
to ask that its entrance be opened by the Muslim door keeper,
a descendant of the original family to whom the task was given
in the nineteenth century.
End of
Ottoman Rule
The end of Ottoman (Osmanly) rule
came inauspiciously in the first decade of the twentieth century.
The last Ottoman ruler, Sultan Abdul-Hamid was deposed by the
Turkish army in Macedonia led by a dissident group called the
Young Turks who proceeded to establish a constitutional government
on July 24,1908. Thus, the rule of Ottoman sultans, which started
with the capture of Constantinople in 1453, and ended ignominiously
in the summer of 1908, was also the beginning of the end for
Turkish supremacy over the countries in southern Europe (the
Balkans), northern Africa and the Fertile Crescent. On January
23, 1913, a coup led by Turkish ultranationalists gave dictatorial
powers to a small group led by the infamous triumvirate of Enver
pasha, minister of War, Talaat pasha, minister of Interior and
Jamal Pasha, minister-governor of Constantinople. Ignoring from
the start the provisions of the Turkish Constitution which gave
certain rights to all segments of society, they ruthlessly suppressed
all opposition.
In the fall of 1914, the Turkish
leaders were persuaded by the Germans to join them and their
allies in the war against Britain, France and Russia. Atrocities
toward the Greek and Armenian populations had already begun.
Between 1915 and 1918 they intensified their efforts resulting
in the tragic genocide of the Armenians, a catastrophe presaging
another future tragic event that would have a profound impact
on the history of the Holy Land- the persecution and destruction
of the Jewish people by Nazi Germany.
As a result of territorial losses
in the Balkan wars of 1908-1912, and the declaration of independence
by Albania, the Turkish government had to contend with the relocation
in western Armenia, of its more than 500,000 displaced Muslims
who were obviously anti-Christian, the idea of relocation worried
Armenian leaders, since it meant the dislocation of Armenians
in certain areas of Turkey. In order to make room for these
refugees, the official Turkish policy was to vacate certain
Armenian villages. The code word they used was "deportation".
In reality, their undeclared objective was to establish a pan-Turkish
hegemony, by eliminating all non-Turks or to Turkisize all minorities
and bring together all the Muslim people from Transcaucasia,
Iran and Central Asia into one Turkish empire. In particular,
they would eliminate with one stroke " The Armenian Question"and
consequently, it was the undeclared objective of the infamous
trio to exterminate the Armenians in Turkey with the help of
the Germans who were anxious to build the Berlin-Baghdad railroad.
The genocide of the Armenians effectively
started on the night of April 24, 1915, a date that has gone
in infamy , and is remembered by Armenians throughout the world
to this day. After rounding up and executing more than two hundred
Armenian intellectual, religious and political leaders in the
country, the Turks proceeded to implement the systematic extermination
of the Armenian population in major cities and villages under
the pretext of "deportation" just as it turned out
to be the case in Nazi Germany during World War II.
In February 1915, Armenian soldiers
had already been disarmed and relegated to work details, and
many young men were shanghaied in the Turkish army and forced
to perform humiliating menial jobs and treated as prisoners
along with other minorities (Greeks and Jews in particular).
Explicit orders were given to all the governors and military
commanders of the Armenian provinces to remove the Armenians
by force from their ancestral homes. The ethnic cleansing was
systematic and well planned. They assembled all the able-bodied
men they could find in the towns and villages, took them out
of town and shot them dead. The remaining helpless old men,
women and children were driven out of their homes and herded
into caravans without food and water. Those who fell along the
wayside were shot by the Turkish soldiers and Kurdish irregulars.
Some were pushed into rivers and those who did not drown were
shot by the soldiers. Those surviving these atrocities were
driven toward the southern desert of Turkey. On the way, Turkish,
Kurdish and Arab families snatched away the very young children
to make them members of their families, young women or teenage
girls were either raped or taken to become wives and concubines,
or house maids to rich Turks . Finally, those arriving in the
desert of Deir- Zor were shot and left to die in the hot sun
in freshly dug pits. Thus, more than one and a half million
Armenians were mercilessly exterminated. Fortunately, another
million succeeded in escaping the first major genocide of the
twentieth century. In later years, Hitler is known to have said
"Who remembers the Armenians? " as he was "deporting"
and exterminating the Jews.
It is an irony of history that
the Armenian population in Jerusalem survived the genocide.
At the time, Jerusalem was the headquarters of the VIII Corps
of the Turkish Seventh Army commanded by Jemal Pasha, assigned
to defend Palestine against a possible attack by the British
in Egypt. The port city of Gaza in the south was fortified for
this purpose leaving a relatively small garrison in and around
the Old City of Jerusalem ( a couple of thousand troops in all).
The Armenian population of Jerusalem called then and now in
Armenian, "Kaghakatsi" (City folk or locals as against
"Kaghtagan"-refugees) were not molested or massacred
like their brothers and sisters in Turkey proper. However, those
working for the city government were removed from their positions.
With the British threatening from Egypt, the understaffed Turks
were suspicious of all minorities, Jews, Arabs, Greeks and Armenians
alike . They began forcibly conscripting young men from the
city and sending them to Anatolia to do menial work. Some young
men escaped. Jews in the Jewish Quarter hid in synagogues and
with friends, Arabs hid in the Mosque of Omar while Armenians
took refuge inside the safe confines of St. James Convent.
Because of its sacred status, the
Turks were reluctant to commit atrocities within the Old City.
The average citizenry, including Armenians went about their
business, and family life continued as usual. It is believed
that one important factor in this situation was attributable
to the Arab leadership in Jerusalem . Although the governor
of Palestine was a Turk generally residing in Damascus, the
city was actually run by Arab functionaries, including the Mayor
and his deputies. At this time the mayor of Jerusalem was Hussien
Selim Al-Husseini, a member of three ruling Arab families who
over the past hundreds of years had administered the affairs
of the city and its associated institutions.
Historically, the Arabic speaking
local Armenians had close ties with their Arab neighbors who
prevented any incursion against their age-old neighbors. Further,
the Turks were quite aware that as a religious institution,
the St James Monastery was protected by the edicts of Arab as
well as Turkish Sultans. Consequently, the St James Brotherhood
was able to open its doors to not only young Armenian deserters
from the Turkish army but also provided shelter and food to
refugees from the Turkish massacres. This activity was unprecedented
since in the past the secular public was not permitted to take
indefinite residence within the confines of the monastery. Although
this decision was quite praiseworthy in its face, it created
an endemic situation with serious repercussions in the future
status of the St James Monastery which will be discussed later
.
The Ottoman empire spawned the
most corrupt rulers of the Holy Land. The only positive legacy
they left was the establishment and enforcement of the Status
Quo in the Holy Places,. which contributed to an equitable distribution
of rights and the potential for balanced harmony among the Christian
communities.
The
British Are Coming
By 1916, the British government
had amassed a large military force in Egypt. Prime Minister
Lloyd George and his cabinet decided that they needed some kind
of spectacular victory in the Middle East that would distract
attention from the stalemated trench wars in France. They had
already faced the Turks in Gallipoli with disastrous results
and were about to start a campaign in Mesopotamia.
The British Egyptian Expeditionary
Force consisted of several divisions from England, France, Australia,
New Zealand and India. They were supplemented by an Armenian
volunteer brigade called the Armenian Legion as well as the
Jewish Brigade, among others. The commander of the forces, General
Murray, was replaced in the summer by General Edward Allemby
who was told by the prime minister to capture Jerusalem as a
Christmas present to the British people.
Allemby crossed into the Sinai
Peninsula along the Mediterranean coast and prepared to capture
the towns of Beersheba and Gaza at the southern end of Palestine.
On October 30,1917, Beersheba was taken and on November 7, 1917,
against strong Turkish resistance, Gaza fell to the expeditionary
forces leaving open the road to Jerusalem as the Turkish army
retreated to the north.
On November 21, 1917, Allemby's
forces took positions in the hills in sight of the city of Jerusalem,
and between December 4 and 8, the last attack was launched against
the Turks deployed in the hills surrounding Jerusalem Many Turkish
soldiers were killed and the rest retreated toward Jericho.
By nightfall on December 8, the panicky Turks abandoned the
city for good after some looting. Thus, The Turkish rule of
Jerusalem lasting almost four hundred years (1516-1917) came
to a humiliating end. The day before, Turkish police succeeded
in forcing some Greeks and Armenians (about 300 ) to abandon
the city marching them on foot toward Jericho facing severe
hardships on their was to Damascus. However, they did not have
time to drive the rest of the population from the city, thus
saving them form an uncertain fate.
In the morning of December 9,1917,
the Arab Mayor of Jerusalem, Hussein Efendi Al-Husseini, the
highest official left in Jerusalem, carrying a makeshift white
flag made out of a large sheet borrowed from an American missionary
and bearing the symbolic keys to the city, set out to surrender
the city to the British forces bivouacked a short distance away.
He was accompanied by a group of Christian priests, Muslim Imams,
Jewish rabbis and some children. It seems that the British soldiers
were still sleeping in their tents. At some distance from the
northwestern entrance to the Old City they met two unsuspecting
British soldiers who were out looking for water. Privates H.E.
Church and R.W.J. Andrewes did not know what to do with this
delegation. A typically British shuffle up the chain of command
ensued. After several hours, the delegation was finally met
by a brigadier-general who accompanied them back to the city
and told them to wait for Major General Shea to accept the surrender
of the City officially in the name of the commander-in-chief,
Allemby.
On December 11, 1917, following
precise instructions laid out three weeks earlier by London,
General Allemby entered Jerusalem for the formal ceremony of
surrender. Out of deference to the "Holy City" he
entered the city on foot through the Jaffa Gate . In spite of
the fact that the Turkish forces were positioned about four
miles north of the city on the road to Ramallah and on the Mount
of Olives to the east preparing to counter attack, the population
of the city was celebrating their liberation with great enthusiasm.
Fortunately, the Turkish offensive was repulsed the next day
forcing them to retreat further north.
For the first time since the Crusaders
arrived in Jerusalem in 1099, Christmas was celebrated under
the rule of a Christian power. Even though the Holy City was
no longer within range of its guns, the Turkish army was not
driven out of Palestine until September 1918, almost a year
after the liberation of Jerusalem.
On December 30, 1918, the Turkish
government signed an armistice, ending in defeat and ignominy
and effectively obliterating an empire that started in 1453
with the conquer of Byzantine Constantinople 563 years before.
On December 28, 1918, British military
rule was formally declared in Palestine. On July 22, 1922, with
the approval of the Council of League of Nations, the British
mandate for Palestine began. When on May 15, 1948, the last
British soldier left on a ship from Haifa, 31 years of British
presence in Palestine ended inauspiciously.
In the Armenian cemetery, outside
the southern wall of the Old City and adjacent to the St. Savior
Armenian Convent, there stands a stone monument in memory of
fallen members of the Armenian Legion. Buried in these sacred
grounds are some (23) of the men who gave their lives for the
liberation of the Holy Land from the Ottomans. Each April 24,
led by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and accompanied by members
of the St. James Brotherhood, Armenians gather around this monument
in solemn commemoration of the fallen heroes ( about 25) whose
names are engraved on the monument. They also remember and pray
for the victims of the Turkish genocide.
Legacy
Of British Rule
The British rule in Palestine can
be characterized as one of sustained deviousness on the part
of its leaders and a repudiation of their public image as the
saviors and do-gooders of the Holy Land. Even before the conquest
of Palestine the government in London was instructing its commanders
in the field to make contradictory promises designed to attain
their objectives. The subsequent two-faced approach to governing
during the British mandate, spawned the pattern of contradictory
decisions that set the pattern of unrest and violence among
both Jews and Arabs, that was to become the curse of the Holy
Land lasting to this day, eighty years after their first entrance
in Jerusalem.
While their armies in the field
had barely begun the invasion of Palestine, the government in
London was sowing the seeds of contradictory decisions. In March
1915, Herbert Samuel, a member of the British Liberal Government
and a Jew, proposed the establishment of a British protectorate
over Palestine into which Jews from all over the world could
settle. It was supported by other members of the government.
In October 1915, as they were preparing to drive the Turks out
of Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula, British functionaries
in the field were promising the Arabs four cities , Damascus,
Homs, Hama and Aleppo in Syria, to be part of their autonomous
territories in return for their help in vanquishing the Turks.
Instead, at the end of the war in 1918, Syria was placed under
French mandate. At the same time the British kept to themselves
their intention to occupy all lands west of the of the Jordan
river, including Jerusalem which would become the center piece
of British controlled territory. As the war against the Turks
in Mesopotamia progressed with the help of Arab tribes, the
British government repeatedly broke faith and reneged or modified
their promises to the Arabs.
The proposal for a home for the
Jews in Palestine was revived on November 9,1917. Foreign Secretary
Arthur J. Balfour, with the approval of the British cabinet
headed by Prime Minister Lloyd George, made public a letter
sent to Lord Rotschild a week earlier, in which Balfour promised
to use British influence to establish a "National Home
in Palestine " for the Jews. Upon reading this letter in
public. Herbert Samuel in a speech stressed that there must
be "Full, just recognition of the Arabs who constitute
a majority of the population of that country" adding that
at the same time they must demonstrate "a reverent respect
for the Christian and Muslim Holy Places which in all eventualities
should always remain in the control and charge of the representatives
of those faiths."
The true intentions of the British government came into light
when on February 27, 1920, the military officer administering
the government of Palestine, Major General Louis Bols, issued
a proclamation that the British Government intended to carry
out the promise of the Balfour Declaration. This act triggered
serious riots by the Arab population of Jerusalem and elsewhere
in the country. It was the beginning of continuous unrest, rioting,
and guerilla warfare that plagued the Holy Land throughout British
rule.
The arrival of the British in Jerusalem
in December 1917, was met with great jubilation and relief by
every segment of the population including the Armenians. The
fear of persecution by the Ottomans had dissipated forever.
Because of their apparent humanitarian approach, the British
were unlike any other conqueror in the tortured history of Jerusalem.
Working with the American red Cross, they began providing food
and shelter to more than seven thousand refugees, Armenians,
Syrians, Latins, Greek Orthodox, Protestants, Jews and Muslims.
Several hundred Armenian refugees were settled by the red Cross
in one of the most neglected and run-down areas in the Old City
called the Cotton Market. At the same time, the St. James Brotherhood
opened its doors further providing additional shelter to the
Armenian refugees inside the walls of the convent.
Since at the time the throne of
the Armenian Patriarchate was vacant, the British military rulers
in Egypt invited Archbishop Torkom Koushagian, then prelate
of the Armenian church in Egypt, to visit Jerusalem and preside
over the Easter celebrations to be conducted under Christian
rule for the first time since the Crusaders. This move turned
out to be quite beneficial for the Armenians. It helped ensure
that their rights and privileges in the Holy Places were reaffirmed
.
In March 1918, General Storrs, the military governor of Jerusalem,
called a meeting of all the community leaders in Jerusalem ,
Moslem, Christian, Jewish Orthodox, and the local Arab government
dignitaries. The purpose of this meeting was to introduce a
newcomer from England, Chaim Weizmann, Chairman of the newly
established Jewish Zionist Commission . Also present was Archbishop
Torkom Koushagian. Weizmann attempted to allay the fears of
the attendees by telling them that the aim of the Zionists was
not to establish their power over the other communities , but
to work together for a common goal of self-determination. This
message was received with mixed feelings by all present. Future
contacts with members of the Zionist Commission made the Arabs
wary of their intentions.
As acting Patriarch, the presence
of Archbishop Koushagian in Jerusalem proved to be crucial to
the future well-being of the Armenian church. His strong and
determined representation of the rights and privileges of the
Armenian church in the face of blatant attempts by the Greek
Orthodox church to invalidate the Ottoman edict of Status Quo
and usurp some of the Holy Sites owned by the Armenians , ensured
that the British recognized and affirmed these rights. After
the defeat of Germany ending World War I, the Armenian National
Delegation which included Archbishop Yeghishe Tourian, the near
future Patriarch of Jerusalem, lobbied the participants of the
Versailles Treaty Conference in 1919 to ensure recognition and
acceptance of the Ottoman Status Quo, which they did. In 1922,
the Palestine Order in Council again reaffirmed the Status Quo,
adding: "It is well understood that no alteration can be
made on the Status Quo of the Holy Places."
In spite of the continued conflict
and violence which started in 1921 throughout the British Mandate,
the Armenian community in the Holy Land enjoyed a remarkable
period of rejuvenation and growth socially, culturally, and
religiously under the benevolent, open-minded, and progressive
rule of successive British governors. Armenians continued their
traditional way of living uninvolved in the struggles around
them, retaining their age-old custom of apolitical behavior
by embracing an even-handed neutrality, and under the guidance
of the Patriarchate did not participate in the political conflict
engulfing the Arab and Jewish communities. Although they were
not considered combatants , on certain occasions some became
innocent victims of violence from both sides.
The duplicity of the British rulers
with respect to the status of the Jews and Arabs in Palestine
was root-cause of the conflict that reached its crescendo in
the latter part of the 1940s. In May 1921, Arabs began to riot
against the continuing British policy of allowing the massive
immigration of Jews into Palestine. On the other hand, extremist
Jewish groups began a campaign of terror against both the British
and the Arabs culminating in the indiscriminate killing of British
soldiers, Arab as well as Jewish innocent civilians. By the
spring of 1939, Jewish terrorists were killing British soldiers
in protest of British refusal to allow Jewish refugees escaping
Nazi Germany to land into Palestine. Those caught were sent
to internment camps in Cyprus.
During World War II (September
1939-August 1945), terrorist activities from both sides were
somewhat curtailed. However, after the unconditional surrender
of Japan to the United States (August 28, 1945), the violence
resumed with a vengeance. The most devastating terrorist attack
took place on July 22,1946. When members of Irgun Zvi Leumi,
an extremist Jewish group which included two future prime ministers
of Israel, Menachem Begin and Itzhak Shamir, disguised as Arabs
placed explosive charges in milk churns into the hall outside
the Regence Cafe in the basement of the King David Hotel in
Jerusalem, where the British Military Headquarters and other
government offices occupied the third through the fifth floors.
At 12:37, the explosives went off . Above the cafe, the entire
south wing of the hotel , all five floors containing twenty
fives rooms collapsed. Ninety two people were killed, buried
helplessly under the rubble. Among the dead were military and
civilian personnel, soldiers, clerks, typists, janitors, messengers,
and drivers. Four Armenians were also victims; three female
secretaries and a driver, Garabed Paraghanian.
Faced with the increased violence
and indiscriminate killings, Armenians began to take steps to
ensure their neutrality. The men began wearing Russian style
fur caps and grew moustaches to distinguish them from the Jewish
men who normally wore fedoras, and from the Arab men, dressed
in their traditional red and white checkered Bedouin headgear.
The women were ever so careful not to expose themselves to unnecessary
dangers by abstaining from going to movies at night or go shopping
in Jewish areas without escort. They generally stayed inside
their own neighborhoods.
There is an ironic element in the
inconsistent style of governing by the British in Palestine
in that, in spite of the ongoing struggles and violence they
caused, they also introduced a Western influence on all the
divergent segments of society. Like the disciplined missionaries
they were, they encouraged the awakening and development of
educational and cultural endeavors in each and every community
in the country without distinction to religious and ethnic background.
Ethnic and parochial schools and institutions of higher education,
athletic clubs, musical and literary societies were established
and maintained with professional efficiency.
Although the intellectual and literary
awakening which had begun in the middle of the nineteenth century
in Western Armenia was given a mortal blow by the Turks with
the murder of more than two hundred prominent creative leaders,
Armenians attempted to regain the impetus of rebuilding their
cultural base in Jerusalem where under the protective umbrella
of British rule they could blossom and progress in freedom.
The principal motivator of this movement was Archbishop Yeghishe
Tourian, an experienced educator, man of letters, and dean of
the seminary of Armash (1890-1914) in Western Armenia. In 1921
he was elected Patriarch of Jerusalem. A lifelong advocate of
education, he set out to bring together the intellectuals who
survived the genocide. Immediately after his elevation to the
See, he initiated the construction of the first co-educational
institution in Jerusalem, a four-story stone building adjacent
to the theological seminary inside the walls of the St. James
Convent. In the summer of 1929, the completed school building
was dedicated and named Soorp Tarkmantchats School (Holy Translators)
and opened in time for the start of the scholastic year in September.
Also in 1929, the construction of the massive Gulbenkian Library
named after its benefactor, millionaire oil man Calouste Gulbenkian
was completed and opened for public use .
The theological seminary was reorganized,
its curriculum modernized and the faculty staffed with prominent
teachers fortunate to survive the genocide. The student body
of the seminary was increased by recruiting young men orphaned
in the Turkish massacres as well as scholastically qualified
boys from countries in the Middle East. The printing press and
other departments in the Patriarchate were refurbished and strengthened.
A spirit of enthusiasm and rejuvenated energy emanated from
every sector of Armenian society.
After the passing of Patriarch
Tourian on April 27, 1930, he was succeeded by Archbishop Torkom
Koushagian who was elevated to the throne on December 1, 1931.
Not being a stranger to Jerusalem, Koushagian, a graduate, subsequent
teacher and assistant dean of Armash seminary, followed in the
footsteps of his venerated mentor and friend. He continued with
enthusiasm the constructive work of his predecessor emphasizing
all aspects of education and intellectual enlightenment. As
an experienced and highly capable administrator with international
contacts ( he was fluent in four languages, Armenian, French,
English and Turkish), he continued to improve the status of
the Armenian church in the Holy Land as well as ensure that
the financial base of the Patriarchate remained strong and viable.
Patriarchs Tourian and Koushagian
are venerated to this day as two of the most prominent men in
the history of the Armenian presence in the Holy Land along
with a handful of their predecessors. In utilizing their dynamic
personalities and charm, they established a strong foundation
for future generations. Because of their efforts, the Armenian
community in Jerusalem would thrive and grow producing thousands
of educated and professional men and women who to this day are
strong contributors to Armenian communities in every corner
of the world. Between 1921 and 1948, in spite of the mortal
struggles going on around them, the number of Armenians in the
Holy land grew to about 16,000.They were the object of envy
in other communities in the Middle East.
Came the
Partition
On April 2, 1947, the British government,
weary of the chaotic situation in Palestine and tired of the
casualties inflicted upon his majesty's subjects by both the
Arabs and Jews, informed the United nations in NewYork that
it had decided to give up the mandate for Palestine. The Palestine
Commission formed soon after, published its report on August
31, 1947, offering its recommendations. On November 29, 1947,
the united Nations Assembly resolved to partition Palestine
according to the plan presented by the Palestine Commission,
to take effect on September 1, 1948. However, the British government
announced that it would leave Palestine on May 15, 1948.
This decision triggered greater
violence in Palestine. For the next four months, while the bulk
of the British forces were confined to the safety of their barracks
and the Palestine Police effectively powerless, the warring
parties began jockeying for positions, each side attempting
to capture and hold key locations in anticipation of Partition
Day. The killing and bombing which caused the displacement of
people from their ancestral homes intensified while each side
was proceeding to consolidate and secure its respective territories
based on the majority it enjoyed in any given area. A genuine
ethnic cleansing had begun. Mixed neighborhoods were hit hardest
with noncombatants, such as Greeks, Armenians, European embassy
people and foreign nationals becoming victims of mass expulsion
and terror. Many well-to-do Armenians living in the outskirts
of the Jerusalem were forced to abandon their homes and walk
away, some with only their shirts on their backs. They found
refuge in the Armenian Quarter and the St. James Convent whence
they and their parents came many years before as refugees of
the Turhish massacres.
By March 1948, while the British
controlled the main highways and imposed curfews all over the
countryside and with marauding armed Arab and Jewish combatants
filtering through the hills in daily raids against each other,
it became difficult for the neutral population to travel between
cities or leave the country at the risk of being shot or blown
up.
At 4:40 P.M., on Friday May 14,
1948, Ben Gurion, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, read a declaration
of independence proclaiming the establishment of a Jewish State
to come into being at midnight the same day. The new country
would be called "Israel ". Although the British Mandate
was scheduled to end at midnight on Saturday, May 15, 1948,
Ben Gurion and his associates decided it would be prudent to
declare independence on Friday, the 14th, out of deference to
the Jewish Sabbath and also to avoid the wrath of the religious
Orthodox Jews.
On the morning of May 15, 1948,
the High Commissioner of Palestine, General Sir Alan Cunningham,
accepted the lowered British union flag outside the government
house from a small contingent of fifty British soldiers and
flew to the port of Haifa followed by the same contingent of
his troops. At the stroke of midnight that same day, a ship
carrying the Commissioner and the remnants of British officials
and the military, left Haifa harbor on its way to England, officially
ending thirty one years of British presence in the Holy Land.
At midnight the previous day (
May 14) King Abdallah of Transjordan, standing on the Allemby
bridge, shot a pistol in the air thus ordering the troops of
the Arab Legion to cross into Palestine, and by nightfall the
next day they were poised at the outskirts of Jerusalem. At
the end of the two-week battle that followed, the Arab legion
took control of the Old City trapping the residents of Jewish
Quarter. The hospital in which many Jewish wounded were being
treated caught fire. With the help of soldiers from the Arab
legion, the Armenian Patriarchate located next to the Jewish
Quarter, provided shelter to the wounded from the burning hospital
until a truce was called to evacuate them several days later.
The humanitarian act performed by the soldiers of the Arab Legion
surprised the Jewish leadership. It was act that could not be
forgotten.
After the cease-fire in November
1948, and the establishment of the "Green Line" extending
north-south cut Jerusalem in half. Armenians were caught in
the middle. Most had lost their homes in the new city and they
had to find lodgings in the Old City . The St. James Convent
was already filled beyond its capacity and most had lost their
jobs or businesses. Eventually, the majority found passage to
Amman Jordan, thence to other Arab countries in the Middle East.
Those with means and connections were able to migrate to Armenia,
the United States, South America, England and Europe. Those
who remained suffered deprivation and casualties since both
the Armenian Quarter and the St. James Convent were in the middle
of the battle zone. At times, mortar shells fell over some buildings
causing extensive damage to the point that some had to be abandoned.
Since they had no access to their cemetery on Mount Zion outside
the Old City walls, they had to bury their dead in the garden
area behind the seminary.
It is said that Patriarch Guregh
Israelian (1944-1949) died of a broken heart, grieving over
the sorry state his beloved people and their institutions suffered.
He was buried in the courtyard at the entrance of St. James
Cathedral. The six day war of 1967 also caused great damage
to several buildings in the residential sections of the convent.
In particular, the seminary building and the priest's quarters
called Baghchatagh. Both had to be evacuated and abandoned.
In effect, the Patriarchate was also cut off from its outlying
income properties and was deprived of necessary funds to sustain
its operations and to feed its refugees.
As early as the spring of 1948,
the Arab/Israeli conflict created a massive exodus of Armenians
who escaped the ravages of war and the destruction of their
way of life. Armenians living in Jaffa, Haifa, Nazaret, Gaza
and other locations in Palestine suffered deprivation, loss
of their businesses and homes . They had to abandon their schools
and churches to an uncertain future, never to return. As of
this writing, the number of Armenians residing in Israel is
slightly over two thousand, most living in Jerusalem in and
around the Armenian Quarter in the Old City.
Some
Closing Comments
The acquisition and maintenance
of the Holy Sites has not been easy for the Armenians. History
is replete with intrigue, corruption and sometimes outright
banditry, a process in which Armenians had to "play the
game." In the years following the edict of Status Quo,
the relationship between the principal rites has not been cordial
or cooperative. There have been incursions, scheming and usurpation
by all parties where arbitration became necessary. Fortunately,
over the past twenty years a spirit of cooperation and goodwill
has prevailed between the three major rites. It seems that the
legacy of ill will has vanished. An eloquent example is the
joint effort in the restoration of the Holy Sepulcher during
the 1980's and early 1990's.
Currently, the three major Christian
denominations work together in true harmony. The three Patriarchs
hold regular joint meetings and stand together in the protection
and preservation of their mutual interests. It is quite evident
that they have learned the lessons of history in the true spirit
of brotherhood proclaimed by Jesus Christ. Credit must be given
to the current Armenian Patriarch, Archbishop Torkom Manoogian.
His past ecumenical endeavors while Primate of the Eastern Diocese
of the Armenian church in the United States, and as an effective
leader in the World Council of Churches, he has earned the respect
of his colleagues for achieving true universal Christian unity
through interdenominational cooperation.
The three Patriarchs enjoy diplomatic
recognition by the Israeli government, thus affirming the rights
and privileges of all Christian churches as well as the sovereignty
of all the Holy Sites including those of the Muslims. Also,
the independence of Armenia has finally provided a governmental
entity that can underwrite the legitimacy of the Armenians in
the Holy Land evidenced by the establishment in 1992 of an Armenian
embassy in Tel Aviv.
It is easy to conclude from the
preceding account that throughout the Christian era Armenians
have demonstrated a unique fascination toward the Holy Land.
They wanted to see the land where Jesus preached, performed
his miracles, where he was crucified, where he was buried and
whence he resurrected. It was a matter of Christian pride and
faith to visit Jerusalem, to be tattooed with the sign of the
cross which they carried home on their bodies as a badge of
honor- something they could be proud to display and be called
"Oukhdavor", "Haji"or "Mahdesi"s
(all of which mean Pilgrim).
There are still many dangers lurking
as a result of the political upheavals currently taking place
in Israel and the West bank. All Christians must exercise extreme
vigilance to ensure that their rights are protected in order
to survive through the twenty-first century.
Armenian
Presence in the Holyland
Key Chronological Events During Christian Era
325 Armenians actively participate in the discovery of the relic of the True Cross and begin the establishment of holy sanctuaries.
351 According to Christian tradition a giant light in the shape of a cross appeared in broad daylight in the sky stretching from the Mount of Olives to the Calvary in Jerusalem. It is said that Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril I (350-386) baptized more than 10,000 converts on this occasion. The Armenian church celebrates this miraculous event as “Don Yerevman Surp Khachi” (Feast of the Apparition of the Holy Cross) celebrated on the fifth Sunday following Easter Sunday.
400 Eusebius Hieronimus ( St. Jerome), one of four doctrinal fathers of the Latin Church, while residing in Bethlehem mentions in his writings the presence of Armenian monks.
425 Beginning of great monastic era in the Holy Land, continuing in force to the end of the eighth century. Armenian pilgrimages also began in force. Armenian mosaics in and around Jerusalem attest to the existence of many Armenian churches and monasteries in the region.
614 Persian king , Khosrov II, captures and destroys Jerusalem. Takes captive the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Zakarias ( 609-632), along with his bishops, priests and scholars. Also takes captive the holy relic of the True Cross. Armenians are treated favorably through their connection with Sempad Bakraduni, the Persian king’s adviser. Armenians actively participate in the reconstruction of holy sites. Persian rule ends in 624.
631 On 14 September , Roman emperor Heraclius triumphantly enters Jerusalem carrying the relic of the True Cross which he ceremoniously installs in its rightful place in the church of Anastasis ( Holy Sepulcher ). Armenian Church commemorates this event as "Don Veratsman Surp Khachi" ( Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross) on Sunday closest to 15 September.
637 End of Byzantine/Roman rule of Jerusalem and beginning of Muslim Arab era with the conquest of Palestine by the army of second Caliph Umar Ibn Abd el-Khattab (634-644) who entered Jerusalem in February 638.
638 Caliph Umar proclaims Abraham I, senior bishop of the Armenian Church as “Batrak” (patriarch) of the Armenian Church and leader of the Eastern Orthodox denominations. (Assyrian, Coptic, Abyssinian, Etc. ) to neutralize the authority of th Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Sophronius. Abraham lived to 669.
1073 According to foreign chroniclers, Armenians purchased a small church on Mount Sion at the southwest corner of the Old City from a Georgian monk named Prochore and dedicated it to Serpots Hagopiants ( Saints James the Apostle and The Younger). Over the ensuing centuries, Armenians built a convent and residences around this church ( the Saints James convent and the Armenian Quarter).
1099 On 15 July , Crusaders breach and storm the walls of Jerusalem. They massacre the entire Muslim population of the city. Armenians are spared because of close connections with Crusader leaders in Cilicia.
1165 Construction and enlargement of Saint James Cathedral as it stands today, is completed. Work began in 1142 with help from Catholicos Krikor III, Bahlavuni (1113-1166) who visited Jerusalem during Easter celebrations.
1187 End of Crusader era and beginning of Ayyubid dynasty. Sultan Salah al-Din enters Jerusalem on 2 October without bloodshed. He ordered the closure of the Saint James Cathedral instead of destroying it, as a result of a misunderstanding ( He thought it was a mosque).
1194 Salah al-Din dies of Typhoid fever. Saint James cathedral is reopened after seven years of closure.
1260 Beginning of Mamluk occupation of Jerusalem by Sultan Al-Zahir Baybars (1251-1276). Because of large Armenian presence in Egypt, Armenians in Jerusalem are well treated.
1438 Armenians receive favored consideration and a written edict from Mamluk Sultan Al-Zahir Chaqmaq (1438-1453). An inscription carved on a marble plaque in Arabic, set in the wall facing the main entrance to Saint James convent can be seen by visitors to this day.
1516 End of Mamluk dynasty in Egypt and beginning of Ottoman rule. Sultan Selim I (1512-1520) enters Jerusalem on 1 December of this year. Ottoman presence lasted to 9 December 1917.
1613 Patriarch Krikor V Markarian Kantsagetsi, better known as Baronder (1613-1645), is installed Patriarch of Jerusalem during Easter celebrations in April. Considered the most revered and loved Patriarch whose legacy lives to this day.
1715 Patriarch Krikor VI Shirvantsi, better known as Shughtayagir (Chainbearer)(1715-1749), elected Patriarch of Jerusalem by National Council of Amiras in Istanbul at the recommendation of his friend, Hovhannes Golod, Patriarch of Constantinople. Patriarch Krikor wore two heavy crosses and chains around his body and neck until1728 when he managed to retire the large debts of the Jerusalem See, accrued by his predecessors.
1726 On Sunday 21 August, the newly elected Catholicos of All Armenians, Garabed Ulnetsi (1726-1729) proclaimed the Three Canons of Anathema forbidding under threat of excommunication of 1) the election of a Yegamud (outsider or non-member) as Patriarch of Jerusalem; 2) the appointment of outside lay or clerical supervisors as practiced between 1702 and 1715; and 3) the annexation or merger of the Jerusalem See with any other See (i.e. Constantinople or Catholicate of Cilicia).
1824 Archbishop Boghos Krikorian, a member of the Saint James order, is appointed “Dzayrakuyn Garavarich Yerusaghemi” (Supreme Governor of Jerusalem) by the National Assembly in Istanbul while the incumbent Patriarch, Kapriel Nigomitiatsi (1819-1840) is exiled to Smyrna, maintaining his official title to his death. Boghos managed the affairs of Jerusalem from 1824 to October 1841.
1833 The first modern printing press is installed in a building inside the Saint James convent, initiated by Bishop Zakaria Der Bedrosian, Gopetsi.
1843 Armenian theological seminary is established in the city of Ramleh north of Jerusalem by Patriarch Zakaria Gopetsi (1841-1846). It is moved into a new location inside the Saint James convent in 1845.
1853 The impressive Patriarchal residence is completed through the efforts of Patriarch Hovhannes Movsesian, Zmurnatsi (1850-1860), a prolific builder and developer.
1862 The first girl’s school is established in Jerusalem inside the Saint James convent, named Gayane Girl’s School, during the tenure of Vertanes Vartabed Vartanian, Locum Tenens (1860-1864)
1866 The first issue of the official periodical , “SION” is published by the Saint James Printing Press during the tenure of Patriarch Yesayi Garabedian (1864-1885). An avid photographer, the latter opened the first photographic studio in Jerusalem.
1885 On December 8, The National Assembly in Istanbul elects the incumbent Patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop Harutiun Vehabedian, Patriarch of Jerusalem, the last in the nineteenth century and the first in the twentieth ( He died on 5 October 1910. Holy Seat was vacant until 5 September 1921 with the election of Patriarch Yeghishe I, Tourian).
1916 On 6 August, Catholicos of the House of Cilicia, Sahag Khabayan, appointed by the Young Turks as “ Catholicos/Patriarch of the Ottoman Empire” based in Jerusalem, while Zaven Der Yeghyaian, Patriarch of Constantinople, is removed from office and exiled to Baghdad.
1917 On 6 November, under the threat of Allied conquest, the Ottomans abandon Jerusalem taking hostage all religious leaders in Jerusalem, including Archbishop Ormanian and Catholicos/Patriarch Sahag Khabayan.
1917 On 11 December, British General Edmund Allemby formally accepts the keys to the city of Jerusalem ending 401 years of Ottoman rule.
1918 On 18 March, Archbishop Torkom Koushagian, Primate of Egypt, is invited by the British to represent the Saint James brotherhood in negotiations regarding the Status Quo of the holy places.
1921 On 7 November, Patriarch Yeghishe I, Tourian ascends the holy throne of Saint James. Begins rebuilding institutional structure and initiate educational reforms. Plans construction of first public school and library.
1929 At the beginning of the scholastic year in October, the first co-educational public school is opened inside the Saint James convent, dedicated as “Srpots Tarkmanchats Varjaran” (Holy Translators’ School) after Saints Sahag and Mesrob.
1931 On 1 December, Patriarch Torkom I Koushagian ascends the throne of Saint James. He modernizes seminary curriculum, increases number of seminary students and enhances teaching staff. Improves status of thriving Armenian community. A man of great achievements.
1932 Gulbenkian Library is inaugurated by Patriarch Torkom I Koushagian on 23 October. Its foundations were consecrated on 28 August 1929; construction completed in July 1931. The library is named after its benefactor, Calouste Gulbenkian.
1939 On 9 April Archbishop Mesrob Nishanian is elected Patriarch of Jerusalem.
1944 On 20 October , Guregh Vartabed Israelian is elected Patriarch of Jerusalem. A period of wars and internal conflict begins. He dies on 28 October 1949
!957 On 20 March Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan is elected Patriarch of Jerusalem. On 30 August 1958, he is forcibly seized by Jordanian police and exiled to Beirut, Lebanon.
1960 After 11 years of internecine conflict and instability, Archbishop Yeghish II Derderian is elected Patriarch of Jerusalem on 9 June (Dies on 1 February 1990)
1990 On 22 March, Archbishop Torkom Manoogian is elected Patriarch of Jerusalem. An era of stability begins. Work in progress. 25 October 2004
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