On more than one occasion the PM Nikol Pachinyan mentioned King Bab - Պապ Թագաւոր - (353-374/375). Reading in the internet about the king, it became apparent that King Bab has fired the imagination of the Armenians in Armenia to this day. In 1944, Stepan Zorian published a 707 pages long novel about the king and in the 2019, a 12th grade student at Mkhitar Sepastatsi Educational Complex in Yerevan, wrote about King Bab in her blog. I have no recollection of a student in Diaspora Armenian schools write about King Bab. In an attempt to learn and share about King Bab, I resorted to translating the information the young student Hasmik Nersisyan noted in her blog about King Bab (Պապ Թագաւոր). The original is posted below, Բնագիրը կցուած է ներքեւը։ Vahe H Apelian
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| A depiction of King Bob |
Introduction
King Bab ascended the throne during a difficult period, when Armenia was under siege by Persia and Rome and was under the threat of attack at any moment. The King, Arshak II, was in captivity. The queen was besieged in Artagers (a historic castle). The general was skinned and placed in the Anhush fortress (in south-west Iran) before King Arshak. The Catholicos Nerses the Great, was busy building and repairing churches.
When Bab ascended the throne, he set himself the task of creating a state that would not depend on Rome or Persia. In a little while, we shall see how successful he was to accomplish his goals.
Family and youth
Bab (353-374) was the son of King Arshak II of the Arshakuni dynasty (note: The Arsacid dynasty, called the Arshakuni dynasty, ruled the kingdom of Armenia from 12 to 428). The queen was Parandzem, Arshak's 3rd wife. Before ascending the throne, Arshak II was married to a woman whose name is unknown. The woman apparently died before 358. Bab is the only known child born to Arshak II during his reign.
The Defense of Artagers
After the imprisonment of the Armenian king Arshak II, the Persian king Shapuh II invaded Armenia in the fall of 368 with 50 thousand soldiers, according to P'awstos Buzand (an Armenian historian of the 5th century). The Armenian queen Parandzem, taking the state treasures, fortified herself in the fortress city of Artagers with the king's guards numbering 11 thousand soldiers. The queen's goal was to resist the enemy until the help came from the forces of the Armenian nobles led by the crown prince Bab and chief of staff Mushegh Mamikonyan. They had taken refuge in Rome seeking military help. Bab presented himself to Roman Emperor Valens (364 to 378), and asked him for help. Meanwhile Bab often sent word to the queen that he would be coming soon to her help with the support of the Roman army. But emperor Valens vacillated to take a decision.
According to Ammianus Marcellinus (a Roman soldier and historian), the besieged Armenians not only organized a heroic resistance, but also caused significant losses to the Persian troops with nightly counter attacks temporarily stopping the siege of the fortress, while. negotiating with the Persians who demanded the queen Parandzem to yield, arguing that it is a pointless defense. The queen sent word with them to the Persian army that the Armenians needed two days to prepare for surrender. Thereupon, the Persians loosened the siege. But the Armenian forces, instead of surrender, attacked the Persians and defeated them.
When the Persian king Shapur (Շապուհ Արքա) learnt about the defeat of his army, as Ammianus noted, he fell into "beastly fury". Under his leadership, in the spring of 369, the Persian army entered Armenia and surrounded Artagers again. During the 14th month of the ensuing defense, an epidemic started in the fortress, from which most of the fortress guards died. Deprived of the means of resistance, the queen surrendered. The Persian army looted the king's treasures, captured thousands of people and the queen Parandzem and brought her Persia, where she was publicly humiliated and tortured to death.
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| The queen Parandzem defending the besieged in Artagers |
At that time, Bab was in Rome, seeking military help from the emperor Valens so that he could save the country from the Persian yoke. In 368, Bab with Rome's assistant returned to Armenia with a 10,000-strong army, accompanied by several Armenian nobles.
His entry into Armenia became a turning point. With his small army, Bab slaughtered not only the Persian battalions, but also the Armenian nobles who had betrayed. But his initial efforts were not all successful to defeat the Persian army. Bab retreated and took refuge in Pontus, within the Roman dominion. He camped in a forest with his commanders for a year taking his time to get organized. Subsequently, showing will and determination, he was able to liberate the country and expel the Persian from Armenia, with the help of his commander Mushegh Mamikonian, the son of Vasak Mamikonian (the Mamikonyan family occupied the hereditary office of sparapet (generalissimo) under Arshakuni dynasty kings).
Ruling
King Bab ascended the throne in 370. He entered Armenia with the help of the Romans led by general Terentius, defeated the Persians in a short period of time, and established himself on the throne.
Bab began his reign at a very difficult time. Like his father, he tried to restore the Arshakuni dynasty with the help of two important dynastic pillars: the Mamikonyan dynasty and the catholicosate (that was hereditary at the time). Vasak Mamikonyan's son, Mushegh Mamikonyan, became the sparapet. King Bab turned to Nerses the Great, and resolved the animosity between the Arshakuny dynasty and the catholicosate. Nerses the Great begam to appear in the court again.
Another important achievement that King Bab accomplished was to increase the military strength. At the beginning of his reign, the Armenian army numbered only 10 thousand strong. With such forces, it was impossible to resist the huge Persian military force. Emperor Valens sent a Roman battalion to ensure that the Persians would not destroy the Armenian kingdom. Early in his reign, Armenia and Rome won a joint victory over the Persians at the Battle of Bagavan, and some former territories of the kingdom were reconquered by the efforts of his sparapet Mushegh Mamikonian.
Although Bab's reign began with a reconciliation of the monarchy, with nobility and church, his relations with the church soon deteriorated.. Bab also eventually ran afoul of the Romans, who suspected him of colluding with the Persians.
King Bab's reforms
Bab began to reduce the enormous lands granted to the churches during King Trdat and gave them to the military. He took away five of the seven parts of the church property in favor of the state and the army. He abolished tithing by the church.
King Bab closed convents, almshouses, nunneries, widow’s homes founded by Catholicos Nerses, which drained the state treasury, and forced all girls and widows to marry to give a boost to the country's population.
Weakening the economic power of the Church, he forced the clergy to work and some of them to go into compulsory service.
Because of his reforms of the church, animosity began between King Bab and Nerses the Great. (note: Saint Gregory the Illuminator had two sons, Saint Ardashes, and Saint Verthanes who became the catholicos after St. Gregory. Saint Verthanes' youngest son Saint Hussik succeeded him as Catholicos. Saint Nerses was the grandson of Saint Hussik )
Nerses the Great passed away and was succeeded by Shahak A. Manazkertsi, who, by the order of the King Bab, did not go to Caesarea to be ordained as a Catholicos. Instead, he was ordained Catholicos by bishops in his native land. From there on the Catholicos began to be ordained in Armenia. But the elevation of Shahak as Catholicos was not welcomed by the clergy, because it ended the dynastic succession of St. Gregory the Illuminator.
After the capture of Arshak II, King Bab’s father, a number of Armenian nobles had started a separatist politics and had rebelled. For this reason, a number of territories were separated from the king’s domain. The King Bab set for himself the goal of recapturing and annexing them to the state territories that had been conquered during that period. He assigned this very important task to Mushegh Mamikonyan. For that, it was first necessary to reorganize the army. He had the number of skilled troops increased to about 90 thousand. Finally, all the provinces of Great Armenia were united again.
King Bab’s Marriage, Death and Legacy
Bab married an Armenian noblewoman named Zarmandukht, who became the queen of Armenia. Zarmandukht gave birth to two sons. Arshak III and Vagharshak.
The emperor Valens unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate him in 373/374, but ultimately succeeded in having him killed in 374/375. Bab was succeeded by his nephew Varazdat as king.
I believe that the Bab took a very important step forward in the establishment of independent Armenian statehood. Having come to power with the help of Rome, he was able to become independent from Rome in a short period of time and lead a policy independent of Rome and Persia.
He also made the church independent from Rome. Although his action was not well received at that time, it is because of King Bab that our church is independent from other churches.
He closed all nunneries and widows' homes and forced everyone to marry. Due to this, he gave a boost to the country's population growth. He closed charitable institutions that were draining the state budget. He forced the clergy to work and enlist, thanks to which he increased the number of the army to 100 thousand.
Bab came to power with difficulty, but was quickly loved by the people. He reduced the land of the churches, abolished a number of taxes (the tenth of the fruit). Thus, he was able to reduce the role of the church in state administration.
King Bab demanded the nobles contribute towards a permanent army. For this step, he received the displeasure of the nobles.
Thus, the Bab was a controversial historical figure and reigned for only 4 years, but he can be considered one of the best kings in Armenian history, if not the best. (Hasmik Nersisyan, 2019, as a 12th grade student at Mkhitar Sepastatsi Educational Complex in Yerevan)
Բնագիրը - The original
(https://hasmiknersisyan.wordpress.com/2019/12/09/պապ-թագավոր/)
