MyHCHC
There are two visions of late Antique and medieval Armenia which sit uneasily together: as a site of longstanding political, cultural and confessional contention, often accompanied by violence and as a site of remarkable societal resilience in the face of repeated initiatives by hegemonic authorities – Arsacid, Sasanian, Roman, and Islamic – to assert control. Many of the leading houses prominent in the fourth century were also prominent in the seventh century and some retained their prominence, seemingly unbroken, into the eleventh century and beyond. Although scholars have analysed the complex historical narratives preserved in the rich Armenian literary tradition, the juridical landscape in which these narratives played out remains largely uncharted.
Through a series of case studies, this paper explores that landscape and analyses the ownership and transmission of land across late Antique and early medieval Armenia. It proposes that the Armenian elite utilised legal mechanisms deriving from Iranian jurisprudence to define and preserve inalienable family properties. It focuses on charitable foundations set up for the soul.
Tim Greenwood is Bishop Wardlaw Professor in the School of History at the University of St Andrews, Correspondant étranger of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Institut de France, and Fellow of the British Academy. He specialises in the study of late Antique and medieval Armenia, including interactions with, and reflections of, Sasanian Iran, Byzantium and the wider Persianate and Islamicate worlds.
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