Editing History of Armenia (section)

====Christianization====
[[File:Ani Tigran Honents church 17 Interior Armenian, Georgian and Abkhazian kings marching (orthonomical).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Christianization: ''Departure of Armenian king [[Tiridates III of Armenia|Tiridates III]] (c.250–330) with the Entourage of Georgian ([[Kingdom of Iberia|Iberian]]), [[Laz people|Laz]] and [[Caucasian Albania|Albanian]] Kings for Their Christening''. Church of [[St Gregory of Tigran Honents]], [[Ani]], [[Zakarid Armenia]], 1215.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eastmond |first1=Antony |title="Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade |journal=Speculum |date=2003 |volume=78 |issue=3 |page=740, Fig.11 |doi=10.1017/S0038713400131525 |jstor=20060787 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20060787 |issn=0038-7134}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Church of Saint Gregory of Tigran Honents in Ani |url=https://turkisharchaeonews.net/object/church-saint-gregory-tigran-honents-ani |website=Turkish Archaeological News |language=en |date=10 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nersessian |first1=Vrej |title=Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art |date=2001 |publisher=The British Library Board - Getty Museum |page=193 |url=https://archive.org/details/nersessian-2001-treasures-armenian-art/page/192 |quote=This episode had been represented in the Church of St Gregory at Ani, built by Grigor Honents, in 1215. The king, surrounded by his friends and his army, all on horseback, scts out to greet Gregory}}</ref>]]
In 301, Armenia became the first nation to adopt [[Christianity]] as a state religion,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_armenia.html|title=Information about Armenia on nationalgeographic.com|access-date=6 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070130075810/http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_armenia.html|archive-date=30 January 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> amidst the long-lasting geo-political rivalry over the region. It established a church that today exists independently of both the [[Catholicism#Catholic Church|Catholic]] and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] churches, having become so in 451 after having rejected the [[Council of Chalcedon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/1089/christology.html|title=Armenian Church History and Doctrine|access-date=6 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090730103921/http://geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/1089/christology.html|archive-date=30 July 2009}}</ref> The [[Armenian Apostolic Church]] is a part of the [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] communion, not to be confused with the Eastern Orthodox communion. The first [[Catholicos of All Armenians|Catholicos]] of the Armenian church was Saint [[Gregory the Illuminator]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hyeetch.nareg.com.au/religion/h_see_p1.html|title=The Holy City and the Mother Church of St. Etchmiadzin|access-date=6 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823222537/http://www.hyeetch.nareg.com.au/religion/h_see_p1.html|archive-date=23 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Because of his beliefs, he was persecuted by the pagan king of Armenia, and was "punished" by being thrown in [[Khor Virap]], in modern-day Armenia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.world66.com/europe/armenia/khorvirap|title=Khor Virap Travel Guide|access-date=6 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180712/http://www.world66.com/europe/armenia/khorvirap|archive-date=30 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He acquired the title of Illuminator, because he illuminated the spirits of Armenians by introducing Christianity to them. Before this, the dominant religion amongst the Armenians was [[Zoroastrianism]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wJB2AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1838|title=Encyclopedia of Global Studies|access-date=26 December 2014|isbn=9781412994224|last1=Anheier|first1=Helmut K.|last2=Juergensmeyer|first2=Mark|date=9 March 2012|publisher=SAGE Publications }}</ref> Scholars have suggested that Armenia adopted Christianity "partly . . . in defiance" of the Sassanids.<ref>Mary Boyce. [https://books.google.com/books?id=a6gbxVfjtUEC&pg=PA84 ''Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices''], Psychology Press, 2001; {{ISBN|0415239028}}, p. 84</ref>

In 405–06, Armenia's political future seemed uncertain. With the help of the king of Armenia, [[Mesrop Mashtots]] created a unique alphabet to suit the people's needs.{{clarify|date=December 2015}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/armenian.htm|title=Armenian alphabet, pronunciation and language|access-date=6 February 2007}}</ref> By doing so, he ushered in a new [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Golden Age]] and strengthened Armenian national identity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Jerry L. |url=https://www.google.am/books/edition/Crossing_Borders_confronting_History/OevniclZr8cC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=405+Golden+age+for+Armenian+Identity&pg=PA129&printsec=frontcover |title=Crossing Borders--confronting History: Intercultural Adjustment in a Post-Cold War World |date=2000 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-7618-1536-5 |pages=129 |language=en}}</ref>

After years of rule, the Arsacid dynasty fell in 428, with Eastern Armenia being subjugated to Persia and Western Armenia, to Rome. In the 5th century, the Sassanid Shah [[Yazdegerd II]] tried to tie his Christian Armenian subjects more closely to the Sassanid Empire by reimposing the Zoroastrian religion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch22c.htm|title=The Sassanids, to 500 CE|access-date=6 February 2007}}</ref> The Armenians greatly resented this, and as a result, a rebellion broke out with Vartan Mamikonian as the leader of the rebels. Yazdegerd thus massed his army and sent it to Armenia, where the [[Battle of Avarayr]] took place in 451. The 66,000 Armenian rebels,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timelinesdb.com/listevents.php?subjid=12&title=Armenia|title=Timeline&nbsp;– Armenia|access-date=6 February 2007}}</ref> mostly peasants, lost their morale when Mamikonian died in the battlefield. They were substantially outnumbered by the 180,000- to 220,000-strong<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v3f1/v3f1a040.html|title=Avarayr|access-date=6 February 2007|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006075951/http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v3f1/v3f1a040.html|archive-date=6 October 2007}}</ref> Persian army of [[Immortals (Achaemenid Empire)|Immortals]] and [[war elephant]]s. Despite being a military defeat, the Battle of Avarayr and the subsequent guerilla war in Armenia eventually resulted in the Treaty of Nvarsak (484), which guaranteed religious freedom to the Armenians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/papazian/armenia.html|title=Armenians|date=8 September 1987|access-date=6 February 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011111122055/http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/papazian/armenia.html|archive-date=11 November 2001}}</ref>