The Issue of the Rights and Privileges of the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Policy of the Russian Empire in the Early XIX Century on the Basis of the «Provisions on the Management of the Armenian-Gregorian Church in Russia»

Abstract

In the conditions of Armenia's fragmentation and the absence of royal power, the role of the Armenian Apostolic Church's influence was especially growing. In the early 19th century, the Armenian Church enjoyed great authority among all classes and had a serious influence on them. It was the Church that led the struggle for the independence of the Armenian people, the Church negotiated with neighboring (and not only) states. Of course, the role of Holy Etchmiadzin, the spiritual center, in uniting Armenians both in Armenia and in the Diaspora was great. Echmiadzin had about forty dioceses under its jurisdiction — in Ottoman Turkey, Russia, India, Jerusalem and Cairo. Considering the importance of the Church in the life of the Armenian people, already at the beginning of the 19th century the Russian government made every effort to ensure that Holy Etchmiadzin was headed by that part of the clergy that adhered to Russian views. Despite the fact that the Georgian Catholicosate was liquidated immediately after the annexation of Eastern Georgia to Russia (by the Decree of September 12, 1801), the clergy and Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church were granted rights and some privileges. The article attempts to analyze the relations between the Russian Empire and the representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church on the basis of the granted rights and privileges of the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church according to the «Charter» (1836).