Social and Cultural Transformation of Byzantine Armenia Under the Arrival of the Seljuks

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K22022
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0103:History, archaeology, museology, and related fields
• Research Institution: Okayama University
• Principal Investigator: Nakada Kosuke 岡山大学, 社会文化科学学域, 講師 (10872814)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: アルメニア / ビザンツ / セルジューク朝 / キリスト教 / 聖遺物

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study tried to reveal the multiplicity of reactions of the Armenian people under the Byzantine rule against the Seljuk incursion in the eleventh century through the analysis of locally-produced Armenian sources, including manuscript colophons, inscriptions and historiographical works. As a result, it became clear that while there were Armenians who had already discarded allegiance to Byzantium, there were also Armenians who still kept ties with Byzantium, since the situation was still fluid at the point of the eleventh century. Their cultural conditions were also strongly correlated with their political attitudes. Some still adopted and adapted Byzantine cultures, while others excluded and emphasised their own ones.

Free Research Field

歴史学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

従来の当該時代・地域の研究が上層での支配のあり方を中心に扱ってきたのに対し、本研究は大枠の政治的変動の中での地域社会・文化の変容にも着目する点に学術的新規性がある。加えて本研究の成果は文化やアイデンティティの形成を周辺世界との相互作用の中で考察する重要性を示すものであり、他の境域研究に示唆を与え、比較可能なものになると考えられる。
社会的意義に関しては、グローバル化の中で異文化の接触と交流の重要性が増す中、過去の文化交流の事例を現在の相対化の視座として持ち出す際の重要なケースを提供する意義があると考えられる。