Shaapivan canons ( Armenian Շահապիվանի կանոններ ) - a collection of church and secular norms adopted at the Shaapivan Church Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church on June 24, 444 . It is an important historical document and a monument of Armenian law [1] .
The canons have come down to us as part of the Armenian Book of Canons .
Content
Background
This period was critical for Armenia , because after the partition of the Armenian state between Byzantium and the Sassandian Iran in 387 and the end of the Arshakids dynasty in 428, the struggle between the Nakharars sharply intensified [2] . Using this, the Persians ousted the Naharars from their posts and replaced them with Persian proteges, who in every possible way tried to impose on the Armenians the religion of Sasanian Iran of that time - Zoroastrianism . In such circumstances, the Armenian Apostolic Church, having assumed some functions of state power, began to intervene in the political life of the country. At the initiative of the Armenian Church, during the marzpanism of Vasak Suni and the patriarchate of Catholicos Hovsep Vayotsdzortsi secretly from the Persian court near the large military camp of the Armenian army near the village of Shaapivan, Gavar Tsakhkotn , Ayrarat of Great Armenia (nowadays in the silt of Agra Turkey ), the second (after Sorashti ) the national church legislative council for the establishment of canons in order to streamline the current situation in the country [3] .
Contents
The Shaapivan canons consist of an introduction and 20 chapters. The introduction speaks of the current situation in the country, which served as the basis for the adoption of these canons. The legal significance of the introduction lies in the following proclaimed provision: "The apostolic and Nicene canons are unshakable, and we obey, but with the addition of these canons of what is necessary especially for the house of Torgom and the eastern regions." Thus, as the researchers point out, by the decree of the Shaapivan Cathedral, pre-existing church canons received the force of civil law [4] .
The canons embodied ideas aimed at strengthening the internal way of life of the national life, preventing the destruction of family foundations, educating the younger generation in the spirit of moral values, and promoting the deep penetration and spread of Christianity. The norms contained in the Shaapivan canons can be divided into two groups:
- norms condemning acts committed by clerics (chapters 1, 2, 8-11, 14-20);
- secular laws (chapters 3-7, 12, 13).
Notes
- ↑ Tigranyan S. Introduction to the history of Armenian law. Yerevan. 1924.P. 110-111 (in Armenian)
- ↑ Sukiasyan A.G. // Socio-political system and the law of Armenia in the era of early feudalism (III-IX centuries). Yerevan. YSU Publishing House. 1963.P. 98
- ↑ Arevshatyan S.K. Shaapivan canons - the oldest monument of Armenian law (in Armenian) // Historical and Philological Journal, N 2-3. - Yerevan, 1959. - Էջ pp. 334-348. .
- ↑ Avakyan PO Monuments of Armenian law. Yerevan: “EF MNJI XXI Century”, 2000. P. 41, 43
Literature
- Ակինյան Ա., Շահապիվանի ժողովոյն կանոնները, ՀԱ, 1949, դ 4–12, էջ 79–170։
- Կանոնագիրք Հայոց, աշխատասիր. Վ. Հակո μ յանի, հ .1, Երևան, 1964։