Grigor Tat‘ewac‘i and the Modernization of the Armenian Church
Thursday, May 30, 2013 7:30 pm
Abstract: Grigor Tat‘ewac‘i (1344-1409) lived during a tumultuous time for Armenia and the Armenian Church. During his lifetime, Greater Armenia was ravaged by the invasions of Tamerlane and the kingdom of Cilicia was brought to an end. The Armenian Church was wracked by schism and scandal, and the Roman Catholic Church had made great headway in converting Armenians. The leaders of the Glajor-Tat‘ew school, and Grigor Tat‘ewac‘i, in particular, realized that the Armenian Church and education system needed reform in order to maintain its relevance. This talk will highlight how Grigor was able to modernize the Armenian Church and her teaching while keeping its unique status within the Christian world.
Sergio La Porta is the Haig and Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno. He received his PhD in Armenian and Near Eastern Studies from Harvard University in 2001. His areas of research include medieval Armenian intellectual and political history, philology, and apocalyptic literature. Dr. La Porta’s recent publications include a three-volume study on Armenian commentaries on the works of Dionysius the Areopagite (Peeters, 2008) and several articles on political legitimacy and cultural developments in Armenia during the Seljuk period, as well as on aspects of Armenian spirituality.
