Հայ-բյուզանդական եկեղեցաքաղաքական առնչությունների մի կարևոր դրվագի շուրջ (X դարի առաջին քառորդ)

<jats:p>The letter, dated 925, from Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos of Constantinople (901– 907, 912–925) to the Armenian King Ashot Erkat (914–929) contains important information about Armenian-Byzantine ecclesiastical and political relations.After the death of the Armenian Catholicos Hovhannes Draskhanakertsi (898– 925), Ashot Erkat sent envoys to Byzantium in 925, offering to accept a new candidate for the post of Armenian Catholicos, ordain him, and send him back to Armenia. Thus, Ashot Erkat tried to secure the support of Byzantium. However, in exchange for assistance, the empire demanded to conclude a general Armenian-Byzantine ecclesiastical union. In his letter, the Patriarch of Constantinople proposed Ashot to agree to this union after the ordination of the candidate to the Catholicos. In the letter, the patriarch mentioned Ashot Yerkat's wise decision who had previously agreed to fulfill the emperor's demands and thereby gained his favor. Based on this precedent, the patriarch expresses hope that the Armenian king will respond to the emperor's demand for an Armenian-Byzantine ecclesiastical union. Only one fact of direct contact between Ashot Yerkat and the Byzantine emperor is known: it took place in 915 during Ashot Yerkat's visit to Constantinople, where the Armenian king was received with great honors, and upon his return he was provided with an relief army to fight his enemies. This is probably what the patriarch recalled in 925, noting the need to reach an agreement with the emperor again. The letter indicates that Ashot Yerkat was forced to make concessions on ecclesiastical and confessional issues in exchange for assistance, but Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi was against such concessions. After the death of Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi, Ashot Yerkat was reminded of his promise, or perhaps he himself remembered it because he needed the empire's help. As a result, the candidate for the post of Catholicos, Stepanos II, was sent to Constantinople to undergo the appropriate procedure and ordination, after which he returned and headed the Armenian Catholicosate (925–926). In 927, due to the current situation, the Byzantine army marched on Dvin, which gave the Armenian king the opportunity to break his promise. It is worth noting that Stepanos II served as Armenian Catholicos for only one year. Perhaps, because of the circumstances of his ordination as Catholicos, his name was either forgotten or ignored in the Armenian historiography.</jats:p>