The most famous queen of the Arshakid Kingdom of Greater Armenia is Parandzem, the wife of Arshak II:
Parandzem is not only the most famous queen of the Arshakid kingdom of Greater Armenia, but also one of the most prominent figures in our history:
She was from the Naharar family of Syunik, the daughter of Andok /Antioch / Sunni, who was one of the prominent figures of the Armenian reality of the fourth century.Miss Parandzem “was very famous for her beauty and decency”:She marries the nephew of King Arshak II Gnel Arshakuni, creating a family with him, created by mutual love:
The exceptional beauty and charm of the princess quickly changed the course of her life: According to chroniclers Gnel’s cousin, Tirith, falls in love with her. who plots against the Buyable․He manages to convince the king that Gnel is going to seize the throne of Great Hayk, and that is why the king ordered to kill him.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENT
At that time, Andovk, one of the ministers from Syunyat, had a beautiful girl named Parandzem, who was very famous for her beauty and decency.Then the nephew of the king, took him a wife: The beauty of this girl was widely announced and spread and sounded in various places.Fueled by this reputation, Tirith, Gnel’s other cousin, fell in love with his daughter-in-law… and then began plotting to lose the woman’s husband, hoping that he might be able to steal her wife later.
Tirit began to think of cunning tricks. hired many assistants and associates with whom he could advance his slander.And lied to King Arshak about Genel, that Genel intended to reign and kill you…So the king, being angry with Gnel, persecuted him and for a long time plotted against him…So the king, being angry with Gnel, persecuted him and plotted against him for a long time…
Pavstos Buzand. “History of Armenians” / D, ch. Э/
Arshak II was deeply troubled by Tirith’s arguments. Therefore, he invited Gnel to spend the Navasardian holidays together, but that’s when he carried out his conspiratorial murder.
According to Pavstos Buzand, Parandzem witnessed the conspiracy against her husband. The loving wife tried to save her husband by appealing to the Catholicos. However, Arshak II did not stop even with the intervention of Nerses the Great.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENT
And Gnel came to Kuash town, at the foot of Aragats mountain, to his blind grandfather Tiran, who was still alive. Tirith bitterly lamented his son Trdat, the father of Gnel, considering himself the cause of his murder. Therefore, he gives Gneli all his possessions and estates, villages and students, and orders him to live in the same Kuash settlement. Then Gnel takes a wife from a certain Syunyats tribe of Parandzem, and making him king, he gives abundant gifts to the ministers…
Here Tirith found an opportunity to anoint. He came to the king with his friend Vardan, who was the king’s squire from the Mamikonian clan, and they say: “Don’t you know that Ghenel has made up his mind to kill you and reign in your place”…
Arshak, believing this, sends the same Vardan to Gnel…
Movses Xorenaci. “History of Armenians” (book C, ch. IB)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENT
When Gnel entered the army, the king was informed of his arrival. Then an order was given from the court to keep him out of the army and take him to be killed…
They arrived, caught the boy Ghenel, threw him off the horse, tied his hands behind his back and took him to the place of beheading. His wife was in the same company as her husband and had come with a horse. When she saw that her husband was seized and tied up, she immediately ran to the church where the Divine Rite for the army was performed -morning prayer, where Bishop Nerses the great was located: A woman, having come to the bishop, was worried about the loss of her innocent husband: He shouted, saying: “Hurry, reach, my husband is being strangled without guilt, without a crime.” (And he) interrupting the ceremony, he runs into the king’s room, entering the door, falls to the king: And the tsar, having seen the great episcopate, having learned that he had come to intercede and persuade him not to kill, pulling Gnel by the head, hurriedly covers his face, snorting as if he was asleep, as if he did not hear his words.…And the young Gnel was taken to the royal hunting ground and beheaded on the hill of the mountain, which is called Lisin…
Then an order was given from the tsar. all the people who are in the army, all without exception, go to hush up and mourn for the great sepukh Gnel killed by Arshakuni. No one dares to go:The king himself, walking among the weeping, sat down, mourned his nephew, whom he himself had killed.He went and sat down by the corpse, he cried and told them to cry and reproach the murdered man:And the wife of the murdered man, a Parandzem, with torn dresses, loose hair, bare breasts, hid her grief, sobbed loudly, wept with tears in her eyes…
Pavstos Buzand. “History of Armenians” / school D, ch. Э/
According to the same historian, Tirith’s treason became known duringGnel the purchase funeral:And Parandem, without hesitation, started talking about it publicly: “The woman raised a protest. “Listen everyone, my husband’s death happened because of me, someone laid eyes on me and killed my husband because of me”:His hair was tousled, he was screaming, covering”…
According to historians, shortly after the death of Gnel, by order of Arshak II, Tirith was also executed, the victim of whose conspiracy Gnel became:
In the historiography of modern times, the point of view has appeared that the story of the Tirith conspiracy is rather a fiction, but in reality Arshak II killed two nephews who returned from the court of the Eastern Roman Empire, thereby freeing himself from possible pretenders to the throne: There are many such cases in world history when the tsar, suspecting his blood comrades of claims to the throne, executed them by inventing exculpatory “arguments”.:Perhaps we are dealing with such a scenario. Tsar Arshak II killed his nephew Gnel, and then married the widow Parandzem:
From the reports of the chroniclers, it is obvious that the soft-spoken lady “famous for her beauty and decency” was a strong-willed and very determined personality.”Queen of Great Hayk” and “Ladies’ Lady” Parandzem continued to love her victimized husband, hating the king whose wife she became, perhaps unwillingly.With surprise, but also with a feeling of human admiration, you read the verses written about it by Pavstos Buzand. “And as much as Arshak loved the woman, this Arshak hated the king”…
Parandzem’s strong-willed and consistent personality is also evident in another episode. She takes revenge for her murdered husband by urging Arshak II to execute his armor bearer Vardan Mamikonyan, who played an important role in organizing a conspiracy against Gnel.
The glorious queen gave Arshak II and the Armenian world a son, Prince Pap, who, thanks to her upbringing, became one of the most prominent figures in our history.
In the end, the best assessment of every woman, every mother can be the characteristics of the child she brings up. And Queen Parandzem brought up a son whose goal, unlike the Arshakun kings who ruled before him, was not to take the supreme throne from the Persians from the Sassanians, for the sake of re-establishing the power of the Arshakun dynasty in Persia, but to strengthen the power of the Armenian world.
The Pap was crowned king at the age of only sixteen. He took unprecedented serious steps to rebuild the war-ravaged and weakened country. The young king carried out a series of reforms, which very quickly led to an increase in the standard of living of the people, and a significant increase in the country’s economic and military power. And since they were done at the expense of the clerical class and the reduction of the rights and estates of the church, they provoked the hostility of the clergy towards him. He was falsely accused of poisoning the Catholicos Nerses the Great, having indecent behavior and manners, while he enjoyed great love and authority in the country, as the Roman historian Ammianus Markellianos testifies.
The Pap became the founder of the independence of the Armenian Church.
It is interesting that the young king took a step that can be considered an attempt to correct the error of Trdat III the Great. While preserving the status of Christianity as the state religion, he restored freedom of conscience in the country. Everyone got freedom of religion. the followers of the Armenian pre-Christian faith erected the statues of the ancient Armenian gods again.This was also supposed to deepen the hostility of the Armenian church towards the young king.
The goal of the emphasized national policy of the Pape was to restore the former power of the Armenian Kingdom, as well as the borders. The young king of Great Armenia, feeling himself strong enough, directly demanded from Emperor Vaghes to cede all the territories that once belonged to the Armenian kingdom. They included the entire Greater Armenia with the Armenian state of Mesopotamia (the center of which was the city of Urha-Edessia), Lesser Armenia, as well as Cappadocia…
This is what the Pap was like, the son of the Paradzhem Queen…
The hostility of the spiritual class to the Pap also found its certain expression in the presentation of the Parandzem biography of the magnificent Queen. The stories that Parandzem made an alliance with demons, which accompanied his son Pap throughout his life, can be described as rumors invented by the motives of medieval obscurantism. Here are some episodes from those fictions. “When the mother gave birth to him, because she was a lawless person and had no fear of God at all, she gave him to demons, and many demons took up residence in the child and ruled him according to their will… And the mother looked and saw with her own eyes that the white snakes were wrapped around the legs of the sofa and were wrapping themselves around the young Pap… And thus guided by demons, Arshak’s son Pope indulged in such deeds throughout his life, until he reached the kingdom, until his death” (Pavstos Buzand, “History of Armenians”, school D, ch. KD).
Armenian chroniclers consider the poisoning of Arshak II’s other lady, Olympia, as a mortal sin committed by Parandzem. The latter, the fiance of Rome’s deceased brother), with whom Armenian-Roman relations were strengthened by his marriage. If we keep in mind that our chroniclers were also representatives of the spiritual class, it can be assumed that a biased approach was shown here as well. It is presented in such a way that the Parandzem Queen poisoned Olympia through the elder Ant of the royal palace (during the sacrament), to whom she gave her native village in exchange for her service.
To think that the queen organized a conspiracy behind Arshak II’s back, and then openly rewarded the executor, is possible only if the king was weak-minded, which is excluded in the case of Arshak II. With her presence in the Armenian court, Olympia was the symbol of Armenian-Roman friendship, so it is much more likely to assume that she became a victim of the pro-Persian, anti-Roman forces of the Armenian Council of Elders. It is possible that Arshak II himself made such an order during the improvement of relations with the Persian king Shapuh II. After all, the author of the conspiracy could also be the queen’s father, Andok Seung, to preserve his daughter’s unbroken position. The last opinion seems very likely, because we have evidence of Andok Syun’s actions in a similar situation. When the Armenian-Persian relations were closer, the king Shapuh II decided to strengthen them by giving Arshak II his daughter in marriage. That initiative was thwarted by Andok Syunu’s efforts. “And when Andok, the patriarch of Syunyats province, learned that the Persian king Shapuh wanted to give his daughter in marriage to the Armenian king Arshak, he was very afraid and doubted his mind. He realized that if Arshak marries the daughter of the Persian king, then his daughter will suffer dishonor, because at that time Parandzem, the daughter of Andok, who was the wife of Ghenel, was the wife of the Armenian king Arshak… Then Andok fell into his thoughts, looking for some trick, some way by which he might be able to thwart the love between the two kings”…
The Parandzem queen is best known in our history for the period of her sole rule. Persian king Shapuh invited Arshak king to negotiate with him. In 368, Arshak II was imprisoned and died in the Anhush fortress. Shapuh tried to deceive Queen Parandzem and invited her to Persia. However, the farsighted queen did not believe Shapuhi and did not accept her invitation. Moreover, in order to protect the country from the Persian conquest, he fortified himself with troops in the inaccessible Artagers fortress, where he also moved the king’s treasury.
Ammianos Markelianos has preserved remarkable and detailed information about the first defense of Artagers, the full quote.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENT
The Persian king Shapuh, after committing that dishonorable evil, handed over Armenia to the eunuch Glak and Artavan, instructing them to use all their efforts to destroy Artaghers. One of them, Glak, was a eunuch, and the other, Artavan, was an army commander. (Artagers was a fortified city with strong walls and a strong guard.) Arshak treasury was kept here, Arshak wife was also here with her son. Carrying out Shapuh’s order, the Persian generals began the siege of Artagers. But the fortress was at an inaccessible height, and it was impossible to approach, especially in winter, when the ground was covered with snow and ice. Glak, as a eunuch, was capable of treating women with care, so accompanied by Artavan, he came directly under the wall to announce that he had something to say. Having received the assurance that his person would not be in danger, he entered the fortress together with his friend.
He began to terrify the queen and the garrison by advising them to indulge as soon as possible and to moderate Shapuh’s fury, noting his famous cruelty. The conversation took a long time. All those who had strongly agreed to the idea of surrendering the fort, moved by the queen’s tears, who wept over the cruelty of fate, pitying the queen, changed their minds.
Glacus and Artavanus, hoping that they would later receive a reward from the Romans, in secret consultation persuaded (the defenders) that a strong regiment, opening the gate of the fortress at the appointed hour of the night, would make a surprise attack on the enemy’s Camp. They worked to ensure that the conspirators remained unknown. Consent was confirmed by oath.
Gluck and Artavan came out of the fortress and said that the besieged cities were asking for two days to consult how they would act: Thus, they were able to create the perfect carelessness near the aviaries:
And at night, when everyone was sleeping soundly, the door of the fortress city opened, a military unit of soldiers quickly left there, removing their swords, invisibly attacked the enemy camp, where danger was not expected, and, without meeting resistance, began to exterminate many sleeping people:
This sudden conspiracy and the sudden slaughter of the Persians infuriated Shapuh beyond measure. Added to this was the fact that Emperor Valens had received the Pope, the son of Arshak, who, on the advice of his mother, had fled to him with a small retinue. The emperor had given him a place of residence in Neocaesarea, a prominent city of Ptolemaic Pontus, and given him a living commensurate with his rank and received him with respect.
Gluck and Artawan, encouraged by the attitude of Emperor Valens, sent an embassy to him and asked for military assistance and the appointment of the Pap as king. The emperor, considering the situation created at that time, refused to help, but ordered the general Terentius to take the Pap to Armenia as the ruler of the country, without bearing the name and title of the king. This was done with the right intention. (the emperor) wanted to avoid being accused of violating the peace treaty.
Ammianos Markelianos. “Activities” (Book XXVII, Chapter 12)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENT
Then the Persian king Shapuh sent two of his princes to the Armenian world, one named Zik, the other named Karen, with a hundred thousand troops to come and destroy the Armenian world. They came to the Armenian world. When the lady of the Armenian world, the glorious wife of the Armenian king Arshak, saw that the armies of the Parandzem king had filled the Armenian world, she took with her about eleven thousand chosen armed fighting men from the free and, escaping from the Persian troops, went to the fortress of Artagers in Arsharunyats province. Then all the troops from Persia arrived, sat around the fortress, surrounded it, besieged it. And they fortified themselves inside, relying on the strength of the place, and these, having formed an army, sat outside, around the valleys. Thus they sat around the fortress for thirteen months and could not take the fortress because the place was very strong. The entire country was destroyed, destroyed, the provinces went out and the countries were captured, capturing people and animals, bringing their army, bringing food from other places and eating, keeping the fortress under siege.
And the Pap, Arshak’s son, was not in the Armenian world at that time. he was with the Greek king…
And the Armenian world, they often sent messengers to Parandzem, the lady of the country, to protect the fortress and not surrender to the Persians. Delegates from his son, the Pap, often came on saturdays, entered the fortress through a secret door, and gave heart to the lady. thus the siege of the fort lasted thirteen months. And the delegates kept coming and going, saying: “Hold on tight, your papa son is coming and he’s bringing an imperial regiment to help.” This encouragement was delayed for a long time because they said: “Be patient a little longer, help has arrived.”
After the fourteenth month, God struck the emigrants sheltering in the fortress. Death fell among those in the fortress, a divine plague… In less than a month from the day the death began, about eleven thousand men and about six thousand women were slaughtered. less than a month later, all those in the fort were massacred…And Mrs. Parandzem, seeing that she was left alone, opened the door of the fortress and let the Persian army inside the fortress. They caught the lady and brought her down from the fort. Then the Persian generals went up to the fortress, took the treasures of the Armenian king, which were kept in the fortress. everyone was taken down. For nine days and nine nights, they kept bringing down what they found, because of the artillery fire that started in the 15th month of the defense of Artagers, the Persians were able to take control of the fortress. According to Vardan Hatsu’s characteristic expression: “The queen of the army was defeated, but not badly, and after the exhaustion of all her forces. such a faithful commander, who is inseparable from the enemy, will be the last to fall in the army”… The Parandzem queen was captured. Shapuh II, in the fortress of Artagers, and together with the lady were taken captive… They left policemen and overseers in the Armenian world to subjugate the rest of the people of the country, and they, taking the Parandzem lady, took the Persian world with treasures and many captives. they came and brought the world from Persia to King Shapuh.
Pavstos Buzand. “History of Armenians” ( GL. TSE)
Due to the epidemic that started in the 15th month of the defense of Artagers, the Persians were able to take control of the fortress. According to Vardan Hatsu’s characteristic expression: “The queen of the army was defeated, but not badly, and after the exhaustion of all her forces. such a faithful commander, who is inseparable from the enemy, will be the last to fall in the army”…
The Parandzem queen was captured. Shapuh II publicly executed the queen, subjecting her to torture and humiliation. Pavstos Buzand presents the insults of the queen as Shapoh’s revenge, with which she “willed to reproach the (Arshakunyats) clan, the Armenian world and the kingdom”… According to Movses Khorenatsi’s report, the queen was “put on a stake and killed”…
Such a turbulent and stormy life was experienced by the restless young lady from Syunyat, who was “very attracted by her beauty and decency”, the widow who lost her beloved husband, who against her will became the queen of Great Hayek and gave birth to and raised one of the most talented kings of our history. He became the leader of the remaining Armenian world without a king and heroically defended the country from the enemy. Thanks to his courage, diplomatic efforts and self-sacrifice, the Great Armenian Kingdom continued to exist… It is no coincidence that Queen Parandzem, along with her husband Arshak II and her son Pap King, became the hero of many artistic works.
And it is noteworthy that during the Artsakh liberation war, a squad of Armenian women was formed, which bore the name of the glorious queen, “Parandzem”.
The squad named after the Hero-Queen stood out in the liberation battles and became a participant in our modern history of heroes…