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King Gagik II had only just outed the Seljuk Turks when he faced with a fresh Byzantine attack. Emperor Constantine "Monomac" IX wished to continue the policy of his predecessors and therefore sent an army to conquer Bagratouni Armenia, whilst inciting the Arab emir of Dvin, Aboul Asvar, to attack Armenia from the east.

King Gagik II, however, managed to get placate Aboul Asvar, by sending him gifts, allowing him to concentrate his forces against the Byzantine, eventually forcing them to flee. 81 Thus, King Gagik II proved he was worthy of the throne and the title of fighting king, which had passed on to him from the very first kings in the Bagratouni dynasty. "He had all the characteristics of a worthy king and that already at his young is low age. He was a clever, educated and polite young man who commanded respect, but at the same time was a man of virtue and if his work had not been destroyed through betrayal he would have, without a doubt, succeeded in maintaining the independence of Armenia." 82

For Byzantine had realised that that if Armenia could not be conquered by force, it could be taken by treachery.

Gagik II made the grave mistake of forgiving Vest Sarkis for his high treason against the crown. This traitor was still a subject of Byzantine, constantly fostering the naïve hope of being appointed as king of Armenia if Byzantine was to conquer Armenia. With the assistance of Vest Sarkis, the Byzantine emperor invited Gagik II to Constantinople to sign a permanent peace-treaty.

Gagik II was lured into the trap and went to Constantinople. There the emperor demanded that the Armenian king abdicate and hand over the throne to him, and since Gagik II refused to do so he was thrown into jail.

Byzantine promptly sent an army to Armenia, which was now without its leader. In lieu of its king, Armenia considered offering the throne of the country to the Georgian branch of the Bagratouni dynasty.

Finally, with the help of the heinous treachery of Catholicos Petros, Byzantine was able to occupy Armenia (1045). The country was immediately inaugurated as a province in the empire and large-scale plundering, taxation, murder and religious persecutions and harassments quickly became widespread, which intensified the hostility and the wrath of the Armenian people towards Byzantine. The only parts of Armenia which continued their independent existence were Kars, which managed to maintain its independence for a couple decades longer, and Armenian Lori which thanks to its geographical situation was much more secure and continued its independence for another century.

By destroying the government of Bagratouni Armenia in Ani, Byzantine had also removed the only power which could withstand a Turanian invasion. By itself, Byzantine could not summon the same level of defence with which Armenia had managed to hold off the Turanians. According to Macler "the Greeks understood very late on the catastrophic consequences of their blind hatred and hostility towards the only nation that could act as a shield for them in the east." 83

Alfred Rambaud express the following on this matter: "The Byzantine occupation of Armenia resulted in catastrophic consequences for both sides, since the empire lost its natural link through which it was connected to the east. Until that point the Armenians had managed to withstand all assaults, but when Armenia lost its royal dynasty, everything else was lost as well." 85