ALBANI. - A Caucasian people inhabiting Aguania, whose fate is linked to that of the Armeni. Tradition names Eliseo as the first preacher of Christianity among the A.; he penetrated into the interior of the country and built a small church, where he was later martyred. The A. were entirely converted to the faith through the apostles sent by the Armenian Church at the beginning of the 4th century. A Church was soon formed on the model of the Armenian one, with a katholikos residing in Partav and dependent upon the Armenian Church. The katholikosate of the A. was suppressed in the 19th century.
The A. joined the Armeni in the religious wars against the Mazdean worship of the Persians (451). Having separated, together with the Armeni, from the universal Church, they later attempted union in 709; but the katholikos Elia d'Armenia, at a council held in Partav, deposed the katholikos of the A., Nerses Bakur, promoter of the reconciliation, replacing him with Simon.
The literature of the A., begun through the work of s. Mesrob in the 5th century, was completely destroyed in the 6th century by the Xasiri. No people was subjected to as many vexations as the A., given their geographical position, which marks the passage from Asia to Europe; as a consequence, the Christian faith among them was completely destroyed and replaced by Islam.