MAMIKONIAN. – An illustrious family of Armenian princes entrusted with the protection of the crown.
They gave not only heroes to the fatherland but also great saints. Among the most illustrious were: Vace; Muscel; Manuel the regent; Vardan, who is celebrated as the defender of the Armenian Church against Persian paganism (451); Vahan, who continued the work of the latter and, through strategy and fortitude, secured from the Persians the freedom of worship; and the princess HAMASABUHI, martyred for the faith.
When the Arabs invaded Armenia in 642, they aimed to destroy the suspected magnates, among whom the M. were foremost. Many of those dispersed crossed into Greek territory, where a branch of the M. family had already existed since 380. Subsequently, the M. are found holding high offices in the Byzantine Empire: among them the Empress Theodora, her brother VART (Bardas), and their ancestor Manuel, a general of the Eastern armies.