MOSES OF KHOREN (of Corene), also called Khoranatsi. - Famous Armenian historian, author of a monumental Armenian History divided into three parts, which runs from the beginnings up to 440, while in the 9th century there existed a fourth part that extended to the times of the emperor Zeno (474-91). The Armenian History, written in a lyrical style, especially extols the deeds of the Armenian nobility and of the Bagratid dynasty. It closes with the narrative of the death of Sahak the Great and of Mesrop.

On the author's chronology and on his qualities there has been much discussion in recent times, and opinions are not yet in agreement. The author makes himself one of the "holy translators"

who, at the initiative of Sahak and Mesrop, and therefore in the 5th century, went abroad to prepare the version of the Bible. He would have been a priest and probably also a bishop. In the work the authority of older sources is invoked, such as Eusebius of Caesarea, Mar Abas Katina, Bardesanes, Julius Africanus, the Pseudo-Callisthenes and others. It is true, moreover, that in the 5th century there flourished in Armenia, according to Lazarus of Parphi and Koriun, a "blessed philosopher," a bishop, by the name of M. On these arguments and on the coherence with the sources of the 5th century rely the authors who uphold the thesis of an M. of Corene as a historian of the 5th century; thus the Mechitarists of Venice and F. C. Conybeare.

Others, no less numerous, point out that in the work there is mention of "Armenia quarta," a name introduced in 536 by Justinian. Moreover, no citations of the Armenian History have survived until the 9th century, in which the Bagratid dynasty, so celebrated in the book, reaches the height of its splendor. The work would therefore have been written in the period between the 8th and 9th centuries, and the author's assertions would be literary fictions. Thus think, among others, A. Carrière and N. Akinian with the Mechitarists of Vienna.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: the Armenian text of the history with the other works of M. was published by the Mechitarists of Venice in 1843 and 1865 and later by M. Abeghian-S. Harutinian (Tiflis 1913); Latin version by G. Wisthon (London 1726), French by V. Langlois (Paris 1870), Italian by G. Cappelletti (Venice 1831), German by M. Lauer (Ratisbon 1869). In favor of authenticity v. F. C. Conybeare, The date of M. of Ch., in Byzant. Zeitschr., 10 (1901), pp. 489-504; P. Vetter, M. von Ch., in Kirchenlexikon, 2nd ed., VIII, pp. 1955-63. Against authenticity v. A. Carrière, M. de Kh. et les généalogies patriarcales, Paris 1891; id., Nouvelles sources de M. de Kh., supplément, Vienna 1894; N. Akinian, in Wiener Zeitschr. für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 37 (1930), p. 204 ff.; Bardenheuer, V, pp. 189-95.

Ignazio Ortiz de Urbina

@incollection{ec8_mose_di_khoren_di_corene_detto, author = {Ortiz, de Urbina Ignazio}, title = {Mosè di Khoren (Di Corene) Detto Anche Khoranatsi}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1479--1480}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/mose-di-khoren-di-corene-detto-anche-khoranatsi} }

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Moses of Khoren (of Corene), also called Khoranatsi

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