The Armenian bibliography is rich in manuscripts on church and mundane law that regulated the church and political life of medieval Armenia.
A considerable number of these works has been translated from other languages, accommodated them to the conditions of Armenia and merged with the works on law written in Armenia. The originals of the medieval Armenian manuscripts on law are preserved at the Matenadaran and some other depositories of the world (St. Lazar in Venice, Mekhitarian in Wien, St. Jacob in Jerusalem, the monastery of Zmmar, the library of Vatican, the national library of Paris, British museum, Berlin Imperial library). Some originals of these works are published, while the others are waiting for their specialists.
One of the oldest monuments of the Armenian church law is the Book of Canons by Hovhannes Odznetsi (728), containing the canons of the ecumenical councils, the ecclestical councils and the councils of the Armenian church. These canons regulate social relations within the church and out of it between individuals and ecclesiastic organizations. They concern marriage and moral, robbery and bribe, human vice and drunkenness, different problems, that regulate the social life. Unique editions of the Book of Canons were issued in the 11th century, as well as in the 13th century by Gevorg Yerzenkatsi and in the 17th century by Azaria Sasnetsi. There are also particular groups of manuscripts that are of special importance for studying the Book of Canons.
The first attempt of compiling a book of civic law on the basis of the Book of Canons was the Canonic Legislation of David Alavkavordi Gandzaketsi (1st half of the 12th century). Of particular importance to study of the Armenian canonical and civic law are The Universal Paper (1165) of Nerses Shnorhali and Exhortation for the Christians (13th century) of Hovhannes Yerzenkatsi, etc.
In the beginning of the 13th century, in Northern Armenia , under the patronage of the Zakarian dynasty, The Armenian Code of Law of Mekhitar Gosh, the first collection of the Armenian civic law was compiled. Of particular importance is the Introduction, where the author analyzes questions concerning the theory and the practical use of the law. Three editions of this work are known, each of which had its sphere of usage, time and territory. Under the direct influence of this work the famous 13th century military commander of the Cilician Armenian State Sembat Sparapet compiled his Code of Law. These monuments of civic law reflect the social life and the interrelations of home policy in Armenia and in the Cilician State.
Parallel to the creation of The Code of Law of Gosh, at the end of the 12th century thanks to the efforts of Tarson's archbishop Nerses Lambronatsi, several monuments of Roman and Byzantine civic law were translated from Greek, Syriac and Latin - the brief variety of Eckloga, the Syriac - Roman Codes of Law, the Military Constitution, the Canons of the Benedictine religious order, etc. This enrichment of Armenian bibliography with the foreign monuments of law was continued by Sembat Sparapet. In the 1260s he translated from old French the Antioch assizes, one of the monuments of the civic law of the Crusade east. The French original of this work is lost. The Armenian translations of the above mentioned works often give an opportunity to restore the primary meanings of the originals. These translations are of great interest, because the Armenian translators adapted them to the needs of the Armenian environment. Then, being edited during the centuries, they became clearer to the readers.
After the fall of the last Armenian kingdom (1375) many Armenian communities were founded out of Armenia. They used the Armenian Codes of Law to regulate the internal relations. Being integrated in those countries (especially in Georgia, Crimea, Ukraine, Poland, Russia), the Armenian population wanted to have their codes translated into the languages of those countries. Several monuments of the Armenian law were translated into the Kiptchak (a Tatar language in the begining of the 18th cen.) in the 14th-15th centuries in the Crimea. In 1518 the collection of the Armenian law, having The Code of Law of Gosh as a basis, was translated into Latin in Poland by order of Polish king Sigizmund I. Another collection of the Armenian law was included into the Code of Law of Georgian prince Vakhtang and was included through it into the Tsarist Russia's Collection of Law in the 19th century.
Under the influence of bourgeois revolutions Shahamir Shahamirian, an Armenian public, figure living in India wrote his Trap for the Fame, which is a unique state constitution. It envisages the restoration of the Armenian state in Armenia after the liberation from the Turkish and Persian yoke. Here the norms of the traditional Armenian law are merged with the elements of the new bourgeois ideology. The points of the constitution concern the state construction, civil and criminal law, regulating the questions of liberty and equal rights. Interesting monuments of the Armenian constitutional right are the programs of the Armenian autonomy, discussed in Turkey after the Crimean war (1856).
One of the oldest monuments of the Armenian church law is the Book of Canons by Hovhannes Odznetsi (728), containing the canons of the ecumenical councils, the ecclestical councils and the councils of the Armenian church. These canons regulate social relations within the church and out of it between individuals and ecclesiastic organizations. They concern marriage and moral, robbery and bribe, human vice and drunkenness, different problems, that regulate the social life. Unique editions of the Book of Canons were issued in the 11th century, as well as in the 13th century by Gevorg Yerzenkatsi and in the 17th century by Azaria Sasnetsi. There are also particular groups of manuscripts that are of special importance for studying the Book of Canons.
The first attempt of compiling a book of civic law on the basis of the Book of Canons was the Canonic Legislation of David Alavkavordi Gandzaketsi (1st half of the 12th century). Of particular importance to study of the Armenian canonical and civic law are The Universal Paper (1165) of Nerses Shnorhali and Exhortation for the Christians (13th century) of Hovhannes Yerzenkatsi, etc.
In the beginning of the 13th century, in Northern Armenia , under the patronage of the Zakarian dynasty, The Armenian Code of Law of Mekhitar Gosh, the first collection of the Armenian civic law was compiled. Of particular importance is the Introduction, where the author analyzes questions concerning the theory and the practical use of the law. Three editions of this work are known, each of which had its sphere of usage, time and territory. Under the direct influence of this work the famous 13th century military commander of the Cilician Armenian State Sembat Sparapet compiled his Code of Law. These monuments of civic law reflect the social life and the interrelations of home policy in Armenia and in the Cilician State.
Parallel to the creation of The Code of Law of Gosh, at the end of the 12th century thanks to the efforts of Tarson's archbishop Nerses Lambronatsi, several monuments of Roman and Byzantine civic law were translated from Greek, Syriac and Latin - the brief variety of Eckloga, the Syriac - Roman Codes of Law, the Military Constitution, the Canons of the Benedictine religious order, etc. This enrichment of Armenian bibliography with the foreign monuments of law was continued by Sembat Sparapet. In the 1260s he translated from old French the Antioch assizes, one of the monuments of the civic law of the Crusade east. The French original of this work is lost. The Armenian translations of the above mentioned works often give an opportunity to restore the primary meanings of the originals. These translations are of great interest, because the Armenian translators adapted them to the needs of the Armenian environment. Then, being edited during the centuries, they became clearer to the readers.
After the fall of the last Armenian kingdom (1375) many Armenian communities were founded out of Armenia. They used the Armenian Codes of Law to regulate the internal relations. Being integrated in those countries (especially in Georgia, Crimea, Ukraine, Poland, Russia), the Armenian population wanted to have their codes translated into the languages of those countries. Several monuments of the Armenian law were translated into the Kiptchak (a Tatar language in the begining of the 18th cen.) in the 14th-15th centuries in the Crimea. In 1518 the collection of the Armenian law, having The Code of Law of Gosh as a basis, was translated into Latin in Poland by order of Polish king Sigizmund I. Another collection of the Armenian law was included into the Code of Law of Georgian prince Vakhtang and was included through it into the Tsarist Russia's Collection of Law in the 19th century.
Under the influence of bourgeois revolutions Shahamir Shahamirian, an Armenian public, figure living in India wrote his Trap for the Fame, which is a unique state constitution. It envisages the restoration of the Armenian state in Armenia after the liberation from the Turkish and Persian yoke. Here the norms of the traditional Armenian law are merged with the elements of the new bourgeois ideology. The points of the constitution concern the state construction, civil and criminal law, regulating the questions of liberty and equal rights. Interesting monuments of the Armenian constitutional right are the programs of the Armenian autonomy, discussed in Turkey after the Crimean war (1856).
