The Narrative of the Caucasian Schism: Memory and Forgetting in Medieval Caucasia [Paperback]

In the early seventh century, the Georgian and the Armenian Churchesseparated. Since then, the two nations formed their distinct Christiancultures and national Churches. This also resulted in mutual antagonism,the repercussions of which are still observable in modern Caucasia This is the prevalent narrative that one encounters in modern historiesof medieval Caucasia. In the centre of this narrative lies the Schism a watershed that divides the history of Caucasia into two chronologicalconstituents, the era before and after. Indeed, the Schism is allegedlyone of the most well documented events in Caucasian history, infinitelyevoked and referred to in medieval Armenian historical accounts. Thepresent study is an attempt to deconstruct this grand narrative byfocusing on the formation of the narrative of the Schism, its centralelement. It argues that the narrative of the Schism was perpetuallyreconstructed and reinvented by medieval historians for the purpose ofsustaining teleological continuity in their perception of the regionshistory. In the historical imaginaries of different medieval writers indifferent times and places, the Schism served as an interpretive tool inattempts to create a sound connection between the present and theforgotten past. The Schism was once again reinvented in contemporaryArmenian and Georgia national discourses, and thence has made its wayinto scholarly studies.