Mesrop Mashtots

Life events

1. Born — 362

   Born in the village of Hatsekats in the canton of Taron, to a father named Vardan. His exact date of birth is uncertain; recent scholarship accepts 361, with 361–364 as the likely range.

2. Educated

   Received a 'Hellenic education' in the Greek language; in addition to his native Armenian, he acquired Persian (Middle Persian) and Syriac (Aramaic). In the late 380s he moved to Vagharshapat, Armenia's capital, where he served at the court of King Khosrov III as royal chancellor.

3. Ordained — 394

   Around 394, with the blessing of Catholicos Sahak Partev, Mashtots was ordained as a monk and withdrew to a monastery in Goghtn. He subsequently became an ascetic hermit, then gathered roughly 40 disciples and began missionary work among Armenians, many of whom were still pagan.

4. Other — 405

   Invented the Armenian alphabet, a set of thirty-six letters (two more were added in the twelfth century), with the assistance of Catholicos Sahak Partev and King Vramshapuh, and after consulting Bishop Daniel of Mesopotamia and the monk Rufinus of Samosata. The first sentence written in the new script was the opening line of Solomon's Book of Proverbs.

5. Pilgrimage

   Traveled to Constantinople, where he obtained from Emperor Theodosius the Younger permission to preach and teach in the Armenian territories under Byzantine rule. He subsequently sent disciples to Edessa, Constantinople, Athens, Antioch, and Alexandria to study Greek and bring back texts of Greek literature.

6. Wrote — 434

   Oversaw the completion of the Armenian Bible translation, finished around 434. An initial translation from the Syriac text dated to about 411 was judged insufficient; disciples traveled to Constantinople and Alexandria to obtain Greek manuscripts, and the final version was translated from the Greek according to the Septuagint and Origen's Hexapla.

7. Other — 439

   After the death of Catholicos Sahak Partev in 439, Mashtots took responsibility for the spiritual administration of the patriarchate, surviving his associate by only about six months.

8. Died — 440

   Died on 17 February 440 AD. He is buried at a chapel in Oshakan, a village approximately 8 km southwest of Ashtarak in Armenia. His name is read in the Canon of the Armenian Liturgy.

Relationships

Documented claims

• The principal primary source for Mashtots is the Life of Mashtots (Վարք Մաշտոցի) by Koriun, a disciple, commissioned by Catholicos Hovsep I and written c. 443–450. The oldest extant manuscript fragments date to the 12th century and are preserved in Paris's Bibliothèque nationale (Arm. 178). (likely)
• The first sentence written in the newly invented Armenian alphabet was the opening line of Solomon's Book of Proverbs: «Ճանաչել զիմաստութիւն եւ զխրատ, իմանալ զբանս հանճարոյ» — 'To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding.' (likely)
• The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Translators (Surb T'argmanchats) on the second Saturday of October, honoring Mashtots alongside Yeghishe, Movses Khorenatsi, David the Invincible, Gregory of Narek, and Nerses Shnorhali. It was declared a national holiday in Armenia in 2001. (likely)
• Mashtots is listed in the Roman Martyrology of the Roman Catholic Church, with a feast day of 17 February. The Veneration section of the Wikipedia article explicitly names both the Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Catholic churches as venerating him. (likely)
• Giovanni Battista Tiepolo depicted Mashtots with a pseudo-Armenian alphabet on frescoes on the ceiling above the staircase of the Würzburg Residence in Bavaria; Francesco Maggiotto's Italianate portrait hangs at the Armenian Catholic monastery of San Lazzaro degli Armeni near Venice. (likely)