Gagik II - Betrayal and Exile

Betrayal and Exile

Vahram began negotiations with the new Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachus. Gagik II offered to be a vassal of the emperor, but the Byzantines did not accept it and prepared a new expedition entrusted to the Duke of Iberia, Michael Iasites, but he failed in the face of Armenian resistance. Emperor Constantine wished to continue the policy of his predecessors and therefore sent an army to conquer Armenia, whilst inciting the Arab emir of Dvin, Aboul Asvar, to attack Armenia from the east. King Gagik II, however, managed to placate Aboul Asvar by sending him gifts. This allowed Gagik to concentrate his forces against the Byzantines, eventually forcing them to flee. Thus, King Gagik II proved he was worthy of the throne and the reputation of fighting king, which had passed on to him from the very first kings in the Bagratuni dynasty. The Byzantines soon realised that that if Armenia could not be conquered by force, it could be taken by treachery. Gagik II made the severe mistake of forgiving Vest Sarkis for his crime of high treason against the crown. The traitor was still a loyal subject of Byzantium, constantly fostering the naive hope of being appointed as king of Armenia if Byzantium was to conquer Armenia. With the assistance of Vest Sarkis, the Byzantine emperor invited Gagik II to Constantinople to sign an allegedly permanent peace-treaty. Gagik II was lured into the trap and went to Constantinople. There the emperor demanded that the Armenian king abdicate and hand over the throne to him, and since Gagik II refused to do so he was thrown into jail. The Byzantines promptly sent an army to Armenia, which was now leaderless. In lieu of its rightful king, Armenians considered offering the throne of Ani to David Anholin of Lori or to the emir of Dwin, Abul Uswar, married to the sister of David Anholin. Even Bagrat IV of Georgia was considered but surprisingly not the Bagratuni King Gagik-Abas of Kars. The patriarch Petros did not approve of any of the three candidates and finally conceded the delivery to the Byzantines of the city of Ani and other fortresses. With help from the treachery of Catholicos Petros, the Byzantines were finally able to occupy Ani in 1045. The country was immediately inaugurated as a province in the empire. Not satisfied with the extinction of the political life of the greatest of the Armenian kingdoms, the Byzantine clergy insisted upon converting Armenians to the Greek Orthodox faith. Meanwhile Armenia was economically at the mercy of the imperial functionaries sent from the capital, who crushed the population under the burden of heavy taxes. The Armenian nobility, a favorite subject of persecution, suffered the heaviest losses through systematic purges by the imperial authorities. The only parts of Armenia to continue their independent existence were the kingdom of Kars, which managed to maintain its independence for a couple decades longer, and the kingdom of Lori, which thanks to its geographical position was more secure and continued its independence for another century. By destroying the government of the Bagratuni Armenian Kingdom of Ani, the Byzantines had also removed the only power which could, perhaps, withstand a full scale Seljuq invasion. By itself, Byzantium could not summon the same level of defense that Armenia had managed to concentrate in order to hold off the Seljuqs. Alfred Rambaud express the following on this matter: "The Byzantine occupation of Armenia resulted in catastrophic consequences for both sides, since the empire lost its natural link through which it was connected to the East. Up to that point the Armenians had managed to withstand all assaults, but when Armenia lost its royal dynasty, everything else was lost as well."