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

In the early seventh century, the Georgian and the Armenian Churches

separated. Since then, the two nations formed their distinct Christian

cultures 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 histories

of medieval Caucasia. In the centre of this narrative lies the Schism -

a watershed that divides the history of Caucasia into two chronological

constituents, the era before and after. Indeed, the Schism is allegedly

one of the most well documented events in Caucasian history, infinitely

evoked and referred to in medieval Armenian historical accounts. The

present study is an attempt to deconstruct this grand narrative by

focusing on the formation of the narrative of the Schism, its central

element. It argues that the narrative of the Schism was perpetually

reconstructed and reinvented by medieval historians for the purpose of

sustaining teleological continuity in their perception of the region’s

history. In the historical imaginaries of different medieval writers in

different times and places, the Schism served as an interpretive tool in

attempts to create a sound connection between the present and the

forgotten past. The Schism was once again reinvented in contemporary

Armenian and Georgia national discourses, and thence has made its way

into scholarly studies.