From Medieval Patronage of the Armenian Noblewoman to Epigraphic Inscription

20.10.2026 18:15 – 19:30

ENTREE LIBRE | La conférence sera donnée en anglais

Patronage played a pivotal role in medieval Armenia. Patronage was undertaken by both secular elites and religious leaders, as well as by women, who at times acted as supporters alongside their husbands and, at other times, as patrons and donors in their own right. Particularly well known are the Armenian noblewomen of the 9th-14th centuries who belonged to such princely houses as the Bagratuni, Zakarian, Vachutyan, Proshian, Orbelian and Dopian, among others.

Later, on their own initiative, women undertook large-scale construction and renovation works, became trustees and patrons, made donations to monasteries and newly built churches, and were commemorated in liturgical services. They commissioned manuscripts, reduced various taxes or established new ones, and engaged in other forms of patronage. Women referred to in inscriptions as queens, princesses, great ladies, or by other honorific titles are attested in epigraphic sources from virtually all periods of the Middle Ages.

Through their initiatives and patronage, women contributed to the construction not only of churches, fortifications, bridges, funerary monuments, scriptoria, and narthexes, and to the erection of khachkars (cross-stones), but also participated as full members of society, exercising their legal rights and taking an active part in the various processes taking place in the country.

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Bâtiment: Bâtiment des Philosophes

Phil 103

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