Hayton of Corycus (also ''Hethum, Het'um'', and variants; in Armenian known as "Hethum the Historian" ; c. 1240 – c. 1310/1320
) was a medieval
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
nobleman, monk and historiographer.
Hayton is the author of ("Flower of the Histories of the East";
la, Flos historiarum terre Orientis), a historiographical work about the
history of Asia
The history of Asia can be seen as the collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions such as East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian steppe. See History of the Mi ...
, especially about the
Muslim conquests
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
and the
Mongol invasion
The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire (1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...
, which he dictated at the request of
Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...
in 1307, while he was at
Poitiers. The
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...
original text was recorded by one Nicolas Faulcon, who also prepared a Latin translation. The work was widely disseminated in the
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...
and was influential in shaping western European views of the
Orient.
Biography
As an influential member of the Armenian
Hethumid
The Hethumids ( hy, Հեթումյաններ Hethumian) (also spelled Hetoumids or Het'umids), also known as the House of Lampron (after Lampron castle), were an Armenian dynasty and the rulers of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia from 1226 to 134 ...
dynasty in
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
, Hayton was the son of prince Oshin (d. 15 Jan 1265), lord of
Corycus (Korikos) and younger brother of king
Hethum I and
Smbat Sparapet (d. after 1298) the chronicler and kingdom's Constable (d.1276).
Likely born between c. 1230 and 1245, he was made governor of the city of
Corycus.
In 1299, he made a pilgrimage to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
to fulfill a
Marian
Marian may refer to:
People
* Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia
* Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name
* Marian (surname), a list of people so named
Places
* Marian, Iran (disambiguation)
* Marian, Queenslan ...
vow.
In 1305, he joined the order of the
Premonstratensians at
Bellapais Abbey in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
.
Cypriot chronology suggests that Hayton was forced into exile in 1294 because he conspired against his younger cousin, king
Hethum II
Hethum II ( hy, Հեթում Բ; 1266– November 17, 1307), also known by several other romanizations, was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1289 to 1293, 1295 to 1296 and 1299 to 1303, while Armenia was a subject state of the M ...
.
By 1307, he was in
Poitiers, the main residence of
Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...
, as prior to the Premonstratensian abbey there. It was here that he dictated his ''History'' at the request of the pope. His political aim in Poitiers was to gain support for
Amalric of Tyre in his usurpation of the throne of Cyprus against the unpopular king
Henry II of Cyprus
Henry II (June 1270 – 31 August 1324) was the last crowned King of Jerusalem (after the fall of Acre on 28 May 1291, this title became empty) and also ruled as King of Cyprus. He was of the Lusignan dynasty.
He was the second surviving so ...
,
and to advocate for a new
crusade in alliance with the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
.
After the assassination of Hethum II in 1307, Hayton returned to Cilician Armenia, where, leaving his monastic life behind, he became
Constable, commander of the armed forces. The date of his death is unknown; he is last recorded as having been alive in 1309, acting on behalf of Amalric. The suggestion (made by Charles Kohler in the preface to the 1906 edition of the ''History'') that one ''Haytonus, Armeniorum dux generalis'' recorded as present in the
Council of Adana in 1314 is to be identified with Hayton of Corycus has not found mainstream acceptance due to the ubiquity of the Armenian name ''Hayton''.
Hayton's daughter
Isabel
Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...
(1282-1310) married
Oshin
is a Japanese serialized morning television drama (''asadora''), which originally aired on NHK from 4 April 1983 to 31 March 1984; it is the 31st ''asadora'' overall to be produced. The 297 15-minute episodes follow the life of during the Me ...
, the son of
Leo II, and king of Cilician Armenia from 1307 to 1320. His son
Oshin of Corycus became regent of Cilician Armenia from 1320, presumably indicating that Hayton was no longer alive.
''La Flor des estoires de la terre d'Orient''
While in France, Hayton compiled a geography of Asia, one of the first of the Middle Ages, (, "The flower of the stories of the Orient").
The work consists of four books of unequal lengths, the main part being contained in book 3, after which the entire work is sometimes referred to as the "History of the Tartars", which gives a
history of the Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
and the
Mongol invasions
The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206-1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastatio ...
.
For his history of the Mongols Hayton names an ''Estoires des
Tartars
Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bound ...
'' ("History of the Tartars") as his source for the time until the reign of
Möngke Khan
Möngke ( mn, ' / Мөнх '; ; 11 January 1209 – 11 August 1259) was the fourth khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire, ruling from 1 July 1251, to 11 August 1259. He was the first Khagan from the Toluid line, and made significant reform ...
(1250s), while for more recent events, he relies on the accounts by his great-uncle, king
Hethum I, and on his own experiences. He is also informed by western sources on the history of the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
, and most likely draws on the travelogues of
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, variously rendered in English as ''John of Pian de Carpine'', ''John of Plano Carpini'' or ''Joannes de Plano'' (c. 11851 August 1252), was a medieval Italian diplomat, archbishop and explorer and one of the firs ...
and
Marco Polo.
Book 1 describes the geography of Asia as divided into the kingdoms of
Cathay (China), Tars (
Uyghurs
The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
), Turkestan,
Khwarazmia
Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ea ...
,
Cumania
The name Cumania originated as the Latin exonym for the Cuman–Kipchak confederation, which was a tribal confederation in the western part of the Eurasian Steppe, between the 10th and 13th centuries. The confederation was dominated by two Tu ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
,
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
,
Chaldea,
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
, the "Land of the Turks" (
Seljuks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
) and
Syria.
Book 2 gives an account of the "Lordship of the Saracens", i.e. the
Muslim conquests
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
of the 7th century and the succeeding
Caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
s.
Book 3, known as the "History of the Tartars", provides an account of the rise of the
Mongol Empire, and of recent events in the Near East, especially relating to the history of the
Armenian kingdom
The Kingdom of Armenia, also the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, or simply Greater Armenia ( hy, Մեծ Հայք '; la, Armenia Maior), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Empire, was a monarchy in the Ancient Near East which existed from 331 BC ...
and its interaction with the Mongol
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm ...
, to which it had been tributary since 1236.
Book 4 discusses a proposed alliance of
Christendom
Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...
with the
Mongol Empire to the end of a renewed
crusade in the
Holy Land. The work concludes with a plan for a new crusade, which Hayton proposed should be organised in alliance with the Ilkhan.
Hayton's promotion of this Ilkhanid alliance, and also his association with certain parties in the complex Armenian and Cypriot politics of the day, make this work rather tendentious. Thus, Hayton is always keen to ascribe motives for Mongol actions that would endear them to his papal audience, as with his account of the Ilkhan Hülegü's rather destructive invasion of Syria (1259–60):
The Khan wanted to go to Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in order to deliver the Holy Land from the Saracens and to remit it to the Christians. The king Hethum I was very happy with this request, and assembled a great score of men on foot and on horse, because, in that time, the Kingdom of Armenia was in such a good state that it easily had 12,000 soldiers on horse and 60,000 soldiers on foot.
Hayton dictated his text to one Nicolas Faulcon using the French language. Faulcon then prepared a Latin translation of his French text. The work was completed and presented to
Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...
in 1307. Faulcon's text is preserved in numerous manuscripts, a total of 18 of the French text and 32 of the Latin text (two which are not independent witnesses but notebooks or indices of variants).
Some of these manuscripts still date to the first half of the 14th century.
For the French text: Turin University library IV.30, Paris BNF
nouv. acq. fr. 886, Vienna national library no. 2620; for the Latin text: Paris BNF lat. 5515 and lat. 14693. There is another French text, translated from Faulcon's Latin text by one Jean le Long in 1351 (preserved in 3 manuscripts). In addition there is one Aragonese translation made for Juan Fernández de Heredia, grand master of the Hospitallers, besides a former Catalan translation having maybe the same origin, and one English language manuscript of the 16th century, presumably made for Henry VIII. The ''Editio princeps'' was prepared in Paris in 1510, based on Faulcon's French text.
Faulcon's Latin text appeared in Haguenau (1529), Basel (1532) and Helmstedt 1585, Jean le Long's French version in Paris (1529).
An English translation (independent of the English manuscript text) by Richard Pynson was printed in London in the 1520s. Other translations included German (Strasbourg 1534), Dutch (Antwerpen 1563), Italian (Venice 1559, 1562, 1562) and Spanish (Córdoba 1595) versions.
A modern edition of the text was prepared (with modern French translation and commentary) by
Jean Dardel in 1906 for ''
Recueil des historiens des croisades {{italic title
The ''Recueil des historiens des croisades'' (trans: ''Collection of the Historians of the Crusades'') is a major collection of several thousand medieval documents written during the Crusades. The documents were collected and publish ...
''.
[''Recueil des historiens des croisades, documents armeniens tome second'' (1906]
archive.org
/ref>
Notes
References
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External links
*
by Hayton of Corycus (English translation)
{{Armenian literature
13th-century Armenian historians
14th-century Armenian historians
13th-century births
14th-century deaths
Armenian Christian monks
Premonstratensians
People of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
Hethumid dynasty