Tondrakians (
Armenian: Թոնդրակեաններ) were members of an anti-feudal, heretical
Christian sect that flourished in
medieval Armenia between the early 9th century and 11th century and centered on the city of
Tondrak, north of
Lake Van in
Western Armenia.
The founder of the movement was
Smbat Zarehavantsi, who advocated the abolition of the
Church along with all of its traditional
rites. Tondrakians denied the immortality of the soul, the afterlife, the church and its feudal rights. They supported property rights for peasants, as well as equality between men and women.[
citation needed] Tondrakians organized their communities in much the same fashion as did the
early Christians under the
Roman Empire during the first three centuries.[
citation needed] They also participated in the peasant revolts of the 10th century, particularly in
Ayrarat and
Syunik. The Tondrakian movement resembled the
Paulician movement in many ways, and various scholars consider it a continuation of the Paulician movement under different conditions, when Armenia was independent.[
citation needed] The Paulician movement was of a social nature and simultaneously a resistance movement, directed against the Arabs and Byzantines, while the Tondrakian movement primarily had a social character and was used as a tool for class warfare.[
citation needed]
In the early 10th century, many regions of Armenia were undergoing peasant uprisings, which also first began in forms of open social protests, eventually adopting religious aspects. Contemporary historian and eyewitness
Hovhanes Draskhanakertsi describes how the peasants of
Ayrarat fought against their feudal lords and landowners:
destroying their castles and property. Peasant revolts appear also in
Syunik. After the construction of
Tatev Monastery was completed in 906, the ownership of the adjacent villages was transferred by a special princely edict to the monks of the monastery. Flatly refusing to obey this edict, the peasants of Tsuraberd, Tamalek, Aveladasht and other villages carried on a prolonged struggle against the churchgoers. Several times, this revolt transformed into an open uprising. With the aid of Smbat, the prince of Syunik, the monastery managed after a while to take control of Aveladasht and Tamalek. The struggle to take control of Tsuraberd bore a bloodier nature. Here, the peasants attacked the monastery and plundered it. Smbat eventually suppressed the uprising. However, after a short while, the people of Tsuraberd revolted again. Peasant uprisings continued with interruptions throughout the 10th century. In 990, the King of Syunik, Vasak, burned down Tsuraberd and pacified its inhabitants. This led to the widespread acceptance of the Tondrakian movement among the lower classes of people in the late 10th century.
After the suppression of the peasant revolts, the Tondrakians suffered a minor decline. However, by the beginning of the 11th century, the movement enveloped many regions of Armenia. Tondrakian villages and communities appeared in
Upper Armenia,
Vaspurakan,
Mokq and other provinces. Historians mention various leaders of the Tondrakians of this time such as Thoros, Ananes, Hakop and Sarkis. The wide acceptance of the movement began to worry secular and spiritual feudal lords, Byzantine authorities and even Muslims.
Armenian secular and spiritual feudal lords joined forces with neighbouring Muslim Arab emirs as well as
Byzantines in the persecution of Tondrakians. The movement quickly spread to
Shirak,
Turuberan and the Armenian regions of
Taron, Hark and Mananali that were subject to Byzantium, after acquiring the nature of people's liberation struggle against the Byzantine expansion to their overall ideology. After suffering a number of defeats at the hands of Byzantium, most Tondrakians were deported to
Thrace in the 10th century. Following the Byzantine conquest of the
Bagratuni Kingdom of Ani in 1045, the movement experienced a new resurgence, this time within large cities like
Ani where they began appealing to the lower ranks of the
nobility and the clergy. The Tondrakian movement broke into three different directions during its last years, the most radical of which began advocating
atheism as well as doubt in the
afterlife and the immortality of the human soul. By the middle of the 11th century, the Byzantine governor of Taron and
Vaspurakan,
Gregory Magistros, managed to eliminate all remnants of Tondrakians. Historian
Aristakes Lastivertsi describes the elimination of Tondrakians in great detail.
Tenth century Armenian theologian and monk
Gregory of Narek wrote a critical summary of Tondrakian doctrines in his
Letter to the Abbot of Kchaw Concerning the Refutation of the Accursed Tondrakians. He lists the following among other accusations:
- They deny our ordination, which the apostles received from Christ.
- They deny the Holy Communion as the true body and blood of Christ.
- They deny our Baptism as being mere bath water.
- They consider Sunday as on a level with other days.
- They refuse genuflection.
- They deny the veneration of the cross.
- They ordain each other and thus follow self-conferred priesthood.
- They do not accept marriage as a sacrament.
- They reject the matagh[1] as being a Jewish practice.
- They are sexually promiscuous.
