Saint Moses of Chorene

Movses Khorenatsi was a prominent Armenian historian from late antiquity and the author of the History of the Armenians. Movses's History of the Armenians was the first attempt at a universal history of Armenia and remains the only known general account of early Armenian history. It traces Armenian history from its origins to the fifth century, during which Movses claimed to have lived. His history had an enormous impact on Armenian historiography and was used and quoted extensively by later medieval Armenian authors. He is called the "father of Armenian history" (patmahayr) in Armenian, and is sometimes referred to as the "Armenian Herodotus". Movses's history is also valued for its unique material on the old oral traditions in Armenia before its conversion to Christianity. Approximately twenty manuscripts of Movses's history have reached us, the majority of which date from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Movses identified himself as a young disciple of Mesrop Mashtots, inventor of the Armenian alphabet. Moreover, he claimed to have written his history at the behest of Prince Sahak of the Bagratuni dynasty. He is recognized by the Armenian Apostolic Church as one of the Holy Translators. The exact time period during which Movses lived and wrote has been the subject of much debate among scholars since the nineteenth century, with some scholars dating him to the seventh to ninth centuries rather than the fifth. Movses gives autobiographical details about himself in his History of the Armenians. Later Armenian authors provide additional details about Khorenatsi's life, although according to scholar Stepan Malkhasyants, these are not reliable. Movses's epithet, Khorenatsi, suggests that he was born in a place called Khoren or Khorean. According to one older view, Movses was born in the village of Khorni (also called Khoron or Khoronk) in the Armenian province of Taron or Turuberan. Some sources call Movses Taronatsi ('of Taron').