Page 41 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

42 The Armenian Church

tory. Hromkla, Skevra, Trazark, Agner, and
other monasteries, which became vibrant
centers of culture and higher learning, pro-
duced a new spiritual and cultural reawak-
ening. In Cilicia, Armenians learned out of
their existential experience how to survive
by interacting with others. The present-day
diaspora, which, to a large degree, is the con-
tinuation of Armenian Cilicia, has continued
this way of being. Meanwhile, in spite of
prevailing political uncertainties in Greater
Armenia, religio-cultural life was kept alive,
particularly in the monasteries of Datev,
Klatsor, Sanahin, and Haghpad.

A period of uncertainty and stagnation
After the fall of the Armenian Kingdom in
Cilicia, the whole region was transformed
into an arena of continuous military confron-
tation. Fleeing the horror, Armenians mig-
rated to Asia Minor, eastern Europe, and,
later, western Europe. The Church, as the
only remaining central institution, devoted
itself to safeguarding the physical survival
and unity of the Armenian people. Armenia
also became a region of perpetual invasion
and occupation by Persian and Turkish
tribes. Then, in 1453, Constantinople, the
central symbol of the Byzantine Empire and
of Eastern Christianity, was captured by
Sultan Mehmet II. The fall of Constantinople