The Westernmost and Easternmost Borders of Christendom: Early Christianity in Armenia and Ireland

Project Information

CHRISTIAN_FRONTIERS

Grant agreement ID: 895654

DOI

10.3030/895654

Project closed

EC signature date 10 April 2020

Start date 16 November 2020

End date 15 November 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 196 590,72

EU contribution

€ 196 590,72

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK - NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, CORK
Ireland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CHRISTIAN_FRONTIERS (The Westernmost and Easternmost Borders of Christendom: Early Christianity in Armenia and Ireland)

Reporting period: 2020-11-16 to 2022-11-15

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Early Christianity In Armenia and Ireland was explored not in isolation to the history of Christianity in other parts of the world, but in the context of this process in Roman eastern, western, and southern frontier countries. Special attention was paid to the research of characteristics and activity of the missionaries who played a crucial role in the Christianisation of the nations. Common features which were specific for Irish and Armenian saints as well as of those which were inherent to frontier people generally were explored in the submitted and published articles Article 2 and 3.
The role of Irish and Armenian Churches in the formation of national identities of the Irish and Armenians were examined during the work on the project. The topic was developed not only by me in my articles, but also by some invited specialists during the organized events for wider geographical and chronological perspectives. A broader comparable picture of Eastern and Western Christian worlds on the example of Armenian and Irish Christianity was presented without subordinating the picture to Oriental or Occidental centred way of thinking.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project Christian Frontiers has achieved most of its objectives and milestones for the period, with relatively minor deviations. Overall three articles were submitted for publication and one of them was published in a scientific peer-reviewed journal. The results of the project were presented at international conferences and symposiums. A session titled “Imperial Perceptions of Frontier People: Identity Formation on The Eastern and Western Borders of The Roman World" was organized at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds. A highly successful online symposium “Transeastern Christianity and Other Religion Systems in the Early Middle Ages” in UCC and the International conference "The Limits of Empires: Identities on the Borders of World Systems” in National Academy of Science of Republic of Armenia were organized in the frame of the project.
Considerable work was done to prepare the proceedings of the conference for publication. I will contribute to the publication of the collection both as an editor and author of a chapter. Also four professional and several transferable skills trainings have been undertaken during the project.
Concluding, we can say that Christian Frontiers met its main objectives and was successful both in terms of the development of the research topic and dissemination of its results.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

As one of the main objectives of the project, the establishment of cooperation between scientific communities of non-EU country Armenia and EU country Ireland was proposed. The bases for such cooperation have been established. An especially important role in all this was played by the conference “The Limits of Empire: Identities on the Borders of World Systems” organized in Armenia. Participation in the conferences was maximized by online and hybrid delivery. The best indicator of the success of the conference is the publication of the conference proceedings, which is now in progress, as well as the active discussion of a further collaborative project between Armenian and Irish academic teams. The history and culture of Armenia is a barely researched topic in Ireland and it is important to increase awareness about Armenian identity, as a country which is integrating into the European community, especially during last few years. The country was struggling to be included into global cultural and political realities through all its history, but being situated in the frontiers of different empires was pulled of that process because of external reasons. The project was focused to investigate one of the crucial periods for the formation of Armenian identity and the value of that history as a comparator of the Irish experience and the history of the formation of Irish identity. The findings of the research were disseminated among a wide academic audience, experienced scientists, as well as for students. The course “Armenia Through the Prism of History and Modernity” is designed for a wider, non-historian audience of different specialties who wish to continue their education.
As part of the outreach activities of the project, and to promote wider awareness of the resources for research in Armenian history in Ireland, I organized a visit to the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, by UCC academic and post-doctoral staff to view its internationally significant collection of Armenian manuscripts. Reports of the visit were posted on the School of History and Chester Beatty Library Twitter pages.

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