Armenian Levites?: An Outline of the Evolution of Episcopal Elections in Armenia from the Eighth to the Thirteenth Century

This contribution discusses the Armenian Church’s leadership selection process, where inheritance and education contended for dominance. Initially, family lineage held sway, but education gradually emerged as a decisive factor. The Council of Duin in 719 formalised inheritance amid confessional disputes, but without actually enforcing it. The aristocracy’s decline after the Arab conquest weakened hereditary leadership, favouring education. The vardapets, scholarly monks, embodied this shift. The growing importance of education can be traced in historiographical and epistolary sources. Finally, the Council of Sis in 1247 marked a turning point, mandating exams for ordination, cementing leadership based on knowledge, not just lineage.