Armenians in Poland
Armenians in Poland are one of nine legally recognized national minorities in Poland, their historical presence is going back to the Middle Ages. According to the Polish census of 2021 there are 6,772 ethnic Armenians in Poland. They are spread throughout the country, having largely assimilated while preserving a long-standing tradition of settlement.
History
Origins
The origin of the Armenian presence in the region can be traced back to the late 10th century. Historically back then their settlement did not occur in Poland but in Ruthenia, where they were invited by the Ruthenian rulers of Kyiv and employed as mercenaries. Emigration to Ruthenia intensified first after the Seljuk penetration into Greater Armenia and the fall of Ani in 1064, and later again in the 12th century.With the rise of the principalities in Western Ruthenia, Prince Davyd Ihorovych invited Armenian settlers to his lands. Others relocated there after the Mongol conquest of Kyiv in 1240. They settled primarily in Galicia and Podolia, including in Kamianets-Podilskyi and surrounding villages, where they had built a church by 1250.
After the wars for Galicia–Volhynia succession in 1340–1392, Ruthenia was partitioned between Poland and Lithuania. And thus majority of the Ruthenian Armenians became subject of the Polish crown. The rest had lived primarily in Volhynia where the third largest Armenian community had thrived in Lutsk. After 1569 Union of Lublin and subsequent transfer of the Ruthenian voivodeships to the Kingdom of Poland, they ended up under Polish rule as well.
Late medieval and early modern periods
After the conquest of Ruthenia, Casimir III gave to the Armenians of Kamieniec Podolski in 1344 and those of Lwów in 1356 the right of setting up a national council, exclusively Armenian, known as the "Voit." This council, composed of twelve judges, administered Armenian affairs in full independence. All acts and official deliberations were conducted in the Armenian language and in accordance with the laws of that nation. The Armenians of Lwów had built a wooden church in 1183; in 1363 it was replaced by a stone edifice which became the seat of the Armenian prelates of Poland and Moldavia. Through successive immigrations, the Armenians of Poland gradually formed a colony, comprising up to 6,000. They were welcomed by the Kings of Poland and were granted not only religious liberty, but also political privileges.Image:Lwów - Katedra Ormiańska 01.JPG|thumb|upright|left|The Armenian Cathedral of Lwów was for centuries the most important Armenian church in Poland
In the battles of Grunwald and Varna, the forebears of the Alexandrovics, the Augustinovics, the Agopsovics and Apakanovics took part. Also from their ranks came forth later renowned Poles, such as the Malowski, Missasowicz, Piramowicz, Pernatowicz, Jachowicz, Mrozianowski, Grigorowicz, Barowicz, Teodorowicz, among others.
As Kaffa in Crimea voluntarily recognised Polish sovereignty in 1462, with around 46,000 Armenians in the 1470s, it became the largest concentration of Armenians under Polish sovereignty until the Ottoman capture of the city.
In 1516 King Sigismund I authorized the installation in the wealthy and aristocratic center of Lwów an Armenian tribunal called the Ermeni tora in Armeno-Kipchak. The peaceful life of the colony was troubled in 1626. An abbot named Mikołaj Torosowicz was ordained a bishop in 1626 by Melchisedek, a former coadjutor-Katholikos of Etchmiadzin who supported restoring unity with the Roman Catholic Church. Despite the ensuing rift between the majority of the Armenian community and the few followers of Torosowicz the Armenian community finally reentered into communion with the Holy See forming the Armenian Catholic Church which retained a separate hierarchy and used the Armenian Rite.
Armenians enjoyed better living and earning conditions in Poland, local Armenian self-government, religious tolerance and the opportunity to preserve their own customs. Initially, Armenians settled in royal cities along important trade routes, but later also in private towns, attracted by Polish magnates. Armenians lived mostly in south-eastern Poland, with the largest Armenian communes in the major royal cities of Lwów and Kamieniec Podolski, where they inhabited defined Armenian quarters, and which with several churches served as the main religious centers of Armenians in Poland. Other local Armenian communes were in Brody, Brzeżany, Horodenka, Jazłowiec, Józefgród, Łysiec, Mohylów Podolski, Obertyn, Podhajce, Raszków, Stanisławów, Studzienica, Śniatyn, Tyśmienica, Złoczów and Żwaniec. In addition, there were Armenian churches in Bełz, Buczacz, Jarosław, Kijów, Kubaczówka, Kuty, Lublin, Łuck, Waręż, Włodzimierz, Zamość, Żółkiew, and an Armenian chapel in Warsaw. Armenians were also noted in other towns of south-eastern Poland, such as Przemyśl, Bar, Sokal, Halicz, Dubno. Since the 16th century, Armenian churches in Poland were erected not in the Armenian style, but rather in line with the prevailing Polish trends, such as Renaissance and Baroque. Some Armenians moved to other parts of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, e.g. Kraków, Warsaw, Gdańsk, Płock, Piotrków and Vilnius. In 1655–1675, the Armenian community in Poland further grew due to immigration from Van, Constantinople and Isfahan.
In 1660, the Armenians of Kijów were expelled by the Russian occupiers. In 1674, Armenians of Kamieniec Podolski were expelled by the Ottoman occupiers, and after around three years of exile in the Balkans, they returned to Poland and mostly settled in Lwów, Stanisławów, Brody, Łysiec, Tyśmienica and Złoczów, but some settled in western and central Poland. The Armenian community of Warsaw gained importance and grew since 1672, when many Armenians fled there from Ottoman-occupied Podolia. After Poland regained control of Podolia, Armenians once again settled in various towns in the region, including Józefgród, Mohylów Podolski, Obertyn, Raszków and Satanów. A group of Polish Armenians took part in the Syunik rebellion against Ottoman rule in Armenia in the 1720s.
The Armenians played an important role in shaping Poland's economic and cultural landscape, leaving a lasting impact through their contributions:
"They were mainly occupied with trade and craft. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Armenians introduced Orient onto the Polish market, importing from the East a variety of oriental luxury goods, and producing their own from oriental designs for the nobility and patricians. Although they were an affluent community, some restrictions were imposed on them, since members of the Armenian Apostolic Church were regarded as heretics in the Polish society. However, in 1630 they entered a union with the Roman-Catholic Church and became Catholics of the Armenian Liturgy. This advanced their assimilation processes"
The Armenians grew wealthy from trade, specializing in importing a wide variety of goods from eastern markets, i.e. Moldavia, Wallachia, Turkey, Egypt, Persia, India and Muscovy to Polish trade centers, such as Kraków, Gdańsk, Lublin, Poznań, Jarosław, Toruń and Vilnius. Armenians were also often translators, secretaries and diplomats of Poland to more eastern countries, sometimes even Polish intelligence agents in Turkic and Tatar countries, and counterintelligence agents in Poland. The first known Armenian to serve in Polish diplomacy was an interpreter of the first Polish mission to the Ottoman Empire in 1415. Sefer Muratowicz, Polish diplomat of Armenian descent, contributed to the establishment of Iran–Poland relations. Armenians also mediated ransoms or ransomed Polish captives from Turkish and Tatar slavery themselves. Some Armenians from Poland even served in the diplomacy of other countries, i.e. Sweden, Wallachia and Austria.
Ties to the Armenian community in the Romanian lands
Armenians in Moldavia were under the jurisdiction of the Armenian Diocese of L'viv since 1365, shortly after the principality was founded. As merchants, the Armenians mere present in many of the important commercial centers in the various polities which now make up Romania and Moldova. The oldest architectural monument built by Armenians on these lands and preserved to this day is the church of St. Mary of Botosani, built in 1350. Nicolae Șuțu writes in Notion statistiques sur la Moldavie : "From the 11th century, the Armenians, leaving their settlements invaded by the Persians, took refuge in Poland and Moldova. Subsequent emigrations took place in 1342 and 1606. The Armenian churches in Moldavia, the oldest of which is in Botoșani and founded in 1350, while the other is in Iași which dates from 1395." The fact that two Armenian Bibles from Caffa dating to 1351 and 1354 were preserved in this church is a testament to the antiquity and importance of the Armenian colony in Botoșani. During the short-lived persecution of the Armenian community under the reign of Moldavian Hospodar Ștefan VI Rareș, many Armenians fled across the border into Poland.File:Сучавський замок 1915 р.jpg|thumb|The Armenian monastery of Suceava colloquially known as the Zamca was the base of operations for James Louis Sobieski's failed bid to become the Prince of Moldavia.
Around 10,000 of the Lwów Armenian community who had settled in Moldavia moved from there during the Turko-Polish war in 1671 to Bucovina and Transylvania. In Bucovina, they lived in the city of Suceava and its vicinity. In Transylvania they founded two new cities, Erszebetvaros and Szamos-ujvar, which, as a special favor, were declared free cities by Charles VI, Emperor of Austria.
When James Louis Sobieski attempted to ascend to the Moldavian throne, his base of operations was the 15th century Armenian monastery of Suceava. Beginning in 1690, the Monastery became the headquarters of the Polish Army for all of their operations in Moldova related to Poland's participation in the War of the Holy League against the Ottoman Empire. Staying at the monastery for several years, the Poles built an extensive network of bastion fortifications which are well preserved to this day. The popular name of the monastery, "Zamca" likely comes from this period and is derived from zamek, the Polish word for castle.