- Armenian diaspora in Europe
In the early
Middle Ages , manyArmenians travelled to countries neighboringArmenia , such asLebanon ,Syria ,Egypt andIran , intoWest Asia ,Southern Europe and since the 1920sFrance had a large Armenian community. By the 16th century, Armenians created wide-scattered communities and a commercial network spanning fromWestern Europe to theIndies .Religious union
The preservation of Armenian linguistic and religious identity depended on relations of the
diaspora with their new homelands. This was especially so in the 17th century, when Armenians were pressured into religious assimilation byCatholic rulers. Also, during the 13th century, Armenians in theArmenian Kingdom of Cilicia returned into communion with Rome, maintaining their ecclesiastic traditions. After theCouncil of Trento (1545-1563), these efforts were strengthened with the help of theJesuits . One of the most important personalities of theArmenian Catholic Church was Mekhitar of Sebasteia (1676-1749). Mekhitar converted to Catholicism as a member of the clergy of the Armenian patriarchy ofConstantinople and founded, in 1717, the Catholic Congregation of Mekhitarism on the Island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni inVenice . Mekhitar and his monks played major roles in the development of theArmenian language and culture."Armenia Maritima"
During the Middle Ages,
Crimea (south easternUkraine ) became the first center of theArmenian Diaspora on European ground. The Armenians here performed services as commercial agents and soldiers for the Italians. The number of Armenians in this area grew to several ten thousand by the 14th century due to further immigration from Armenia and the south of modern day Russia. Therefore, in West Europe, the south of Crimea was commonly known as "Armenia maritima",Latin for "Marine Armenia"In the middle of the 14th century an Armenian
diocese was established in Crimea, and in the town ofKaffa alone, there were 44 Armenian churches and 46,000 believers. However, the explusion of theGenoese by the Ottomans, allied with theCrimean Tatars , brought the blooming period of 1475 to an end. As a result, many Armenians emigrated to Constantinople,Bulgaria , and thePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , and another wave of Armenians settled in theRepublic of Venice , nowVenice ,Italy , had a sizable Armenian community with a regional archdiocese of the Armenian Catholic Church to this day. Fact|date=February 2007In Kyivan Rus and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Since the 11th century, Armenians have immigrated to areas of the
Ruthenia n principalities. After the Mongolian conquest of 1240, its municipalities concentrated in the western areas of Galicia,Volhynia andPodolia - which were attached to the Polish kingdom in 1340 byCasimir III of Poland . Casimir III granted the Armenians the right to carry out their own beliefs and to receive their own courts.Since 1364, Armenians in
Central Europe formed an eparchy inLeopolis , covering the land of Ruthenian,Moldavia andWallachia . After 1475, those Armenian communities were strengthend by further immigration especially from theCrimea . At the beginning of the 17th century, 2500 Armenians lived in the town ofLeopolis . The leading layer of Armenians, accompanied by excellent craftsmen, were the rich businessmen who played a significant role in trade with Russia, theOttoman empire andPersia . They also made important contributions to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth military, actively participating in defending the south-eastern frontier from the Ottomans as well as serving its diplomacy in the Levant.Galicia became a center of early Armenian press and literature. In the 17th century, the
Jesuits founded a seminar inLeopolis to help support the Armenians studies and literature. However, pressures of religious assimilation were rising from the Polish authorities. In 1630 a conflict erupted between the Armenian bishop ofLeopolis who sought to reestablish the union and a large part of the faithfull, settled only in 1660 through the mediation ofTheatines . However, due to dwindling ecomonomic and political posperity of the Polish-Lithuanian state, many Armenians chose to emigrate to Russia, Constantinople, Persia, and Wallachia.After the
Partitions of Poland , the Armenian community in Poland was divided between Austria and Russia. In Galicia, the Armenian-Catholic religious life continued underAustria n rule. In the lands of Volhynia and Podolia, occupied by Russians a separate eparchy was created inMohyliv-Podilskyi in 1807, which also included parishes inMykolaiv ,Odesa , Crimea and outside Ukraine inMozdok ,Kizlar andAstrakhan . This diocese however operated only until 1828 and in 1848 the Armenian faithfull were transferred along with all Catholics in Russia to the diocese ofTiraspol .When Poland regianed its independence at the beginning of the 20th century, it contained 5500 Armenians in Galicia, 8 Armenian churches (in
Leopolis ,Stanisławów ,Kuty ,Brzeżany ,Łysiec ,Tyśmienica ,Horodenka andŚniatyń ), and 15 chapels. Located outside the borders of theSecond Republic of Poland , there were also churches inCernăuţi ,Suceava ,Kamieniec Podolski ,Ploskirów and an Armenian chapel in the Latin church inKharkiv . Due to a low number of clergy, most priests were biritualists.During
World War II , much of the Armenian community was murdered bySoviets and Germans. Most of the few who remained chose to move to Poland'sRecovered Territories in northwest Poland. The Nazis might had accepted Armenians among other Slavic and Latin peoples in Eastern Europe as "Aryans", except Nazi racists compared Armenians (they are of Indo-European linguistic and Middle Eastern origins) with that of "non-Aryan races" likeJews ,Greeks , Roma (Gypsies) and inaccurately, withAfricans since there are light-skinned Armenians.In Romania
Since the 14th century, Armenians have been living in the principality of
Moldavia . The community's first church was established in 1350 inBotoşani , and the second in 1395 in Iaşi. In 1401,Alexandru cel Bun permitted the establishment of an Armenian diocese inSuceava . While immigration from theCrimea strengthened the municipalities after 1475, they were decimated by Ottoman deportations, theMoldavian Magnate Wars during the 16th and 17th centuries; in 1790, about 4,000 Armenians emigrated to theRussian Empire .While many Armenians immigrated into
Wallachia in 1475, the community's first church was built inBucharest in 1620. As in other regions, they played a critical role in trade. In the 19th century, Armenians actively took part in the intellectual, artistic, and political life of the developingRomania n state.However, these municipalities weakened due to the repatriation, promoted by Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin , of Armenians from theEastern Bloc to theArmenian SSR from 1946 to 1948 (which was stopped after the immigration of more than 100,000 Armenians to the diaspora once again, as well as the emigration to Western Europe and theMiddle East in the 1950s and 1960s). In 1956 6,400 Armenians were counted, and in 2002 only 1,780 remained, mainly in Bucharest,Constanţa , andTulcea .In Hungary
The Armenian diaspora of Europe was centered in the
Habsburg empire ofAustria-Hungary in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the origins of this community dates back to the time of Hungary, when it was an independent kingdom in the late 14th and 15th centuries.Present-day Armenian diaspora communities in Europe
You may edit the sections with your entries, but include verifiable sources and web links on research of the Armenian diaspora in Europe then and now.
In Austria
In Belarus
Armenians in Belarus refers to ethnic Armenians living in
Belarus . They number around 25,000. [ [http://www.armeniadiaspora.com/followup/population.html ArmenianDiaspora website] ]The Armenians live mainly in
Minsk In Belgium
In Bulgaria
In Croatia
In Czech Republic
In Denmark
In France
Armenians in France are ethnic
Armenians living within the modern republic ofFrance . Like much of theArmenian Diaspora , most Armenians immigrated to France after theArmenian Genocide of 1915. Others came later, fleeing conflicts in places likeLebanon ,Syria . More recently there is an influx of immigrants from the Republic ofArmenia .The estimation of the number of Aremnians in France varies. But most put it at around 500,000. Areas of Armenian concentration include
Paris ,Lyon ,Marseille andValence .In Germany
In Great Britain
In Greece
In Hungary
In Italy
There are currently 2,500 Armenians in
Italy they mainly reside inMilan ,Rome andVenice . [http://www.armeniadiaspora.com/followup/population.html]In Macedonia (the Republic of)
In Moldova
In the Netherlands
In Poland
In Portugal
In Serbia
In Slovakia
In Spain
Armenians in Spain refers to ethnic Armenians living in
Spain . They number around 40,000. [ [http://www.armeniadiaspora.com/followup/population.html ArmenianDiaspora website] ]The Armenians live mainly in
Madrid ,Barcelona ,Seville and ValenciaIn Sweden
In Switzerland
In Turkey
In Ukraine
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.