The Turco-Mongol Invasions and the Lords of Armenia in the 13 ...

Colophons of the 13-l4th Centuries
The colophons of Armenian manuscripts represent an
important source for the history of Armenians and
neighboring peoples from the 10th century on. For the
13th century, the colophons are valuable for the inform-
ation they provide supplementing what is known from
other historical sources. For the 14th century—a period
which failed to produce historians such as Kirakos,
Vardan, and Step'annos—the colophons become the major
source of our information.
Colophons are those writings usually found at the
end of a manuscript and most often made by the manuscript's
copyist or recipient. Frequently providing the copyist's
name, the year the manuscript was copied, and the year
the colophon was made, these often lengthy addenda
sometimes provide considerably detailed information not
found in other sources concerning political and military
developments, taxation, agriculture, the condition of
villages, towns, cities, and monasteries and churches,
and the place where and circumstances under which the
manuscript was copied. Written as they usually were by
professional scribes from humble backgrounds, possessing
limited educations, the colophons are also important from
a linguistic standpoint, since they contain numerous
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