Born 1153 at Lambron, Cilicia;
died 1198; son of Oschin II, prince of Lambron and nephew of the
patriarch, Nerses IV. Nerses was well versed in sacred and profane
sciences and had an excellent knowledge of Greek, Latin, Syriac,
and probably Coptic. Ordained in 1169, he was consecrated
Archbishop of Tarsus in 1176 and became a zealous advocate of the
union of the Greek and Armenian Churches. In 1179 he attended the
Council of Hromcla, in which the terms of the union were
discussed; his address at this council is considered a masterpiece
of eloquence and style. The union was decided upon but never
consummated owing to the death of Emperor Manuel Comnenus in 1180.
Manuel's successors abandoned the negotiations and persecuted the
Armenians, who dissatisfied with the Greeks now turned to the
Latins. Leo II, Prince of Cilicia, desirous to secure for himself
the title of King of Armenia, sought the support of Celestine III
and of Emperor Henry VI. The pope received his request favourably,
but made the granting of it dependent upon the union of Cilicia to
the Church of Rome. He sent Conrad, Archbishop of Mayence, to
Tarsus, and the terms of union having been signed by Leo and
twelve of the bishops, among whom was Nerses, Leo was crowned King
of Armenia, 6 January, 1198. Nerses died six months afterwards, 17
July. Nerses is justly regarded as one of the greatest writers in
Armenian literature. He deserves fame as poet, prose writer, and
translator. He wrote an elegy on the death of his uncle, Nerses
IV, and many hymns. His prose works include his oration at the
Council of Hromcla (tr. Italian by Aucher, Venice, 1812; tr.
German by Neumann, Leipzig, 1834); Commentaries on the Psalms,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, and the Minor Prophets; an
explanation of the liturgy; a letter to Leo II and another to
Uskan, a monk of Antioch; and two homilies. He translated into
Armenian the Rule of St. Benedict; the "Dialogues" of
Gregory the Great; a life of this saint; and the letters of Lucius
III and Clement III to the patriarch, Gregory. From the Syriac he
translated the "Homilies" of Jacob of Serugh and,
probably from the Coptic, the "Life of the Fathers of the
Desert". Some writers ascribe to him an Armenian version of a
commentary of Andreas of CÊsarea on the Apocalypse. Nerses
in his original writings frequently refers to the primacy and
infallibility of the pope.
Conybeare, The Armenian
Version of Revelation (London, 1907); see also Nerses I-IV.
A. A. Vaschalde.
