School in XVII-XVIII centuries. In XVII-XVIII centuries the rise of the school was significant in Armenian culture. Schools were founded in different regions of Armenia, as well as in regions where refugees settled. This contributed to the development of Armenain culture. One of the most famous schools was school of Echmiadzin, where such skillful professors as Voskan Yerevantsi, Simeon Jughayetsi, Stepanos Lehatsi and other professors delivered their lessons. The rise of the school started from 1763 by the efforts of Catholicos of all the Armenians Simeon Yerevantsi.
The school of Amirdoghlu monastery in Baghesh, as well as schools in Constantinople, Skyutar district, etc. were well-known in this period. Mekhitar Sebastatsi (Mechitar of Sebaste) (1676-1749) and the Mechitarist Order founded by the latter played a great role in the development of Armenian culture.
In 1701 Mekhitar with is 8 pupils founded catholic order in order to give a rise to school life. After many years of wandering from country to country the order was settled in the island of St. Lazarus (Venice), where a monastic school was founded. The pupils of the school learned various foreign languages and gained basic knowledge.
Among the literary activities of the Mechitarists were grammar and lexicographic works, publication of the works by Armenian Mediaeval authors, as well as works on natural science.
The depository of manuscripts was founded as well, which was enriched with Armenian manuscripts. The famous English poet George Byron after his visit to the island of St. Lazarus (1816) wrote about the Armenians:
«These men are the priesthood of an oppressed and a noble nation, which has partaken of the proscription and bondage of the Jews and of the Greeks, without the sullenness of the former or the servility of the latter. It would be difficult, perhaps, to find the annals of a nation less stained with crimes than those of the Armenians, whose virtues have those of peace, and their vices those of compulsion».
Margaryan H.
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