The Story of the Skevra Evangeliary

  • 1198/1199
    According to the colophon, the manuscript was created in the year 647 of the Armenian era, that is in 1198/1199, during the reign of King Leo I of the Rubenids dynasty and Catholicos Gregory VI Abirad. One of the colophons commemorates the royal coronation of Leo I. The Evangeliary was illuminated by Grigor at the commission of Stepanos in the Cilician scriptoria of the monasteries of Mlidj and Skevra.
  • 1219 r.
    The fifth colophon, of anonymous authorship, mentions the death of King Leo I of Cilicia.
  • Early 15th century
    The manuscript was kept in the hermitage of St Gregory the Illuminator, above the Monastery of St John the Baptist in Otuz in Crimea.
  • 1422
    The sixth colophon was entered by the hieromonk (monk-priest) Symeon. It states that Monk Symeon sold the Evangeliary to an Armenian named Chutlupek. The transaction may have taken place in Lviv, although this is not fully confirmed.
  • 1592
    The seventh colophon, entered by another priest named Symeon, informs us that the manuscript was restored and rebound at the expense of Toros Bernatowicz, an Armenian from Lviv. The entry mentions King Sigismund III, which clearly confirms the manuscript’s presence in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Soon afterwards, Toros Bernatowicz donated it to the treasury of the Armenian Cathedral.
  • 1631
    Archbishop Mikołaj Torosowicz (who entered into union with Rome in 1630) borrowed the Evangeliary for the funeral of Toros Bernatowicz and subsequently refused to return it. 
  • 1830 and 1890
    The first descriptions of the Evangeliary preserved in Lviv appear.
  • 1905–1908
    Archbishop Józef Teodorowicz identified the 12th-century Skevra Evangeliary as the principal source of inspiration for artists decorating the interior of the restored Armenian Cathedral in Lviv. Unfortunately, this idea was never realised.
  • 1926
    Edward Chwalewik described the richly illuminated Evangeliary kept in the Armenian
    consistory archives at the Lviv Cathedral.
  • 1930
    The Viennese Mechitarist Fr Nerses Akinian prepared a detailed description of the
    manuscript.
  • 1932
    The Evangeliary was presented at the “Armenian Exhibition in Lviv.” There were plans to transfer it to the Armenian Archdiocesan Museum, but the outbreak of the Second World War made this impossible.
  • After 1945
    Following the change of borders, the manuscript was taken to the Benedictine monastery in Tyniec by Fr Franciszek Jakubowicz. Aware that the Evangeliary might be confiscated by the state authorities, the monks did not keep it in the library.
  • Until 1985
    It was kept in Tyniec under the bed of Fr Paweł Sczaniecki.
  • 1985
    After the reorganisation of Armenian pastoral care in Poland, the Evangeliary was deposited
    with the Primate of Poland and placed in the Archdiocesan Archives in Gniezno.
  • 1993
    The renowned German Byzantinist Prof Günter Prinzing visited Poznań to deliver a lecture. During a trip to Gniezno, he was invited by Prof Kazimierz Ilski to the Archdiocesan Library, where its director, Fr Aleksandrowicz, presented him with an illuminated Evangeliary of unknown provenance.
  • 1996
    After Prof Prinzing established the identity of the Evangeliary and the necessary permissions were obtained, the manuscript was loaned to Mainz for research and conservation.
  • 1997
    The publication Das Lemberger Evangeliar, edited by Günter Prinzing and Andrea Schmidt, appeared. In the same year, there were plans to display the Evangeliary at the exhibition “Glory of Byzantium” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. However, following the intervention of Polish institutions and representatives of the Armenian community, it was returned to Poland, as it had been taken abroad without the appropriate authorisation.
  • After 1997
    The manuscript was returned to Poland and entrusted to the Ordinary of the Armenian Catholic faithful in Poland, Cardinal Józef Glemp.
  • 2006
    At the instruction of Cardinal Glemp, the Bernardinum publishing house in Pelplin produced five facsimile copies of the Evangeliary. One was presented to Pope Benedict XVI, and another to Catholicos Karekin II.
  • 4 October 2006
    Responding to a request from representatives of the Polish Armenian community, Primate Glemp signed an agreement with the Director of the National Library, under which the Evangeliary was deposited with the Library.
  • April–July 2007
    The manuscript was displayed at the international exhibition “Arménie, la magie de l’écrit” in Marseille. The exhibition was organised to mark the 1600th anniversary of the Armenian alphabet and was held as part of the Year of Armenia in France.
  • 2012
    Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz confirmed that the Evangeliary forms part of the Heritage of the Polish Armenians and remains deposited with the Armenian Catholic Church in Poland, under the care of the Foundation for the Culture and Heritage of Polish Armenians.
  • From 21 May 2024
    The Evangeliary has been on permanent display at the National Library in the Palace of the
    Commonwealth in Warsaw.