Of the Churches now Monophysite the last to accept the heresy was that of the Armenians. Historically, or at any rate archæologically, they are not the most important of these lesser Eastern Churches. Their ecclesiastical arrangements date from about the 4th century, and are mainly only a local variety of those of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, also the direct parent of the Byzantine rite; so that Armenian usages are mostly a mere variant of those of the Orthodox. The general impression of their Church is that it is not very ancient (at least in its laws, customs and rites), though it has one or two archaic features, that it does not represent an independent tradition from the earliest age. For this reason the Armenians seem less interesting than the Nestorians or Copts. On the other hand, they form considerably the largest Church discussed in this book. The Armenian nation and Church have played a great part in the East in later times. From the point of view of practical importance, of size and influence, even (in spite of the massacres) of prosperity, the Armenian Church is undoubtedly the second most important (after the Orthodox) in the East. The Armenians, too, have a glorious list of saints and martyrs; especially during the last century they have borne ghastly treatment, so that their very name suggests horrors and blood.
