
Armenis (family)

Armenis (Greek: Αρμένης, "Armēnēs"), in Italian and older English literature Armeni, is a Greek family from Corfu. The Armeni family is an ancient Byzantine-, and later Greco-Venetian gens that produced many important individuals in the history of Europe. With origins in Byzantium, the family achieved levels of wealth and prominence over the centuries in branches found across the territories of modern Greece and Italy. The Armeni are listed in numerous registers of nobility, including "Origine de' cognomi gentilizi nel Regno di Napoli" (1756), "Dictionnaire Historique et Généalogique des Grandes Familles de Grèce, d'Albanie et de Constantinople" (1983), "Livre d'Or de la Noblesse Ionienne" (1925), and "La Dalmazia Giornale Letterario Economico Inteso Agli Interessi Della Provincia, Volume 2" (1846), among others.
History.
Crete.
In 961 C.E., the Mediterranean island of Crete, which had been under Muslim rule for almost 150 years, was restored to the Byzantine Empire under the leadership of general-, and future emperor, Nikephoros Phokas. Legend provides that the Byzantine emperor sent 12 noble families from Constantinople, known as the "archondopoula", to rule the island of Crete as archons. Of the reconquest of Crete, Andrea Corner’s (b. 1547 - d. ca. 1616) "Storia di Candia", is the first literary work to deal exclusively with the island’s history. Similarly, in "Revue de l'Orient Latin", Vol. 11 (1908), provides further context in the following passage:Thus, [ Nikephoros Phokas ] subdued and ransacked the whole island, which for 142 years had been occupied and lorded by barbarians, and he had it settled and left in the form of a colony, for its greater security, under noble families originally from Constantinople ["nobili Costantinopolitani"] of the "Màggiori" and of the Senatorial order, namely: the Armeni; the Caleteri; the Anatolici, also called Cortezzi; the Cargenti, that is, Saturnini; the Vespesiani, also called Melissini; […] the Sutili; the Papiliani, also called Vlasti; the Romuli, also called Claudi; the Aliotti, also called Scordilli; the Colonessi, also called Coloini; the Irtini, also called Arculendi; and the Phoca, of the same blood of the Phoca from whom the noble house of Calergi originated.According to Trivan (1644) the Armeni family belonged to the bourgeoisie that encompassed the noble class descended from the twelve Senatorial Houses of Constantinople and those noble Venetian families whose titles had lapsed, all citizens of Crete, most of whom were from the original inhabitants of the Metropolitan city of Heraklion.
County of Avellino.
The Angevins ruled Corfu from 1267 to 1386. Charles I d'Anjou imposed a new form of rule on Corfu. He appointed a Regent as his representative, and divided the island into four administrative regions. The administrator of each region was called the Bailo and the large estates, the “feuds” (timária), were ceded to barons from Provence and Italy.
Provence.
The Armeni family held the lordship of Orgon and Noves. In 1175 Guillaume Arméni de Noves had his seigniorial rights confirmed in an Act signed by Geoffrey II, bishop of Avignon. His son Aldebert held the first rank in Noves and was appointed Judge of Avignon from 1190 and later Judge, Assessor & Chancellor of the Counts of Toulouse in the county of Provence from 1200 until 1222.
Avellino.
The Armeni family established itself in the Province of Avellino during the reign of Charles I d'Anjou. The family married into the Montfort family during the time that Simon d'Montfort was awarded the lordship of Avellino by Charles I d'Anjou and the family changed its name to Armenius de Montforte (also d'Arminio Montforte). On the 9th of September 1272 Iohannis Armeni was appointed the new castellan of the Castle of Capua. He was also known as Jean Jacques Armenius de Montforte from Avellino.
Synonyms and aliases.
Crete.
Trivan (1644) listed the Armeni family in the city of Chania as members of the bourgeoisie and added that the name was also written as Armuri (, also Darmer). Trivan (1644) lists the Darmer family of the same city [Chania] separately as a Venetian noble house with a footnote stating that the Armeni name is also noted as Armuri in the original text. Another example of this practice can be found in the Cretan aristocratic family Kallergis known to have descended from the Phokas family on Crete.
After the occupation by the Franks, the Latin church on Crete was administered by the diocese of , which later became known as Cydonia. Le Quien (III, 923-928) knew of sixteen Latin bishops, from 1310 to 1645. The Republic of Venice rebuilt and fortified Chania in 1252, until it was finally taken by the Ottoman Empire in 1645.
In 1642, Georgium D. Armenium (also Giorgio Darminio and Giorgio Darmiro), was canon and plenipotentiary to the secretary of the Roman Catholic Church on Crete. An ex-resident of Cydonia and canon of the church of Agiensis in Chania, he became the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Caprulenses (Caorle - Metropolitan City of Venice) from 1649 to 1655 and the Bishop of Aemoniensis (today Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia) from 1655 to 1670.
Corfu.
On the island of Corfu in 1406 C.E. the barony of the count of Martina "(Baronia del Conte de Martina)" belonged to "Vito Darmer" who established the settlement of . The on Corfu belonged to the . Aloysius Armenus, also known as Luigi Armeno and Alvise Darmer, was the Provveditore (1502) and the Bailo of Corfu (1512). In 1499 C.E. his brother "Albano Armenio" died bravely during the naval battle of Zochio against the Ottomans. The naval battle of Zochio is noted as the first naval battle in history where gunpowder determined the outcome of the naval battle. His warship was named the "Santa Barbara", who would later become the patron saint of artillery.
Milos.
Dr. Ben J. Slot (1982) provides the nomination of Ioannis Armenis on the 9th of November 1589 as French Consul on the island of Milos as:Acte de nomination d'Armeni ("Jean Darmer") dans: Marseille.
Y-DNA Lineage.
The paternal haplogroup associated with this family is R1b-L2. The terminal SNP for this branch of R1b-L2 is FGC13617 and the 12-marker short tandem repeat values for this SNP are as follows:
13, 24, 14, 11, 11-14/15, 12, 12, 12, 14, 13, 30
Coats of Arms.
Crete.
Sturdza (1983) lists the Armeni family as a noble family from the island of Crete emblazoned on the walls of the University of Padua library located in the Bo Palace.
Armeni crest from Heraklion, Crete: Gules, to the crane in her vigilance Argent, supported of a coronet Or, set on a hillock Vert, the field chape-embowed Azure, 2 affrontee griffins Or, supporting a Lorraine cross together of the same. Crowned Helmet. Crest: a vol of 2 wings endorsed Gules, charged of a crane in her vigilance Argent. Lambrequins: in dexter Or and Azure, in sinister Argent, and Gules.