ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a hitherto unnoticed and unstudied connection between the Islamic futuwwa reform project of 'Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir li-Din Allah and a similar initiative by the Armenian Church/state in Erznka in 1280. More importantly the folklore and arts of urban youth laid the grounds for the development of the culture of gradually developing urban middle classes of all ethnic backgrounds in Near Eastern cities. The maintenance and improvement of crafts, trade, the exigencies of urban society and visitors needed more knowledge and science. The subject of urban youth brotherhoods was marginalized in Armenian medieval histories. The Constitution for the Brotherhood of Erznka by Yovhannes is the proof. The direct link between the Nasiri futuwwa and Armenian reform projects puts the subject of Near Eastern urbanism in new perspective, particularly in the case of the Armenians. Using the Nasir model, the initiative of the Church/state was to control them by spiritualizing them by replacing Islam by Christianity.
