Atanakines

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Atanakines (* approx. 315; † 348/53 AD) was a prince from the Gregorid family, deacon , son of the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church Husik I and father of another Catholic and saint: Nerses I the Great . He was also the link between the Parthian ruling house of the Arsacids and the early Christian aristocratic families of Armenia.

origin

Atanakines came from the Armenian noble family of the Gregorids - the descendants of Gregory the Illuminator , the first Catholicos (patriarch) of the Armenian Apostolic Church . The Gregorids came from the Parthian house of the Suras-Pahlav, which in turn was a distant branch line of the Arsacids .

His father, Husik I , was from 341 to 347 Catholicos of the Holy See of St. Echmiadzin and All Armenians, that is, Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

His mother was a daughter of the King of Greater Armenia , Trdat III. , also called St. Tiridates "the great" or "the saint", who made Armenia the first Christian state in the world. Its ancestors go back to the Parthian Arsakes I , who from 240 BC. Subjugated the Persian Empire to the Seleucids and then founded the Parthian Empire , which lived on for over 400 years: in Persia until 224 AD and in Armenia until 428 AD.

biography

In keeping with the tradition of the Gregorid family, who had made the office of Catholicos (Patriarch) of Greater Armenia hereditary in the family, Atanakines received - like his older brother Pap - and, like before, his father, the Catholicos Husik I, and his grandfather, the Catholicos Vartanes I , probably in Caesarea in Cappadocia (today Kayseri in Central Anatolia in Turkey ) a religious education. However, he only managed to become a deacon, since he preferred a secular life even when he was offered the highest ecclesiastical office in Armenia, that of Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, after his father.

The reluctance of the Atanakines to accept this office is not entirely incomprehensible. The high dignity of the Catholicos of the Holy See of St. Echmiadzin and of All Armenians had only become vacant because the previous holder of this title - the father of Atanakines, Husik I - was ordered by King Tigranes VII. (339-350) beaten to death despite being a cousin of the king. He had publicly criticized the king for his less than ideal way of life and for the renewed rise of paganism and refused him entry into the church.

The fifteen provinces of the historical kingdom of Armenia, here territorial status around 150 BC. Chr.

Since his older brother Pap had also refused to take over the office under the circumstances, the succession of the Gregorid family in the office of Catholicos of Armenia was interrupted for the first time. On an interim basis, the office was taken over by Daniel, an elderly Syrian choir bishop - the head of the church in the Armenian principality of Taron. He had been associated with the Gregorid family for decades, having already served under Atanakines' great-grandfather - Gregory the Illuminator , the Apostle of the Armenian Church.

The Patriarch Daniel, who was deeply indignant about the mistreatment and killing of his predecessor, the Catholicus Husik I - the father of Atanakines - by the king, set out to accuse King Tigranes VII of the enormity of his action. The king, who at that time was in the south-east of the country, in Baradech in the province of Altzniq (Aghdzenik) - one of the four "Bdeshks" (brands) of Greater Armenia - received Daniel in audience and listened calmly to his complaints. He then had him arrested and strangled without further trial.

The chair of the Catholicos of Greater Armenia was again orphaned. Atanakines, whose prudence appeared to have saved his life, indulged in profound worldly pleasures to demonstrate his inability to follow suit. A relative of his house, Pharen von Akhtichat, was appointed Catholicos as his successor. He was able to serve from 348 to 352 as he was careful enough to avoid criticizing the king. This protected him from the wrath of King Tigranes VII, but not from the later criticism of the historian Faustus of Byzantium , who accused him of being too tolerant of the king's behavior.

Despite his caution, Atanakines could not escape his fate: although he had avoided official functions, he was murdered at a banquet between 348 and 353.

Marriage and offspring

Atanakines continued the tradition started by his father of looking for a wife from the Arsacid royal family that ruled Armenia . He therefore married his cousin, Bambishen Arshakuni, a sister of the tyrannical king Tigranes VII (339-350) and daughter of Chosrow II "the little one", who had been king of Greater Armenia from 330 to 339 .

Only one son is known from the marriage of the Atanakines to Bambishen:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christian Settipani: Nos Ancêtres de l'Antiquité. Editions Christian, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-86496-050-6 .
  2. ↑ a b René Grousset: Histoire de l'Arménie. Payot, Paris 1973, p. 133.
  3. ^ René Grousset: Histoire de l´Arménie. Payot, Paris 1973, p. 132.
  4. ^ Faustus of Byzantium: History of Armenia. Volume III, Chapter XVI.
  5. ^ Gérard Dédéyan (Ed.): Histoire du peuple arménien. Private, Toulouse 2007, ISBN 978-2-7089-6874-5 , p. 166.
  6. ^ A b Christian Settipani: Nos Ancêtres de l´Antiquité. Editions Christian, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-86496-050-6 , p. 66.

literature

  • Gérard Dédéyan (ed.): Histoire du peuple arménien. Private, Toulouse 2007, ISBN 978-2-7089-6874-5 , p. 166.
  • René Grousset: Histoire de l´Arménie des origines á 1071. Payot, Paris 1973. (Reprint of the 1947 edition)
  • Robert H. Hewsen: The successors of Tiridat the Great. A contribution to the history of Armenia in the Fourth Century. In: REArm. 13 (1978/79) pp. 99-126.
  • Christian Settipani: Nos Ancetres de l´Antiquité. Editions Christian, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-86496-050-6 .
  • Cyril Toumanoff: Manuel de généalogie et de chronologie pour le Caucase chrétien (Arménie, Géorgie, Albanie). Édition Aquila, Rome 1976.

See also

personal data
SURNAME Atanakines
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Son and father of a Catholicos (Patriarch) of Armenia
DATE OF BIRTH at 315
DATE OF DEATH 4th century