Nerses I the Great

Historical representation of the Nerses

Nerses I the Great (also St. Nerses I. Parthev ) ( Armenian Սուրբ Ներսես Ա. Մեծ ) (* 335 ; † July 25, 373 ), a prince from the house of the Gregorides , was from 353 to 373 - with one interruption from 359 to 363 - Catholicos of the Holy See of St. Etchmiadzin and of all Armenians, d. H. Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church and an ancient Armenian statesman venerated as a saint . At the same time he was prince of the Gregorian domains. These included the districts or provinces of Acilisene (Hachdeanq / Hashteank), Taron-Ashtishat (West Taron) and Bagravandene (Bagrevand).

origin

Nerses I 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 Parthian dynasty of the Arsacids , which ruled from 247 BC. BC to AD 224 as "kings of kings" ruled the Persian Empire and from AD 54 to AD 428 as kings ruled historical Greater Armenia.

The father of Nerses was Atanakines (* around 315; † 348/353 AD), a prince from the Gregorid family who had refused to assume the de facto hereditary dignity of a Catholicos under the reign of King Tigranes VII to be adopted by Greater Armenia. This is because he feared, not entirely unjustly, that he would suffer the same fate as his father, the Catholicos Husik I († 348), namely to be slain by his men for criticizing the king. He therefore protested his lack of dignity for the high office and contented himself with his secular functions as general and prince of the Gregorian domains. Despite this caution, however, he was not spared the fate of his father: he, too, was murdered.

His mother was Bambischen (* around 315), princess from the house of the Arsacids, a sister of King Tigranes VII (338-350) and daughter of King Chosroes II "the little one" (330-338). Nerses thus united the inheritance of both the spiritual dynasty of the Gregorids and the secular dynasty of the ruling Arsacids.

biography

youth

Nerses followed the tradition of the family and prepared for a church career by completing a religious education in Caesarea in Cappadocia , (now Kayseri in Central Anatolia in Turkey ) - like many members of his family before . At the same time, as a representative of one of the large noble families, he also had functions at the royal court and was there chamberlain, councilor and sword-bearer of Arsakes II (Archak II), the king of Greater Armenia (350–367). In keeping with family tradition, he was married in early youth. However, Nerses renounced family life when, after the death of the Catholicos Pharen I of Akhtichat ( Artaxata , near today's provincial capital Artaschat ), a relative of his house, the opportunity arose to use the "Interregnum" of Katholikoi, which is not the house of the Gregorids belonged to, to interrupt and to tie the office of Catholicos back to the family.

Catholicos (Patriarch)

In 353 Nerses was elected “Catholicos of the Holy See of St. Etchmiadzin and All Armenians” and thus patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church. This highest office of the Armenian Apostolic Church had already been exercised by his great-great-grandfather, Gregory the Illuminator, and after him by his sons Aristakes I and Vartanes I and then by his grandson Husik I (342–347 / 48). Nerses accepted the election - despite his youth - he was only 18 years old at the time of his ordination - and was ordained patriarch in Caesarea after Faustus by Byzantium .

His residence as a Catholic was in the old capital of Armenia, in Echmiadzin ( Armenian Էջմիածին , in English transcription Echmiadzin, in scientific transliteration Ēǰmiajin) , officially until 1945 and again since 1992 Wagharschapat (Armenian Վաղարշապատ , in scientific transliteration Vałaršapat , also Wagarschapat ), a city in the Armenian province of Armavir , about 20 km west of Yerevan , which was the capital of Armenia from the 2nd to 4th centuries and is still the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians , the spiritual head of the Armenian Apostolic Church .

Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Vagharshapat, Armenia

Reform policy

However, Nerses differed from his predecessors in that he strove to carry out extensive reforms and brought the church, previously identified with royalty and nobility, close to the people. Shortly after taking office, he organized the first synod of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Akhtichat (Artaxata), south of today's Armenian capital Yerevan . According to the Roman historian Plutarch, Artaxata was founded at this point by King Artaxias I on the recommendation of Hannibal of Carthage and served from 185 BC. BC to 120 AD as the capital of Greater Armenia . The purpose of this synod was to restore the discipline that had been lost and to implement important reforms. By passing resolutions on a number of laws, Nerses succeeded in a comprehensive renewal of the Armenian Church by regulating the following points, among other things:

• Paganism , which was still widespread, was banned, as was the practice of the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism .
• The rules governing marriage were tightened with the prohibition of polygamy , divorce, pagan rituals, and marriage between first cousins.
• Traditional customs such as blood revenge or self-mutilation at funerals as a sign of extreme grief were banned.
• The social problems were punishment for drunkenness, the establishment of orphanages and hospitals - particularly leprosy mitigated -.
• The illiteracy was fought by the creation of numerous schools in which the Syrian language and the Greek language was taught, since these were the languages in which the Bible was read at that time.
• The religious care of the population was improved by the establishment of numerous monasteries, which were equipped with sufficient land and at the same time obliged to strictly observe the rules of the order.
• He also promoted the anchorites , including the work of the Syrian Chagitha, the Kint of Taron and the Greek Epiphanes, who preached the gospel in the country where many pagan customs were still practiced.
• At the same time, new rules for worship and fasting were laid down.

Diplomatic mission

Thanks to its geographical location, Armenia regularly found itself in a difficult foreign policy situation, as it acted as a buffer between the two superpowers of the time - the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire of the Sassanids , who fought each other for over half a millennium and endeavored to do so were to bring strategically located Armenia under their control.

Nerses worked at a time when this confrontation was particularly acute, as Armenia, ruled by King Arsaces II (350–367), faced a massive threat from the expansionary politics of the Sassanid Empire. Shapur II. (309–379), the "King of Kings" of the Persian Empire from the House of Sassanids endeavored to extend his domain to Greater Armenia, which was still ruled by a branch of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty, the older branch of which was the Sassanids had fallen in Persia over a hundred years earlier. Shapur II had already kidnapped and blinded the father of King Archak II, King Tigranes VII (also called Tiran or Tiridates) (339-350) and threatened to bring Armenia under his control again. The only chance to prevent this was to ally with the hereditary enemy of the Persian Empire, the rival Roman Empire. Only one person could be considered for this vital diplomatic task: the well-known Roman-friendly and highly educated second man in the state, the Catholicos Nerses. King Arsaces II therefore commissioned him in 358 to negotiate a strategic alliance against the Persians with Emperor Constantius II (337–361).

Nerses succeeded in this, whereby the alliance with Rome was to be strengthened by a marital union between King Arsaces II and a bride recommended by Emperor Constantinus II, the Roman Olympia, the daughter of the Praetorian Prefect Flavius ​​Ablabius .

Olympia had previously been betrothed to Emperor Constans , brother and co-regent of Emperor Constantius II, so a suitable match appeared for King Arsakes II of Armenia. Her father Ablabius had been made by Emperor Constantine I the Great " vicarius " of the province of Asia , then the " praefectus praetorio " (Praetorian prefect) of the East (329–337) and in 331 even held the consulate .

After a successful mission, Nerses returned to Armenia with the treaty of alliance and with the royal bride Olympia and married her to King Arsakes II.

Break with the king

On his return in 359, Nerses was appalled by the brutalization of customs in Armenia that had meanwhile taken place: King Arsakes II had his own nephew, Gunel (Gnel) executed in 359 in order to protect his wife, the beautiful Pharantzem († 380) Daughter of Andok (Antiochus), the prince of Siunia.

King Arsakes was dissatisfied with the Roman bride. The fact that the bride did not seem entirely appropriate to him may also have played a role. On the one hand because of the humble origins of his father-in-law Ablabius - he came from a poor pagan family on the island of Crete - and on the other hand because of its inglorious end. Ablabius was dismissed from all offices by Emperor Constantius II in 337 and sentenced to death in 338 on suspicion of aspiring to the imperial crown. Shortly afterwards he was executed in front of his house in Constantinople - which later belonged to Galla Placidia . Soon after the wedding, Arsakes therefore encouraged his lover Phrantzem to poison his unloved wife Olympia, which she did with the consecrated bread at communion. For reasons of chronology, this traditional version of the story is incompatible with the given chronology. According to Christian Settipani , Cyril Toumanoff recently provided a rational explanation, according to which Phrandzem was the first wife of Arsakes, who ceded her to a close relative, Gnel, because of his marriage to Olympia and took her back as his wife after Olympias and Gnels were murdered.

The reputation of Catholicos Nerses in the population had risen considerably as a result of his reforms and his diplomatic success. This had already led to tensions with the king in the past, for whom many of the reforms did not fit into the concept and who saw his sovereign rights curtailed by the increasing influence of the patriarchal dynasty. When Nerses reproached the king for his behavior and asked him to repent, an open argument broke out.

Another point of contention was the centralization policy of the king, who tried to continue the policy of his father, King Tigranes VII, and to break the power of the large feudal families, who administered the provinces under their control not as governors but as - largely independent - princes . Several magnates were killed by his people, their families exterminated and their estates confiscated in favor of the crown. Was affected in particular the family Kamsarakan, from a branch of the Arsacid - the house Karen Pahlav - came and the districts of Shirak and Arscharounik with the fortress Artagers - the ancient Artageras Stabos in the province of Armavir - and the city Yervandashat ruled that the The confluence of the Araxes and the Achurjan River across from Bagaran . Only one son could be saved and therefore had the chance to take over the family's estates again later.

Even in front of Vardan Mamikonian , the head of this family, Arsakes did not stop, because at the instigation of Queen Phrantzem and Vasak Mamikonian (his brother) he ordered Vardan Mamikonian to be eliminated. He was then killed in his Jerachani (Erakhani) castle on the Chorochi (Çoruh) River in Taik Province.

Nerses, who himself ruled extensive territories as a prince - and was the son-in-law of the murdered Vardan Mamikonian - vigorously opposed the centralization measures of the king and for the traditional rights of the feudal nobility and tried to mediate between the magnates and the king. However, his efforts were in vain. There were several uprisings of the feudal nobility against the king. Some feudal lords, such as Meruzhan Ardzruni and Vahan Mamikonian, fled from the persecution of the king in Persia to the court of Shapur II (309 / 10–379) and asked for support there, abandoned Christianity and converted to Mazdaism . Later they were even supposed to lead the Sassanid army to Armenia.

Another point of conflict was the founding of the city of Arshakavan by the king, who colonized it with criminals who received full amnesty there. Nerses protested against this practice, which led to an uprising of the nobility that destroyed the city and killed the residents.

Exile and return

The direct confrontation between the Catholicos Nerses and King Arsakes II finally led to Nerses cursing the Arsacids and Arsakes then declaring Nerses deposed and banishing him out of the country - probably to Edessa ( Şanlıurfa ). He transferred the office of Catholicos to a more docile clergyman, Sahak (Isaac) of Manazkert, called Tschonak, who served as Catholicos from 359 to 363. But even this was not spared from the king's wrath. When he occasionally protested the massacre of the Kamsarakan family, he narrowly escaped stoning.

In terms of foreign policy, Shapur II tried in 361 to win Arsakes II over to his side with generous gifts. Arsakes, however, held on to the alliance with Rome, not least at the instigation of Nerses, and in 362 sent an embassy to Constantinople to congratulate Emperor Julian (Flavius ​​Claudius Iulianus) - called "Julian Apostata" - (360–363) on his accession to the throne. Emperor Julian honored the alliance with Armenia and, with the support of King Arsakes, undertook a major military expedition against Shapur II in 363, successfully advancing to just before the capital of the Sassanids, Ctesiphon on the Tigris in Mesopotamia . However, he fell shortly afterwards in a battle of retreat. His successor, Emperor Jovian (Flavius ​​Jovianus) (363–364), only ruled for one winter, but was fatal for the future of Armenia. He gave up the territorial gains made by his predecessor and signed a peace treaty with Shapur II in 363, by which he ceded not only all conquered areas, but also important territories of Armenia to the Sassanid Empire and transferred the rest of Armenia to the Sassanid sphere of influence. Nerses was able to return from exile around 363 and resume his office as Catholicos.

Struggle for the independence of Armenia

As the historian Faustus of Byzantium (Armenian: Փավստոս Բուզանդ, P'avstos Buzand) reports, Nerses was sent once again to negotiate with Rome - this time with Emperor Valens (Flavius ​​Julius Valens Augustus) (364–378), who in Ruled east of the Roman Empire - to build an alliance against the Sassanid Empire. This diplomatic mission was unsuccessful, however, as Emperor Valens felt bound by the agreement made by Emperor Jovian in 363 with Shah Shapur II and was not prepared to wage another war against the Persian Empire. In addition, there were theological discussions with the emperor during the visit, which ended in a dispute, since Nerses openly condemned the emperor for his support of the teachings of Arius . The emperor therefore ordered a further banishment of the Catholicos Nerses.

Without Roman support, Armenia was left to fend off the Sassanids. The defense was made even more difficult by the secession of important magnates, in particular Vahan Mamikonian - the brother of Vardans and Vasaks - and Merujan Ardzrouni, both of whom fled to Shapur II and had apologized to Mazdaism . According to Faustus of Byzantium, the former became, according to the Armenian historian Moses von Choren , the latter was rewarded by Shapur through his marriage to his sister Ormisduxt.

Nerses, who had already defended the privileges of the nobility against royal absolutism in the past, tried to end this revolt, which had meanwhile degenerated into treason and apostasy , and therefore called the representatives of the nobility to himself. He exhorted them to forget the mistakes of the king in view of the greater danger of submission of the country to the hereditary enemy and to the pagan religion of Mazdaism and to act united against the external enemy. The magnates, who hoped for privileges and greater independence from Shapur, went to the court of Shapur in Ctesiphon, and the others withdrew to their estates (Ref Grousset, p. 141)

Without the support of Rome and the magnates, Arsakes II was forced to come to terms with Shapur II. The latter invited him to visit his court under threat of new wars that would otherwise be expected. Arsakes therefore went to the court of Shapur in Ctesiphon with his faithful general, Vasak Mamikonian. There he was scornfully treated by Shapur, like a disobedient vassal, whereupon Arsakes reminded him that the ancestors of the Sassanids were for four hundred years mere vassals and servants of his ancestors, the Arsakids. Then Shapur II had King Arsakes thrown into a dungeon in Aniuch (Andmech) in Kusestan, while Vasak Mamikonian was executed, skinned and his skin was exposed at the king's dungeon.

Shapur II then occupied Armenia, established a mixed administration there, based on the renegade Armenian local magnates - Artsruni and Mamikonian - and on Persian representatives. The recently converted to Christianity Armenians were forced to adopt Zoroastrianism as a religion. King Arshak II died of suicide in 367 after a long imprisonment.

Nerses, who now represented his country as the only dignitary, tried to motivate Constantinople to support Armenia and made it possible for Prince Pap, the son and heir of King Arshak II to flee to Emperor Valens on Roman territory . However, he was not prepared to break the contract of 363 with Shapur II on his account. Pap therefore returned to Armenia on his own in 369 without Valens having recognized him as king. This provoked an invasion of Shapur, who besieged the most important fortress of Armenia, Artogerassa, and captured it in the winter of 370. The royal treasure hoarded there fell into the hands of the conquerors, as did Pop's mother, Queen Phrandzen, who was raped and killed. As a result there was extensive persecution of Christians , who were forced to apostate to Mazdaism.

At the urging of Nerses in 371 there was a successful advance of Roman troops under the generals Traian and Vadomarios, who defeated the army of Shapur II near Baghavan with the help of the Sparapet (military commander in chief) Musegh Mamikonian and recaptured some territories such as Arzanene and Corduene which Jovian had ceded to the Persians in 363. This caused Shapur II to withdraw to Ctesiphon. This gave King Pap the opportunity to rebuild his control over the Kingdom of Armenia, which was destroyed by Shapur, and to de facto take over rule. However, Pap was an unworthy and immoral ruler. This led to an argument with the Catholicos Nerses, who forbade him to enter the church. Under the pretext of reconciliation, King Pap invited the Catholicos to dinner on July 25, 373 and had him poisoned.

Marriage and offspring

Nerses married Sandukdt Mamikonian , a daughter of Vardan Mamikonian, at a young age and remained married for three years before he was ordained a deacon. A son comes from his marriage to Sandukdt:

• Isaac the Great , Isaac of Armenia or St. Sahak Parthev ( Armenian : Սահակ Պարթև, * around 338; † September 7, 439 in Ashtishat in southern Armenia) Catholicos of the Holy See of St. Etchmiadzin and of all Armenians, that is, Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church (387-428)

See also

• List of Katholikoi of the Armenian Apostolic Church
• List of rulers of Armenia

literature

• Gérard Dédéyan (ed.): Histoire du peuple arménien. Private, Toulouse 2007, ISBN 978-2-7089-6874-5 , p. 166.
• Nina G. Garsoïan: Quidam Narseus? - A Note on the Mission of St. Nersēs the Great. In: Armeniaca. Mélanges d'études arménienns. Venice 1969, pp. 148-164
• René Grousset: Histoire de l'Arménie - des origines à 1071. Payot, Paris 1973.
• 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.
• Richard G. Hovannisian (Ed.): Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, vol. I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century. Palgrave Macmillan, New York 1997. (Reprint: 2004, ISBN 1-4039-6421-1 )
• Josef Rist:  Nerses I, "the great". In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 6, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-044-1 , Sp. 619-620.
• Christian Settipani: Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité. Editions Christian, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-86496-050-6 .
• Christian Settipani: Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs; Les princes Caucasiens et l'Empire du VIe au IXe siècle. De Boccard, Paris 2006, ISBN 2-7018-0226-1 .
• Cyril Toumanoff: Manuel de généalogie et de chronologie pour le Caucase chrétien (Arménie, Géorgie, Albanie). Édition Aquila, Rome 1976.
• Cyril Toumanoff: Studies in Christian Caucasian History. Georgetown 1963.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Christian Settipani: Nos Ancêtres de l'Antiquité. Editions Christian, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-86496-050-6 , p. 62
2. ↑ Christian Settipani: Nos Ancêtres de l'Antiquité . Editions Christian, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-86496-050-6 , p. 66
3. ^ Anthony Wagner: Pedigree and Progress-Essays in the genealogical interpretation of history. Phillimore, London and Chichester 1975, ISBN 0-85033-198-6 , Pedigree 36 at 195.
4. ^ Cyril Toumanoff: Studies in Christian Caucasian History. Georgetown, 1963, p. 218.
5. ↑ Christian Settipani, 1991, p. 66
6. ^ P'awstos Buzandac'i, History of Armenia, p. 81
7. ^ René Grousset: Histoire de l'Arménie. Payot, Paris, 1973, p. 135
8. ^ Faustus of Byzantium, Armenian History 4.4.
9. ↑ Life of Lucullus 31/3
10. ^ René Grousset: Histoire de l'Arménie. Payot, Paris, 1973 p. 136
11. ^ David Marshall Lang: Armenia: Cradle of Civilization. Geoge Allen & Unwin, Boston 1970, p. 160
12. ↑ Faustus von Byzanz IV, 4 Genealogie Chap. VI. P. 27
13. ↑ René Grousset: Histoire de l'Arménie, Payot, Paris, 1973 p. 134, there reference to Marquart: “Studies on the history of Eran” p. 5
14. ^ René Grousset: Histoire de l'Arménie, Payot, Paris, 1973 p. 136
15. ↑ Brosset: Histoire de la Siounie, II, p. 12
16. ^ René Grousset: Histoire de l'Arménie, Payot, Paris, 1973, p. 136
17. ↑ Christian Settipani, 1991, p. 65
18. ↑ Prince Cyril Toumanoff: Les dynasties de la Caucasie chrétienne de l'Antiquité jusqu'au XIXe siècle. Tables généalogiques et chronologiques. Rome 1990, p. 87
19. ↑ René Grousset: op. Cit. P. 137
20. ^ P'awstos Buzandac'i, History of Armenia , p. 99
21. ^ Christian Settipani: Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs. Les princes Caucasiens et l'empire du VIe au IXe siècle. De Boccard, Paris, 2006, ISBN 978-2-7018-0226-8 , p. 312
22. ↑ Grousset, 1973, p. 142
23. ^ Lenski, Noel (2003). Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century AD Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 133, 170-181. ISBN 0-520-23332-8 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Pharen I.	Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church 353–373	Shahak I.