Yazdin

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Yazdin (or Jesdin ; † around 627) was a high finance officer in the late ancient Sassanid Empire .

Yazdin, who came from Kirkuk , rose to be the highest tax official at the court of the Great King Chosrau II and was responsible for property tax. It was largely thanks to him that the income of Chosraus II flowed to a greater extent than ever before. Yazdin gained great influence at court. Since he was a staunch Christian and a member of the " Assyrian Church of the East " (often incorrectly referred to as the "Nestorian Church"), he made every effort to improve the position of his fellow believers. In 603 Chosrau began the invasion of the Roman Orient (see Roman-Persian Wars ). When, after the fall of Jerusalem in 614, the alleged Holy Cross was transferred to Seleukia-Ctesiphon , Yazdin had this celebrated. He was called the " Constantine and Theodosius " of the Church of the East.

Yazdin also had numerous churches built and initially enjoyed the fullest trust in Chosrau. He did have competitors at court: especially Chosraus's favorite wife, Shirin , and the royal court doctor Gabriel von Schiggar , both of whom were Miaphysite Christians, tried to push back the influence of the "Nestorians" in favor of their church, which at times succeeded. After the death of the Catholicos Gregory in 608/09, the Great King did not appoint a new head for the Assyrian Church.

Yazdin was eventually executed and his vast property confiscated. Apparently the great king was so angry about the setbacks in the war against Ostrom that he took action against the Christians in his empire, whom he suspected of making common cause with the Romans. Emperor Herakleios , who decisively defeated the Persians in the battle of Nineveh in early December 627 , then celebrated Christmas in the church of Kirkuk and received support from the Yazdins family. One of Yazdin's sons was also involved in the overthrow of Chosraus II and the accession of his son Siroe to the throne . Siroe finally approved of the Assyrian Church the election of a new Catholicos. After Siroe's death in September 628, however, Persia sank into chaos and was an easy target for the attacking Muslim Arabs from 636 (see Islamic expansion ).

literature

  • Wilhelm Baum : Shirin. Christin - Queen - love myth. A late antique female figure . Klagenfurt 2003.
  • Peter Brown : The Rise of Western Christendom . 2nd expanded edition. Oxford 2003.
  • Nina Garsoian: Persia: The Church of the East . In: The History of Christianity . Edited by Luce Pietri u. a., Vol. 3 (431-642). Freiburg i. B. 2005 (special edition, original 2001), pp. 1161–1186.
  • John Martindale: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire . Vol. IIIa, Cambridge 1992, pp. 612f.

Remarks

  1. ^ Peter Brown: The Rise of Western Christendom . 2nd expanded edition. Oxford 2003, p. 283.
  2. ↑ See Walter Kaegi: Heraclius . Cambridge 2003, p. 156ff.
personal data
SURNAME Yazdin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jesdin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Tax officer in the late ancient Sassanid Empire
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century
DATE OF DEATH at 627