Middle East and Egypt (1st–5th c.)Religion

Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon

Convened by the Sasanian king Yazdegerd I, the bishops of Persia met in the capital, accepted the creed and canons of the Council of Nicaea and placed all the churches of the empire under the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. The council, held a generation after the persecutions of Shapur II, organised the Church of the East as the recognised church of the Christians of Iran.

Date: 410year known
Place: Seleucia on the Tigristoday: Tell Umar, Baghdad Governorate, Iraq · Middle East and Egypt
Participants: Yazdegerd I, Sasanian Empire, Theodosius II
Threads: Middle East and Egypt (1st–5th c.)
Also known as: Synod of Mar Isaac; Council of Mar Isaac; Synod of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (410); Собор Мар Исаака; Селевкийско-Ктесифонский собор

The initiative came from Marutha, bishop of Maypherqat (Martyropolis) on the Roman side of the frontier, whom Theodosius II had sent as an envoy to the Persian court and who won the king’s esteem. Marutha brought a letter from bishops of the Roman Empire — the “Western” bishops, as Persian Christians called them — proposing a reorganisation of the Persian church, and Yazdegerd I, whom Christian writers praised for his tolerance and Persian tradition called “the Sinner”, convened the council. It was presided over by Isaac, bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon; about forty bishops attended its first session.

The council adopted the creed and canons of Nicaea (325), set common church festivals and made the bishop of the capital the head of all the bishops of the empire; the heads of the Church of the East came to be called catholicoi. It also established six metropolitan provinces in order of precedence: Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Beth Lapat, Nisibis, Prat de Maishan, Arbela and Karka de Beth Slokh. The Christians of Iran, who had suffered under Shapur II, thus received a recognised hierarchy under the king’s protection.

The peace did not last. Around 419–420, after Abda, bishop of Hormizd-Ardashir, had a fire temple destroyed, Yazdegerd turned against the Christians, and the persecution continued under Bahram V. In 424 a council at Markabta under the catholicos Dadisho resolved that the church would no longer refer its disputes to “the Western Fathers” — the bishops of the Roman Empire.

Open in the interactive atlas

Connections

Related events

First Council of Nicaeabetween May and June 325 – between July and August 325 · Balkans and Anatoliathe council adopted the creed and canons of Nicaea
Reign of Shapur II309–379 · Middle East and Egyptthe church of Iran was reorganised a generation after the persecutions under Shapur II
Reign of Theodosius II1 May 408 – 28 July 450 · Balkans and Anatoliathe council was convened with the help of Marutha of Maypherqat, the envoy of Theodosius II
The scholars of Edessa move to the School of Nisibis489 · Middle East and Egyptthe school became the academy of the church organised at the council of 410

Same participants

Julian’s Persian expedition and the Peace of 3635 March 363 – July 363 · Middle East and Egyptvia Sasanian Empire
Theodosian Walls of Constantinoplebetween 404 and 408 – 413 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Theodosius II
Hunnic kings of Bactria: the Kidaritesbetween 360 and 370 – 467 · Central and Northern Asiavia Sasanian Empire
Imperial school in the Capitol of Constantinople27 February 425 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Theodosius II

Same place

Reign of Vologases I51–78 · Middle East and Egypt
Trajan’s Parthian campaign114–117 · Middle East and Egypt
Roman–Parthian War of 161–166161–166 · Middle East and Egypt
Reign of Vologases IV147–191 · Middle East and Egypt
Mani begins his mission240 · Middle East and Egypt
Reign of Bahram V Gurbetween 420 and 421 – 438 · Middle East and Egypt
Siege of Baghdad29 January – 10 February 1258 · Middle East and Egypt
Capture of Baghdad by Suleiman Ibetween November and December 1534 · Middle East and Egypt

Adjacent events in the thread

Mesrop Mashtots creates the Armenian alphabetbetween 405 and 406 · Middle East and Egypt
Murder of HypatiaMarch 415 · Middle East and Egypt

Meanwhile in the world

Other regions, within a year of this event

Western and Central Europe

Sack of Rome by the Visigoths24–27 August 410
End of Roman rule in Britain383–410
Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britainbetween 410 and 449 – between 550 and 625

Eastern Europe

Chernyakhov culturebetween 200 and 250 – between 400 and 430
Kyiv culturec. 200 – between 400 and 430

South Asia

Reign of Chandragupta II Vikramadityabetween 375 and 381 – between 412 and 415

East Asia

Kumārajīva translates the Buddhist scriptures in Chang’an8 February 402 – 28 May 413
Kofun period: the age of keyhole tombsbetween 250 and 300 – 538
Faxian’s journey to India and back by sea399 – 5 September 412

Southeast Asia and Oceania

The yupa inscriptions of King Mulavarman at Kutaibetween 350 and 450
Gold pendant copying a coin of Antoninus Pius at Óc Eobetween 152 and 600
Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
The inscriptions of Purnavarman, king of Taruma in western Javabetween 400 and 600

North America

Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500

Latin America

Teotihuacan at its height: the largest city of the Americasc. 250 – c. 550
Burial of the Lady of Cao at El Brujobetween 400 and 500
Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800

The same period

4105th century

Sources

Wikipedia (English): Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon
Wikipedia (English): Church of the East
Wikipedia (English): Maruthas of Martyropolis
Wikipedia (English): Yazdegerd I
Wikipedia (Russian): Собор в Селевкии-Ктесифоне
Wikipedia (Russian): Йездегерд I
Baum W., Winkler D. W. The Church of the East: A Concise History. — London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003.
Wikidata: Q1258842