Babowai (also Babaeus or Mar Babwahi) (died 484) was Catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon and Patriarch of the Church of the East from 457 to 484, during the reign of the Sassanid King Peroz I. Babowai was known for his pro-Byzantine leanings, for which he was often in conflict with other members of the anti-Byzantine Church of the East. He was executed in 484.
Babowai was known as a learned philosopher. He was also a convert from Magianism, what the Zorastrians would call an apostate, someone who had renounced their religion, and therefore subject to considerable persecution by the Sassanid state. He was imprisoned for seven years, probably 470–480, and tortured repeatedly by the Magi, who were also burning churches and imprisoning other Christians. Babowai was also often in conflict with Barsauma, the metropolitan of Nisibis, though this was not unusual as Babowai was known to be in conflict with many others as well, be they authorities, colleagues, or subordinates. He was known to discipline bishops in his church, and whether right or wrong, some of these bishops would flee to Barsauma for his support.
The root of the conflict with Barsauma may have been due to a major issue at the time, that of whether members of the clergy should be celibate or not. When Babowai wrote a letter to some Roman bishops, asking them to use their influence with the emperor, and procure his intercession with the Shah-in-Shah (King Peroz) to avert persecution, Barsauma somehow managed to intercept the message, even though it had been hidden in the hollow of a cane. Within the letter, Babowai had used some imprudent language such as, "God has given us over to an accursed kingdom." Barsauma took advantage of this, and showed the letter to King Peroz, who was understandably furious. Peroz confronted Babowai, who admitted to the letter, and Peroz sentenced Babowai to death. For this, he is regarded by some as a martyr.
The 480s decade ran from January 1, 480, to December 31, 489.
The Nestorian schism (431) was a split between the Christian churches of Sassanid Persia, which affiliated with Nestorius, and those that later became the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The schism rose out of a Christological dispute, notably involving Cyril and Nestorius.
Babai the Great was an early church father of the Church of the East. He set several of the foundational pillars of the Church, revived the monastic movement, and formulated its Christology in a systematic way. He served as a monastic visitor and coadjutor with Mar Aba as unofficial heads of the Church of the East after Catholicos Gregory until 628 AD, leaving a legacy of strong discipline and deep religious Orthodoxy. He is revered in the modern Assyrian Church of the East.
The Synod of Beth Lapat was a local council of the Church of the East, that was held in 484, in the Persian city of Gundeshapur. The council was headed by Metropolitan Barsauma of Nisibis, who was involved in a long conflict with Patriarch Babowai of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. No acts of this synod have been preserved, but fragmentary data from other sources suggest that various ecclesiological issues had been discussed, and that disciplinary canons against simony were adopted. Since Metropolitan Barsauma was involved in christological disputes, it is believed that several doctrinal questions were also discussed, and some later sources suggest that synod of 484 adopted a resolution in support of theological teachings of Theodore of Mopsuestia. Since no creeds or theological decisions of this council have been preserved, its outcome has been the subject of various assumptions among scholars.
Barsauma, nicknamed Bar Sawma, "son of Lent" in Syriac, was Metropolitan of Nisibis in the 5th century, and a major figure in the history of the Church of the East. Under his leadership the church moved away from Roman loyalties and became increasingly aligned with the Nestorian movement.
The Maphrian, originally known as the Grand Metropolitan of the East and also known as the Catholicos, was the second-highest rank in the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Syriac Orthodox Church, right below that of patriarch. The office of a maphrian is an maphrianate. There have been three maphrianates in the history of the Syriac Orthodox Church and one, briefly, in the Syriac Catholic Church.
The Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, also called the Council of Mar Isaac, met in AD 410 in Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital of the Persian Sassanid Empire. Convoked by King Yazdegerd I (399–421), it organized the Christians of his empire into a single structured Church, which became known as the Church of the East. It is often compared to Constantine's Edict of Milan, approximately a century earlier.
Sabrisho I was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 596 to 604, during the rule of King Khosrau II.
Babai, also Babaeus, was Catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon and Patriarch of the Church of the East from 497 to 503. Under his leadership, the Church in Sasanian Empire (Persia) became increasingly aligned with the Nestorian movement, declared heretical in the Roman Empire.
Papa bar Aggai was Bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital of Sassanid Persia, in the late 3rd and early 4th century. An important figure in the early history of the Church of the East, he was first in the generally recognized line of Bishops of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, who would later become the acknowledged head of the church. He was the first bishop to be given the title of Catholicos, or universal leader, and set about restructuring the previously disorganized Persian church. Some historians describe him as the founding figure of the Church of the East, though according to Syriac tradition, he was simply continuing a line of leaders, such as Mar Mari, that stretched back to Thomas the Apostle.
The Patriarch of the Church of the East is the patriarch, or leader and head bishop of the Church of the East. The position dates to the early centuries of Christianity within the Sassanid Empire, and the Church has been known by a variety of names, including the Church of the East, Nestorian Church, the Persian Church, the Sassanid Church, or East Syrian.
Yahballaha I was bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, grand metropolitan and primate of the Church of the East from 415 to 420. He is included in the traditional list of patriarchs of the Church of the East. During his tenure he conducted the second council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in his episcopate, addressing tensions rising with the church in the Roman Empire.
Elishaʿ was Patriarch of the Church of the East during a period of schism from 524 to 537. Unlike his opponent Narsai, who was also consecrated as catholicus but has traditionally been considered an anti-patriarch, Elishaʿ is included in the traditional list of patriarchs of the Church of the East.
Maʿna served briefly as bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, grand metropolitan and primate of the Church of the East in 420. Like several other early bishops of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, he is included in the traditional list of patriarchs of the Church of the East.
Acacius was Catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon and Patriarch of the Church of the East from 485 to 496. His tenure was marked by internal christological and ecclesiological disputes. He struggled to prevent the Church of the East from aligning itself with the 'Nestorian' doctrine espoused by the metropolitan Barsauma of Nisibis. He is included in the traditional list of patriarchs of the Church of the East.
Mar Dadishoʿ was the Catholicos of the East from 421 AD to 456 AD. During his reign as Catholicos, in 424 AD, the Church of the East declared itself independent of all other churches, resulting in Mar Dadishoʿtaking the title of Patriarch, becoming the first Catholicos-Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon.
The Hephthalite–Sasanian War of 484 was a military confrontation that took place in 484 between an invading force of the Sasanian Empire under the command of Peroz I and a smaller army of the Hephthalite Empire under the command of Khushnavaz. The battle was a catastrophic defeat for the Sasanian forces who were almost completely wiped out. Peroz, the Sassanid king, was killed in the action.
Simeon of Beth Arsham was a Syrian bishop who spread his teachings at the beginning of the sixth century. He was the bishop of Beth Arsham, which was located near Seleucia-Ctesiphon.
The Chronicle of Arbela claims to record the early history of Christianity in the city which is now known as Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, but which was then Arbela, capital of Adiabene. First published in 1907, its age and historicity are disputed among scholars.
