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Trdat 3rd king of armenia history. The rise of the kingdom of Great Armenia under Trdat III the Great. Effective Politics Television Background

Trdat the Third
2 date: 04/21/2015 / 08:58:24

Trdat III was one of the most prominent kings of the Armenian Arshakid dynasty. He ruled intermittently: in 274 - 276 (I accession to the throne) and in 287 - 330 AD (II accession to the throne) AD. During his reign, the economic, political and military position of Armenia was strengthened. However, during his reign, major and fateful changes took place in the internal life of the country - the adoption of Christianity by Armenia as a state religion.
Trdat III (Traz) - 287–330 AD - the king of Armenia:
274- 276 AD - I accession to the throne
287 - 330 years - II accession to the throne. (second accession to the throne as a henchman of the Roman Empire). He managed to drive out foreign invaders and restore the independence of Armenia. In the 90s of the 3rd century AD, the struggle for the Armenian throne flared up again between the henchmen of the Roman Empire and Sassanid Persia. This led to the fact that in the same 298, in the city of Nisibin, a peace treaty was concluded between Rome and Persia regarding Armenia. According to this agreement, Sassanian Persia pledged not to violate the borders of Great Armenia for 40 years, and both states recognized the independence of Armenia. In 301, Armenia, the first in the world, adopted Christianity as a state religion. At the same time, he pursued a policy of centralizing the Armenian lands and fought against the rebellious sovereign princes (Armenian - nakharars).
296 AD - in 296 the Persian king Narses began a war with the Roman Empire and Armenia, but after some successes he suffered a heavy defeat and left Armenia.
298 AD - the first division of Armenia between the Roman Empire and Sassanian Persia, according to the Nisisba peace treaty between these countries. In the city of Nisibina in Mesopotamia, peace was concluded for 40 years: the Persians ceded Mesopotamia and five small regions in the Upper Tigris basin to the Romans (some of them were once part of Armenia) and recognized the Roman protectorate over Armenia and Iberia. In fact, Armenia managed to defend its independent existence... Rome and Persia recognized the independence of Armenia, the borders of Armenia with Rome and Persia were specified. The country was attributed to the sphere of influence of Rome. However, in the same year, Trdat III managed to restore the integrity of Armenia again.
late III - early IV centuries AD - Artavazd Mamikonyan - sparapet the Armenian troops during the time of Trdat III.
During the reign of Trdat III, Armenia adopted Christianity as a state religion, but this process was preceded by many social changes that took place within some strata of Armenian society. Let's list some of them:
1. Gregory the Illuminator. The preaching and further spread of Christianity in Armenia moves to a new, higher level during the period of the activity of Grigory Partev (“partev” means “Parthian” in Armenian). By origin, Gregory was from the younger branch of the royal dynasty of the Persian (Parthian) Arshakids. His father - Anak served at the royal court. However, in 224 AD, he, together with his family (also with his little son - Gregory), was forced to flee to Armenia. [This was preceded by very turbulent events that took place in Persia in the early 20s of the 3rd century AD. At that time, Vagharsh V (208 - 223 AD) Arshakid reigned in Persia. During his reign, confusion in the country and the discontent of the princes with the central government increased. The princes of the country's southern regions especially stood out for their activity directed against the imperial power. Taking advantage of this, the brother of Vagharsh V - Artavan, declared himself the king of Persia and subjugated the southern regions of the Persian state. He appropriated the dynastic name Artavan V. In Persia began Civil War which lasted 10 years. The lawful king - Vagharsh V failed to subdue the rebels. Moreover, in 223 AD, Artavan overthrew his brother and became the king of the entire Persian state. However, in the same 223, one of the commanders-in-chief of the troops of Vagharsh V - Artashir (his grandfather - Sasan in his youth was a major military leader, and then became the chief priest of Ahuramazda - the supreme idol of the Persian pagan pantheon. The son of Sasan and the father of Artashir - Papak was supreme priest of Persia) Papakan from the Sassanid clan overthrew Artavan V and declared himself king of Persia. So one of the most powerful royal dynasties that ruled in Asia Minor fell - the Parthian (and later Persian) Arshakids dynasty, which existed for a total of 473 years (the Parthian Arshakids dynasty was founded by the Parthian king Arshak I the Great in 250 BC). However, Artashir secretly harbored a special hatred for the kings of the Arshakid clan, since the father of Vagharsh V - Vagharsh IV (191 - 207 AD) persecuted Papak and in every possible way infringed upon the rights of the Persian priests (As mentioned above, both Artashir's grandfather and father were priests. That is, Artashir was brought up in a priestly family. was a religious man and he did not like the persecution of the priests by the royal authorities). Thus, Artashir became the founder of a new royal dynasty in Persia - the Sassanid dynasty. Having become the head of state, Artashir began to persecute representatives of the Arshakid clan, deprive them of their posts, forcibly take away their lands, expel them from the palace, the capital and the country. Those who resisted this were put to death by the Sassanids]. During the Persian political crisis , in Armenia was ruled by a king from the dynasty of the Armenian Arshakids, Khosrov II the Great. It is to him that Gregory's father, Anak, comes. Khosrow II takes Anak into his service. However, later it turns out that Anak the bull was sent by the Persian king Shapukh I (243-248 AD) to kill the Armenian king [Having come to power, the Sassanids sought to establish their hegemony in many countries of Western Asia, including Armenia. Having become the king of Persia, after his father Artashir I, Shapukh I began to conduct an aggressive policy against Armenia. But the Armenian troops, under the leadership of Khosrov I the Great I, each time gave a decisive rebuff to the Persian invaders and drove them out of their native land. Failing to achieve the expected results on the battlefield, the Persian king decided to go to baseness and remove the outstanding Armenian king in other ways. That is why Shapukh I sends Anak to Armenia to kill Khosrov. Anak manages to carry out his dastardly intention during one of the palace festivities (some researchers believe that the murder of Khosrov took place during the royal hunt, which Anak was also present at)]. After the assassination of Khosrov II, the Armenians killed Anak and exterminated his entire family. Only Anak's young son, Gregory, was miraculously saved. He was saved by princes from the Slkuni clan, who hereditarily held the post of sparapet - the commander-in-chief of the Armenian troops. They hid Gregory in their estate, in the Taron region, and raised him in accordance with the principles adopted among the Armenian nobility and at the court. When Gregory grew up, he was accepted into the service at the royal palace. But he was already (secretly like everyone else) a Christian. Where and when Gregory learned about the new doctrine, what community (s) he attended, when and where he was baptized, it is not known. One way or another, but over time, Gregory became one of the prominent figures of Christianity in Armenia, but neither the king nor the courtiers knew about this yet. At the end of the 3rd century AD, the king of Armenia was Trdat III (298 -330). The fact that Gregory is a Christian became known during one of the summer religious festivals dedicated to Anahit, which took place in the village of Til and in which the king participated, along with his family and his entourage. During this holiday, Gregory refused to make a sacrifice and perform other rites of worship of the idol. When the tsar finds out about Gregory's belonging to the Christian movement, he orders to imprison Gregory in Khor Virap, a castle located not far from Artashat and serving at that time as a place of imprisonment of noble people and political enemies of the ruling dynasty (like the Bastille in France or the Peter and Paul Fortress in Russian St. Petersburg). The prisoners in Khor Virap were in terrible conditions, many died, but, fortunately, Gregory managed to survive. Later we will see what happened to him later.

2. Virgins are martyrs. As mentioned above, the new Armenian capital, Vagharshapat, soon turned into a large polis, where, along with the palaces of the king and aristocrats, there were also objects serving the population of the city. These were also the grape presses (and with them the buildings where the winemakers worked), which were located in the suburbs of the new capital. Usually forced people and the poorest strata of the population worked on such objects. Therefore, the aristocrats were ashamed to visit such places and the attendants were controlled mainly by their immediate superiors. And so it was necessary for the work to be carried out accurately, on time, which was done by the workers. Everything else, including what the employees did in their free time, did not interest the bosses. The first Armenian Christians took advantage of this circumstance. They began to gather in the suburbs of Vagharshapat. Other Christians included a group of women led by a girl named Gayane. Hripsime and Shoghakat were especially active in this group. Christians (including girls) actively preached, attracted many people to their side. Thus, the number of Christians in the country increased. However, the general situation in Armenia was not in favor of Christians. The king launched an active campaign to persecute the adherents of the new creed. Those who came across were forced to recognize old idols. If they did not renounce Christianity, then they were thrown into prison, sent to forced labor. But the most active and principled people were sentenced to death. A group of Christian girls was also executed. And it happened like this. Once King Trdat was returning from another walk and, on one of the streets of Vagharshapat, he saw Hripsime. Captivated by the beauty of the girl, the king ordered to find her and take her to the palace. When Hripsime was brought in, Trdat invited the girl to become his concubine. She refused, which surprised the king in the least [in Ancient Armenia, as in other ancient states, the cult of the worship of kings was widespread. Ancient people believed that kings descended from idols, were their direct heirs and were deified (both the dead and those who reigned in this moment rulers). Disobedience to kings was considered sacrilege and could be "severely punished by an idol / -s /". In addition, being a royal concubine was considered a great honor for a girl, especially an ordinary one. Therefore, when a girl did not want to receive such an "honor", then she had to have either very good reasons, or such behavior caused bewilderment. In this case, the refusal of Hripsime had a biblical basis (the Bible says that: “it is necessary to avoid fornication” - Ephesians 5: 3)]. Soon Trdat learns that Hripsime is a Christian. They arrest her and want to force her to recognize her old idols. However, the girl does not obey. Therefore, by order of the king, she is tortured and then executed. In addition, they learn about the whereabouts of other Christian girls from the same community. After being arrested, they all suffer the same fate as Hripsime. But such drastic measures could not stop the spread of Christian teachings in Armenia.
3. Liberation of Gregory. As mentioned above, Gregory managed to survive, being imprisoned in Khor Virap. But in the early spring of 301 AD, he was released from captivity. This is where legends and reality are closely intertwined with each other. According to a widespread legend, at the beginning of 301, Tsar Trdat and his family fell seriously ill. Despite the doctors' best efforts, no one could cure them. One night, the queen had a vision: the gray-bearded old man told her that they could be cured only when Gregory was released from prison, and the king would accept a new religion. Whether the king and his family were really sick or not is unknown. But the fact is that Gregory was freed from captivity and again became the king's confidant.
4. Adoption of Christianity as a state religion. In late May - early June 301. ne, the king of Armenia Trdat III, his family, courtiers and the royal army were baptized in the waters of the Aratsani River (the Armenian name for the Eastern Euphrates River), in the Taron region, not far from the town of Mtsurn. They were baptized by the leader of the Armenian Christians - Grigory Partev, who took the title of Catholicos. By accepting water baptism, they thus symbolized dedication to God and the adoption of Christianity as the state religion. After that, Christianity began its advancement throughout the country. This was the beginning of a new stage in the history of Ancient Armenia.

During the reign of Trdat III, the central authority and the army were strengthened. The role of government departments in the country's leadership and defense is growing. Trdat III appoints Ota Amatuni as Azarapet (Armenian thousand), and Artavazda Mandakuni as Sparapet. The country's economy is developing, along with stabilization of the political and economic situation in the country, trade is gaining new development, the main centers of which are Artashat in Greater Armenia and Mtsbin in Northern Mesopotamia.

Trdat III takes action to provide economic support to the Armenian Church by distributing land priests of rural churches have 4 yards each, and village churches have 7 yards each. Armenian Catholicos Gregory the Illuminator and Tsar Trdat organized educational activities. Some of the children gathered from different regions of Armenia were sent to Assyrian education, and the other to Greek. The aim was to train experienced translators of the Armenian language, in order to make the spoken word of the Gospel more accessible to the people, as well as to simplify the task of conducting state affairs.

In 313, with the consent of Emperor Constantine the Great, the Milanese Manifesto Edict was adopted, according to which Christianity in the Roman Empire was proclaimed as a free religion with equal rights to others. The Kingdom of Great Armenia and the Roman Empire became countries of the same faith and good and stable relations were established between them.

Saint Gregory retired from the secular world and lived the life of an ascetic in the Manya Ayrk cave in the Sepukh mountain of the Daranakh region of Great Armenia. Tsar Trdat with the sons of Gregory Vrtanes and Aristakes arrived there. At the request of the tsar, Gregory ordained Aristakes as bishop. The latter took part in the Nicene Ecumenical Council, at which the Symbol of Faith was established. Aristakes, returning to Armenia, brought with him the Nicene canons. Saint Gregory adds his own list of laws to this list.

At the request of the caretakers of the city of Paytakaran of the eponymous region of the Great King Trdat of Armenia ordained the son of Vtranes Grigoris as bishop of these places. Artsakh, Utik and Paytakaran, as well as the bishops of Virka and Hakhvank, subordinate to the Armenian Apostolic Church, were under his spiritual authority. Gregory was brutally killed during a Christian preaching on the orders of the king of the Mazkut country of Sanesan located on the western coast of the Caspian Sea. The body of St. Grigoris was brought by his co-religionists and buried in the village of Amaras Artsakh, in the church built by his grandfather Grigor the Illuminator.

Danielyan E.

Tiridates III the Great Arshakuni - saint, equal to the apostles king of Great Armenia in 286-342, the son of the Armenian king Khosrov I. In 305-306. approved Christianity in Armenia as a state religion. Together with the first archbishop of Armenia, St. Gregory the Illuminator King Tiridates in 324 visited Rome and meeting there with the emperor Constantine the Great and the pope Sylvester, approved a peace treaty and an "eternal union" between the Romans and Armenians against all the Gentiles. As a symbol of allied relations, the emperor handed over to the king of Armenia a special banner with the image of the monogram of Christ (chrysma), and under this banner the Armenians fought against the Sassanian Iran... Tiridates III was killed in 342 by pagan nobles as a result of court intrigues.

Byzantine dictionary: in 2 volumes / [comp. Common Ed. K.A. Filatov]. SPb .: Amphora. TID Amphora: RHGA: Publishing house of Oleg Abyshko, 2011, vol. 2, p. 376.

Tiridates III (Trdat) - Tsar of Great Armenia (287-330). In the fight against Iran, he focused on Rome, in alliance with which he defeated the Iranian troops in 297 and ensured the position of Great Armenia independent from Iran. In an effort to strengthen the royal power, Tiridates in 301, together with the Armenian nobility, adopted Christianity, which has since become the state religion of the country. The churches were granted large land holdings, and the clergy were equated in their legal status with the privileged class (azats). The centralization of power, the adoption of Christianity and the anti-Iranian orientation of Tiridates met with resistance from some of the nakharars who killed Tiridates.

A.P. Novoseltsev. Moscow.

Soviet Historical Encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M .: Soviet encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 14. TAANAKH - FELEO. 1971.

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Byzantium (brief reference).

Armenia (selection of articles in the project "Historical Geography").

Chronological tables and by centuries -

Trdat III the Great (250-330)

After Trdat's father Khosrov II the Bold (198-252) was treacherously killed from his family in the year 252, and the Kingdom of Great Hayk was captured by Persia, Trdat, another infant, was able to take his teacher to Rome. There his youth passed.

"Trdatus, who in his adolescence jumped on a restive horse, deftly controlled it, successfully using weapons and overcame other military wisdom. According to the temple prediction of the Peloponnesian Pythia, he surpassed Clithostratus of Rhodes in competition in games, who knew how to plunge (the enemy) by grabbing him by neck, as well as Keras Argivets, for he tore off the bull's hoof, and this one, seizing the horns of two wild bulls with one hand, tore them off, crushing their necks. land and, grabbing the chariot, to the amazement of everyone, he stopped it. During the war with the Goths, the soldiers rebelled against him and killed him; they also attacked all the other chiefs. Trdat, however, alone opposed them and did not allow anyone to enter the palace Licinia, with whom he lived "

Movses Khorenatsi

"42. And it so happened that the troops, advancing, found themselves in a narrow depression between the vineyards and the passage to the granaries, at the gates of the city. Since it was midnight, the gates of the city were locked. Until midnight, not finding food and dry grass for the horses of the entire army, they began to search and saw behind the city wall with inside in the barnyard heaps of hay. But due to the height of the wall, nobody could get to [him]. Then Trdat ascended [along the wall] and, going down [down], began to throw hay into the army in heaps until he was completely satisfied. He also sent watchmen and many dogs to this side of the wall. And he himself, having risen from the other side, went down.

43. Seeing this mighty power [Trdat], Licinius was surprised. With the onset of morning, the city gates were opened, and the whole army entered [the city]. Licinius with all the nobles, generals, commanders and princes appeared before the king. "

Agafangel

Later, Trdat, replacing the emperor, went to single combat with the Gothic leader.

“In those days, the Goth ruler gathered his troops and set off in a multitude of military detachments to war with the Greek ruler. her in alarm; [it would be better if] I from here from our troops oppose you, and you [against me] from the Greek side. Let's go to the battlefield, if I defeat you, the Greeks will obey me, but if you defeat me, then our life will belong to you, and we will submit to you, and peace will come for both sides without blood and destruction. "
40. The Greek king, hearing all this, was frightened, for [the Greeks] were not ready to march with troops against the [Gothic king], but he also could not agree to [fulfill] the requirement [set out] in the letter, because he was puny; he was frightened and afraid, for he did not know what to answer to the message ...
44. The king told the princes about the message of the king of the Goths. Then Licinius turned to the king and said:
- Let my master's heart not tremble, for there is a husband at your court who can handle this matter. His name is Trdates, from the royal family of the Armenian country.
And Licinius told about his daring act of the night. [The king] gave orders, and Trdatios was brought to him. And [Trdat] told him everything in order. Then the hour of the battle was appointed, so that in the morning the Gothic and Greek sovereigns would go out to fight one against the other.
45. In the morning of the next day, [the king] ordered to throw the [royal] purple over Trdatios. They dressed him up in imperial clothes, put on the royal regalia, and no one knew anything about him. It was announced to everyone that it was the emperor himself. To the sound of trumpets, he with the whole army began to approach rapidly until he appeared before the enemies. Finding themselves in front of each other - [Trdat] in the guise of an emperor and the king [Goths] spurred their horses and entered [into battle]. And there, dressed as an emperor, defeated the king [Goths] and, seizing him, brought him and set him before the emperor. "

Agafangel

Later, Trdat participates in the Eastern campaign of Carr and the successor of his cause, Numerian.

“The brave Trdat fought several battles in a row, first in Armenia, and then in Persia, in which he won victory with his own hands. Once, with greater success than that Elianan in ancient times, he raised a spear in defense of the same number of wounded. Persian skillful (archers), having experienced the formidable power of the giant and the strength of his armor, began to fire at his horse and, covering him with many wounds, killed him.The horse crashed to the ground and the king fell. in multitude for what had been done to him, and, seizing the horse of one of them, dashingly jumped into the saddle. Once again, again dismounting, (but) voluntarily, he scattered the herd of elephants with his sword. Having distinguished himself in Persia and Assyria for such feats, he advanced further than Ctesiphon "

Having finally established himself on the throne, Trdat did not cease to accept the challenge of his opponents to meet on the battlefield. In one of the battles he meets with the mighty leader of the northerners: Here is a description of the course of this fight according to John Mamikonian.

Right before the battle, Trdat and Gedrhon met between the battle formations of the Armenian army and the army of the Northerners, who had previously challenged Trdat to a duel in an insulting tone. Gedrhon was known as an unsurpassed fighter among his. The single combat began with war hammers and lasted quite a long time. But since Gedrhon began to get tired a little, he, wishing to change the course of a dangerous duel for himself, suddenly broke away from Trdat and threw a lasso from a distance - clasping Trdat's arms. Gedrkhon began to pull the lasso, hoping to drag Trdat off his horse, but the latter, with deceptive and quick movements of his own horse, confused the enemy in his own lasso, after which, deftly freeing himself, the enemy departed with a blow of a heavy sword, the blow of which cut through the enemy's housekeeper and cut off the head of his horse.

A year later, there was another clash with the northerners.

"King Trdat, having descended with all the Armenian (army) on the Plain of the Gargarians, meets in battle with the northerners, and when both sides converge, in a gigantic onslaught, he cuts the crowd of enemies in two. I am unable to describe the speed (of movements) of his hand and that, as from her enemies innumerable fell and rolled head over heels on the ground. Like fish shaken out by a skilled fisherman from a full seine, they jumped on the surface of the earth. Seeing this, the king of the basils gets close to the sovereign, takes out from under the horse equipment a lasso from the veins, covered with skin and , deftly throwing from behind, grabs the left shoulder and right armpit, for his hand was raised to strike with a sword at someone; and he was dressed in armor that the arrows could not even scratch. And since he could not move the giant with his hand , then (he wrapped the lasso) around the horse's chest, but did not even have time to hit the horse with a whip, when the giant with his left hand grabbed the lasso and, pulling (the king of the basilov) to him with powerful force, with a well-aimed blow of a two-edged sword cut it in half and husband and, at the same time, the head and neck of the horse. "

(Trdat) - the king of Great Armenia (287-330). In the fight against Iran, he was guided by Rome, in alliance with which Iran inflicted defeat in 297. troops and ensured the position of Armenia the Great independent from Iran. In an effort to strengthen the tsarist power, T. in 301, together with the Arm. the nobility adopted Christianity, which has since become state. religion of the country. The churches were granted large lands. Vladonia, and the clergy were equated in their legal status with the privileged class (Azats). Centralization of power, adoption of Christianity and anti-Iranians. T.'s orientation met resistance from some of the nakharars, who killed T.

Lit .: Manandyai A., Critical. review of the history of the arm. People, vol. 2, part 1, Er., 1957 (in Armenian).

"TIRIDATE III" in books

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