Catholicos Abraham III (also Abraham of Crete or Abraham Kretatsi d. 1737) was the Catholicos of the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

between 1734 and 1737. Born in

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban Ar ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, to a Greek mother, he was bishop of Rodosto,

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

and then Armenian prelate of Thrace in 1708–1734. At this time he went on a pilgrimage to eastern

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

, at that time under

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

rule, which now make up the area of modern-day Armenia and Nakhichevan. Abraham is said to have become Catholicos by chance, because while he was on his pilgrimage to

Etchmiadzin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...

Catholicos Abraham II died. Abraham of Crete had impressed many with his religious devotion during his stay there, and so they decided unanimously to elect him the new Catholicos. Abraham III was old at this point and unfamiliar in the workings of

, so he protested, but despite that in November 1734 he was named the 110th Catholicos of the Armenian Church. Abraham III came to the throne at a volatile time in the region. Nader Shah of Persia was reconquesting areas which had been lost by his predecessors to the Ottomans including Armenia. Abraham wrote a chronicle of Nader's campaign against the Turks and of his coronation as Shah when in the area. It is a helpful history because it is one of the few non-Persian sources about these years in the

Transcaucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. Abraham wrote that many villages had been left destitute by the Ottoman invasion and that the area was sufferingly greatly. Abraham was invited as a guest of honor at Nader's coronation and Armenian princes were granted autonomy. Abraham recorded detailed conversations he had with the Shah, most likely partly to serve as a record of the many privileges granted to Armenians by the shah and to serve as an example to the Ottomans who also ruled over a large Armenian population. Nader Shah visited the Armenian mother church of Etchmiadzin and reconfirmed its tax-exempt status. Abraham III died in April 1737 at Etchmiadzin and was buried there after his short but successful reign.

References

* *Kretatsʿi, Abraham. 1999. ''The Chronicle of Abraham of Crete.'' Translated by George A. Bournutian. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham 03 Of Armenia Catholicoi of Armenia Year of birth unknown 1737 deaths Greek Oriental Orthodox Christians Burials at Saint Hripsime Church Armenian people of Greek descent People of the Afsharid Empire 18th-century people of Safavid Iran