St. Aristaces I
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Aristaces or Aristakes I () was the second
Catholicos A catholicos (plural: catholicoi) is the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and, in some cases, it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek ( ...
of the
Armenian Church Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
from 325 until his death in 333. He was the younger son and successor of
Gregory the Illuminator Gregory the Illuminator ( – ) was the founder and first official Catholicos of All Armenians, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He Christianization of Armenia, converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism in Armenia, Zoroastrianism to Chris ...
, the founder and first head of the Armenian Church and his wife, Julitta (or Mariam) of Armenia. Most of the information about Aristaces's life comes from the fifth-century Armenian history attributed to
Agathangelos Agathangelos (in , in Greek "bearer of good news", 5th century AD) is the pseudonym of the author of a life of the first apostle of Armenia, Gregory the Illuminator, who died about 332. The history attributed to Agathangelos is the main sou ...
. Aristaces was born in
Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...
of
Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...
to Gregory the Illuminator and his wife Julitta (or Mariam) of Armenia. He is said to have entered a monastery with his mother as a child after his father left for Armenia. When Aristaces grew up, he went under the tutelage of a monk called Nicomachus, who sent him to live as an ascetic in the desert. Around 325, when Gregory wished to give up the Catholicosate in favor of a life as a hermit, King Tiridates III of Armenia sent for Aristaces and his brother Vrtanes and had them brought to Armenia to take over leadership of the Church. In 325, Aristaces was sent as the Armenian representative to the
First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ec ...
and brought back the Nicene canons; his signature appears among those of the bishops who participated in the council. Aristaces is also said to have participated in an embassy together with Gregory and King Tiridates to the newly converted Roman emperor
Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...
, although this is considered "purely legendary" by scholar
Robert W. Thomson Robert William Thomson (24 March 1934, Cheam, London UK – 20 November 2018, Oxford) was Calouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian Studies at Oxford University. Thomson graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in classics, then ...
. Agathangelos writes nothing about Aristaces's death.
Faustus of Byzantium The name Faustus primarily refers to Faust, the protagonist of the German legend. Faustus may also refer to: * Faustus (praenomen), a Latin personal name * Faustus of Alexandria (died 250), priest and martyr * Faustus of Byzantium, 5th-centur ...
writes that Aristaces died "a confessor's death" but gives no further details, while Movses Khorenatsi claims that he was murdered in
Sophene Sophene ( or , ; ) was a province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, located in the south-west of the kingdom, and of the Roman Empire. The region lies in what is now southeastern Turkey. History The region that was to become Sophene was part ...
by a governor named Archilaeus in retaliation for being reprimanded by the Catholicos. According to Khorenatsi and Faustus, Aristaces was buried in the town of Til in the district of
Acilisene Acilisene (), known as Ekegheats or Yekeghyats () in Armenian, was a region of the Upper Armenia province of historical Armenia. It was a strip of land along the Upper Euphrates or Arsanias roughly corresponding to today's Erzincan Province of Tur ...
, although in a different chapter Faustus gives the alternative burial site of Tordan in the district of
Daranali Daranali or Daranaghi () was a district (''gavar'') of the province of Upper Armenia of Greater Armenia. It was located in the basin of the Western Euphrates (Karasu), near modern-day Kemah (Kamakh, Kamacha, Camachus), Turkey. Its center was the ...
, where Gregory is said to have been buried.


See also

*
Gregorids Gregorids were an Armenian noble family descended from St. Gregory the Illuminator (c. 257–330) and his wife Julitta (or Mariam) of Armenia, and thus of Arsacid stock, whose members served as patriarchs of Armenia from the early fourth century t ...


References


Sources

* * * 330s deaths Catholicoi of Armenia Year of birth unknown Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church {{Armenia-reli-bio-stub Participants in the First Council of Nicaea Gregorids