Viro or Viroy (, ) was the

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 ( ...

and head of Caucasian Albanian Church in the early 7th century. His full official title was ''Catholicos of Albania, Lupenia and Chola.''

Life in Sassanid court

He succeeded Ter Abas as head of Caucasian Albanian Church in 596. Nothing is known about him prior to his tenure as catholicos. He was residing in

Paytakaran Paytakaran () was the easternmost province ( or ) of the Kingdom of Armenia. The province was located in the area of the lower courses of the Kura and Arax rivers, adjacent to the Caspian Sea. It corresponded to the territory known as Caspiane ...

during early reign of

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; and ''Khosrau''), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 ...

according to

Stepanos Asoghik Stepanos Asoghik (), also known as Stepanos Taronetsi (), was an Armenian historian of the centuries. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. His name indicates that he came from the region of Taron and earned the nickname , meaning eithe ...

. According to ''

The History of the Country of Albania ''The History of the Caucasian Albanians'' (or ''The History of the World of Aghvank''; ) by Movses Kaghankatvatsi is a history of eastern territories of Armenia (Nagorno-Karabakh and Utik), as well as other territories in Southeastern Caucasus us ...

'' he fled to Sassanid court after an ill-fated rebellion by Albanian nobles. While

Marie Brosset Marie may refer to the following. People Given name * Marie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** List of people named Marie * Marie (Japanese given name) Surname * Jean Gabriel-Marie, French compose ...

links this to Khosrow's attack on Byzantine Empire during

Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, also called the Last Great War of Antiquity, was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. It was the final and most devastating conflict of the Roman–Persian wars (54 BCAD&n ...

, Dowsett finds this unconvincing. He was described as a learned theologian and skillful diplomat, succeeding at learning Parsig and enjoying patronage of Queen

Shirin Shirin (; died 628) was wife of the Sasanian emperor Khosrow II (). In the revolution after the death of Khosrow's father Hormizd IV, the General Bahram Chobin took power over the Persian empire. Shirin fled with Khosrow to Syria, where they l ...

. His position as catholicos was kept secure by the guarantee of Khosrow himself. He was released from the house arrest in

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ...

thanks to

Kavad II Kavad II () was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran briefly in 628. Born Sheroe, he was the son of Khosrow II () and Maria. With help from different factions of the nobility, Sheroe overthrew his father in a coup d'état in 628. At this junct ...

in 628.

Life after release

He arrived in Albania during height of

Third Perso-Turkic war Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

. While Sassanid marzban fled before the

Göktürks The Göktürks (; ), also known as Türks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks, were a Turkic people in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main powe ...

, Viroy tried to stall their advance, however tired of waiting, Turkic envoys invaded Albania. Viro and a noble called Gad Všnasp (

Constantin Zuckerman Constantin Zuckerman (; born 1957) is a French historian and Professor of Byzantine studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. Biography Academic rank: professor. Highest degree: doctorate. Job title: The Deputy Director of the C ...

equates him to

Varaz Grigor Varaz Grigor () was the first known Mihranid king of Caucasian Albania from 628 until at least 654. The last holder of the title was Vachagan III. Before reign Although mentioned in '' The History of the Country of Albania'' numerously, almost ...

) fled to Artsakh, then a province of

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. However, Turkic army caught up and forced the catholicos and nobles of Albania to subdue. Viroy and his delegation visited Böri's encampment near

Partav Barda ( ) is a city and the capital of the Barda District in Azerbaijan, located south of Yevlax and on the left bank of the Tartar river. It served as the capital of Caucasian Albania by the end of the 5th century. Barda became the chief city of ...

. Viroy submitted and obtained peace, returning enslaved Albanians back. After

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

' entrance to Albania in 628, he baptized and then consecrated Varaz Grigor as king, serving alongside him as catholicos. He was characterised by

Mkhitar Gosh Mkhitar Gosh ( 1130–1213) was an Armenian scholar, writer, public figure, thinker, and priest. He was one of the representatives of the Armenian Renaissance. Biography He was born in the city of Gandzak. He got his early education from publi ...

as 'a holy man resplented with virtue'. Viro witnessed

Plague of Sheroe The Plague of Shiryue (627–628) or Shiruye's Plague takes its name from the Sasanian monarch Kavad II, whose birth name was Shiruye. The plague was an epidemic that devastated the western provinces of the Sasanian Empire just before the Arab I ...

surging in Albania and wrote detailed account of it, himself probably dying from the plague in 630.

Theological view

Viroy was described as

Chalcedonian Chalcedonian Christianity is the branches of Christianity that accept and uphold theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, held in AD 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christological Definitio ...

Zaza Aleksidze Zaza Aleksidze (, also transliterated as Zaza Alexidze; 18 October 1935 – 24 January 2023) was a Georgian historian and linguist who specialized in Armenian and Oriental studies. He is best known internationally for deciphering the Caucasian A ...

, who claims Khosrow demanded of him to anathematise the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; ) was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 Oct ...

. However, Toumanoff maintains the idea that Viroy was

monophysite Monophysitism ( ) or monophysism ( ; from Greek , "solitary" and , "nature") is a Christological doctrine that states that there was only one nature—the divine—in the person of Jesus Christ, who was the incarnated Word. It is rejected as ...

and Heraclius wasn't able to reconvert him. Akopyan also supports this version.

James Howard-Johnston James Douglas Howard-Johnston (born 12 March 1942) is an English historian of the Byzantine Empire. He was University Lecturer in Byzantine Studies at the University of Oxford. He is an emeritus fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His appr ...

concluded however that, Viroy's life was written much later after his life and the authors didn't want to acknowledge the awkward fact of him being Chalcedonian in light of the deeds done by him for fellow countrymen. Armenian authors

Sebeos Sebeos () was the reputed author of a 7th-century Armenian history. As this authorship attribution is widely accepted to be false (pseudepigraphical), the author is frequently referred to as Pseudo-Sebeos. Though his name is not known, he was likel ...

and Stepanos Taronetsi regarded him as Chalcedonian as well.{{Citation , last=Dum-Tragut , first=Jasmine , title=7 One or two? On Christological and Hierarchical Disputes and the Development of the "Church of Albania" (4th–8th centuries) , date=2023-06-19 , pages=285–332 , publisher=De Gruyter Mouton , language=en , doi=10.1515/9783110794687-008 , isbn=978-3-11-079468-7, doi-access=free

References

Church of Caucasian Albania 630 deaths