A Second Constantine? The Sasanian King Yazdgard in Christian History and HistoriographyJournal of Late AntiquitySyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/G78PF828/tei
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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Scott JohnMcDonoughA Second Constantine? The Sasanian King Yazdgard in Christian History and Historiographyhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/G78PF828https://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/G78PF828https://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/G78PF828Journal of Late Antiquity1:12008127-140The Sasanian king Yazdgard I (399–
420 ce) is the subject of a complex, millenium-long historical tradition,
spanning a multitude of languages and literary traditions over a millennium.
Whereas later Persian and Arabic historians reviled Yazdgard as “the Sinner” and
celebrated his death, Christian writers developed a complex relationship with
the memory of the Sasanian king. Yazdgard’s legalization of public Christian
worship in Iran and sponsorship of the first synod of the Church of the East
were embraced hopefully by Christian writers as the actions of a “second
Constantine.” But the persecutions of Christians that marked the end of
Yazdgard’s reign challenged this benign image. Over time, the dualities of
Yazdgard’s actions were ignored, rationalized, and ultimately embraced by
Christian writers in Syriac and Greek. These writers transformed the actions of
Yazdgard, “sinner” and “second Constantine,” into a study of the promise and
perils of non-Christian rule.
McDonough, Scott John. “A Second Constantine? The Sasanian King Yazdgard in Christian History and Historiography.” Journal of Late Antiquity 1:1 (2008): 127–40.
Scott John McDonough, A Second Constantine? The Sasanian King Yazdgard in Christian History and Historiography,Journal of Late Antiquity 1:1 (2008): 127–40.ConstantineIranMarutha of MaipherqatNestoriansSassaniansV CEYazdgard IZoroastrianismhistoriographykingship