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GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 566 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR , the reputed founder of the Armenian See also:

Church. His See also:

LEGEND (through the French from the med. Lat. legenda, things to be read, from legere, to read)

legend is briefly as follows. His See also:

FATHER

father Anak, See also:

head of the See also:

PARTHIAN

Parthian See also:

CLAN (Gaelic clann, O. Ir. cland, connected with Lat. planta, shoot or scion, the ancient Gaelic or Goidelic substituting k for p)

clan of Suren, was bribed about the See also:

time of his See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth (c. 2S7) by the See also:

SASSANID, or SASSANIAN DYNASTY (Or SASANIAN)

Sassanid See also:

king of See also:

PERSIA

Persia to assassinate the Armenian king, See also:

CHOSROES

Chosroes, who was of the old Arsacid See also:

DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

dynasty, and father of See also:

TIRIDATES, or TERIDATES

Tiridates or Trdat, first See also:

Christian king of See also:

ARMENIA (old Persian Armina, Armenian Hayasdan, or Hayq)

Armenia. Anak was slain by his victim's soldiers; Gregory-was rescued by his Christian See also:

NURSE (a shortened form of the earlier " nourice," adapted through the French from Lat. nutrix, nu/rite, to nourish)

nurse, carried to Caesarea in See also:

CAPPADOCIA

Cappadocia, and brought up a Christian. Grown to manhood he took service under Tiridates, now king of Armenia, in See also:

order by his own fidelity to atone for his father's treachery. Presently at a feast of Anahite Gregory refused to assist his See also:

SOVEREIGN

sovereign in offering See also:

pagan See also:

SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

sacrifice, and his parentage being now revealed, was thrown into a deep See also:

PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

pit at Artashat, where he languished for fourteen years, during which persecution raged in Armenia. The See also:

SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene of the legend now shifts to See also:

Rome, where See also:

Diocletian falls in love with a lovely See also:

NUN (O. Eng. nunne, from Lat. nonnus, nonna, familiar terms for an old man or woman)

nun named Ripsime; she, rather than gratify his See also:

PASSION (post-classical Lat. passio, formed from pati, passus, to suffer, endure)

passion, flees with her See also:

ABBESS (Lat. abbatissa, fem. form of abbas, abbot)

abbess Gaiana and several priests to Armenia. Diocletian asks her back of Tiridates, who meanwhile has fallen in love with her himself. He too is flouted, and in his rage tortures and slays her and her companions. The traditional date of this See also:

MASSACRE

massacre is th 5th of See also:

OCTOBER

October, A.D. 301.

See also:

PROVIDENCE

Providence, incensed at such See also:

CRUELTY (through the O. Fr. crualte, mod. cruaute, from the Lat. crudelitas)

cruelty, turns Tiridates into a See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild See also:

BOAR (0. Eng. bar; the word is found only in W. Ger. languages, cf. Dutch beer, Ger. Eber)

boar, and afflicts his subjects with madness; but his See also:

SISTER

sister, Chosrowidukht, has a See also:

REVELATION, BOOK OF

revelation to bring Gregory back out of his pit. The king consents, the See also:

SAINT (lat. sanctus, " holy ")

saint is acclaimed, the bodies of the See also:

THIRTY

thirty-seven martyrs solemnly interred, and the king, after, See also:

FASTING (from " fast," derived from old Teutonic fastejan; synonyms being the Gr. vnorebety, late Lat. jejunare)

fasting five, and listening to Gregory's homilies for sixty days, is healed. This all took See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place at Valarshapat, where Gregory, anxious to See also:

FIX, THEODORE (180o-1846)

fix a site on which to build shrines for the See also:

RELICS (Lat, reliquiae, the equivalent of the English " remains " in the sense of a dead body)

relics of Ripsime and Gaiana, saw the Son of See also:

GOD

God come down in a sheen of See also:

LIGHT

light, the stars of See also:

HEAVEN (0. Eng. hefen, heofon, heofone; this word appears in O.S. hevan; the High. Ger. word appears in Ger. Himmel, Dutch hemel; there does not seem to be any connexion between the two words, and the ultimate derivation of the word is unknown; the sugges

heaven attending, and smite the See also:

earth with a See also:

GOLDEN

golden See also:

HAMMER, FRIEDRICH JULIUS (1810-1862)

hammer till the nether See also:

WORLD

world resounded to his blows. Three chapels were built on the spot, and Gregory raised his See also:

CROSS

cross there and elsewhere for the See also:

PEOPLE

people to See also:

WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

worship, just as St Nino was doing about the same time in See also:

GEORGIA

Georgia. There followed a See also:

CAMPAIGN

campaign against the idols whose temples and books were destroyed. The time had now come for Gregory, who was still a layman and father of two sons, to receive ordination; so he went to Caesarea, where See also:

LEONTIUS

Leontius ordained and consecrated him catholicos or See also:

VICAR (Lat. vicarius, substitute)

vicar-See also:

general of Armenia. This was sometime about 290, when Leontius may have acceded, though we first hear of him as See also:

bishop in 314. Gregory's ordination at Caesarea is See also:

HISTORICAL

historical. The See also:

VISION (from Lat. videre, to see), or SIGHT

vision at Valarshapat was invented later by the Armenians when they See also:

broke with the Greeks, in order to give to their church the semblance, if not of apostolic, at least of divine origin. According to See also:

AGATHANGELUS, AGATHANGE

Agathangelus, Tiridates went to Rome with Gregory, Aristaces, son of Gregory, and Albianos, head of the other priestly See also:

FAMILY

family, to make a pact with See also:

CONSTANTINE

Constantine, newly converted to the faith, and receive a See also:

PALLIUM

pallium from See also:

SILVESTER

Silvester. The better See also:

SOURCES

sources make See also:

SARDICA, COUNCIL OF

Sardica the scene of See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting and name See also:

Eusebius (of See also:

NICOMEDIA [mod. Ismid]

Nicomedia) as the See also:

PRELATE (Lat. praelatus, set above, from praefero, prefer)

prelate who attended Constantine. There is no See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason to doubt that some such visit was made about the See also:

YEAR

year 315, when the See also:

DEATH

death of Maximin Daza See also:

LEFT

left Constantine supreme.

Eusebius testifies (H.E. ix. 8) that the Armenians were ardent Christians, and See also:

ancient See also:

friends and See also:

ALLIES, THOMAS WILLIAM (1813-1903)

allies of the See also:

ROMAN

Roman See also:

EMPIRE

empire when Maximin attacked them about the year 308. The See also:

CONVERSION (Lat. conversio, from convertere, to turn or ,change)

conversion of Tiridates was probably a See also:

MATTER

matter of policy. His See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom was honeycombed with See also:

CHRISTIANITY

Christianity, and he wished to draw closer to the See also:

West, where he foresaw the victory of the new faith, in order to fortify his See also:

REALM

realm against the Sassanids of Persia. Following the same policy he sent Aristaces in 325 to the See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council of See also:

NICE

Nice. Gregory is related to have added a clause to the creed which Aristaces brought back; he became a See also:

HERMIT

hermit on See also:

MOUNT, WILLIAM SIDNEY (1807-1868)

Mount Sebuh about the year 332, and died there. Is the Ripsime See also:

EPISODE

episode See also:

mere legend ? The See also:

story of the conversion of Georgia by St Nino in the same See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age is so full of See also:

LOCAL

local See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour, and coheres so closely with the story of Ripsime and Gaiana, that it seems over-sceptical to explain the latter away as a .mere doublet of the legend of Prisca and See also:

VALERIA, VIA

Valeria. The historians Faustus of Byzant and See also:

LAZAR

Lazar of Pharp in the 5th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century already attest the reverence with which their memory was invested. We know from many sources the prominence assigned to See also:

WOMEN

women prophets in the Phrygian church. Nino's story reads like that of such a See also:

FEMALE

female missionary, and something similar must underlie the story of her Armenian companions. The See also:

HISTORY

history of Gregory by Agathangelus is a compilation of about 450, which was rendered into See also:

Greek 550.

See also:

PROFESSOR (the Latin noun formed from the verb profiteri, to declare publicly, to acknowledge, profess)

Professor Marr has lately published an Arabic See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text from a MS. in See also:

SINAI

Sinai which seems to contain an older tradition. A See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter of Bishop See also:

George of See also:

ARABIA

Arabia to Jeshu, a See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest of the See also:

TOWN

town Anab, dated 714 (edited by Dashian, See also:

Vienna, 1891), contains an See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent tradition of Gregory, and styles him a Roman by birth. In. spite of legendary accretions we can still discern the true outlines and significance of his See also:

LIFE

life. He did not really illumine or convert See also:

GREAT

great Armenia, for the people were in the See also:

main already converted by Syrian missionaries to the Adoptionist or Ebionite type of faith which was dominant in the far See also:

East, and was of terwards known as Nestorianism. Marcionites and Montanists had also worked in the See also:

field. Gregory persuaded Tiridates to destroy the last relics of the old paganism, and carried out in the religious See also:

SPHERE (Gr. vclsa?pa, a ball or globe)

sphere his sovereign's policy of detaching Great Armenia from the Sassanid realm and allying it with the Graeco-Roman empire and See also:

CIVILIZATION

civilization. He set himself to Hellenize or Catholicize Armenian Christianity, and in furtherance of this aim set up a See also:

HIERARCHY (Gr. iepos, holy, and apxe.v, to rule)

hierarchy officially dependent on the Cappadocian. He in effect turned his See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country into a See also:

province of the Greek see of Cappadocia. This hierarchical tie was soon snapped, but the Hellenizing See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence continued to See also:

WORK

work, and See also:

BORE

bore its most abundant See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit in the 5th century. His career was thus analogous to that of St See also:

Patrick in See also:

Ireland. (F. C.

End of Article: GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR

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