ORIENT ALIA LOV ANIENSIA

ANALECTA

157 - - - ­

FOUNDATIONS OF POWER AND

CONFLICTS OF AUTHORITY

IN LATE-ANTIQUE MONASTICISM

Proceedings of the Intemational Seminar

Turin, December 2-4, 2004

edited by

A. CAMPLANI and G. FILORAMO

UITGEVERIJ PEETERS en DEPARTEMENT OOSTERSE STUDIES

LEUVEN - PARIS - DUDLEY, MA
2007
 THE RE VIVAL OF PERSIAN MO NASTIC ISM (SIXTH

TO SEVENTH CENTURIES) : CHURCH STRUC TURES ,

THEOLOG ICAL ACADEMY, AND REFORMED MONKS

Alberto CAMPLAN I
Università di Roma "La Sapienza"

The present contribution aim s at investigating the changing relationship

between monasticism and the institutional church in late antiquity: the
case of Persia n Christianity in the sixth and seventh centuries prov ides us
with interesting events and figures, which allow us to perceive with suf­
ficient lucidity the historical process which led to the restructuring of the
network of powers and authorities within the urban communities and the
monasteries.
In recent years it is Philippe Escolan's provocati ve study on Syriac
ascetism which has givcn more stress to the issue of power in Syriac
monasticism. This scholar tries to recover aline of evolution from the
early Syriac church, with its typical two-Ievel structure (the bnay qyama
and the laity), lO the monasticism of the following periods. This line cen­
ters on the opposition between the spiritual authority of the ascetics, based
on individuai charismatic experiences and div ine revelations, and the
power of the institutional church. 1 The final stage of this process wit­
nesses the monks becoming protagonists of the divisions among the dif­
ferent churches and gaining spiritual and hierarchical power at the
expense of the institutional church. 2
My study is intended to illuminate a narrower span of ti me and a more
parti al set of data, whose analysis does not allow such a conclusion. The
focus is on Persian monasticism during the period in which the dyophysite
church was defining its institutional and theological identity, from Mar
Aba I onwards. The sources at our disposal allow us to see thal the orig­
inality of the ecclesiastical and monastic experience of Persian Chris­
tianity during this period consists in an evolving relationship between
three realities: (l) the theological school of Nisibis, (2) the structure of

I Ph. ESCOLAN , MO llochisme et ég lise : Le mrmochis/1/(, ~:\" riel1 dII IV' au VI' siècle: /1/1
/1/Ql/aclrisme clw ri.\ItWlique, (Tlréolog ie lr iSlo riq ue, 1(9). Pari s. 1':199.
2 Ph. E SCOLAN. M onac17isme 1'. 1 ég lise , p. 31 3-387.
 278 ALB ERTO CAM PLAN I
the Church, in particular its mt:: tropolitan organization, and (3) SOme
monastic movements whose aim was to retum, after a period of eclipse,
to the centre of ecclesiastical relations and politics. This last point is of
great importance for the present debate about autholity and powe r,
because, for the period in question, we are concerned with a new evalu­
ation, by both some monastic movements and some members of the eccle­
siastical hierarchy, of the function and position of monastic congrega­
tion s in the life of the church. 3
I. Th e balance oj power in the church oj Persia
After the crisis caused by the ecclesiastical politics of Bar $auma and the
marginalization of several forms of ascetic life,4 during the long period in
which Persian Christianity was defining its identity and territorial juris­
diction , the theological Academy of Nisibis, the hierarchical church and
some monastic movements did not enter into open conflict. On the con­
trary, they appear to be in search of a means of coexistence. The balance
of po"/er was reached in the second half of the sixth century by means of
model s of mutuai acknowledgment in different areas of practical and intel­
lectual life, which varied according to the local situation of the bishoprics
and the distinctive features of each monastic congregation . For a better
understanding of this network of relation s, we must tak~ into account not
only the situation of a church seek.ing self-definition both from the polit­
ical and social point of view, since its context was a non-Christian empire,
and from a religious point of view, since its theolog ical ideas and liturgi­
cal traditions were not firmly established,5 but also we must consider the
lack of areaI centraliz ation of the ecclesiastical power in the see of Sele u­
cia-Ctesiphon, limited as it appears by the rights of the metropolitans ,6
3 Fo r a generai introducti o n, see M. TAMCKE, D er Kalholikus -Palriarch SaQrfX6 ' l.
(5Y6- 604) III/ d das MÙl1chlul1I, (Europaische H ochschulschnflel1 , XX III/3 02), Fmnkfurt­
Be m- Ne w York-Pari s, 1988, espec ialiy p. 23-28 .
4 The referen ce study is S. GER a, Bar~alll1la ofNisihis alld Persian ChrislianilY in Ihe
FiJlh Cenlllry. (CSCO, 424, Suhs., 63), Lovanii, 1981.
5 See G.J. R[I~INK, "Edessa Crew Dim lInd Nisibis Shone Forrh" : Ihe Sch,'ol oj Nis­
ibis allhe Transiriol1 ofl he Sixlh-Sevenrh CenI/II}', in: J.W. DRJ.lvl'/{s and A.A. MA C DON ­
ALD (cd.), Ceno'es oJ Leam il/g . Learnil1g ancl Localion in Pre-Modcrn El/l'opI! and Near­
Eusl. (Bril/'s SII/dies in 1l1lclleclual Hislory , 6 1), Leiden 1995 , p. 77- '139 .
6 W . SELS, Oriel7lalisches Kirchenrechl. Band l. Die C eschichle des KirchenrechlS der
Neslorialler ( VOTI den Anjange bis ZUI1l M ungo/enzei!). (Oslerreichische Akademie del' Wis­
senscha/len. Philosophisch-hislorische Klilsse. SilzlIl/gberichle. 388). Wien , 198 1, p. 121­
130.
TH E REV I V AL OF PER SIAN MONASTICISM 279
and the pre::,encc of active Jacobite groups , in s ome cases supported by
members of the political power. 7
The Synodicon orientale ,H if we read it with a criticaI eye, separating
the synodical material from what are apparently later interpolations and
interpretations, gives the main lincs of the politics of the Persian church,
its self-representation through the decisions taken by the generai synods,
and its perception of monasticism. From the canons issued by the synods
it is possible to follow the evolution of this perception from the end of
the fifth century, when the monks were apparently more a problem for
ecclesiastical discipline than an important element for the life of the
church, to the middle of the sixth century , when a ne w conception
emerged of what was their function in Christian communities. A com­
parison of two synods, that of 486 under the Katholikos Acacius and that
of 554 under the Katholikos Joseph, gives some glimpses of this processo
In the canons of the first we read that monks are not permitted " to enter
towns and villages where priests , bishops, presbyters and deacons are
present, in order to stay (in them) and con sequentl y to become the cause
of strife and to provoke trouble either between pricsts and their flock or
between teachers (rabhiin e) and their di sciples (talm"idc) ." Moreover,
monks are not allowed to offer the oblation or to gi ve the baptism in an
urban milieu, as they have done in the pa st against the 'order' (tahis) of
the Church ; on the contrary, they are invited to Ii ve outside the towns in
obedience to the bishops and the p eriodeutes. 9 Canon 20 of the synod of
554 sounds very different: "By others it was prohibited to bui Id monas­
teries and chapels of martyrs in the town or near the town. However in
the assembly of bishops it ha s been asserted that such a judgement is
contrary to Christianity - pagans and Jew s too are satisfied with such a
decision, as neither Christianity is spreading, nor the glory of God is
increasing ( .", ) (We have established) that monasteries, temples and
chapels of martyrs should be built in the towns and near the towns, that
neither the oblation should be offered nor baptism should be conferred
without the permission of bi shops on fix ed days , while in the other da ys
7 For th is period , on e ca n refer to J. LABOU RT , Le chriSlianisme dans l'empire perse
SOliS la dynaslie sassan ide (22 4-63 2 ), Pari s 1904, and S.H. MOFFETT. A HiSlory of'Chris­
lianir}' in Asia. Vo lume l: Beg il/I/illgs fiJ 150n, Ncw Yo rk, 1998, p. 9 2- 263.
K J.B. CiI ABOT (cd.), Syn odir'ol/ oriemale (1 /1 {( eelieil de sy/l odes l1e.\·loricIIS. publiés,
traduit et anno té d'upri:s le m ~ . sy riquc 332 de la Bibliothèque Nationale e t le ms. K . VI,
4 ùu Muséc Borgia, à Rome. (Tiré des I/" ,ices el eXlrails des l1Ianu scrils de la Biblio­
IIr ~q lie Narionale Cl aUlres bibliolhèques, 38 ). Paris . 1902.
" J .B. CHABOT (ed.), Synlldicon oriemale, p. 55 (te xt), p. 302- 303 (translation).
 280 ALBERTO CAMI'LAN I
they (= the monks ) should receive the oblations from the great church,
where thcse are continuously offered." IO From the synodical decrees of
486 a situation of conflict emerges: monastic congregations are seen as
dangerous for the pastoral care of the church and the liturgical life of the
laity. It mu st be noted that the di vi sions caused by the monks are not lim­
ited to the life of the Christian community, but extend as far as Christian
schools, if the mention of teac hers and disciples can be interpreted as an
allusion to catechetical and theological in stitutions . On the other hand , the
ca non of the synod of 554 explicitly condemns as unchristian the delib­
erations of the synod of 486, but there is stili a trace of caution about
liturgical life : monasteries are placed under the supervis ion of the local
bishop, who has the right to decide if a congregation can or cannot keep
the sacrament. As has bee n well demonstrated by Tamcke, this process
of integration reached a hi gh leve I of evoluti on when the Katholikos
SabrTSo' granted to a group of monks exemption from the jurisdiction of
the local bishop.'1 To thi s fact we can add that some important katholikoi
of the sixth and seven th centuries were of mon astic prove nance.' 2
The second social organization with which we are concemed - the
Academy of Nisibis - enj oyed good, strong relations with the in stitu­
tional church for a long period of time. Thi s was due not only to its depen­
dence on the metropolitan see of Nisibi s. In fact , it is from thi s Academy
that a large portion of church men and monasti c directors received their
instruction . Epi scopacy and Academy became for a period members of
an integrated whole. J3 The individuals who for years attended lessons
given by the professors of the school felt a strong sense of reciprocal
affection and shared c ultural values, as can be deduced from the corre­
spondence of the future katholikos Iso'ya hb III,1 4 who speaks more than
once of hi s co-disciples and call s the Academy a 'com mon mother.' 15
A few examples may illustrate thi s situation. Iso'yahb of Bet ' Arbaye,
who was director of the sc hool for two yea rs, after 565 or 568, left his
office by resignation when elected to the bishopric of Arzun; after ten
IO 1.B . CHABOT (ed.), Syllodicol/ oriel1lale, p. 106-107 (text ), p. 364 (t ranslatio n).
" T AMCKE, D er Kalho/ikos·Palriarch Saflri:,'6' I, p. 51-57.
17 TAMCKE, D er Kal/lOlikos-Parriarch Sal2ri'J'6 ' I., p. 18.
11 On suc h figures as SabIis6 ' and Is6 ' yahb III wc will retum late r on in this paper.
18 VMB US, Hislory, p. 289-99.
I) As has becn demonstrated by A. VbCHl US , HisIUI)' ol ,he SclIOO/ or Nisihis, (CSCO
19 A. V()Oe us . Syria c and Arahic U(J CUIIICIIIS RCi!j(/rdillg Legis/alion Relalil'e lo Syrian
266, Subsidia. 26). Lo uvain, 1965 .
I. R. D UVA I_ (ed.), lJò 'yahb III P(I{riar cha. Liher cpi stularum , (CSCO , Scriplores .l'yri ,
ser. II. 64 ft cx tu s, versioJ), Parisii s, 1904- 1905. See the goo d introduction by 1.·M. FI EY,
i s6 'ymv le Gra l/d. Vie dII calhnlicos 1/eslorien i l!r)'yaw 1/1 d'!ldiahèlle (580·(j59) , in: Ori­
enralia Chrisrial7a Periodica , 36 (J970) , p. 5-46, 5-29, espec ia ll y 3 11 -3/5 .
15 Ep. Pars III , X, in R. D UVAL (ed.), I.M 'yahb, p. 242 (tcxtus). p. 175 (vers io).
THE REv l VA L OF PERS IAN MONAST ICISM 28 \
years he was elected to the pontificate, sometime beLwee n 580 and 583 . ' 6
Other examples of students destined to become katholikoi are Sabnso' 17,
l so'yahb of Gedal a (II) and Iso ' yahb III. 1M For what concem s our debate,
we cannot speak of a reaI power of the Academy. Wc can rather attJibute
to it a fonn of authority deriving from both its strong intellectual pres­
tige as a pIace of training of the church élite and its function as a centre
of theological elaboration, which gave the Church the means to define its
ideological identity.
From our point of view, it is the evolution of the relations between
certain monastic organizations, the eri -.copal authority and the :;chool th at
provides the frame in which we can confront the question of monasti c ani­
tude towards the institutional authority. Special emphasis should be given
to ' the Great mona stery ' founded by Abraham of K a~kar. Its distinctive
features may be seen as a po sitive answer to some problems deepl y felt
by the hierarchical church, as can be easily argued from the declarations
preserved in tht: Synodicon orientale and in the Monastic Rules of Abra­
ham and DadlSo' . 19 A first challen ge sent to the hierarchical church were
the activities of uncontrolled fonns of asceticism labeled as ' Messalian' ,
in which we can identify, apart from the true Messalians , various cate­
gories of archaic trend s of Syriac ascetism, such as wandering monks, or
little gro ups wi thout a structure. 20 The second problem wa s the presence
of miaphysite monastic centres , which, depending o n the changing atti­
tude of the political power and the relations between Persia and Rome,
could affect the stability of the church of Persi a. The third iss ue was the
administration of the sacraments, which, according to the above men­
tioned passages of the Synodicon, was practiced by some monasteri es
without the penniss ion of the bishoprics . These are the institutional prob­
lems to which the refonned mona stici sm of Abraham intended to give a
so lution, aiming to obtain a new position in the Church of Persia. The
structure of the ' monastery ' itself gives an excellent idea of its ideolog­
ical orientation . There is a centraI strucLure, the koinobion, in which the
16 VClOBUS, HiSlory , p. 223 .
AScClislI1. Stock holm 1960. On the sources, th e hi story and thc rul es of this mon astery , see
no\\' S. CiIIALA. Abramo di Ka shkar e la sI/a comu/lil à. La ril10s ciw del monG chesimo
siro·nrielllale, (Sp irilll lllil à m·iemale), M agnano (BI), 2()()5.
20 On thi s kind of mo nasticism sce noVi D . Ct\NER, Wandering. Begging, Monks: Spir­
iUtal A LIIllOril.\' alld Ihe Prnl1lol ion o[ M O/iaSlicism in Lare Anliquily, (Translorma l ion 01
Iile classiçal hl'l'irage. 33). Berkeley , 1992.
282 ALI:J ElnO CAMPLANI
new monks live for at least three years,~ l during which time they leam
how to work for the prosperity of the community. how to serve the broth­
ers, how to study and meditate the sacred texts and their interpretation,22
how to beh ave in the town of Nisibis so as not to be mistaken for beg­
ging and wandering monks. 23 After this training in communal life and
intellectual growth, the monk can choose to build a cell, not too far from
the monastery, in which he lives a solitary life, with the exception of the
days of the liturgical celebrations. The sources bear witness not only to
the control of these hennits by the leading authorities of the monastery,24
but also to the possibility of their temporary engagement in spiritual and
intellectual service to the community.25
Another important fact merits detailed consideration: this is the ortho­
doxy of faith and the study of the dyophysite theologians such as Diodore,
Theodore and Nestorius, who were read privately or during the commu­
nal sessions both for their interpretation of Scripture and for their Chris­
tology. The Rules of DadIS6' are explicit on this point: "Every brother
of whom it is known that he is corrupted in his mind and does not agree
21 See Dadis6" s RII/e, Cunon 13: " Abo llt that . that brothers who come shall be exam­
ined for three years in the coenobium; then, if they behaved th emse lves well, perrnission
shall be given to them that they build cells for themse lves. " ( VOOI3 US , Syriac and Arabic
DOCLlmel1l s, p. 170) and Babay 's RlI/e, Canol) 7: "A monk shall be bound to se rve in the
coenobium for three years; th e n hc shall rccc ivc five asters in s ilver from the fund (o f the
mon as tcry) in order to build a celi, and ali the brothers shall help him in the third (part)
of thc work" (V66I3US, Syriuc and Arabic DoclIlllcms, p. 179).
2J Scc Abrahum 's Ru/e, Cunon I: " ( ... ) Qui e tness, however, is preserved by two
means: through constant reading and prayer, o r by the service of hand s and through med­
itation" ( Y00BUS, Syriac and Arahie Documents, p. 155 ).
23 See Abraham' s Ru/es, Ca,non 6: "About that, that no brother shall go around to the
monasteries and villagcs , and shall not enter the town except in an emergcncy of s ickncss
or with thc perrni ssion o f the 'body '. And he s hall not go around to the houses or cat in
the homes of the believers or acccpt something on behalf o f the body (of monk s) , or what­
ever kind (of prese nt ) as long as he is with us" ( Y OOI3 US, Syriuc and Arabic DoeumenlS,
p. 160); and Canon I \: " A brother who had beco me sick and is brought into thc town,
shall not enter the hou ses of the believers but shall be brought into a xenodocheion so that
he may not become a cause of offence to the be lievcrs" (YOOBus, Syriae und Arabic Doc ­
uments, p. 162).
24 See Canon 22 of Dadis6"s Ra/e : "About that, that the rabbui/a of the community
shall v isit the brothers in their ce ll s once a month or when he has time ( to sce), that a
brother may lack nothing ; and if he is abs ent, the brother who is after him shall visit
Ithem." (Y6ùBus , Syriac and Arabic D()c umel1ls, p. 172).
25 See what i ~ said in the HislOry of Rabba n Bar '/d/(l. E.A.W. BUOC f (ed., trans!.),
The HislOries ()f Rabban Hormlzd l/re Persiw-, alld RaiJhan BuI' 'Idrd. The Syriac T ex ls
Edilcd with Eng li sh Tran slation, London 1902. p. 119-120 (lext), p. 174-76 (translation),
Thr intern a I orga ni zation or !hc congrcga!io n is discu sscd by CI-II ALÀ , Abramo di Kush/:.ar,
p. 66-80.
THE REVI VAL OF PERSI AN MONASTICISM 283
with the faith of the catholic church, and does noL 3Ccept the orthodox
fathers, particularly those through whose teaching the whole church of the
Orient gains instruction, baptism and growth , Mar Diodor, and Mar
Theodoros and Mar Nestorios, and rejects or rebukes the symbol of their
teaching , and rejects or despises also the monastic fathers who in their
teaching were tested by our first fathers and were received - th is one in
his wickedness shall be foreign to our community, " 26 It is of great sig­
nificance that such an attitude is not an innovation introduced by
DadE6',n but apparently goes back to the times of the founder of the
Great Monastery , Abraham of Kaskar, as it is recorded in the History of
Bar 'idta, in which the abbot addresses an exhortation to some monks :
"And any man who these three bright lights of the Holy Church - Mar
Diodorus, the chosen one, and Theodore, and Nestorius - will not accept
as teachers, and will not confess them in truth, shall not in any wise min­
gle with you, and shall be rejected by your assembly. "20 In other words ,
the Great Monastery not only confonns to the declarations of faith of the
Synods, but al so s ustains a strict notion of orthodoxy upheld by a partic­
ular faction in the Church of Persi a, as we will see later on, This con­
fonnity has two reasons: the first one is the need, felt by the monks, ()f
a distinctive feature marking their contrast with other groups; the second
one is the fact that with respect to doctrinal orthodoxy the Great
Monastery wants to meet the main concems of some members of the
episcopal church. Some observations are to be proposed at this point:
I) we are in the presence of a complex and pennanent structure in which
nothing is accidental, a structure which is transparent, sincc it can be
observed from the outside, and is loyal to the bishopric of Nisibis; 29 2) the
life of the solitaries seems to be explicitly different from that of the wan­
dering monks, since it is strictly bound to the activities of the kninobion;
26 DadE ò "s Ru/c, CUI/on I ( Y ()OBUS, Syriae ami Arahie DOClll7'rC'IIIS, p. 168).
27 See a lso Canon 4 of the Ru/es of Babay in Y Q6 BUS. Syriac alld Arabie Docltlncn/s,
p. 178 .
~, E.A.W. BUOOE (ed., trans!.), Th e HislOries of Rabban Horm lzd Ihe Persiall ulld Ruh­
hunl3ur 'h/la, p. 125-126 (text) , p. 185-86 ( translation) . Sce also thc Chronicle nf Seert
in A. SCHISR (ed.), HiSloire lIeSINiel/n c IChronique de Séen) - Secollde partie (I) (PO,
7), Pari s l':)[ l, p. 133-135.
:~ Sce for in $tance the beginning of Abraham's Ru/es: " Canon s which were written in
the days of the holy Rabban Mar Abraham , the pries t and monk and the head of the pil­
grim-brothers who dwc ll in the community of the monasle ry of Marde, which. then, is the
Grca t Monasle ry that is on thc mo unt lzla. In the monlh of Haz iran (lune) of the 40th ycar
of King Kosrow. unde r th e instructio n (lIlduhbrallllleh) of the God · lovin g Mar Sem' 6n,
bishop-me!ropo litan o f N isibi s. we brothers who dwell in thc monastcry o f MardE, ga th­
e n~ d ourselvcs ." Cf. V()OBUS, Syriac und Arahic Doci/mell/s, p. 152.
284 ALBERTO CA MPLANI
3) the stress on study makes the intellectual life of the ko illobion com­
parable to that of a school ; 4) this intellectual life is centered on a thco­
logical position which can be qualified as 'conservative' , and which is
actively promoted by the mona stery.
From what we have observed, it is obviou s that the relation s between
the Great Monastery and the Academy of Ni sibis are good and close for
a period , as is made sufficiently clear by our sources, in particular the
Livre de la chasteté.30 According to this work, Abraham of Kaskar was
a student of the Academy: 31 it was only after the completion of his stud­
ies that he retired to an 1zla mountain cave, located in the vicinity of Nis­
ibis, where, later on, he founded the Great Monastery. A similar path was
followed by hi s successor OadiSo' .32 We can argue from these examples
that the Academy wa s seen by thi s form of monasticism, for which the
intellectual training of the monks was essential ,33 as a piace for deepen­
ing the dogmatic and exegetical tradition s of the Church.
2. The crisis oj the Academy: towards a new balance oj power
The balance of power among these three social organi zations was seri ­
ously disturbed when the Academy entered a fatai crisis in the last quar­
ter of the sixth century, under the directorship of f::Inana, whose teaching
seemed to introduce, at least in the eyes of the more conserv ative trend
of the church of Persia, some innovations in the exegetical and dogmatic
traditions of hi s predecessors. As Reinink has asserted, thi s Christian
thinker should be seen "as an exponent of a complex and diverse intel­
lectual world, whose inner ten sions and contradictions, already present in
the tradition , became polarized at the end o f the sixth century under the
press ure of certain hi storical dev elopments, and led to an open conflict
over the question of which tradition should define the religiou s identity
of the East Syrian church and therefore the exegetical teaching of the
school. " 34
30 J.-B. CH ABOT (ed.), Le li vre de la Chaslelé , composé par JéslIsdenah, 6veque de
8 açrah , in: Mélonges d 'archéologie el d' hisloire publiés por/ 'École française de Rome, 16
(1896) fas e. 3-4 , p. 1-80; 225-291.
31 C ha pter 14.
.12 C hapte r 38 .
33 See Dadls6 "s Rl/le. Canon 7: " Every bro th e r who cornes to the cornrnuni ty (to stay
there) shall not be received unless he can read in the books." (VOODUS. Syriac and Ara­
bic Docamel1ls. p. 170).
G.J . Rt'JNINK, "Edessa Gre ... Dim and N isibis Shone Fon h " .- lhe Schoo! of Nis ibis
aflhe Transilirm of file Six fh -Sevell fh Cel/lury, in: J. W . D RIJ VI!RS and A.A. M AC D ONALO
TH E REV IVAL OF PERSIAN MONASTI CISM 285
This fact casts new light on the question we are dealing with , because
from the actions and reactions of the Great Monastery facing that crisis
- as can be deduced, with some difficulty , from the sources - we can
hypothetically recon struct aline of behaviour whose aim is to reach a
higher position in the Persian church at the expense of the Academy . We
can anticipate here the conclusion of thi s proces s: the third director,
Babay the Great, promoter of a strict dyophysite Christology, was gi ven
the task of supervising some Persian monasteries during the long peri od
of vacancy of the see of Seleucia (609-628) ; that is to say, a new hierar­
chy was apparently establi shed among these monasteries, in which the
Great Monastery occupied a prominent position, although the power it
actually enjoyed remains a matter of discussion.
The cri sis opened by f::Inana before the Synod of 585 - which with
ali probability speaks of him without giving his name or anathem atiz­
ing his person 35 - and reaching its climax under SabrTso ' (596-604),
when the expul sion of GrTgor of Kaskar, bi shop metropolitan of Nisi­
bi s, cau sed both by political reasons and his actions against f::I nana. pro­
voked the exodu s of the gre at majority of th e students and the profes­
sors from the Academy - , was percei ved with great anxiety by the
directors of the Great Monastery. From certain passages of the Livre de
la chasteté we can argue that they were attempting to create a new
school in Nisibis, in which , we may suppose, the dyophy site Christol­
ogy and the Theodoran exegesi s of Scripture were tau ght without that
spirit of free research which appears to be one of the features of f::Inan a's
teaching. AbTmelek, interpreter of the 'schools ' (i .e. the /\ cademy), after
becoming one of Abraham' s disciples, received from Eli as bi shop of
Ni sibis, deceased before 552, the direction of the school of Bet Sahde,
ori ginally built by the deacon Elisa' in Nisibi s, to which he added a
monastery (dayara) at the entrance ' of the mountain ' (chap. 41) ; another
Abraham , of Nisibi s, mallpana at the Academy for a period , aft er
becoming one of Abraham 's disciples at the great Monastery, was sent
by him to the school of Bet Sahde as mallpdna (chap. 42); Babay the
Great, a student of the Academy for fifteen years, became mallpana in
th e xenodocheion of Nisibi s (chap . 39), which is to be di sting uished
from the xe nodocheion of the Academy and could be identified with
the school of Bet Sahdè, at the gates of the town (a common location
(ed.). Cenfl-es o[ Learning. Learning and LnCa fi{)n in Pre-Modem El/rape and Neal'-Eas l ,
(Bril/'s SlIldies in Irlfellec fll al HislOry. 6 1), Lciden, 1995 , p. 77-89, h.:rc p. X9 .
35 CI'IA BOT (ed.). Synodicon Oriellfl/le, p. 163 .
 286 AL BERTO CAM PLAN I
for a x cnodoch eion). 36 These examples recorded in the Li\'re de la
Chasteté , although fitting only partially the set of data conceming the
above mentioned individuals, point to a progressive separation of the
Great Monastery from the Academy , to the extent that the Academy
seems to be replaced by other educational institutions, inside or outside
the koinohion, having a closer relation with the monastery and the insti­
tutional church.
As for the great exodus of students and professors from the Academy
which took piace around 600, the Chronicle oJ Sccrt informs us about
their final destination : " a part of them went to the Monastery of Mar
Abraham", others "went to find Marqos , Bishop of Balad, who built for
them a school outside the town and gathered them in it" . So the Great
Monastery was considered by professors and students dissenting from
.!:Inana the refuge of orthodoxy. Among them there were two men des­
tined to become katholikoi: Iso'yahb of Gedàlà and Iso ' yahb of
.!:Iadyab. 37 Thomas of Marga in his Book oJ Governors 38 says that the
Great Monastery became for the monks what Athens had been for the
philosophers (l,4) . In this statement it is possible to see the sign of the
progressive substitution of the Academy by the new educational institu­
tions of the monastery. In the course of ti me, the search for that strict
orthodoxy which was supported by one of the trends of the episcopal
church became the fundamental feature of the Great Monastery, espe­
cially under Babay the Great.
We have to pay attention to the fact that the 'Theodoran / Nestorian
orthodoxy' promoted by Gngor of Kaskar and the Great Monastery did
not meet with generai acce ptance by ali members of the institutional
church. The katholikos SabrlSO' was apparently more moderate from this
3" See V06BUS , SChDO /, p . 265 -26S, who sees in these foundations and teaching ac tiv­
ities a reaction aga in st thc Acade my. J.-M. F IEY, Nisibe mélropo /e syriaque orienw/e el
ses suffrugwlIs des origine.l· il nos jou,..\", (CSCO, 3g8, subs., 54), Louvain , 1977 p. 48 n.
229, con s iders V66bus' opinion no more than an hypothes is. But, I think, it is a good
hypothes is, corroborated by the hi sto ric al c o ntext and the informati o n at our dis posal abo ut
the theologic al po sition of the Great M o nas te ry. lf it is hard lO su stain , for chronological
reason s, tha! alre ady at the time of the metropolitan Elias , in th e firs t part of the sixth cen­
tury, th e new sc hoo l o f Bet Sahde was a centre of oppos ition to Hnana 's d oc trines, this
beco m es more probable afte r the dea.th of Abraham d -Bet Rahban (569) and Hnana' s
asce nt. See al so CHIALÀ, Abramo di Kashkar, p. 77-XO.
37 A . S CHER - R . GRIVEA U (cd.), HiSlOire neslorienne (ChrOlliqUI! dr' Sùrt) - Se,fiI/de
partie (II), (PO , 13 ), Pari, 19 19, p. 511 -512.
J' E.A. Walli s B UDo E, Th e Book oj Go vernors : TI/e Hisloria MonaSlica oj Thomas
Bishnp Dj Murga AD. 840, Edilcd from S y riac Manuscripts in the British Mu seum and
Other Librari es. 2 Voli ., L o ndon, Ig93, p . 23-24 (le xl). p. 41 -42 (translation).
TH E REV1VAL OF PERSIAN M ONAS T IC1SM 287
point of view, and, I suppose, his attitude \Vas sustained by a portion of
the Persian Church. It is very interesting to follow a well informed source,
Guidi's Chronicon anonymum, because it reveals a complex situation of
conflicting powers. :l'J On the one hand, SabrTSo ' refu ';ed to condemn
.!:Inanà, causing the reaction of Grigor of Kaskar, although, it seems, this
condemnation was recommended to him by some bishopS.40 On the other
hand, his attempt to depose or to demote Gngor (the Greek technical te rm
kathairesis occurs in the text) failed becausL: I)f the opposition of the bi sh­
ops, so that it was the political power that at this point had to interve ne
and expel him from Nisibis, without a formai ecclesiastical decision. Dif­
ferent powers were apparently in action in these eve nts, limiting o ne
another: (l) the power of the metropolitan of Nisibis, upon which the
Academy should depend in some way, seems incapable of deposing the
Director, without the assent of the Katholikos : (2) the action of the Katho­
likos against the metropolitan is limited by the agreement of the major­
ity of the bishops; (3) the political power is divided in itself and follo ws
different lines of behaviour depending on the changing influence of some
prominent members of the court: for example, the changing fortun e~ of
Khosrau 's second wife Shirin have , ome relevance to the events with
which we are concerned, such as the election of SabrlSo', the expulsion
of GrTgor from Nisibis, the election of the Katlzolikos G regory of Pherat
(604-609), and also the subsequent vacancy of the see of Seleucia. 4 1
As I have anticipated , this process gave the Great Monastery a form
of power, when the third director, Babay the Great, apparently became,
for the long peri od of vacancy of the see of Seleucia, the supervisor of
Persian monasteri es . But it is not so easy to establish what kind of task
was given to him by the institutional church. In the Histoire nestorienne
it is said that Mar Aba , archdeacon of Seleucia-Ctesiphon , took care of
39 l. GUIDI (ed .), Chronicu lIIinoru . Pars prior. (CS CO . 1-2, SrriplOres .lìy,.i, 1-2). Paris ,
1903. lextus p. 18, versio p. 17.
40 See A. SCH ER - R. GRIVEAU (ed .). HislOire neslorienn<: (Cllm l/ii/IIG' de Séerl) - Sec­
al/de partie (II) , (PO, 13), p . 510 : " Grégoire écrivit à M a r Sabri~6' qui ~tait ulo rs c alholi­
cos, po ur l' informer de l' erreur de Hn ana. Celui-ci en voya, de son ciìté, à Sabri s6 ' une let­
tre, dan s laqudle il se jouait de lui comme le fau x prophè lc a vait agi à l'égard du vrai
prophi:te. La foul e de~ Pères censurèrcnt la leltre. dont ils curent connai ssance. e t en tirèrcnt
le motif d'une cxcommun ic3tion contre Hn ana. Mai s le catholi cos , bien lo in dc confirmer
Icm sentcnec. acc ueillil favorablement la le ttre de Hnana. Grégoirc . ayanl appris celle nou­
ve Ile. s' cn alla " .
41 See M. HUHER, Shirin, NeslOrianer !/nd M onophysilen. Kiinigliche Kirchenpo/ilik
im spiilell Susal/idenreich , in: R. LAvENANT(ed.), Symposiull1 syriaclIlI1 1/II , Uppsala Uni­
versily. Dcpartmenl o f As ian and Af ric3n L angu ages 11-14 August 1996, (O rielllalia
Chrisrill//u l\fla/eCI/J, 256). Roma, 1998, p. 373-386.
288 A L BERTO CA MPLAN I
church affairs with the cooperation of Babay.42 In the Book 01 Governors
by Thomas of Marga (1,35) Babay's function in the church is compared
to that of a 'vicar (taf:zlupa) of the Katholikos ' , but the pass age in ques­
tion seems to be affected by hagiographic overtones.43 A more detailed
account is given in chapter 27, when Thomas relatcs the conditions of the
Persian church after the death of the Katholikos Gregory of Pherat: "Now
these metropolitans who were allied to one another, Mar Cyriacus of Nis­
ibis, Mar Yonadhabh of Adiabene, and Mar Gabriel of Karkha dhé Bèth
S16kh wrote ( . . . ) to persuade the holy man and teacher of the Church, Mar
Babhai, that as it was evident to everyone that he was a solitary and not
a bishop, as long as our Lord was ordering a change in His grace towards
the Church, he should visit (nes'6r, a technical tenn meaning an 'offlcial
visitation ' ) the monasteries, and convents, and monb and repair the
breaches and drive out and expel from the Church him that was sick and
broken in wickedness. " 44 This passage is of great interest for the identi­
fication of the role of Babay: if it is based on areai collective episcopal
epistle, and not the fruit of Thomas' phantasy, we should note that the bish­
ops are apparently apologizing for not giving Babay a greater power over
the whole church than the one he deserves. This means that his real power
did not extend beyond the monastic world and, probably, not beyond the
confines of the above-mentioned metropolitan sees of northem Persi a.
The Book 01 Governors (1,29) gives us an example of Babay 's activ­
ity, reporting on his visit to the Monastery of Bet ' Abe: "Now when the
blessed Mar Babhai was going round from village to village, and from
monastery to monastery, visiting, and asking questions, and making
enquiries conceming the orthodoxy of belief, and the soundness of the
opinions in the minds of ali the monks and heads of monasteries to whom
he carne, he was pleased also to enter into this our monastery."45 His
request to abolish the liturgical order of the service of readings fail s,
because of a miracle occurring during the 'service of Mysteries', i.e. the
recovery of a paralytic, which demonstrates the correctness of the
monastery' s liturgical order. This episode, edifying as it may appear in
Thomas's report, gives a correct picture of the balance of power in the
Church of Persia, at least in some of its regions. The Monastery of Mount
42 A. SCHER - R. GRI VCAU (ed.), HiSloire l1e.1l()riel1 l1c (Chrol1ique de Sécn) -Seconde
partie (11), (PO, 13), p. 511.
4) BUDGE (ed.), Th e Book ofGOI!erI10rS, p. 63-64 (text), p. 116 (translation).
44 B UDGE (ed.), Th e Book ofGo vernors, p. SI -52 (tex!), p. 91-92 (translation).
45 BUDGE (ed.), The Book of Governor.l', p. 54-55 (tcxt), p. 97 (translation).
THE REV IVAL OF PERS I AN MONAST ICrSM 289
Izla, because of its loyalty to the conservative party of the Church of Per­
sia, has received the right to inspect other monasteri es as far as doctrinal
matters and monastic discipline are concemed. But some spec ific mat­
ters, such as liturgical customs , remain beyond its control. This i:. the
higher degree of power assumed by a single monastic movement in Late­
antique Persia.
3. Other monasric groups
Since my contribution is devoted to Persian monasticism in its various
expressions, it is no w opportune that we mention other mon ast ic gro ups
and hint at their spec ific relationship with the institutional church . T he
Synodi con orientale prese rves an important document in connection with
the Synod of 596, under the katholikos SabrlSo', studied by M . Tamcke:
it is a requ est presented by the monks of BarqTta around 598 to be
exempted from the local bishop's jurisdictiolil (the famous G rTgor of
Kaskar) and to answer directly to the Katholikus, a phenomenon of which
we ha ve other late r w itnesses, especially for the monastery of Be t 'Abe
and the Monastery of Rabban Hoon izd .46 To this request the Synod g ives
a positive answer, in which a new image emerge s of the monastic ideai
as elaborated by the church. In the document presented by the monks,
after a long introduction and the formuJation of the request, we read a dec­
laration which contains an exposition of their faith in the Trinity and in
the double nature of Christ, and a statement of their faithfulness to the
exegesis of Theodore and to the teachings of the Egyptian fathers. T he
monks speak also of their behaviour o utside o f their monasteries or cells :
they will visit towns and villages o nl y w ith the pennission of the direc­
tor; if a monk does not obey these rules, he will be driven away from the
monastery. Some,cholars have connected these monks with that Aba
who, according to the Livre de la chasteté (chap. 25), met Abraham of
Kaskar and founded the monastery of Bar-Tura. Others have proposed to
see in the monks of BarqTta a g roup of Messalian monks searching for a
new relationship with the church. 47 However, the parallels between some
46 See BUDGG (ed.), The Book oJ Governor.l', p. 21 (t.rll n ~ lation ), n. 2, and lhe Lift 0,
Rubbl/11 Horlllizd in E.A.W. B UDGE (ed. , transL), Til e J-fiSI()ries oJ Rabhall/-l /!rl/llzd Ihe Per­
sil/11 al1d Rahbal1 Bar 'Idla. p. 87· RK (lext), p. 130-31 (translation).
47 M. T AMC KE, Der KalllOlikos·Palriarcil Sa!J.rfs()· I., p. SO-55. As regards lhe cu slom
of exemption of monasteries from the jurisdiclion of the local bishop, see S ELB, Oriel1lal­
isches Kircht'l7rechl. Band 1., p. 130, 147.
 290 ALBERTO CAMPLANI
passages of their letter and the Liber Gradllum is a common phenome­
non, as we are going to see shortly, and does not in itself tell us anything
about their ideological orientation.
An author of this period seems to be influenced by ancicnt Syriac spir­
ituality, Abraham Netpraya. Hc is mentioned with his disciple Job in the
Livre de la Chasteté (chap. 43-44). There is no trace of his eventual con­
nection with the Great Monastery (chap. 14 is very vague on this point).
His recently published Memre (ed. Charbel Chahine) are interesting from
our point of view. 48 At Vrrr,3 (see al so VITA) the author exhorts his reader
to depart from the disputatious (dariiSè) , to leave the research which
investigates the Only-begotten Word, and to stay far from the assemblies
of contentious people, because his goal is to meet the Humble One and
to believe in Him. It is apparent from thi s passage that theological
research may be dangerous for the monk; on this point, distance from the
more positi ve attitude of the Great Monastery is evident. Other pas sages
allow us insight into the spirituality of this author. The variety of ways
beside the way of perfection (II,I-3), the humility of the monk who must
consider himself as inferior to aH the creatures (1,5), the preservation of
the qyama, the ' pact' , and the renunciation of biological father and mother
in order to become a son of the Father and the Spirit (VII,5-8), the exhor­
tation to beg (VIII,4), are themes which find their natural piace in the
ascetic spirituality of Aphrahat and the Liber Graduum. This, however,
does not necessarily point to a forrn of separation from the institutional
church. In other words, one can imagine that in the eyes of this monas­
tic tradition it is better to leave the difficult and dangerous field of the­
ology in the hands of the in stitutional Church, while the development of
a rich and originaI spirituality, heir of Syriac ascetism, is considered the
prerogative of the monks.
We know from other sources (Chronicle oi Seert) that Abraham's dis­
ciple Job lived for some years in the Great Monastery, under Dadls6'
and Ba:bay the Great, and that he translated into the Persian language
both the Rules of the Great Monastery and the works of Abraham Net­
praya. 49 The activity of Job may be interpreted as a sign of the search
for a more institutionalized model of monastici sm than his master's .
48 c.c. CHAIIIN E, AbralwnI de Bel-Nelpro. Discollrs (memn}). Introduclinn, le.rle cri­
liquc el Iraduclio/l, Tesi Dottorale in Teologia e Scienze Patri~liche , Isti luto Patri st ieo
Augu stini anum, Roma, 2004.
49 A. S CHF.R (ed.), Hisloire neslorien/le (Chrrmique de Séerf) - Seconde pani!! (I),
(PO , 7) , p. 173-174.
TH E REVIVAL OF PERS IAN MONASTICISM 291
The transmission of the works of Abraham seems to follow this same
path: the great work of 'NanTS6', the Book oi Paradise, containing the
Syriac translation of important works such as thc Historia Lausiaca, the
His(oria n/n/lochorum , and the Sayings of the desert Fathers, has a final
section entirely devoted to Abraham , who appears to have gained a high
position in both the monastic and the ecclesiastical culture of the seventh
century. 50
It is clear from these examples that the strict orthodoxy of the G reat
Monastery as a means to gain new power, and al so new authority, is not
common to al! the individual s or monasteries recorded in the sources.
Other examples could be added to the one just mentioned . T wo chap­
ters of the Livre de la chasteté point to other possible choices. In the flrst
one (chap. 17) we leam that Babay of Nisibis (probably after hi s acad­
emic studies in Nisibis ), entered the Great Monastery at the time of
Abraham . After his death, he moved to Mount Hadyab, where he retired
to a cave for a long periodo Later on he retumed to MOLint Izla , bLit
instead of entering the Great Monastery, he foundcd a new monastery ,
whose relationship with the Great Monastery , under the direction of
Ba:bay the Great, seems to be negative. 51 The Letta l O Cyriacus, for­
merly attributcd by Brock to an anonymous author of the beginning of
the seventh century. has recently been ascribed by him to Babay of Ni s­
ibis on the ba sis of a florilegium Y From thi s literary work of high qual ­
ity I quote only some sentences which may be of some interest for our
discourse: 53
24 Furthermore, f1ee frnm the urge to write, lest your sou l goes out seeking
ideas conceming various kinds of knowledge, and your heart is thereby em p­
tied of its ref1 cc tion on God, through undi scerning utt erances; otherw ise
your affairs will increase, and you will become empty of your proper task .
lO c.c. CHMIINE, L e /éllloig/lage de Thnll7(ts de Marga sl/r/es eXlrail.\' d'Abraham Nelh­
prDiiJ da/l s /e /il -re dII Paradis de ·Na/lf.~o ', in: A/ig ll slinilll/llm , 40 (2000), p. 439-460.
li See I. G UIDI (ed.), Chro/lica mil/ora, (CSCO, 1-2, Scriplores Syri, 1-2), textu ~ p. 24,
versio p. 21-22.
l2 S.P. BROCK, NOlulae syria we. Some Misce!/lIl1eo /is Idl.' llIijicolio/ls. in : L e MlIséon
108 (1995), p. 76; S.P. B ROCK , Crnssing Ihe Bounduries; AI/ Ecumenica/ Rote Played hy
Syriac MOl/lwic Lilcralure, in M . BI ELAWSK I c D. HO MBERGEN (ed.), IImo/1uchesimo Ira
eredillÌ e opertllre. Atti dci Simposio " Tesli e lemi nella lradi zione del monac hes imo cris­
tiano " pe r il 50° anniversario dell'Istituto Monastico di Sant ' Anselmo, Roma , 28 magg io­
1 giug no 2002. (Sludia AI/selmia/la, 140. AI1<1leela mO/lasliw , 8), Roma , 2004, p. 22 1­
238.
l 3 S.P. BROCK , Syriac Falhers 0 /1 Praycr u/lli Ihe Spirill/al Life, (Cislercian SII/dies
Serie.\', 101), Kal amazoo, 1987, p. 146- 155.
292 ALBERTO CA MPLAN I
28 Do not do anything out of the ordinary or adopt a s ingular way of life
as lo ng as yo u are w ith man y brethren in the momstery, othe rwi se when yo u
imag ine you are making prog ress you are in fact retrogressing (.,,)
46 Do not give yo urself ali sort of pretexts for going out on journeys, w an­
dering about different countries and places, living an ev illife, moving from
hOllse to house ( ... ).
55 Be wary in your heart of co mpl ai ning against others, for they are your
brothers ( ... ). D o not find fault with anyone in yo ur mind, and do not make
your tongue impure by accusing yo ur neighbour.
57 If a man takes the monast ic habit, thinks of himself as a penitent, and
then g ives himself ove r to wandering about, then his life will prove useless.
The kind of behaviour encouraged is similar to that which we find in
other sources: stability is essenti al for a good monk, whereas wandering
is forbidden . It should be noted that the exhortation to 'flee from the urge
to write ' could conceal diffidence towards theological engagement, as in
Abraham Netpraya. The exhortation to not accuse the brothers recalls
Jakob 's attitude towards his fellow-monks in the Great Monastery, which
Paolo Bettiolo has examined in the present volume.
The other chapter (chap. 27) tells us about the history of Y6nan , who
began his monastic Iife when he met Babay of Ni sibis dl1ring his stay in
Mount Hadyab. Babay sent him to the Academy of Nisibis and then to
the Great Monastery, when it was led by DadB6' . After trai ning in the
comml1nal life, Y6nan returned to Babay. If the chronological frame of
these two entries is correct, we mu st infer that Babay of Nisibis sent his
disciple when the Academy was directed by f:lnana and left the Great
Monastery when Babay became its director.
4. Conclusion
We may conclude with some remarks on ls6 'yahb III , the future Katho­
likos, whose letters and activity give us a usef111 insight in the evolution
of the monastic world durin g the first part of the seventh century. The
importance of monks for the life of Persi an dioceses is a well-established
fact in his correspondence. 54 IS6 'yahb's life after his polemical departure
from the Academy directed by Hnana may illustrate this point. Before the
beginning of his successful ecclesiastical career, he lived for several years
in the monastery of Bet 'Abe. When he was elected bishop, his main con­
cerns were peace in the mon asteries and control over the appointment of
54 R. DUVA l. (ed .). fSoyahb III parriarcha. Liher episl/liarum, (CS CO , 11·12, Scripl.
syri. 11- 12), Pari s, 1904.
THE REV IVA L OF PERSI AN MONASTICI SM 293
new directors. In his correspondence we find fiv e letters addressed to the
Great Monastery .55 One of them 56 deserves o ur attention: a new crisis
taking piace in the monastery has provoked the expulsion of some monks,
with the support of the local bishop. Is6'y ahb declares that it was the
brothers' duty to appeal to the metropolitan bishop or to the patri arch
himself against the sentence (of what kind?) of the local bishop, which
they have neglected to do : on the contrary, they have signed an unjust
writing against a monk. The facts are not clear, but I disagree with Fiey
who finds here an allusion to the case of the monk J akob of Bet . AbeY
Thomas of Marga inforrns us that a division took piace in the Great
Monastery after the death of Babay the Great ; this could be the context
of this crisis (1I,l1).58 We are able to observe how the dogmatic and dis­
ciplinary strictness of the Great Monastery, which in the past served the
purpose of gaining some power in the institutional church, is becoming
a factor of internai division.
The other fact that may clarify the new position of monasticism in rela­
tion to the authority of the hierarchical structure is the failure of the same
Is6'yahb, when elected Katholikos, to found a school in the monastery of
Bet 'Abe, where he spent some years of his life. Certainly there was in
his project the memory of the Academy of Nisibis. As Thomas of Marga
tells us, the patriarch was confronted with the resistance of the monks
towards his project. Let us follow this beautiful story (II,7) : S')
And a short time after these things Mar Isho' -ya hbh wished to build a school
near his celi. and to provide it with ali that was nec essary, and to bring lO
it teac hers and masters and expos itors, and to gather together many schol­
ars and to provide for them in ali things. A mi he had made read y in his
mind, and had resolved and decided to carry out this work in s uc h a way
that for every child who was trained and instructed there in the monastery
might be near at hand for the purpose of [his l beco min g a disciple, so that
the school and the mon astery might beco me one; the sc hool to g ive birth to
a nd rear scholars, and the monaste ry to teach and sanctify them for the
labours of ascetic Iife.
But the monks protested to the Katholikos that a school was dangerous
to their lifesty le:
55 Pars prima Epp. Xl. XII, XVII. Pars te rtia, Epp. Il , VIlI.
S(, R. DuvAL (ed .), H(jyalib fii palriurcha . Liher episllliarum, lex.tu s p. 22·29, vcrsio
p. 2 1-26.
57 J .. M. FIE)', Nisibe mélropn!e syriaque oriemale (q uoted at note 35 ), p. 149- 150.
5' CHI ALÀ, Abramo di Kasl1kar, p. 139-145.
5~ Buooe (cd .). 1'11" B(Jo/'; (lI Governors. p. 74 (lexl) , p. 1:12 (tran slati_
o n).

294 A L BERTO CAt,lPLANI THE REVI VAL OF PERS IAN MONASTIC ISM 295

This work is not one that belongs to ascetics, w(; NhO sit in our cells. The
songs of the halle lujahs, th e psalms , the responses, the harmonies o f the
youths and the vigila nt will ve x uso For we did not find in a boo k nor did
we recei ve from report that this thing was in one of the mo nasteries of the
fath ers. Rather, we ourselves are summoned to weeping and mourning in the
siuing in our ce lls, according to the teaching which is from sc ripture and
which we have al so rece ived from our fath e r M ar Jacob. For he did not
orde r us in his life and in his migration from us that one should teach the
othe r chanting or how to read a manuscript. Lea ve off making LlS sc hool
stude nts again, rath er, in the sitting in the celi, and the solitary reading of
each pe rson by himself. If ho wever thou wishest to build a school, behold
ali the towns, and villages and the lands round abo ut them; the whole land
of Persia is thy dominion, build then wheresoe ve r thou wishest ; but in this
monastery a school shall not be built, for if thou dost build a school he re,
we shall ali depart.
power and freedom . However, this proeess was a eomplex and di verse
one, varying aeeording to the form s of organization and the loeal situa­
tion of the hierarehical chureh . The attempt of the Great Monastery to
beeome the eentre of orthodoxy was suecessful, but failed to attain rea]
power over ali the Persian Church, in as much as the task given to Babay
of controlling the orthodoxy seems to be Iimited to the northern monas­
teries. On the other hand , we have to stress the great significance for the
history of Persian monasticism and Church of the eustom of exempting
monasteries from the juri sdiction of their loe al bishops and making them
depend upon the see of Seleueia-Ctesiphon, whieh apparently was intro­
duced in this period .6 1

Confronted with the monks ' resi stanee, the Katholikos delivered a speeeh
in whieh his projeet was justified upon the basis of his authority: 60
For since two e xcelle nt things, as it were two effectual powe rs (ma' bdan­
woro), viz. the one being practice, whic h is the leaming of the Divine Scrip­
tures, and th e other being spiritual contemplation , which is es tabli shed by
the working of the mind and unde rstanding. would be perfected in this pIace,
this monastery , th e hou se of our fathers, would become a mirror of deeds
to be emulateci by th e wi sc and dili gent, and the congregation of monks
would increase by reaso n of those who would be instructed in doctrine in
the school. And, mo re o ver, I have the po we r (to bui Id ) for two reas ons
which must overcome ali obstacles : first, bec au se I hav e adorned and
endowed this monastery with property and earthly possess ions, and sec­
ondly, because spiritually, I am master of ali monasteries and co nvents ; and
it is meet for me to honour and adom my own monaste ry especia lly rather
than to glorify th e monaste ries (of others).

Finally, the Katholikos, under the threat of abandonment of the monastery

by the monks, gave up the building of the sehool. From the story told by
Thomas, we leam that as regards the intemallife of a monastery, the hier­
archieal authority cannot impose anything, whatever prestige it may enjoy.
There are some limits to the power of the katholikos too: he cannot take
a deeision whieh eould affect the spiritual Iife of the monks, even if he
was a monk in the same monastery and contributed to its prosperity.

It is time for us to conclude. From our sources it is c1ear th at during the

sixth century a new pereeption emerged of monasticism and of its role in
the Church. This means that some monastic organizations gained prestige,

60 BUOO E (cd.l. Th (' Book af GOl'l!nwrs. r. 75 ( le xl ), p . 149- ISO (tran s lut ion ). l, I SC"C abov e noie 46.