The Struggle Between Nestorians And Monophysites: Barsauma’s Activity

The article shows that the Sasanian monarchs in one way or another used to take into account the importance of Syriac role in the state economy. The Christian craftsmen and merchants paid colossal taxes to the state treasury. Indeed, Nestorianism antagonized the official Byzantine church; spreading out from Mesopotamia, it was the creed of the merchants, the class who sought independency, which confronted Zoroastrianism in Iran. The Armenian Church, being national in nature, had such an intolerant position against the Byzantine church and Barsauma. At the time when the Christian church was divided into Monophysites and Dyophysites, and the Byzantines persecuted the Nestorians, the latter settled in Iran and from that time on the Persians changed their attitude towards the Christians and started to patronize the Nestorians, who were the enemies of Byzantine Chalcedonianism. In ancient and medieval ages, the ethnic affiliation was directly related to the practicing of religion, the Syrians were Christians, and the Persians were Zoroastrians. This factor forced the Syrians to have their own establishment and under its patronage they could exist. They were unified around the church and the union of the craftsmen ensured the financial support.