Editing Yazdegerd I (section)

== Relations with the Christians ==
=== Background ===
[[Image:Gold coin of Shapur II, struck c. 320.jpg|thumb|alt=Obverse and reverse sides of a coin of Shapur II|[[Gold dinar]] of [[Shapur II]] ({{reign|309|379}})]]
Yazdegerd I, like all other Sasanian rulers, was an adherent of [[Zoroastrianism]].{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=2}} One of his predecessors, the powerful Sasanian shah [[Shapur II]] ({{reign|309|379}}), was thought to have brutally persecuted the [[Christianity in Iran|Christians of Iran]] from 340 to 379 in a "Great Persecution".{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=25}} Although later shahs – Yazdegerd I, [[Bahram V]] ({{reign|420|438}}), [[Yazdegerd II]] ({{reign|438|457}}), [[Peroz I]] ({{reign|459|484}}), [[Khosrow I]] ({{reign|531|579}}) and [[Khosrow II]] ({{reign|591|628}}) – were also said to have persecuted the [[Church of the East]], the church quickly expanded.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=25}} According to [[Hagiography|hagiographical]] sources, this was due to the "unwavering hostility of Zoroastrian religious authorities toward Christians."{{sfn|Payne|2015|pp=25-26}}

Persecution of the Christians, however, was limited to their religious leaders who had failed to meet the commitment demanded of them by the court.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=43}} Although Shapur II disciplined leading priestly leaders for insubordination, neither he nor his court persecuted the Christian population as a whole;{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=43}} the "Great Persecution" was fictional.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=43}} According to the modern historian Eberhard Sauer, Sasanian shahs persecuted other religions only when it was in their urgent political interest to do so.{{sfn|Sauer|2017|p=190}} Shapur II's killing of Christians was due to the priestly leaders' refusal to participate more fully in the management of the empire.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=43}} This was finally achieved during Yazdegerd's reign, when the priestly leaders agreed to cooperate with the court.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=44}}

=== {{anchor|The establishment of the Iranian church}}Establishment of the Iranian church ===
[[Image:"Bahrum Gur Before His Father, Yazdigird I", Folio 551v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp, ca. 1530–35.jpg|thumb|alt=Persian miniature of Yazdegerd I and his son Bahram (later known as Bahram V)|16th-century [[Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp|Shahnameh]] illustration of Yazdegerd I and his son, the future [[Bahram V]]]]
Yazdegerd I's reign was a landmark for the Christians in Iran. With the counsel of Roman bishop [[Maruthas of Martyropolis|Marutha]], he acknowledged the Church of the East in 410; this led to the establishment of the Iranian church, which would declare its independence from the Roman church in 424.{{sfn|Shayegan|2013|p=808}}{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}} Yazdegerd's decree has been called the Sasanian version of the 313 [[Edict of Milan]] by Roman emperor [[Constantine the Great]] ({{reign|306|337}}).{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}}{{sfn|McDonough|2008|p=128}} Churches, shrines to martyrs, and monasteries were soon established under Iranian bureaucracy.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=44}} They were near the court in the Sasanian capital of [[Ctesiphon]], indicating the consent of Yazdegerd (who financed churches with East Syrian or Roman diplomats as their main patrons).{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=44}} One of his gestures of generosity was to permit Christians to bury their dead, which Zoroastrians believed tainted the land.{{sfn|Boyce|1984|p=121}}

The number of Christian elites in the bureaucracy increased, a flow which continued until the fall of the empire in 651.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=44}} Although priestly leaders such as [[Shemon Bar Sabbae]] and his colleagues had zealously opposed Shapur II's request to participate in the imperial bureaucracy, the [[bishop]]s began operating as agents of Iran (dissociating themselves from Zoroastrianism) during the fifth century.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=44}} Yazdegerd made use of the priestly leaders, sending the Patriarch of the [[Church of the East|Catholicos]] of Ctesiphon to mediate between himself and his brother (the governor of [[Pars (Sasanian province)|Pars]], in southern Iran).{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}} Another patriarch was Yazdegerd's ambassador to Theodosius.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}} The shah does not seem to have had much knowledge of Christianity, and was (like Shapur II) more interested in improving his empire's political and economic capabilities.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=46}} Owing to his tolerant treatment of the Christians, he is described in their chronicles as a "noble soul" and a second [[Cyrus the Great]] ({{reign|550|530 BC}}), the founder of the Iranian [[Achaemenid Empire]].{{sfn|Daryaee|2019|p=37}}

=== Persecution ===
Reckless acts by the Christians tested Yazdegerd I's tolerance toward them at the end of his reign.{{sfn|Boyce|1984|p=121}} [[Abdas of Susa|Abda]], the bishop of [[Ahvaz|Ohrmazd-Ardashir]] in [[Khuzistan (Sasanian province)|Khuzestan]], and a band of Christian priests and [[laity]] levelled a Zoroastrian [[fire temple]] in {{circa|419–420}}; the court summoned them to answer for their actions.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=47}} Yazdegerd was said to ask Abda, "Since you are the chief and leader of these men, why do you allow them to despise our kingdom, to transgress against our command, and to act in accordance with their own will? Do you demolish and destroy our houses of worship and the foundations of our fire temples, which we have received from the fathers of our fathers to honor?"{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=47}} Although Abda hesitated to answer, a priest in his entourage replied: "I demolished the foundation and extinguished the fire because it is not a house of God, nor is the fire the daughter of God."{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=47}} Demolishing a fire temple was reportedly a way of broadcasting the "victory of Christianity."{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=47}}

Abda refused to have the fire temple rebuilt, and he and his entourage were executed.{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=47}} At another location, a priest had a [[Atar|sacred fire]] put out and celebrated [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]] there.{{sfn|Boyce|1984|p=121}} Yazdegerd I, forced to yield to pressure from the Zoroastrian priesthood, changed his policy towards the Christians and ordered them persecuted.{{sfn|Sauer|2017|p=190}} Probably due to his change of policy, Yazdegerd appointed [[Mihr Narseh]] of the Suren family as his minister (''[[wuzurg framadar]]'').{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}} This brief persecution did not mar Yazdegerd I's representation in Christian sources,{{sfn|McDonough|2008|p=131}} some of which justified his actions.{{sfn|McDonough|2008|p=132}}