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The Lives and Literary Roles of Children in Advancing Conversion to Christianity: Hagiography from the Caucasus in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Cornelia B. Horn
Cornelia B. Horn
Affiliation:
Cornelia B. Horn is an assistant professor of Early Christianity and Patristics in the Department of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University.
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Extract

Children are the weakest and most fragile members of their families as well as of the society in which they live. At the same time children embody a potential for growth and renewal that is greater than that of anyone else. On many occasions, ancient and medieval hagiographers from the Caucasus have chosen to convey their message of the need for religious change and conversion from indigenous religions or later on from Islam to Christianity by employing examples that involve children. When these writers promoted the transition from sickness to healing and health, from sterility to fertility, from old to new, from what is wild, misguided, and unlettered to the elevated and advanced state of a society that is educated, and from worshippers that were members of other religions to followers of Christianity, they chose to avail themselves of the image of the child.

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Articles
Information
Church History , Volume 76 , Issue 2 , June 2007 , pp. 262 - 297
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Copyright © American Society of Church History 2007

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References

2. For a helpful introduction to Georgia and its people from ancient times to the Middle Ages, still see Lang, David Marshall, The Georgians, Ancient Peoples and Places 51 (London: Thames and Hudson, 1966)Google Scholar. See also Braund, David, Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia 550 BC-AD 562 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994)Google Scholar.

3. See, for example, Orme, Nicholas, Medieval Children (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2001);Google ScholarAlexandre-Bidon, Danièlle and Lett, Didier, Les Enfants au Moyen Âge: Ve-XVe Siècles (Paris: Hachette Littératures, 1997);Google ScholarLett, Didier, L'enfant des miracles: Enfance et société au Moyen Âge (Xlle-XIIIe siècle), Collection historique (Paris: Aubier, 1997);Google ScholarHayward, Paul A., “Suffering and Innocence in Latin Sermons for the Feast of the Holy Innocents, c. 400–800,” in The Church and Childhood: Papers Read at the 1993 Summer Meeting and the 1994 Winter Meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society, ed. Diana, Wood, Studies in Church History 31 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994), 67–80Google Scholar; Nelson, Janet L., “Parents, Children, and the Church in the Earlier Middle Ages,” in The Church and Childhood, 81–114;Google ScholarShahar, Shulamith, Childhood in the Middle Ages, trans. Galai, Chaya (London: Routledge, 1990, 1992)Google Scholar; and McLaughlin, Mary Martin, “Survivors and Surrogates: Children and Parents from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Centuries,” in The History of Childhood, ed. Mause, Lloyd de (New York: Psychohistory, 1974), 101–81,Google Scholar reprinted in Medieval Families: Perspectives on Marriage, Household, and Children, ed. Carol Neel, Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, in association with the Medieval Academy of America, 2004), 20–124.Google Scholar For work on adolescents and youths, see, for example, the contributions in Giovanni, Levi and Jean-Claude, Schmitt, ed., A History of Young People in the West, vol. 1, Ancient and Medieval Rites of Passage, trans. Naish, Camille (Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1997),Google Scholar which except for ancient Greece does not include any contributions on young people in the East.

4. See as notable exceptions Jane Baun, “The Fate of Babies Dying before Baptism in Byzantium,” in The Church and Childhood, 115–25;Google ScholarKalogeras, Nikolaos Michael, “Byzantine Childhood Education and Its Social Role from the Sixth Century until the End of Iconoclasm” (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 2000);Google Scholar and Miller, Timothy, The Orphans of Byzantium: Child Welfare in the Christian Empire (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2003).Google Scholar

5. Significant work on various aspects of the Christian history of the Caucasus has been accomplished by Cyril Toumanoff. See, for example, his Studies in Christian Caucasian History (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1963).Google Scholar See also among numerous other articles by the same author “Medieval Georgian Historical Literature (Vllth-XVth Centuries),” Traditio 1 (1943): 139–82;Google Scholar“Iberia on the Eve of Bagratid Rule: An Enquiry into the Political History of Eastern Georgia between the Vlth and the IXth Century,” Le Muséon 65:1–2 (1952): 17–49, and 199–259;Google Scholar“More on Iberia on the Eve of Bagradd Rule,” Le Museon 66:1–2 (1953): 103–4;Google Scholar“Christian Caucasia between Byzantium and Iran: New Light from Old Sources,” Traditio 10 (1954): 109–89;Google Scholar“Caucasia and Byzantine Studies,” Traditio 12 (1956): 409–25;Google Scholar“Armenia and Georgia,” in The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 4, The Byzantine Empire, ed. J. M. Husey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966), 593–637;Google Scholar and “Caucasia and Byzantium,” Traditio 27 (1971): 111–58.Google Scholar Helpful collections of more recent Caucasian studies that aid in acquainting a larger scholarly public with ongoing work are Werner Seibt, ed., Die Christianisierung des Kaukasus/The Christianization of Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Albania): Referate des Internationalen Symposions (Wien, 9. bis 12. Dezember 1999), Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, philosophisch-historische Klasse, Denkschriften 296 (Wien: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2002); Mgaloblishvili, Tamila, Ancient Christianity in the Caucasus, Iberica Caucasica 1, Caucasus World (Surrey, U.K.: Curzon, 1998);Google ScholarMartin-Hisard, Bernadette, “Christianisme et église dans le monde géorgienne,” in Histoire du Christianisme: des origines à nos jours, vol. 3, Les églises d‘Orient et d'Occident (432–610), ed. Majeur, Jean-Marie and others (Paris: Desclée, 1998), 1169–231;Google Scholar and Martin-Hisard, Bernadette, “Christianisme et église dans le monde géorgienne,” in Histoire du Christianisme: des origines à nos jours, vol. 4, Evêques, moines et empereurs (610–1054), ed. Jean-Marie, Majeur and others (Paris: Desclée, 1993), 549–603.Google Scholar For the related realm of Armenia, one may also mention the recent volume by Robert F. Taft, ed., The Armenian Christian Tradition: Scholarly Symposium in Honor of the Visit to the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, of His Holiness Karekin I Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians: December 12, 1996, Orientalia Christiana Analecta 254 (Roma: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 1997)Google Scholar.

6. Georgian scholars themselves have begun to reflect on the role of children in medieval Georgian literature. See, for example, Nat'ela Vach'nadze, სააზროვნო სისტემა ღა კართული ას ზოგაღოების ზნეობრივი იღეალი [IV.-X. ss] [Saazrovno sist'ema da k'artuli sazogadoebis zneobrivi ideali] (T‘bilisi: T‘bilisis universitetis gamomc‘embloba, 1998);Google Scholar and below, note 45. For one of the few articles that examines concepts from the realm of family relationships and their roots in Georgian and more broadly in Caucasian societies, see also Vera Bardavelidze, “The Institution of ‘Modzmeoba’ (Adoptive Brotherhood): An Aspect of the History of the Relations between Mountain and Valley Populations in Georgia,” in Kinship and Marriage in the Soviet Union: Field Studies, ed. Tamara Dragadze (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984), 173–88.Google Scholar

7. For a study of thus far neglected people and questions in medieval times that are perceived as marginal, see also Michael, Goodich, ed., Other Middle Ages: Witnesses at the Margins of Medieval Society (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998)Google Scholar. Margin and center, of course, are concepts the content of which depends on one's perspective and presuppositions.

8. A fuller study may wish to take into account texts like the Armenian version of the Martyrdom of Abd al-Masih (ed. Վաղρ̲ էլ վկայպբաՇՈլթիլ Մр̲ սռբռց հատը Մտիղ р̲աղ եալр̲ ի Ճառը Մտրաց[Vark' ew vkayabnnowt'iwnk′ srbots̲′ hatentir k'agh̲ealk′ i čar̲entrats̲′; Lives and martyrdom accounts of the saints selected from the collection of homilies], 2 vols. [Venice: Imprimerie Arménienne de Saint Lazare, 1874], 1:3–25).Google Scholar See also Bollandiani, Socii, Bibliotheca Hagiographica Orientalis (hereafter BHO), Subsidia Hagiographica 10 (Bruxelles: Bollandists, 1910), 1–2;Google Scholar and traditions concerning the childhood of Gregory the Illuminator (for example, Agathangelos, ՈատՄոլթիլՄ <այռց [Patmowt'iwn Hayots̲′; History of the Armenians] §§ 34–37 [Thomson, R. W., Armenian text and trans., Agathangelos: History of the Armenians (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1976), 48–53]Google Scholar; and Moses Khorenats̲′ i, ՙՈատՄՈւթիւՄ <այռց [Patmowt′ iwn Hayots̲′; History of the Armenians] bk. 2, chap. 80 [M. Abelean and S. Yarut'iwnean, ed., ՄուՍիՍի լՍՈղեՄացլՈյ ՙՈատՄոլթիլ մ <այոց(Movsisi Khorenats̲‘woy Patmowt'iwn Hayots̲’;) (T'bilisi, 1913; reprint Delmar, N.Y.: Caravan, 1981), 219–21Google Scholar; Thomson, Robert W., trans., Moses Khorenats'i: History of the Armenians, Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies 4 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1978), 228–29]Google Scholar); and his sons and nephews Aristaces, Verthanes, Iusik, Gregorius, and Daniel (BHO entries 108 and 109, pages 26–27). See also below, pages 33–34.

9. See N. I. Lomouri, “საქჂრთველოს საႦელწოღდეგანი ბიზანტიურ წყაროებში[sakartvelos saxelts̲′odegani bizant'iur ts̲′q'aroebši; ‘The Designation of Georgia in Byzantine Sources’],” in Georgiy Georgievič Paichadze, ed., საქართველოსა ღა ქართველების აღმნიშვნელი უცႦოური ღა ქართული ტერმინოლოგია [Sakartvelosa da kartvelebis agh̲mnišvneli uts̲xouri da kartuli t'erminologia; “Foreign Expressions for Georgia and Georgians and Georgian Terminology”] (T'bilisi: Mec'niereba, 1993), 73–91.Google Scholar

10. For considerations of the history of how European scholars applied terminology to Georgia and the Georgians, see G. I. Gelashvili, M. A. Mgalob'ishvili, and G. G. Paichadze, “საქართველოს ღა ქართველების აღმნიშვნელი ტერგინები ევროპულ ენებში[Sakartvelos da kartvelebis aghmnišvneli t'erminebi evrop'ul enebši; ‘The Terms “Georgia” and “Georgians” in European Languages’],” in Paichadze, ed., საქართველოსა ღა ქართველების 294–309. Not much more detailed differentiation is evidenced in Russian usage. See the article by G. G. Paichadze, “ საქართველოსა ღა ქართველების აღმნიშვნელი ტერმინები წყაროებში[Sakartvelosa da kartvelebis agh̲mnišvneli t'erminebi rusul ts′q'aroebši; ‘The Terminology of the Designations of Georgia and the Georgians in Russian Sources’],” in Paichadze, ed., საქართველოსა ღა ქართველების, 286–93. For recent work that displays greater sensitivity to ethnic and linguistic diversity, see, for example, the usage of terms in Braund, David C., “Georgia,” in Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World, ed. Bowersock, G. W., Peter, Brown, and Oleg, Grabar (Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999), 465–66;Google Scholar and the discussion in Rapp, Stephen H., ed., K'art′lis c'xovreba: The Georgian Royal Annals and Their Medieval Armenian Adaptation, 2 vols. (Delmar, N.Y.: Caravan, 1998), here 1:13, n. 1.Google Scholar

11. A very rich resource for examining modern scholarship in Georgian on the linguistic and ethnic diversity of the Caucasus region can be found in the various articles, collected and supplemented by summaries in Russian and English, in G. G. Paichadze, ed., საქართველოსა და ქართეელების აღგნი უცႦოური ღა ქართული ტერმინოლოგია[Sakartvelosa da kartvelebis agh̲mnišvneli uts̲xouri da kartuli t'erminologia]. See there especially the contributions by M. P. Inadze, “ტერმინები ‘კოლႦი’ ღა ‘კოლხეთი’ ანტიკურ მწერლობაში[t'erminebi k'olxi da k'olxeti ant'ik′ur mts̲′erlobaši; ‘The Terms “Colchians” and “Colchis” in Classical Sources’],” 43–55; V. V. Vashakidze, “ტერმინები ‘იბერია’ ღა ‘იბერები’ ანტიკურ წყაროებში[t'erminebi iberia da iberebi ant'ik′ur ts̲′q'aroebši; ‘The Terms “Iberia” and “Iberians” in Classical Sources’],” 56–72; Lomouri, “საქართველოს საႦელწოდეგანი ბიზანტიურ წყაროებში”; T. D. Chkheidze, “საქართველოსა და ქართველების აღმნიშვნელი ტერმინები საშუალო სპარსულსა და პართულ ენებში[Sakartvelosa da kartvelebis agh̲mnišvneli t'erminebi sašualo sp'arsulsa da p'artul enebši; ‘The Terms Designating “Georgia” and “Georgians” in Middle Persian and Parthian’],” 107–20; K. G. Tsereteli, “‘ ქართველისა’ და ‘საქართველოს’ აღმნიშვნელი ტერმინები არამეულსა და ებრაულში[Kartvelisa da sakartvelos agh̲mnišvneli t'erminebi arameulsa da ebraulši; ‘Terms Designating “Georgia” and “Georgian” in Aramaic and Hebrew’],” 146–52, who comments also briefly on Assyrian and Syriac usages; and E. V. Tsagareishvili, “‘ ქართველისა’ და ‘საქართველოს’ აღმნიშვნელი ტერმინები სომხურ წერილობით წყაროებში[Kartvelisa da sakartvelos agh̲mnišvneli t'erminebi somxur ts̲′erilobit ts̲′q'aroebši; ‘The Designation of the “Georgians” and “Georgia” in Armenian Written Monuments’],” 153–209. Yet for a helpful and nuanced orientation on territorial, geographical, historical, and political dimensions of Armenia and Georgia seen through the eyes of medieval Byzantine sources, see now also Bernadette Martin-Hisard, “Constantinople et les archontes du monde Caucasien dans le Livre des cérémonies, II, 48,” in Travaux et Mémoires 13, ed. Gilbert Dragon (Paris: Collège de France, Centre de Recherche d'Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance, 2000), 359–530.Google Scholar

12. See, for example, O. I. Kachadze, “ ტერმინი ‘ეგრისი’ (ეგური, ეგრი, ეგრისი)[t'ermini egrisi (eguri, egri, egrisi); ‘The Term “Egrisi (Eguri, Egri, Egrisi)”’],” 378–89; M. P. Inadze, “ტერმინი ‘ჭანები’[t'ermini č′anebi; ‘The Term “Chan”’], ” 390–402; T. I. Gvantseladze, “ კვლავ ეთნონიმ ‘აფხაზისა’ და მასთან და კავშირებულ ფუძეთა შესახებ[k'velav etnonim apxazisa da mastan dak'avširebul pudz̲eta šesaxeb; ‘Once again about the Ethnonym “Apxazi” and the Stems Related to It’],” 571–80; and Thomas V. Gamkrelidze, “ძველი კოლნეთის სანელთა ისტორიდან (&lsquo;აფნაზ- &tilde; აბაზგ-&rsquo; და &lsquo;აბაზა &tilde; აფსუა&rsquo; ეთნონიმთა ისტორიულ-ეტიმოლოგიური ურთიერთობისათვი”;[dz̲zveli k'olxetis sat'omo saxelta ist'oriidan (apxaz- ˜abazg- da abaza ˜apsua etnonimta ist'oriul-et'imologiuri urtiertobisatvis); “From the Onomasticon of Ancient Colchis (On the Historical and Etymological Relationship of the Ethnonyms Apxaz- ˜ Abazg- and Abaza ˜ Apsawa′],” 581–602. These four articles are published in Paichadze, ed., საქართველოსა ღა ქართველეია.

13 See, for example, D. L. Muskhelishvili, “ქართკელთა თკითსაႦმლწოღების ისტორი ისათკის [kartvelta tvitsaxelts′ odebis ist'oriisatvis; ‘Towards the History of the Self-Designation of the Georgians’],” in Paichadze, ed., საქართკელოსა ღა ქართკელების, 337–77; and T. G. Papuashvili, “ცნებები ‘კახი’, ‘კუხი’ ‘ჰერი’ ღა მათი ფესაბამისი ქვეყნების სა ნელწოდებების ‘კანეთის’, ‘კუხეთის’, ‘ჰერეთის’ შესანებ [tsnebebi k ′ axi, k'uxi, heri, da mati šesabamisi kveq'nebis saxelts′ odebebis k'axetis k'uxetis heretis šesaxeb; ‘On the Terms “Kakhi,” “Kukhi,” and “Heri” and Their Corresponding Geographical Names “Kakheti,” “Kukheti,” and “Hereti”’],” in Paichadze, ed., საქართველოსა ღა ქჂრთველეგის, 403–41.

14. For discussion of the generally positive relations between Jews and Christians in early Georgia, and the latters' reception by the former, see Mgaloblishvili, Tamila and Gagoshidze, Iulon, “The Jewish Diaspora and Early Christianity in Georgia,” in Tamila, Mgaloblishvili, ed., Ancient Christianity in the Caucasus, 39–58;Google Scholar and Mgaloblishvili, Tamila, “Juden und Christen in Georgien in den ersten christlichen Jahrhunderten,” in Juden und Christen in der Antike, ed. Amersfoort, Jacobus van and Oort, Johannes van (Kampen: Kok, 1990), 94–100.Google Scholar

15. On Bakurios, see also Woods, David, “Subarmachius, Bacurius, and the Schola Scutariorum Sagittariorum,” Classical Philology 91:4 (1996): 365–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

16. Rufinus of Aquileia, Church History 10.11, in Die Kirchengeschichte, ed. Eduard Schwartz, Theodor Mommsen, and Friedhelm Winkelmann, GCS Eusebius Werke II.2 (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1999), 973–76.Google Scholar

17. The literature on St. Nino and the literary traditions surrounding her is voluminous. See now also Stephen Rapp, H., “Imagining History at the Crossroads: Persia, Byzantium, and the Architects of the Written Georgian Past” (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1997), 331–59Google Scholar, who provides a helpful overview of the development of individual traditions and recensions; as well as Constantine Lerner, B., The Wellspring of Georgian Historiography: The Early Medieval Historical Chronicle, The Conversion of K'art′li and The Life of St. Nino (London: Bennett and Bloom, 2004), 89–96Google Scholar, who considers Nino's social status while in Mc'xet′a. For the development of veneration of Nino, see also Martin-Hisard, Bernadette, “Jalons pour une histoire du culte de sainte Nino (fin IVe-XIIe s.),” in From Byzantium to Iran: Armenian Studies in Honour of Nina G. Garsoïan, ed. Jean-Pierre, Mahé and Thomson, Robert W., Occasional Papers and Proceedings, Scholars Press 8, Suren D. Fesjian Academic Publications 5 (Atlanta, Ga: Scholars, 1997), 53–78Google Scholar; and Thierry, Nicole, “Sur le culte de Sainte Nino,” in Die Christianisierung des Kaukasus, 151–58Google Scholar. For discussions concerning the struggle of Georgians to accept her figure as the one associated with the beginnings of Christianity among them, see Fairy von Lilienfeld, “Amt und geistliche Vollmacht der Nino, heiligen, ‘Apostel und Evangelist’ von Ostgeorgien, nach den ältesten georgischen Quellen,” in Horizonte der Christenheit: Festschrift für Friedrich Heyer zu seinem 65. Geburtstag, ed. Michael, Kohlbacher and Markus, Lesinski, Oikonomia: Quellen und Studien zur orthodoxen Theologie 34 (Erlangen: Lehrstuhl für Geschichte und Theologie des Christlichen Ostens, 1994), 224–49Google Scholar; Horn, Cornelia B., “St. Nino and the Christianization of Pagan Georgia,” Medieval Encounters 4:2 (1998): 242–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Synek, Eva Maria, “The Life of St. Nino: Georgia's Conversion to its Female Apostle,” in Christianizing Peoples and Converting Individuals, ed. Guyda, Armstrong and Wood, Ian N., International Medieval Research 7 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2000), 3–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

18. For a study of customary behavior related to family matters, see Luzbetak, Louis J., S.V.D., Marriage and the Family in Caucasia: A Contribution to the Study of North Caucasian Ethnology and Customary Law, Studia Instituti Anthropos 3 (Vienna-Mödling: St. Gabriel's Mission, 1951).Google Scholar

19. This method of healing may reflect a background of shamanistic practices. See, for example, the discussion in Thelamon, Françoise, Païens et Chrétiens au IVe siècle— L'apport de l'“Histoire ecclésiastique” de Rufin d'Aquilée (Paris: Etudes augustiniennes, 1981), 107–18Google Scholar, who sees Nino as a kadag, a prophetic shamanistic healer. Yet it might be sufficient to understand the representation of Nino as simply imitating the healing ministry of Old Testament prophets or of Jesus. While reference to Nino's hair shirt is meant to identify her as a person who lived ascetically, it also might have been intended to establish some hagiographical connection to the tradition of Jesus' chiton and Elijah's mantle, both items having been believed to have found their final resting place in Georgia.

20. For further details concerning subsequent events, see Horn, “St. Nino and the Christianization,” 250–52.

21. For a recent comparative study of the evidence of the four manuscripts, see Alexidze, Zaza, “Four Recensions of the ‘Conversion of Georgia (Comparative Study)’” in Die Christianisierung des Kaukasus, 9–16Google Scholar. For a study of critical vocabulary in this work, see Alexidze, Zaza, “Sur le vocabulaire de la Conversion du K'art′li: Miap'ori, Niap'ori ou Minap'ori?,” in From Byzantium to Iran: Armenian Studies in Honour of Nina G. Garsoïan, 47–52.Google Scholar

22. Yet scholarship does continue at times to ascribe The Conversion of K'art′li by Nino to Leonti Mroveli as its original author. On Leonti Mroveli, see Kekelidze, K., Tarchnišvili, P. Michael, and Assfalg, Julius, Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur, Studi e Testi 185 (Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1955), 92Google Scholar, who opt for the first half of the eighth century. Yet see also Thomson, Robert W., Rewriting Caucasian History: The Medieval Armenian Adaptation of the Georgian Chronicles: The Original Georgian Texts and the Armenian Adaptations, Oxford Oriental Monographs (Oxford: Clarendon, 1996), xxxixGoogle Scholar; and Mgaloblishvili and Gagoshidze, “Jewish Diaspora,” 39.

The Georgian text of the Conversion of K'art′li by Nino was published by Qauxch'ishvili, Simon, ქართლის ცႦოპრება, 2 vols. (T'bilisi: Saxelgami, 1955 and 1959), 1:72–138Google Scholar. This text is reprinted in Rapp, Stephen H. Jr, ed., K'art′lis c'xovreba: The Georgian Royal Annals and Their Medievel Armenian Adaptation, 1:72–138Google Scholar. For an English translation of this text, see Thomson, , Rewriting Caucasian History, 84–153Google Scholar. For discussions concerning the manuscript evidence, see also Toumanoff, Cyril, “The Oldest Manuscript of the Georgian Annals: The Queen Anne Codex (QA), 1479–1495,” Traditio 5 (1947): 340–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Rapp, Stephen H., Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts and Eurasian Contexts, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 601, Subsidia t. 113 (Lovanii: Peeters, 2003), 17–35.Google Scholar

23. Conversion of K'art′li by Nino 85 (Qauxch'ishvili, ed., ქართლის ცႦოპრება, 1:85,11. 2–3; Thomson, trans., Rewriting Caucasian History, 94 [spelling modified]): “აღღებ ღა ვიღოღე ჩრღილოთ კერძო, საღა–იგი არს სამ კალი ფრიაღ ღა მუფაკი არა.”

24. Conversion of K'art′li by Nino 93 (Qauxch'ishvili, ed., ქაროლის ცႦოკრება, 1:93; Thomson, trans., Rewriting Caucasian History, 101–2).

25. Conversion of K'art′li by Nino 93 (Qauxch'ishvili, ed., ქართლის ცႦოკრვბა, 1:93, 11. 15–16; Thomson, trans., Rewriting Caucasian History, 102): Ⴆოლო იႸპნეႦ ესე ანასტო ღა ქმარი მიႱი ფშცილო ღა Ⴆრუნკიღეს ფრიაღ უშპილოეგისათპს.

26. Conversion of K'art′li by Nino 93–94 (Qauxch'ishvili, ed., ქაროლის ცႦოკრეგა, 1:93, 1. 17–94, 1. 2; Thomson, trans., Rewriting Caucasian History, 102): ღაღილო არს Ⴆცირე ნამუთა ქუეშე, Ⴆაუფლო შეႦავებული, მიწა აღიღე მის აღგილისაგან, შეაჭანე პაცთა მაბათ ღა ესუას შკილი.

27. Conversion of K'art′li by Nino 94 (Qauxch ′ishvili, ed., ქართლის ცხოპრება, 1:94, 1. 7; Thomson, trans., Rewriting Caucasian History, 102): მაშინ ცოლ –ქართა მათ აღიარეს ქრისტე დაეოწაფნეს ფარულად. Lang, David Marshall, Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1956)Google Scholar, offers episodes from the Georgian Life of St. Nino on 19–39, but leaves out this passage on 24. See also Marjory, and Wardrop, Oliver, “The Life of St. Nino,” Studia Biblica et Ecclesiastica 5:1 (1900): 22–23Google Scholar. The most recent translation of მოქცევაჲ ქარტლისაჲ [Moktsevay Kartlisay] by Lerner, , The Wellspring of Georgian Historiography, 166–67Google Scholar, however, includes the parallel passage. For the Georgian text, see “მოქცევაჲ ქაროლისაჲ [Moktsevay Kartlisay],” in I. Abuladze, ed., ძველი ქართული აგიოგრაფიფიული ლითერათურის ძევლები [Dzveli kartuli agiograpiuli literaturis dzeglebi; Monuments of Old Georgian Hagiographical Literature] (T'bilisi: Mec'niereba, 1964), 1:81–163, here 122–23.Google Scholar

28. See the discussion in Horn, “St. Nino and the Christianization”; and von Lilienfeld, “Amt und geistliche Vollmacht der heiligen Nino.”

29. For studies of asceticism in Georgia, see Peeters, Paul, “Histoire monastiques géorgiennes,” Analecta Bollandiana 36–37 (1917–1919)Google Scholar, [the study comprises the whole volume]; Peradze, Gregory, “Die Anfänge des Mönchtums in Georgien,” Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 46:1 (1927): 34–75Google Scholar; and Reisner, Oliver, “Das Mönchtum im frühmittelalterlichen Georgien,” Georgica 15:1 (1992): 67–81.Google Scholar

30. Lang, , Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 81Google Scholar; and Kekelidze, , Tarchnišvili, , and Assfalg, , Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur, 108Google Scholar. For a relatively accessible modern translation into French and study of the Lives of the Thirteen Syrian Fathers, see Martin-Hisard, Bernadette, “Les Treize Saints Pères: Formation et évolution d'une tradition hagiographique géorgienne (VIe-XIIe s.),” Revue des études géorgiennes et caucasiennes 1 (1985): 141–65; and 2 (1986): 75–111Google Scholar. A fire in the Church of St. George in Saint Catherine's Monastery on Sinai in 1975 brought to light a collection of theretofore seemingly lost manuscripts, many of them in Georgian. The facsimile edition of one of them, MS N Sinai 50 written early in the tenth century, has now made available to researchers what likely is the oldest available text of the Lives of these thirteen Syrian fathers. See Le nouveau manuscrit géorgien sinaïtique N Sin 50: Édition en fac-similé, intro. Zaza Aleksidzé, trans, from the Georgian J.-P. Mahé, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 596, Subsidia 108 (Lovanii: Peeters, 2001). See there, pages 12 and 59 for dating the manuscript and 4–5 on the circumstances of the discovery. For further discussion of the manuscript and its discovery, see also Zaza Aleksidzé, “The New Recensions of the Conversion of Georgia and the Lives of the 13 Syrian Fathers Recently Discovered on Mt Sinaï,” in Il Caucaso: Cerniera fra culture dal Mediterraneo alla Persia (secoli IV–XI); 20–26 Aprile, 1995, ed. Centro italiano di studi sull'alto medioevo, Settimane di studio del Centro italiano di studi sull'alto medioevo 43a (Spoleto: [at the center], 1996), 409–26. For other valuable data that can be derived from the manuscript evidence, especially with a view towards the relationship of individual ethnic groups to one another in medieval Georgia, see Zaza Aleksidzé, “La construction de la ΚΛΕΙΣΥΡΑ d'après le nouveau manuscript Sinaïtique N° 50,” in Travaux et Mémoires 13, ed. Gilbert Dragon (Paris: Collège de France, Centre de Recherche d'Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance, 2000), 673–81.

31. Life of David of Garesja (ed. “ცხოვრებაჲ და მოქალაქოგაჲ მამისა ჩშენისა დავით გარენჯელისა [Tsxovrebay da mokalakobay ts'midisa mamisa čuenisa davit garesjelisa],” in Abuladze, ed., ძველი ქარტული აგიოგრაფიული ლიოერათურის ძეგლები [Dzveli kartuli agiograpiuli literaturis dzeglebi; Monuments of Old Georgian Hagiographical Literature], 1:229–40, here 235, 11. 22–24; Lang, D. M., partial trans., “A Forerunner of St. Francis: David of Garesja,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 83–93,Google Scholar here 90): არს სახლსახლა შინა ჩემსა პოჭლი ობითავე ფერჴიტა რომელი ყოლად ვერ უემელ არს ზე აღდგომად.

32. Life of David of Garesja (ed. “ცხოვრებაჲ და მოქაქალაქობაჲ წბიდისა ჩუენისა დავით გარესჯელისა,” 235, 11. 34–35; Lang, trans., “Forerunner,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 90): რამეთუ ყრმაჲ აგა კოჭლი,ბღუნგით მავალი სახარულით წინა მიეგებვოღა მამასა მას თპსსა.

33. Life of David of Garesja (ed. “ცხოვრებაჲ და მოქალაქობაჲ წმიდისა მამისა ჩუენისა დავით გარესჯელისა,” 235, 1. 36; Lang, trans., “Forerunner,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 90): მაღლობაჲ შეწირა ღმრთისა.

34. Life of David of Garesja (ed. “ცხოვრებაჲ და მოქალაქობაჲ წმიდისა მამისა ჩუენისა დავით გარესჯელისა,” 236, 11. 7–8; Lang, trans., “Forerunner,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 90): ეჴპიდა საჴბდართ საჴმარი:ჳური და დგნოჲ.

35. Life of David of Garesja (ed. “ცხოვრებაჲ და მოქალაქობაჲ წმიდისა მამისა ჩუენისა დავით გარესჯელისა,” 236, 11. 8–9; Lang, trans., “Forerunner,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 90): და თანა-ჴყვა მეცა იგი განპუნებული და ორნი ძენი სხუანი.

36. Lang, Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 44. For extensive study of the Martyrdom of Shushanik, see Peeters, P., “Sainte Sousanik, martyre en Arméno-Géorgie,” Analecta Bollandiana 53 (1935): 5–48.Google Scholar

37. Iakob C'urtaveli, Martyrdom of Shushanik (ed. “ცამებაჲ წმიღისა შუშა???იკისა ღეღოფლისა [Ts̲amebay ts̲'midisa šušanik'isi dedoplisa],” in Abuladze, ed., ძველი ქარტული აგიოგრაფიული ლითერათურის ძეგლები [Dz̲veli kartuli agiograpiuli literaturis dz̲eglebi; Monuments of Old Georgian Hagiographical Literature], 1:11–29, here 22,1. 27; Lang, D. M., partial trans., “The Passion of St. Shushanik,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 45–56, here 54)Google Scholar: უშვილოთა შვილი. For additional edition and translations, see also Iakob C`urtaveli, შუშანიკის ცამება [Šušanik'is ts㈠ameba], ed. Ot'ar Egadze (Tbilisi: Xelovneba, 1983), 6–74 (old Georgian), 75–113 (modern Georgian), and 183–224 (English trans. Elisabeth Fuller).Google Scholar

38. Iakob C'urtaveli, Martyrdom of Shushanik (ed. “ცამებჲ წმიღისა შუშა???იკისა ღეღოფლისა” 22, 1. 27; Lang, trans., “Passion of Shushanik,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 54): ს$$$ეულთა კურ$$$ებაჲ, ბრმათა თუალთა აႦილვაჲ.

39. Mortality rates of children in the ancient world were very high. Garnsey, Peter, “Child Rearing in Ancient Italy,” in The Family in Italy from Antiquity to the Present, ed. Kertzer, D. I. and Saller, R. P. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1991), 48–65, here 51–52,Google Scholar states that “28 percent of those born alive, or 280 out of 1,000 children, died in the course of the first year, and around 50 percent died before the age of ten.” Other scholars place the numbers slightly lower, at about 30–40 percent. See, for example, Mark Golden, “Did the Ancients Care When Their Children Died?,” Greece and Rome 35:2 (1988): 152–63, here 155. For further discussion, see also Cornelia Horn, B. and Martens, John, “Let the Little Ones Come to Me”: Children in the Early Christian Community (forthcoming), chap. 1.Google Scholar

40. The question of the extent to which there existed a noticeable level of emotional attachment between parents and children in earlier centuries continues to be discussed. While scholars initially tended to dismiss the existence of such relationships, more recently they make a case for it.

41. See Cornelia B. Horn, “From Model Virgin to Maternal Intercessor: Mary, Children, and Family Problems in Late Antique Infancy Gospel Traditions,” paper delivered at the conference on “Christian Apocryphal Texts for the New Millennium: Achievements, Prospects, and Challenges,” University of Ottawa, convener: Pierluigi Piovanelli (fall, 2006),Google Scholar forthcoming in conference proceedings.

42. Scholars are only beginning to explore the question of children's participation in the early and late ancient Christian experience of martyrdom. For first steps into this new field of research, see Cornelia B. Horn, “‘Fathers and Mothers Shall Rise Up Against Their Children and Kill Them’: Martyrdom and Children in the Early Church,” paper delivered at the session “Early Christian Families,” American Academy of Religion/ Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada (November, 2002); see now also Horn and Martens, “Let the Little Ones Come to Me,” chap. 6; for children facing difficult situations in their lives, see Alexandre-Bidon and Lett, Les Enfants au Moyen Age, 61–72.

43. For a study of the valley with useful maps, see Parsegian, Vazken L., “The Vale of Kola: A Final Preliminary Report on the Marchlands of Northeast Turkey,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 42 (1988): 119–41.Google Scholar For the origins of the name “Kola” as a derivation from “Kulha,” a name that Urartians had given to a group of invaders, see Parsegian, “The Vale of Kola,” 122. Parsegian provides excerpts from the Martyrdom of the Children of Kola with English translation on pages 120–21. Two earlier reports on the Marchlands by the same author are published in Dumbartom Oaks Papers 39 and 40.

44. From the Greek, ձíασμα. Taqaišvili, E., Die archäologische ExpenČargali im Jahre 1907 (Paris, 1907), 9;Google Scholar referenced in Kekelidze, Tarchnišvili, and Assfalg, Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur, 402, n. 2.

45. The Georgian text of the Martwlobay of the Children of Kola can be found as “მარტპლობაჲ ყრმათა კოლაელდაჲ [Martyrdom qrmata kolaeltay],” in Abuladze, ed., ძველი ქარტული აგიოგრაფიული ლითერათურის ძეგლები [Dz̲zveli kartuli agiograpiuli literaturis dz̲eglebi; Monuments of Old Georgian Hagiographical Literature], 1:183–85. See also Marr, N. Y., “Mučeničestvo otrokov′ Kolaῐcev′,” in Teksty i Razyskanija po Armjano-Gruzinskoῐ Filologii (St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University, 1903), 5:55–61.Google Scholar An English translation is available as Lang, D. M., “The Nine Martyred Children of Kola,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 40–43.Google Scholar See also Kekelidze, , Tarchnišvili, , and Assfalg, , Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur, 401–3.Google Scholar For some discussion of the Martyrdom of the Children of Kola, see also Vach'nadze, სააზროვ$$$ო სისტემა, 91–92.

46. On the debate concerning the beginnings and practice of the baptism of children, even infants, in early Christianity, see Horn and Martens, “Let the Little Ones Come To Me,” chap. 7.

47. Martyrdom of the Children of Kola (ed. “მარტჳლობაჲ ყრრმათა პოლაელთაჲ,” 184, 1. 39; Lang, trans., “Nine Martyred Children,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 42): და ყრმანი იგი ქრისტეანენი ექმნნეს მაონათლის დადა. For studies of the development of the institution of godparents in the early Church, see Dick, Ernst, “Das Pateninstitut im altchristlichen Katechumenat,” Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie 63 (1939): 1–49,Google Scholar who indicates that both men and women were allowed to be godparents; and Brusselmans, Christiane, “Les functions de parrainage des enfants aux premiers siècles de l'Eglise (100–550)” (Ph.D. diss., The Catholic University of America, 1964)Google Scholar (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microforms, 1965). The topic is investigated for the medieval period by Lynch, Joseph H., Godparents and Kinship in Early Medieval Europe (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1986);Google Scholar and Jussen, Bernhard, Patenschaft und Adoption im frühen Mittelalter: künstliche Verwandtschaft als soziale Praxis, Veröffentlichungen des Max-Plank-Instituts für Geschichte 98 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1991).Google Scholar

48. Martyrdom of the Children of Kola (ed. “მარტჳლობაჲ ყრრმათა პოლაელთაჲ,” 184, 1. 43–185, 1. 1; Eng. trans, my own; see also Lang, trans., “Nine Martyred Children,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 42): გამოიტაცნეს ყრმანი იგი მძავრობით სახლებისაგან ქრისტეანეთაჲსა დიდათა შეურაცხეგითა და რისხვითა.

49. Martyrdom of the Children of Kola (ed. “მარტჳლობაჲ ყრრმათა პოლაელთაჲ,” 185, 11. 2–3; Lang, trans., “Nine Martyred Children,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 42): დაალებნეს ჴორცნი მაონი ფიცხლითა მით ცემითა.

50. Martyrdom of the Children of Kola (ed. “მარტპლობაჲ ყრმათა კოლაელთაჲ,” 185, 11 14–15; Lang, trans., “Nine Martyred Children,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 42): ჴელმწიფებაჲ გაქუს, უყავი რაჲვა გ???ებავს.

51. Martyrdom of the Children of Kola (ed. “მარტჳლო???აჲ ყრმათა კოლაელთაჲ”, 185, 1. 29; Lang, trans., “Nine Martyred Children,“ in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 43 [modified]): ღღჱ იგი ღუაწლისაჲ წმიდათა მათ მოწამეთაჲ. Note that “holy martyrs” in Lang's translation corresponds merely to “holy ones” in the Georgian text.

52. Martyrdom of the Children of Kola (ed. “ მარტპლო???აჲ ყრმათა კოლაელთაჲ,” 185, 11. 31–32; Lang, trans., “Nine Martyred Children,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 43): არა ყვეს წყალო???აჲ შვილთა მათთათპს.

53. Martyrdom of the Children of Kola (ed. “ მარტპლო???აჲ ყრმათა კოლაელთაჲ,” 185, 11. 29–30; Lang, trans., “Nine Martyred Children,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 43): მაში$$$?? უღმრთოთამით მშო$$$ელთა მათთა გა$$$უხათქ$$$ეს თავ$$$ი მათ$$$ი ღა გა$$$ტპ$$$$$$ეს იგი$$$ი For archaeological evidence regarding more regular burial practices of children in the Caucasus, see for example a tomb containing the skeletons of an adult with the skeleton of a perhaps three- to four-year-old child placed to the left of the adult's lower left leg. At the head of the child was placed a silver ornament, decorated at the center of a frame of blue glass and seven silver discs of about half an inch in diameter. For a drawing of the arrangement of the skeletons in the tomb, see Chantre, Ernest, Recherches Anthropologiques dans le Caucase, vol. 3, Période Historique (Paris: Ch. Reinwald, Libraire, 1887), 23.Google Scholar

54. Martyrdom of the Children of Kola (ed. “ მარტპლო$$$აჲ ყრმათა კოლაელთაჲ,” 185, 11. 36–38; Lang, trans., “Nine Martyred Children,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 43): მისცეს ძმამა$$$ ძმაჲ სიკუღიღ ღა მამამა??? შვილი; ღა აღღგე??? მამა-ღეღა$$$ი შვილთა მათთა ზეღა ღა მოჰკლვიღე??? მათ.

55. Martyrdom of Eustace the Cobbler (ed. “მარტპილობაჲ ღა მოთმი???ებაჲ წმიღისა ევსტათი მცხეთელისაჲ [Mart'wi̲lobay da motminebay ts̲'midisa evst'ati mts̲xetelisay],” in Abuladze, ed., ძველი ქარტული აგიოგრაფიული ლითერათურის ძეგლები [Dz̲zveli kartuli agiograpiuli literaturis dz̲eglebi; Monuments of Old Georgian Hagiographical Literature], 1:30–45;. Lang, D. M., partial trans., “The Passion of St. Eustace the Cobbler,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 94–114).Google Scholar For the comments here, see Lang, Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 94. For an alternative edition of the Georgian text, see also Sabinin, M., Sak′art′ûêlos samot'xe (St. Petersburg, 1882; reprint Tbilisi: n.p., 1990), 313–22.Google Scholar

56. Martyrdom of Eustace the Cobbler (ed. “მარტპილობაჲ ღა მოთმი???ებაჲ წმიღისა ევსტათი მცხეთელისაჲ” 35, 11. 18–20; Lang, trans., “Passion of St. Eustace,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 101): ჩუე???ი მღაბური არს, მამაჲ ღა ღეღაჲ ღა ღა$$$ი მაგის$$$ი ქრისტეა$$$ე არია$$$ ღა ეგევა ქრისტეა$$$ე არს.

57. Martyrdom of Eustace the Cobbler (ed. “ მარტპილობაჲ ღა მოთმი???ებჲ წმიღისა ევსტათი მცႦეთელისაჲ,” 35, 11. 29–32; Lang, trans., “Passion of St. Eustace,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 101): ღამეღა ქრისტეა???ეთა ღაჰრეკია$$$, ეკლესიაღ მივაღი ღა ვისმე???ღი უამობასა მას მათსა ღა ვხეღევღი მსახურებასამ ა მას ქკლესიაღეთასა რომელსა ჰყოფღეს ღმროთისათპს.

58. Iovane Sabanisdze, Martyrdom of Abo of T'bilisi (ed. “მარტპლობაჲ ჰაბო ტფილელისაისაჲ [Martwlobay habo t'p′ilelisay],” in Abuladze, ed., ძველი ქარტული აგიოგრაფიული ლითერათურის ძეგლები [Dz̲zveli kartuli agiograpiuli literaturis dz̲eglebi; Monuments of Old Georgian Hagiographical Literature], 1:46–81;. Lang, D. M., partial trans., “The Martyrdom of Abo, the Perfumer from Baghdad,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 115–33).Google Scholar For comments, see Lang, Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 115.

59. Iovane Sabanisdze, Martyrdom of Abo of T`bilisi (ed. “მარტპლობაჲ ჰაბო ტფილელისჲ,” 56, 11. 13–14; Lang, trans., “The Martyrdom of Abo,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 117): ესე $$$აშობი იყო აბრამეა???ი ძეთაგა??? ისმაელისთა ტომისაგა??? სარკი???ოზთაჲსა.

60. Iovane Sabanisdze, Martyrdom of Abo of T'bilisi (ed. “მარტპლობაჲ ჰაბო ტფილეისაჲ,” 56–57; Lang, trans., “The Martyrdom of Abo,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 118).

61. For studies of the relationship between Georgians and speakers of Arabic, see, for example, Nanobashvili, Mariam, “The Development of Literary Contacts between the Georgians and the Arabic Speaking Christians in Palestine from the 8th to the 10th Century,” ARAM Periodical 15:1 and 2 (2003): 269–74;CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Bernadette Martin-Hisard, , “Les Arabes en Géorgie occidentale au VIIIe s.: Étude sur l'idéologie politique géor-gienne,” Bedi Kartlisa 40 (1982): 105–38.Google Scholar For relations between Arabic-speaking Muslims and other peoples in the Caucasus, for example, Armenians, during medieval times, see, for example, Martin-Hisard, Bernadette, “Domination arabe et libertés arméniennes (Vlle–IXe siècles),” in Histoire des Arméniens, ed. Gérard, Dédeyan (Toulouse: [privately printed], 1982), 185–214.Google Scholar

62. Iovane Sabanisdze, Martyrdom of Abo of T'bilisi (ed. “მარტპლობაჲ ჰაბო ტფილელისაჲ,” 64, 11. 21–23; Lang, trans., “The Martyrdom of Abo,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 124): აწ გა???მზაღე ღა ილოცე შჯულითა მით, რომელიოი გა???გ ზარღეს მშობლებთა შე$$$თა.

63. For an informative and accessible overview of the prehistoric through late antique history of Iberia secunda, or the “second Iberia,” the name by which the eastern region of Georgia was known to the ancients, see Brakmann, Heinzgerd and Lordkipanidse, Otar, “Iberia II (Georgien),” in Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum 17 (Stuttgart: Hierseman, 1950–), 12–106,Google Scholar here 13. See also Melling, David J., “Peter the Iberian,” in The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), 377.Google Scholar

64. Nabarnugios in Vita Petri Iberi 4, in Petrus der Iberer: ein Charakterbild zur Kirchen—und Sittengeschichte des 5. Jahrhunderts; syrische Übersetzung einer um das jahr 500 verfassten griechischen Biographie, ed. and German trans. Richard, Raabe (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, 1895),Google Scholar 4 of the Syriac text; Horn, Cornelia B. and Phenix, Robert R. Jr, ed. and English trans., Controversial Historiography in Late Antique Palestine: The Works of John Rufus, Vol. 1, The Lives of Peter the Iberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus (Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007, forthcoming)Google Scholar, par. 5; and Plerophoriae 56, in Jean Rufus: Evêque de Maïouma: Plérophories, c.-à-d. témoignages et revelations, ed. and French trans. F. Nau and M. Brière, Patrologia Orientalis 8.1 (Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1911), 113 (513)Google Scholar. Murvanos is used in the “Georgian Life of Peter the Iberian” (Ivan Lolashvili, ed., არეოპაგეტული კრებული ღიო???ისე არეოპაგელი ღა პერტე იბერიელ ძვერლქართულ მწერლობაში გამოსაცემაღ მოამზაღა ივა???ე ლოლაშვილმა [Areop'aget' uli k'rebuli: dionise areop'ageli da p'et're iberieli dz̲verlkartul mts̲'erlobaši gamosats̲emad moamzada Ivane Lolashvilma] [T'bilisi: Izd-vo “Mets′niereba,” 1983], 117–58,Google Scholar here 119, sect. 2) and elsewhere. For a detailed epitome of the Vita Petri Iberi, see Chabot, J. B., “Pierre l'lbérien, Évêque Monophysite de Mayouma [Gaza] à la Fin du Ve Siécle,” Révue de l'Orient Latin 3 (1895): 367–97.Google Scholar

65. For a monograph-length study of Peter the Iberian and his role in the anti-Chalcedonian movement, see Horn, Cornelia B., Asceticism and Christological Controversy in Fifth-Century Palestine: The Career of Peter the Iberian, The Oxford Early Christian Studies Series (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

66. For further discussion on the origins of this Georgian Life, see also Lang, David Marshall, “Peter the Iberian and his Biographers,” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 2:1 (1951): 158–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Horn, , Asceticism and Christological Controversy, 47–49.Google Scholar

67. For translations of the relevant passages, see Thomson, , Rewriting Caucasian History, 359–62.Google Scholar These texts refer to the hero by the name Murvan(os).

68. For some discussion of the changing fate of the memory and commemoration of Peter the Iberian in the Caucasus, see also Andrea Schmidt, B., “Habent sua fata libelli: Georgische Fiktion contra armenische Fälschung: Die Vita Petrus des Iberers im Spannungsfeld zwischen armenischer und georgischer Überlieferung,” in Georgien im Spiegel seiner Kultur und Geschichte: Zweites Deutsch-Georgisches Symposium, 9. bis 11. Mai 1997, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz; Vortragstexte, ed. Brigitta, Schrade and Thomas, Ahbe (Berlin: Berliner Georgische Gesellschaft, 1998), 91–95.Google Scholar

69. Vita Petri Iberi 5, in Raabe, ed., Petrus der Iberer, 5;. Horn and Phenix, ed. and English trans., Controversial Historiography; John Rufus, vol. 1, The Lives of Peter, Theodosius, and Romanus, par. 6.

70. His paternal grandparents were Bosmarios and Osduktia. His maternal grandparents were Bakurios and Duktia. The great-uncle's name was Pharasmanios, and his father's brother's name was Arsilios. For a fuller discussion of this family background, see Horn, Asceticism and Christololgical Controversy, 50–59.

71. The Georgian Chronicle (S. Qauxč′išvili, ed., K'art′lis C'xovreba anna dedopliseuli nusxa [Tbilisi: n.p., 1942], 91)Google Scholar features King Arčil (a.d. 422–32). According to Moses Khorenats̲'i (ca. 407–92), Պատմոլթիլ$$$ <այոց [Patmowt'iwn Hayots'; History of the Armenians] bk. 3, chap. 60 (Abelean and Yarut'iwnean, ed., (Մռլսիսի Խռղե$$$ացլռյ Պատմոլթիլ$$$ <այռց 341; Thomson, trans., Moses Khorenats'i: History of the Armenians, 333), at the time of Mesrop's sending out of pupils to Byzantium and Edessa as translators of Greek and Syriac literature into Armenian, “a certain Ardzil was king of Georgia.” It seems to have been customary for Iberian kings and leaders to share the reign among themselves. That practice applied to the generation of Peter's grandparents and presumably was still in place when Peter's father was king. See Vita Petri Iberi 8–9, in Raabe, ed., Petrus der Iberer, 8–9; Horn and Phenix, ed. and English trans., Controversial Historiography; John Rufus, vol. 1, The Lives of Peter, Theodosius, and Romanus, par. 14. This system of government is related to the rule of the nobility (naxarar) in Armenia. For a fuller study of this Armenian system and its impact on early medieval society, see Nicholas Adontz, Armenia in the Period of Justinian: The Political Conditions Based on the Naxarar System, trans., partially rev., and with bibliographical notes and appendices by Garsoïan, Nina G., Haykakan matenashar Galust Kiwlpēnkean Himnarkut'ean (Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1970).Google Scholar

72. For studies of the practice of concubinage and the situations of concubines in the early Christian and late antique world, see Joelle, Beaucamp, Le statut de la femme à Byzance (4e-7e siècle), I: Le droit impérial (Paris: De Boccard, 1990), 195–201;Google ScholarSusan, Treggiari, “Concubinae,” Papers of the British School at Rome 49 (1981): 59–81.Google Scholar See also Grubbs, Judith Evans, “Concubinage,” in Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World, ed. Bowersock, G. W., Peter, Brown, and Oleg, Grabar (Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999), 388–89;Google ScholarKim, Power, “Concubine/Concubinage,” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1999), 222–23;Google ScholarCrouzel, H., “Concubinage,” in Encyclopedia of the Early Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 1:189;Google Scholar and Judith, Herrin and Alexander, Kazh-dan, “Concubinage,” in The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), 1:493.Google Scholar

73. See, for example, the story of “How Setenaya Was Led Astray,” in Nart Sagas from the Caucasus: Myths and Legends from the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs, assembled, trans., and annotated by John Colarusso, with B. George Hewit and others (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2002), 55–56.Google Scholar

74. Vita Petri Jberi 6, in Raabe, ed., Petrus der Iberer, 6; Horn and Phenix, ed. and English trans., Controversial Historiography: John Rufus, vol. 1, The Lives of Peter, Theodosius, and Romanus, par. 8.

75. Chabot, “Pierre l'lbérien,” 370; and Raabe, Petrus der Iberer, 10, n., not numbered.

76. Paul, Devos, “Quand Pierre l'lbère vient-il à Jérusalem?,” Analecta Bollandiana 86 (1968): 337–50,Google Scholar here especially 349. The Georgian “Life of Peter the Iberian” led Honigmann and following him Devos to consider 412 c.e. as a possibility. 417 c.E. still allows one to assume that even as a young boy considering asceticism Peter could have come to some familiarity and first appreciation of and respect for Nestorius of Constantinople, which then turned into manifest aversion. For fuller discussion, see Horn, , Asceticism and Christological Controversy, 26–27, and 134–37.Google Scholar

77. Luke 1:5–25; and Luke 1:26–38. In early Christian literature, also the birth of holy women would occasionally be announced by a heavenly messenger. For the announcement of the special status and character of the to-be-born Macrina as “Thecla” by “a being of greater magnificance in form and appearance than a mortal man,” see Gregory of Nyssa,Life of Macrina 2, in Pierre Maraval, ed., Grégoire de Nysse: Vie de Sainte Macrine, Source Chrétiennes 178 (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1971), 146;Google ScholarPetersen, Joan M., trans., “A Letter from Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, on the Life of Saint Macrina,” in Handmaids of the Lord: Contemporary Descriptions of Feminine Asceticism in the First Six Christian Centuries (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian, 1996), 51–86,Google Scholar here 53.

78. See, for example, the discussion in Ludwig Bieler, ΘEIOΣ ANHP. Das Bild des “Göttlichen Menschen” in Spätantike und Frühchristentum (Wien: Oskar Höfels, 1935 and 1936; reprint Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchhandlung, 1967), 28–42.

79. Vita Petri Iberi 6, in Petrus der Iberer, ed. Raabe, 6; Horn and Phenix, ed. and English trans., Controversial Historiography: John Rufus, vol. 1, The Lives of Peter, Theodosius, and Romanus, par. 9.

80. The study of family life in the early Christian and late antique world has made significant progress over the last two decades. For a study of the role of prayer in family life, see Balthasar, Fischer, “Common Prayer of Congregation and Family in the Ancient Church,” Studia Liturgica 10:3–4 (1974)Google Scholar: 106–24. For other useful studies on families, family life, and constructions of family language in the ancient world, see the contributions in Halvor, Moxnes, ed., Constructing Early Christian Families: Family as Social Reality and Metaphor (London: Routledge, 1997);Google Scholar as well as the study by Geoffrey, Nathan, The Family in Late Antiquity: The Rise of Christianity and the Endurance of Tradition (London: Routledge, 2000)Google Scholar. See also Shaffern, Robert W., “The Late Antique Family in the Christian East,” Diakonia 31:1 (1998): 15–30;Google ScholarCarolyn, Osiek, “The Family in Early Christianity: ‘Family Values’ Revisited,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 58:1 (1996): 1–25;Google ScholarJeffers, James S., “The Influence of the Roman Family and Social Structures on Early Christianity in Rome,” Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 27 (1988): 370–84;Google Scholar and J. Kevin Coyle, “Empire and Eschaton: The Early Church and the Question of Domestic Relationships,’ Église et Théologie 12 (1981): 35–94.

81. It was common practice for wealthy families to hand over their children to wet nurses and foster parents. See, for example, Basil the Great, Letter 37, in Saint Basile: Lettres, Tome I, ed. and trans. Yves Courtonne (Paris: Société d'édition “Les Belles lettres,” 1957), 79–80,Google Scholar here 80; Deferrari, Roy Joseph, ed. and trans., Saint Basil: The Letters, The Loeb Classical Library, 4 vols, (reprint, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1961), 192–95;Google Scholar also Sister Agnes Clare Way, trans., Saint Basil: Letters (Volume 1 [1–185]), Fathers of the Church 13 (New York: Fathers of the Church, 1951), 83, where Basil speaks of the son of his former wet nurse. Yet the role of wet nurses in the early Christian and late antique world has received little scholarly attention. For the contributions made by Suzanne Dixon, see her books The Roman Mother (Norman: Oklahoma University Press, 1988), 120–29,Google Scholar and The Roman Family (Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), 119,Google Scholar and literature cited there, as well as her earlier work published as “Roman Nurses and Foster-Mothers: Some Problems of Terminology,” AULLA, Papers and Synopses from the 22nd Congress of the Australian Universities Language and Literature Association 22 (Canberra: Australian National University, 1983), 9–24.Google Scholar For an entertaining account of the choices Erythrios faced when having to secure the nourishing of his just-born son whose mother had passed away when giving birth, see the discussion in Hans, Herter, “Amme oder Saugflasche,” Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum, Ergänzungsband 1 (1964): 168–72.Google Scholar

82. See the fine selection of Basil of Caesarea's treatises on ethics and the moral life collected in Wagner, M. Monica, trans., Saint Basil: Ascetical Works, Fathers of the Church 9 (New York: Fathers of the Church, 1950).Google Scholar

83. See Kekelidze, , Tarchnišvili, , and Assfalg, , Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur, 145 and 147.Google Scholar For an overview of the development of Georgian monasticism, see in addition to the literature cited above in note 29 also Kekelidze, , Tarchnišvili, , and Assfalg, , Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur, 60–79.Google Scholar The earliest monasteries in Georgia appear under King Vakhtang Gorgasal in the fifth century c.E. See Kekelidze, , Tarchnišvili, , and Assfalg, , Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur, 61.Google Scholar

84. For help in locating Basil of Caesarea's works in the Georgian tradition, see now the indispensable tool created by Fedwick, Paul Jonathan, Bibliotheca Basiliana Universalis: A Study of the Manuscript Tradition of the Works of Basil of Caesarea (Turnhout: Brepols, 1993–).Google Scholar

85. For the Byzantine realm, see now the valuable study by Miller, Timothy S., The Orphans of Byzantium: Child Welfare in the Christian Empire (Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2003).Google Scholar Focusing on the Orphanotropheion in Constantinople, Miller also considers evidence from throughout Asia Minor and the Byzantine provinces. See also his article “The Orphanotropheion of Constantinople,” in Through the Eye of a Needle: Judeo-Christian Roots of Social Welfare, ed. Emily Albu Hanawalt and Carter Lindberg (Kirksville, Mo.: Thomas Jefferson University Press, 1994), 83–104.Google Scholar

86. For an example from an early ascetic text witnessing to that phenomenon, see Basil of Caesarea, , Long Rules, question 15, in ed. and trans. Patrologia Graeca 31.889–1052,Google Scholar here cols. 951–62; Wagner, M. Monica, trans., Saint Basil of Caesarea: Ascetical Works, 264.Google Scholar See also the illuminating discussion by Blake, Leyerle, “Children and Disease in a Sixth Century Monastery,” in What Athens Has to Do with Jerusalem: Essays on Classical, Jewish, and Early Christian Art and Archaeology in Honor of Gideon Foerster, ed. Rutgers, Leonard V., Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Culture and Religion 1 (Leuven: Peeters, 2002), 349–72.Google Scholar For earlier work on the presence of children in Saint Stephen's Monastery, see also Sanders, Rebeccah A. and Sheridan, Susan Guise, “‘All God's Children’: Subadult Health in a Byzantine Jerusalem Monastery,” abstract in American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 28 (1999): 239;Google Scholar and Cheadle, J. and Sheridan, Susan Guise, “Non-Metric Dental Variation in Remains from a Byzantine Monastic Community in Jerusalem,” abstract in American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 28 (1999): 105–6.Google Scholar

87. Vita Petri Iberi 11, in Raabe, ed., Petrus der Iberer, 11; Horn and Phenix, ed. and English trans., Controversial Historiography: John Rufus, vol. 1, The Lives of Peter, Theodosius, and Romanus, par. 17.

88. Irénée, Hausherr, The Name of Jesus: The Names of Jesus Used by Early Christians: The Development of the ‘Jesus Prayer’ (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian, 1978), 266,Google Scholar refers to this text, but does not recognize its importance as a very early instance of the “Jesus-Prayer.”

89. Vita Petri Iberi 11, in Raabe, ed., Petrus der Iberer, 11; Horn and Phenix, ed. and English trans., Controversial Historiography: John Rufus, vol. 1, The Lives of Peter, Theodosius, and Romanus, par. 17.

90. Janin, R., Constantinople Byzantine: développement urbain et répertoire topographique, 2nd ed. (Paris: Institut Français d'Études Byzantines, 1964), 164.Google Scholar

91. See Marr, N. Y., ed. and trans., “Chovreba Petre Iverisa [Life of Peter the Iberian],” Pravoslavnyy Palestinsky Sbornik 47 ( = XVI.2) (St. Petersburg: n.p., 1896), 1–78,Google Scholar here par. 5, p. 5 (Georgian text); “Georgian Life of Peter the Iberian” (Lolashvili, ed., Areopagetuli krebuli, p. 119,Google Scholar sect. 2). See also the brief discussion in Kekelidze, , Tarchnišvili, , and Assfalg, , Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur, 57.Google Scholar

92. Janin, , Constantinople Byzantine, 164.Google Scholar On the history in the context of which Theodosius II's “Higher School” or “University,” founded on February 27, 425, has to be placed, see Schemmel, F., “Die Hochschule von Konstantinopel im IV. Jahrhundert,” Neue Jahrbücher für Pädagogik 22 (1908): 147–68;Google ScholarBréhier, L., “Notes sur l'histoire de l'enseignement supérieur à Constantinople,” Byzantion 3:1 (1926): 73–94;Google Scholar and 4:1 (1927): 13–28; Bréhier, L., “L'enseignement classique et l'enseignement religieux à Byzance,” Revue d'Histoire et de Philosophie Religieuses 21:1 (1941): 34–69;Google ScholarKyriakides, M. J., “The University. Origin and Early Phases in Constantinople,” Byzantion 41 (1971): 161–82;Google Scholar for further literature, see also Constas, Nicholas P., “Four Christological Homilies of Proclus of Constantinople: Introduction, Critical Edition, Translation, and Commentary” (Ph. D. diss., The Catholic University of America, 1994), 7–8,Google Scholar n, 19.

93. Iakob C'urtaveli, Martyrdom of Shushanik (ed. “ცამებაჲ წმიღისა შუშანივისა დედოფლისა,” 13, 11. 1–2; Lang, , trans., “Passion of Shushanik,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 46)Google Scholar: თანა მიიყვანნა სამნი იგი მინი მისნი და ერთი ასული ლა წარადგინნა იგინი წინაშე საპურთხევლსა და ესრეთ ილოცვიდი და იტყოდა.

94. Iakob C'urtaveli, Martyrdom of Shushanik (ed. “ცამებაჲ წმიღისა შუშანივისა დედოფლისა,” 18, 1. 7; Lang, , trans., “Passion of Shushanik,” in Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, 50)Google Scholar: არა მისი განზრდილი ხარა.

95. For the following discussion of the material from Agathangelos, see also Horn and Martens, “Let the Little Ones Come to Me,” chap. 4. For a study of the role of the development of the alphabet in the process of the Christianization of Armenia, see Zekiyan, Boghos Levon, “Die Christianisierung und die Alphabetisierung Armeniens als Vorbilder kultureller Inkarnation, besonders im subkaukasischen Gebiet,” in Die Christianisierung des Kaukasus, 189–98.Google Scholar

96. Thomson, R. W., Agathangelos: History of the Armenians (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1976), 494–95,Google Scholar for identification of passages that Agathangelos took over directly from Koriun.

97. Agathangelos, ηɯտմռւթիւ՟ս <ɯյռց [Patmowt'iwn Hayot's]/History of the Armenians §839 (Thomson, , Armenian text and trans., Agathangelos: History of the Armenians, 372–73).Google Scholar

98. Agathangelos, ηɯտմռւթիւ՟ս <ɯյռց [Patmowt'iwn Hayot's]/History of the Armenians §840 (Thomson, , Armenian text and trans., Agathangelos: History of the Armenians, 374–75).Google Scholar

99. Agathangelos, ηɯտմռւթիւ՟ս <ɯյռց [Patmowt'iwn Hayot's] /History of the Armenians §845 (Thomson, , Armenian text and trans., Agathangelos: History of the Armenians, 378–79Google Scholar [translation modified]).

100. For a masterful study of the social history of children reflected in religious texts from the earliest Christian period, see for example Bettina, Eltrop, Denn solchen gehört das Himmelrekh. Kinder im Matthäusevangelium. Eine feministisch-sozialgeschichtliche Unter-suchung (Stuttgart: Ulrich E. Grauer, 1996).Google Scholar

101. See also Rapp, , Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography, 190.Google Scholar

102. Armenian Fairy Tales, for example, those collected and edited by Susie, HoogasianVilla, 100 Armenian Tales and Their Folkloristic Relevance (Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press, 1966),Google Scholar provide a good additional starting point for investigation, beyond the stories collected in Colarusso, Nart Sagas from the Caucasus.