Yazdegerd I: Emperor of Sasanian Iran and defender of Christians

In 399-420. Shahinshah (emperor) ruled Persia Yazdigerd I of the Sassanid family. His name can be translated as "Made by God", and in the Zoroastrian tradition he is known as "Apostate", because the ruler patronized Christians. Yazdigerd I came to power after the assassination of Bahram IV and faced changes in the country: local princes and Zoroastrian priests became more influential in Sasanian Iran. In order to keep power in his hands, the emperor began to seek support from the urban population (merchants and artisans).

The attitude to Christianity in the first decades of the fifth century is changing dramatically. If Christians were persecuted under Shapur II in the 300s, then Yazdigerd I allowed them to restore temples and bury the dead in the ground, which is forbidden in Zoroastrianism to avoid desecration of the land. In 410, a local council was held in Seleucia, an ancient city on the Tigris River, which historians consider to be the first council of the Church of the East. Thus, Christian sources speak well of Yazdigerd, while many Persian historians accuse the emperor of many atrocities. The attitude towards Christians has changed in the last years of the reign of Shahin Shah, who began to react harshly to their provocations.

Yazdigerd's power extended to Armenia as well. After the death of King Khosrow IV, the emperor took advantage of the chaos in the state and put his son Shapur on the throne. The local population did not like this decision very much, and despite the absence of open hostile actions, people did not pay due honors to the son of the emperor. Yazdigerd I died under strange circumstances, but historians are of the opinion that the ruler was killed as a result of a conspiracy organized by Zoroastrian priests.