The Development of Syriac Christian Canon Law in the Sasanian Empire

Abstract

Abstract Canon law in the ‘Church of the East’, that is, the Christian church located within the Sasanian (or ‘Persian’) Empire, developed in an atmosphere influenced by customs and ecclesiastical practices in the Byzantine Empire as well as by laws and customs in force in the Zoroastrian society of the Sasanian Empire. By far, the most important primary source is the Synodicon Orientale, a collection of canons of the synods of the Church of the East for the period 410-775.1 Without it, we would know virtually nothing about the religious and social life of the eastern Christians at this time. The Synodicon was compiled in the early ninth century under the direction of Catholicos Timothy I (780-823). It exhibits signs of some limited editorial revision, most of which concerns the anachronistic use of ecclesiastical titles and does not detract from the collection’s historical value. In the following discussion, the legislation of the Church of the East, and in particular that concerning celibacy and marriage, will be examined, as will be its tendency to expand into areas not usually considered matters of religious concern, specifically property and inheritance laws.