A bridge between East and West
The name of Marutha, bishop of Maipherqat, is linked to the spread of the Acts of the Persian Martyrs in the West and of the canons of Nicaea (325) in the Eastern Church.
A “Life of Marutha”, probably originally produced in Syriac, is preserved in Armenian. Other pieces of information about him can be found in some historiographical works, as the Historia Ecclesiastica by Socrates, and in the Acts of the synod of the Church of the East gathered in Seleucia in 410. A synod where Marutha played a fundamental role.
At the beginning of the 5th century, the Roman Emperor sent Marutha in an embassy to the court of the Persian King, Yazdgard I (399–420). The Persian ruler was eager to pursue peace with the Romans, so he showed greater tolerance towards religious minorities; his intent was probably also to limit the power of the Persian nobility of Zoroastrian religion. Probably due to his medical skills, Marutha gained the favor of the king.
During his journey in the Iranian region, he learned the story of some Persian martyrs persecuted by Shapur II. He even found some bones and relics of the martyrs. He brought them back with him to his city, Maipherqat, which was thence named Martiropolis, the city of the Martyrs. A manuscript produced in Edessa in 411 (London, British Library, add. 12150) preserves an ancient list of Persian martyrs. Tradition sometimes attributes this list to Marutha himself; it has also been suggested that he was the author, collector, or translator into Greek of some Acts of Persian Martyrs under Shapur II.
During his embassy to the court of Yazdegard, Marutha also took part in a synod of Persian bishops gathered in Seleucia. The Acts of the Synod of 410 are preserved in the Synodicon Orientale, a collection of synodal acts of the Church of the East from the 5th to the 8th century. During the synod, Marutha presents and probably translates the Canons of the Nicene Fathers for the Persian bishops gathered under the lead of the bishop of Seleucia, Isaac. The Eastern bishops subscribe to these canons; the Synod of Seleucia also produced twenty-one canons for use in the Church of the East.
If we examine the corpus of texts traditionally attributed to Marutha, we see that they are not limited to translations of the Nicene canons. A further 73 canons “of the Nicene Fathers” survive in Syriac, in Marutha’s corpus, alongside some narratives concerning the preparation and causes of the council of Nicaea, the role of the emperors Helena and Constantine in it, texts on heresies, the translation of Greek words in Syriac, and some letters addressed to the bishop Isaac.
Selected Bibliography
Braun, Oscar, De Sancta Nicaena Synodo: Syrische Texte Des Maruta Von Maipherkat, Münster: i. W. 1898.
Brock, Sebastian P., “Marutha of Maypherqaṭ.” In Marutha of Maypherqaṭ. Edited by Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay. Digital edition prepared by David Michelson, Ute Possekel, and Daniel L. Schwartz. Gorgias Press, 2011; online ed. Beth Mardutho, 2018. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Marutha-of-Maypherqat.
Drijvers, J. W., Marutha of Maipherqat on Helena Augusta, Jerusalem and the Council of Nicaea, in M. F. Wiles, & E. J. Yarnold (eds.), Historica, Biblica, Theologica et Philosophica. Papers presented at the Thirteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 1999(Studia patristica Vol. XXXIV), Leuven: Peeters, 2001, pp. 51 – 64.
Hefele, Karl Joseph and Leclerq, Henri, Histoire des conciles d’après les documents originaux, par Charles Joseph Hefele, docteur en philosophie et en théologie, évêque de Rottenbourg, nouvelle traduction française faite sur la deuxième édition allemande corrigée et augmentée de notes critiques et bibliographiques par un religieux bénédictin de l’abbaye Saint-Michel de Farnborough, Paris : Letonzey et Ané, 1907 (traduction et mise à jour de la Conciliengeschichte par Hefele, 1855-74)
Stutz, Jonathan, “The Writings of Mārūtā of Maipherqat and The Making of Nicaea in Arabic”, Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 71 (1-2), 2019: 1-28.
Vööbus, Arthur (ed.), The canons ascribed to Maruta of Maipherqat and related sources, edited by by Arthur Vööbus (Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 439), Lovanii: E. Peeters, 1982.
Vööbus, Arthur (ed.), The canons ascribed to Maruta of Maipherqat and related sources, translated by Arthur Vööbus (Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 440), Lovanii: E. Peeters, 1982.