The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Gregory the Illuminator
c. 257 – c. 331 · Apostle of Armenia · Cappadocia → Armenia
The Nicene Age
Who Gregory the Illuminator was
The evangelizer of Armenia and founder of its national church — the first state in history to adopt Christianity. Of Parthian royal descent, reared a Christian in Cappadocia, he returned to Armenia, was tortured and (by the tradition) imprisoned thirteen years in a pit by king Tiridates III, then healed the king of a madness and converted him and the nation around 301, a decade before Constantine’s edict. Consecrated first Catholicos, he built the cathedral of Etchmiadzin at the site of a vision. His descendants held the Armenian primacy for generations. The father of the oldest national Christian church.
Common questions
When did Gregory live?
Gregory the Illuminator is dated c. 257 – c. 331 in the archive, which places Gregory in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Gregory?
Gregory the Illuminator is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Agathangelos (Armenian tradition) and P'awstos Buzand. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Gregory from?
The archive associates Gregory the Illuminator with Cappadocia, Armenia. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Gregory’s contemporaries?
The archive links Gregory the Illuminator to 9 other figures, including Nino of Georgia, Constantine the Great, King Tiridates III of Armenia and Frumentius of Axum. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
History of the Armenians
c. AD 470Saint Gregory… having been brought up out of the pit of Khor Virap, healed the king Tiridates and baptized the nation; and he was made the first chief-bishop of Greater Armenia.Agathangelos (Armenian tradition) · source text
P'awstos Buzand, History of the Armenians III.3 (the house of Gregory continued)
c. AD 470Connected in the archive
People
- Nino of Georgia
- Constantine the Great
- King Tiridates III of Armenia
- Frumentius of Axum
- Agathangelos
- Hripsimē
- Gayanē
- Xosroviduxt
- Albianos
Named alongside Gregory in the sources
These figures are placed with Gregory by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Gregory naming them in return.
Events in this lifetime
- AD 268 · Antioch deposes Paul of Samosata, AD 268
- AD 272 · Aurelian awards the Antioch church, AD 272
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Gregory, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.
- 1Cappadociaprovince only
- 2Armeniaprovince only