Tiridates III "the Great" King of Armenia

• Preferred Name: Tiridates III "the Great" King of Armenia
  
• Gender: M
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: restored to the Armenian throne by the emperor Diocletian298
  
• Clan Name: with note: Description: Arsacid dynasty
  
• Religion: Armenian ChristianityAFT 301
  
• Birth: ABT 250 in Armenia at LATI: N0 LONG: E5
  
• FSID: 94RF-7GL
  
• Death: 330 in Armenia at LATI: N0 LONG: E5
  
• Religion: ZoroastrianismBEF 301 with note:
  
• Christening: 301 in by Gregory the Illuminator, Armenia at LATI: N0 LONG: E5
  
• Residence: when Ardashir killed his parents and took possession of Armenia, Tiridates III was taken to Rome for protectionBET 258 AND 298
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: King of ArmeniaBET 298 AND 330 in Armenia at LATI: N0 LONG: E5
  
• MilitaryService: condemned Gregory the Illuminator to the Khor Virap a deep underground dungeon for 15 yearsBET 285 AND 300
  
• Notes:

  === !"Our Plafs Roots Are True" A Genealogy ===
  !"Our Plafs Roots Are True" A Genealogy of Kochert and Nieb Families, by Ethel Clift Philips, Published 1983. The information in the book is derived from church records of Rumbach and Family records. !Source is from "Neuhart Nobility", by Dennis Allen Kastens -1997 page 228. 1. He ruled Armenia for nine years (298-330). 2. He had to flee Armenia after the death of his father in 265. He later returned to the throne was baptized inn 300 and ARmenia became the first Christen nation. He was converted by Saint Gregory, the illuminator". In 330 Tiridates III was assassinated by his non-christian chamberlain.
  
  === ruled 287-330 ===
  ruled 287-330
  
  === #Générale# Roi d'Arménie de 298 à 330 ===
  #Générale# Roi d'Arménie de 298 à 330
  
  === --Other Fields ®64 ®64 ===
  --Other Fields ®64 ®64
  
  === He was the first Christian King in Armen ===
  He was the first Christian King in Armenia. 298-330
  
  === First Christian King of Armenia, educate ===
  First Christian King of Armenia, educated in Roman Empire
  
  === The first Christian King of Armenia ===
  The first Christian King of Armenia
  
  === Kg. v. Armenien 298-330, wird Christ 301 ===
  Kg. v. Armenien 298-330, wird Christ 301
  
  === King Trdat spent the whole period of his ===
  King Trdat spent the whole period of his reign devastating the land of the Persian kingdom and the land of Asorestan (Assyria) . He plundered and caused terrible distress. For truly he was haughty in dress and endowed with great strength and vigor; he had solid bones and an enormous body, he was incredibly brave and warlike, tall and broad of stature. He spent his whole life in war and gained triumphs in combat. He acquired a great renown for bravery and extended throughout the whole world the glorious splendor of his victories. He threw his enemies into disarray and revenged his ancestors. He devastated many of the regions of Syria and took a great amount of booty from them. He put to the sword the armies of the Persians and acquired enormous booty. He became commander of the cavalry of the Greek army, and handed over to them the camps (of the enemy). He expelled the armies of the Huns by force and subjected the regions of Persia". Trdat the Great or Trdat (Tiridates) the Third of the Royal Arshakouni Dynasty is the establisher of the first Christian nation in the world and the first upholder and defender of Christendom in Armenia and adjacent lands such as Cappadocia, Caucasian Albania, Iberia (Georgia), Atrpatakan (Atropatene) and Syria. His conversion to Christianity with the direct support and fortitude of the First Catholicos of Armenia's Holy Apostolic Church, St. Gregory the Illuminator in the year 301 AD served as a model Christian nation to the rest of the world (particularly to the Romans, who closely watched the developments in Armenia), and after seeing the success of Christianity and the positive changes and growth that it brought about in Armenia, the Romans, under emperor Constantine, too followed the example and decades later, they too proclaimed Christianity as the official state religion, modeled after that of Armenia. After the acceptance of Christianity by the vast Roman Empire (which comprised a large part of the ancient world) Christianity was to stay and to become the dominant religion of the world. Trdat the Great was born in the year 251 AD. He was the son of the reigning king of Armenia Khosrov of the Royal Arshakouni Dynasty. Khosrov for nearly three decades (from 226 AD to 252 AD) fought the Persian Sassanids beginning from their early efforts of overthrowing the Arshakouni house. The Sassanids had a hostile stance toward all of the members of the Arshakouni Royal House, which by the Sassanids was viewed as a treat to the Persian Kingdom (the Arshakouni Parthian Royal House ruled Iran for nearly 500 years and was overthrown in Iran in the year 226 AD by the Persian Sassanids). Persian Shah, Shapur Sassanid, fearful of ever-growing resentment of Khosrov and his plan of restoration of the rightful heirs of Iran, the Arshakounis, in 252 AD organized a secret plot of assassination of King of Armenia, Khosrov Arshakouni (father of St. Gregory, Anak was accused in taking part in the plot of assassination of king Khosrov). In the wake of assassination and confusion that followed, the young prince Trdat, in the face of danger of being put to sword by the assassins, was quickly smuggled by the royal patrician courtier and a close friend of the king Khosrov, Artavazd Mandakouni, to the safety of allied Rome. In the court of the Roman Empire, Trdat was beloved by the Emperor, his benefactor and protector Licinius. In the Royal court Trdat learnt the ways of Royal etiquette and code of behavior as a future royal monarch to be. As Trdat grew into adulthood his immense, superhuman strength became ever evident. As Edward Gibbon, famous British historian wrote "He (Trdat) signalised his youth by deeds of valour and displayed matchless dexterity, as well as strength in every martial exercise"(The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, London 1862). Another description of Trdat the Great was given by the Father of Armenian History, V th century historian Movses Khorenatsi (Moses of Khorene), "Trdat was physically so powerful that he could seize two wild bulls by the horns and break the horns of with his bare hands". Another account of Trdat by Movses Khorenatsi tells us how in a chariot race, he leapt off his chariot and stopped the charging horses and the roaring chariot of his rival. Another story told by Armenian and as well as Roman historians tells us how Prince Trdat, single handedly held back group of mercenary soldiers who sought to assassinate Licinius. Finally, Agathangelos (Fourth Century biographer of Trdat III the Great) records that a Gothic chieftain challenged the Roman Emperor Diocletanius (successor of Licinius and Aurelianus) to meet him in single combat. Trdat successfully stood in for the Emperor. The later gratefully gave an army of Roman legions to successfully and rightfully regain the throne of Armenia, which was before the accession of Trdat was guarded by the aristocracy, the high Nakharars. Prince Trdat In the Roman Court of Emperor Licinius Written by Gevork Nazaryan ing Trdat the Great in the beginning of his reign as the Roman Emperors had a negative and at times hostile stance toward Christianity. Two of the most famous Christian virgin martyrs were St. Gayane and St. Hripsime who along with their Christian convent were martyred by the supporters of paganism. But by the end of the Third Century AD a new movement of Christianity was emerging in Armenia with its spiritual leader being a strong advocate and patron of Christendom, St. Gregory the Illuminator. St. Gregory was the son of accused assassin of King Khosrov Arshakouni, father of King Trdat the Third. St. Gregory in the face of redemption and cleansing of his family name was on the holy mission, as he tenaciously believed given to him by God Almighty: To convert and to establish the first Christian nation in Armenia. St. Gregory fearlessly and decisively after spreading the Word of God in Armenia Minor (Lesser Armenia, on the western side of Euphrates) and Western Armenia entered the capita l of Greater Armenia, Vagharshapat. Upon his arrival in Vagharshapat, St. Gregory was promptly arrested upon the charges of "heresy" by the royal guards of King Trdat Arshakouni. Trdat imprisoned St. Gregory and placed him into a dungeon Khor Virap (literary, deep pit). The reasons behind the imprisonment of St. Gregory were not necessarily because of Trdat's revengefulness and retaliation for St. Gregory's father, Anak's, assassination, but rather had a deeper motive and meaning behind it. The Christian faith in the late third century AD was being prosecuted and put down by the Roman Empire with utmost cruelty and oppression of the Christian followers. The prosecutions and martyrdom of early Christians in the boundaries of the Roman Empire, continued well into the Fourth Century. Trdat was a close friend and an ally of the Roman Emperor, Diocletanius, who convinced Trdat to have a hostile and suppressive policy toward the Christians of Armenia, with their spiritual leader being St. Gregory. St. Gregory remained imprisoned for twelve long years in the dark chambers of Khor Virap, yet he never lost his faith and conviction in God, nor did he revert from his holy task, indoctrinated and called upon by Lord Himself, as he believed and attained to the conclusion and very end of his holy mission. Things quickly began to change in the year 297 AD. Trdat, having seen the true nature of Diocletanius, who in 297 AD invaded Armenia and conducted and signed a treacherous treaty (behind Trdat's back) with Sassanid Persia, by which a vast amount of territory from Western provinces of Greater Armenia, became "protectorates" of Rome. The traditional history (Pavstos Buzand IV th century Armenian Christian chronicler) tells that Trdat, sickened by "madness" that turned him into a "wild beast" in desperation sought the help and protection of St. Gregory and the Christian God. After his release St. Gregory prays for Trdat's sole to God and begs for God's mercy and forgiveness. God an swers the prayers of the Holy Father and grants sanity back to the king. The traditional story chronicled by Armenian historian Pavstos Buzand tells us of the swift change of Trdat from persecutor to protector of Christians and Christendom. In 301 AD St. Gregory the Illuminator officially baptized king Trdat the Great along with the members of royal court and upper class. Trdat issued a decree by which he granted full rights to St. Gregory for the beginning of carrying out his holy mission of conversion of the entire nation to the Christian faith. In 302 AD St. Gregory, accompanied by an escort of 16 aristocratic nobles, returned to the city of Caesaria, where he was raised in the true spirit of Christianity and where he contemplated his sacred devoir. In the 303 AD the first foundations were laid for the Mother Church of St. Echmiatsin (former Vagharshapat) Written by Gevork Nazaryan he establishment of the first Christian State did not bore well with the Romans, Persians and even semi-barbaric nomads of Caucasus. The Romans who swiftly changed their policy of "divide and conquer" in the face of ever growing Persian strengthening and the threat of barbaric raids from the North. More and more Armenians were being invited and given posts as Roman generals, centurions and legionnaires. This later on lead to the establishment of numerous, strong Armenian feudal, aristocratic houses in the Western and later on as well as Eastern (Byzantine) Roman Empires. The Persians launched an all out attack in the hope of retaking Armenian Mesopotamia (Northern Mesopotamia) and Atrpatakan. King Trdat Arshakouni with the blessing of St. Gregory lead his newly baptized army into the outpost bdeshkhoutyuns (military marks) established at the times of King Artashes the Good. The Persians were successfully checked and thrown back to their frontier. Meanwhile the numerous tribes of Caucasus were making raids and pillages in Northern and Northeastern Armenia. Trdat with the help of his

1. Asxen bint Tiridates III of Armenia, b. 295 in Western Armenia, Ottoman Empire     d. 340 in Western Armenia, Ottoman Empire
2. Khosrov III 'the Small' , King of Armenia, b. ABT 283 in Armenia     d. ABT 339