Shushanik (Shushanika, Vardandukht)
hy">Շուշանիկ, ka, შუშანიკი; c. 440 – 475was a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
woman who was tortured to death by her husband
Varsken
Varsken (Middle Persian: ''Vazgēn'') was an Iranian prince from the Mihranid family of Gugark, who served as the (margrave) of the region from 470 to 482. He was the son and successor of Arshusha II.
Upon the death of his father, Varsken we ...
in the town of Tsurtavi,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. Since she died defending her right to profess Christianity, she is regarded as a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
. Her
martyrdom
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...
is described in her confessor
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
’s hagiographic work, the oldest extant work of Georgian language literature. The hagiography details Shushanik's extensive resistance to imprisonment, isolation, torture and cruelty.
Shushanik was a daughter of the
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
military commander
The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...
Vardan Mamikonian
Vardan Mamikonian ( hy, Վարդան Մամիկոնեան; – 451) was an Armenian military leader who led a rebellion against Sasanian Iran in 450–451. He was the head of the Mamikonian noble family and holder of the hereditary title of , ...
and married the
Mihranid The Mihranids were an Iranian family which ruled several regions of Caucasus from 330 to 821. They claimed to be of Sasanian Persian descent but were of Parthian origin.
History
The dynasty was founded when a certain Mihran, a distant relative o ...
ruler (''
pitiakhsh Bidaxsh (''bidakhsh'', also spelled Pitiakhsh; in Roman sources ''Vitaxa'') was a title of Iranian origin attested in various languages from the 1st to the 8th-century. It has no identical word in English, but it is similar to a margrave, toparch a ...
'')
Varsken
Varsken (Middle Persian: ''Vazgēn'') was an Iranian prince from the Mihranid family of Gugark, who served as the (margrave) of the region from 470 to 482. He was the son and successor of Arshusha II.
Upon the death of his father, Varsken we ...
, son of Arshusha II. Varsken was a defiant vassal of
Vakhtang I Gorgasali
Vakhtang I Gorgasali ( ka, ვახტანგ I გორგასალი, tr; or 443 – 502 or 522), of the Chosroid dynasty, was a king of Iberia, natively known as Kartli (eastern Georgia) in the second half of the 5th and first quarter o ...
, King of
Kartli
Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role ...
(Iberia), and took a pro-
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
position, renouncing
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and adopting
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...
. He killed his spouse after she refused to submit to his order to abandon her Christian faith. Varsken himself was put to death by King Vakhtang in 482.
Shushanik
has been canonized by the
Georgian Orthodox Church
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...
and is venerated by the
Armenian Apostolic Church
, native_name_lang = hy
, icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg
, icon_width = 100px
, icon_alt =
, image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, a ...
. Her
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
is celebrated on
October 17
Events Pre-1600
* 690 – Empress Wu Zetian establishes the Zhou Dynasty of China.
*1091 – London tornado of 1091: A tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London.
*1346 – The English capture King Davi ...
in Georgia and Tuesday between September 20–26 in Armenia.
References
External links
Martyrdom of Shushanik
440s births
475 deaths
Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Saints of Georgia (country)
Late Ancient Christian female saints
5th-century Christian saints
5th-century Christian martyrs
Mamikonian family
5th-century women
Christians in the Sasanian Empire
People executed by the Sasanian Empire
Women from the Sasanian Empire
Armenian people from the Sasanian Empire
{{saint-stub