BARŞAWMA DI NISIBI

BARŞAWMA of NISIBIS. - Nestorian bishop, died between 492 and 495. He was a disciple of Hibás at the school of Edessa. Expelled along with his fellow Persian students, who like him had adhered to Nestorian doctrine, he became bishop of Nisibi and managed to win the trust of King Peroz (457-84). He then convened the Synod of Bět Lāfat (484), which promoted Nestorianism, decreed the marriage of priests, and above all declared the authority of the katholikós over the bishops to be null and void. The katholikós Bābaj gathered the bishops loyal to him and excommunicated B. After intercepting a letter from Bābaj, B. himself accused him to Peroz, who had him put to death. He was succeeded by Acacius, to whom B. drew near. Indeed, at the Synod of Bět 'Adraj (485), B. submitted to him, but was not faithful to him until the end. Taking advantage of Peroz’s trust, he cruelly persecuted the Monophysites. According to Bar Hebraeus, he had 7,700 of them killed along with many priests, though modern scholars consider this number exaggerated. 'Abdīsō' (Ebedjesus), in G. S. Assemani (Bibl. Orient., III, Rome 1725, p. 66), attributes to him hymns, sermons, homilies, and letters. Five of the latter are found in the Syoudicon orient., ed. J. B. Chabot (Paris 1902), pp. 531-39, and in the Actes Xe Cong. Orientalistes, part 2, pp. 83-101.