19 Facts About Yazdegerd I

Yazdegerd I was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 399 to 420.

Yazdegerd I enjoyed cordial relations with the Eastern Roman Empire and was entrusted by Arcadius with the guardianship of the latter's son Theodosius.

Yazdegerd I is known for his friendly relations with Jews and the Christians of the Church of the East, which he acknowledged in 410.

Yazdegerd I inherited an empire which had been through tumultuous times; his three previous predecessors, Bahram IV, Shapur III and Ardashir II, had been murdered by the nobility.

Yazdegerd I agreed to act as Theodosius' protector and threatened to wage war against whoever sought to put him in danger.

Yazdegerd I, like all other Sasanian rulers, was an adherent of Zoroastrianism.

Yazdegerd I's reign was a landmark for the Christians in Iran.

Yazdegerd I's decree has been called the Sasanian version of the 313 Edict of Milan by Roman emperor Constantine the Great.

Yazdegerd I made use of the priestly leaders, sending the Patriarch of the Catholicos of Ctesiphon to mediate between himself and his brother.

Yazdegerd I, forced to yield to pressure from the Zoroastrian priesthood, changed his policy towards the Christians and ordered them persecuted.

Probably due to his change of policy, Yazdegerd I appointed Mihr Narseh of the Suren family as his minister.

Yazdegerd I had a Jewish wife, Shushandukht, the daughter of the exilarch.

The Middle Persian geography text Sahrestaniha i Eransahr reports that Yazdegerd had Jews settled in Spahan at Shushandukht's request, and she was the mother of his son Bahram V According to the Iranologist Ernst Herzfeld, the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan was not the burial site of Esther and Mordechai but that of Shushandukht.

The hostility of the priesthood towards Yazdegerd I was due to his execution of several Zoroastrian priests who disapproved of his friendly management of the religious minorities.

Yazdegerd I was more competent than his recent predecessors and his reign is seen in Sasanian history as a period of renewal.

Yazdegerd I's coins portray him wearing a combination of the dome-shaped crown used by Ardashir II and two merlons and a crescent moon on the top.

Yazdegerd I is notable for having ordered the renewal of a number cities, which include Qumis, Hamadan, Susa, Shushtar, and Spahan.

Whether Yazdegerd's death was in Tus or Gurgan, the legend was probably fabricated by the Parthian nobility who had Yazdegerd I killed in the distant northeast.

The nobility and clergy, who despised Yazdegerd I, now strove to strip his sons of kingship.