The Role of Nestorian Christians in Establishing Peace between Iran and Byzantium in 630 AD

The good ties existing between the Byzantine and the Sassanid Empires deteriorated quickly after Emperor Maurice of the Byzantine Empire was killed, and his title usurped by Emperor Phocas in 602 CE. The Persian King Khosrow II used the vengeance of Maurice as a pretext to set about his goal of annihilating his western neighbor. Conquering the important city of Jerusalem from the Byzantines, along with transferring the True Cross to Ctesiphon turned the conflict into a religious war. Heraclius, through the use of financial helps received from the church and by encouraging popular forces, was able to deal fatal blows to the Sassanid army. With the death of Khosrow II, the conditions for peace materialized as both sides, after long years of fighting, were weary of warfare. Amidst all this, the Nestorian Christians played a major role in the eventual peace of 630 CE as the last diplomatic ties between the Byzantine and the Sassanid Empires. The current paper aims to study the significance of Nestorian Christians in the peace treaty of 630 CE and the role they played in it. Other issues explored by this paper include: the reason why peace negotiations were unsuccessful during Khosrow’s lifetime; the achievements secured from the peace treaty of 630 CE by both Empires; and the effects Khosrow’s interventions in the Nestorian Church affairs had on Khosrow’s losing of the throne.