Passio Thaddaei
Standard abbreviation: Mart. Thad.
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 337
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of Thaddaeus, Discovery of the Relics of Thaddaeus, Doctrine of Addai, Martyrdom of Bartholomew (Armenian)
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Martyrdom of Thaddaeus.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/martyrdom-of-thaddaeus/
Created May 2021. Current as of January 2024.
1. SUMMARY
Mart. Thad. is attributed to a certain Bishop Samuel, who may be intended to be a priest of the same name who appears in the Discovery of the Relics of Thaddaeus. He begins the story saying that Thaddaeus came to them from “the northern parts,” having been appointed Armenia by lot. Before reaching Armenia, the apostle stopps in Edessa to preach and heal King Abgar (as in the Doctrine of Addai). From there he journeys with some disciples to Shavarshan, a small town in the Armenian province of Artaz, ruled by the king Sanatruk. There he preaches and heals and comes to the attention of the king’s daughter Sandukht. She comes to the apostle at night and listens to his teaching. When she is baptized, a light falls upon her and the voices of angels emanate from the light.
The priests of the idols witness this and tell Sanatruk. He orders the death of Thaddaeus, but when the guards approach the apostle, a sign from heaven appears to them and they become believers. Nevertheless, Sanatruk has many of Thaddaeus’s converts beaten, imprisoned, and executed. Thaddaeus is worried for his life, but Jesus appears to him and promises that if he stands firm, Jesus will deliver him and he will watch over his followers. Thaddaeus visits those who have been imprisoned and comforts them; then he visits Sandukht and kisses her chains. As Thaddaeus prays for the people, the ceiling is raised and a light shines down from heaven. Jesus appears in the light and tells them to stay strong and reveals that he will soon take Thaddaeus and Sandukht to himself. The guards see the open gates and the wonders within the prison and become believers. Thaddaeus baptizes 33 members of the guard.
Then Satan comes on the scene. Taking the form of a man, he comes to the guards and reprimands them for abandoning their posts. Thaddaeus rebukes the man but Satan vows to influence the nobles to provoke the king against the apostle. The king sends his comptroller to fetch Thaddaeus and Sandukht, but he too sees the wonders in the prison and becomes a believer, along with 20 men who accompany him. Nevertheless, 200 disciples are slain. Sandukht runs home to fetch fine cloth; she wraps their bodies and secretly buries them near the palace.
Thaddaeus performs the Eucharist in the prison and Jesus appears again, promising that when people make offerings and prayers and supplications in honor of Thaddaeus, they will rise up to Jesus unhindered. Thaddaeus asks Jesus to be merciful to the people of the region because they have been deceived by the devil.
Once again, Thaddaeus and Sandukht are summoned before the king. Sanatruk threatens to kill his daughter if she does not renounce the apostle. She is unrepentant, so the king orders her to be bound, flayed alive, and then burnt. Both Thaddaeus and Sandukht pray for help, and there is an earthquake and a light from heaven. A voice tells Sandukht to be of courage and her bonds are loosened. Then the executioner and others with him die. Afraid for his life, Sanatruk sends one of his ministers to Thaddaeus to ask for forgiveness in return for his freedom. The minister frees them all and reports back to the king that Thaddaeus prayed for his forgiveness. Nevertheless, Sanatruk , under the influence of the evil one, reaffirms his allegiance to the gods Armazd and Anahid.
The minister and his household become believers and Thaddaeus renames him Samuel. When the king hears of this, he has Samuel executed by thrusting a burning nail through his shoulders; many other disciples with him also die. Thaddaeus comes at night and secretly places their bodies in their own homes. Thaddaeus and Sandukht continue to gain followers. Among them is a woman of rank named Zarmantukht. She and her household, numbering 200 people, are baptized. The king orders her execution, but as she dies, a great light shines from heaven and many more become believers. The king blames all of this on Sandukht and again orders her death. Jesus appears to her in a dream and clothes her with a garment and crown of light. Thaddaeus interprets her dream, telling her that she will die this day.
Sandukht is led to the executioner, but when he draws his sword, he accidentally kills his chief officer. The crowd beats Sandukht; a young man strikes her breast drawing blood and a sweet smell. Then she dies. There is an earthquake, followed by the appearance of a pillar of fire and voices of the heavenly hosts. The pillar stays over her body for three day and nights, and many people believe and stay with her body. Thaddaeus comes to the people at night and baptizes them; then he buries Sanduhkt on the spot.
Jesus comes to Thaddaeus at night to tell him that he will be martyred. Thaddaeus breaks the news to his disciples; to comfort them, the apostle says he will pray to Jesus to send an angel to protect them and he names Zechariah as his successor. Guards bring Thaddaeus to the king and he throws him in a pen with two lions. But the lions just lie down at his feet. Then he is cast into a furnace, but a wind scatters the fire into the crowd and they all perish. The king flees to his palace and is seized with an evil disease. Thaddaeus tells his followers to go up to a high place to watch his martyrdom. He is brought into a quarry. There the executioner raises his sword but kills Zemendos, his own brother. Thaddaeus is upset because Zemendos was a friend and protector of believers. The apostle restores him to life and 820 people become believers. The king orders his death again and this time Thaddaeus dies by the sword; as with Sandukht, his death is attended by a light, a voice from heaven, and a sweet smell. Then an earthquake swallows his body, and another 3433 people become believers. Thaddaeus dies on 13 December and Sandukht on 8 December.
There are several other texts in the Thaddaeus cycle: the History of Thaddaeus and Sandukht (BHO 1147), the Martyrdom of Sandukht (BHO 1040), the Passion of Sandukht (BHO 1041), and the Discovery of the Relics of Thaddaeus (BHO 1146). Of these only the last has been published to date. The text is told from the perspective of a certain Kiriakos who lives in a cave on Mount Sanatrouk near Chavarchan. He has a series of visions. In the first he sees a throne with Thaddaeus on it and attended by five of his disciples and Sandukht. Three days later he has another vision, and this time Thaddaeus tells him to dig on the mountain to find his relics and he finds a body that he thinks is Thaddaeus. But that night another man appears to him, Zacharias, who tells him that the body is that of Israyel, and beside him is his own body. He shows him a particular stone that hides the body of Thaddaeus. In a third vision, Sandukht appears to him and tells him where her body lies. She tells him to lay the relics on a carpet. After fasting, Thaddaeus himself appears to him in a dream and reveals where his body lies. Kriakos finds him along with other martyrs, including Samuel, who was executed with a burning nail in his shoulders. Three days later he finds Sandukht and places all of the relics together. News of the relics spreads throughout Armenia and those who come to see them are healed of their afflictions.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Abgar, Anahit, Holy Spirit, Israyel, Jesus Christ, Kiriakos, Pisidovn, Samuel (bishop), Sanatruk (king), Sandukht, Satan, Thaddaeus (apostle), Zarmantukht, Zechariah (Armenian patriarch), Zemendos.
Geographical Locations: Armenia, Mount Sanatruk, Shavarsan.
2. RESOURCES
2.1 Web Sites and Online Sources
“Monastery of Saint Thaddaeus.” Wikipedia.
2.2 Iconography
Kokar Kilise and Ayvali Kilise (Cappadocia): two cave churches with frescoes depicting the apostles holding books or plaques describing their missionary areas. Thaddaeus’s sign reads “Gabadania,” placing him in the region of Great Armenia.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Armenian (BHO 1145)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arm. 118, fols. 260v–266v (1307)
Venice, Biblioteca dei Padri Mechitaristi San Lazzaro degli Armeni, 201 (olim 1014), fols. 57r–66r (12th/13th cent.)
Venice, Biblioteca dei Padri Mechitaristi San Lazzaro degli Armeni, 222 (olim 239), fols. 396r–409r (1335)
Yerevan, Matenadaran, 1524, fols. 727r–736r (1401/1402)
Ališan, Łevond. Sopʿerkʿ Haykakankʿ. 22 vols. Venice: Presse de Saint-Lazare, 1853–1861 (edition based on V201 with readings from V222 and Paris, BNF Arm. 118, vol. 8, pp. 9–58).
Calzolari, Valentina. Les apôtres Thaddée et Barthélemy. Aux origines du christianisme arménien. Apocryphes 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 2011 (list of unpublished manuscripts, pp. 178–82).
3.1.1.2 Synaxarion (December 12)
Bayan, George. “Les synaxaire arménien de ter-Israel V: Mois de Kalotz.” Patrologia Orientalis 18.1 (1924): 5–208 (pp. 23–27).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 Armenian (modern)
Hatityan, Artun. “Վկայութիւն սուրբ Թադէոս առ աքյալի եվ վկայաբանություն Սանդուխտ կուսին.” Էջﬕածին [Etchmiadzine] 7 (1982): 33–41.
3.2.2 English
Malan, Solomon C. The Life and Times of S. Gregory the Illuminator, the Founder and Patron Saint of the Armenian Church. London, Oxford, Cambridge: Rivingtons, 1868 (translation based on Ališan, pp. 66–98).
3.2.3 French
Calzolari, Valentina. Les apôtres Thaddée et Barthélemy. Aux origines du christianisme arménien. Apocryphes 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 2011 (translation based on Ališan, pp. 51–88).
Calzolari, Valentina. “Martyre de Thaddée Arménien.” Pages 663–96 in volume 2 of Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 516. Paris: Gallimard, 2005 (translation based on Ališan).
3.3 General Works
Akinian, Nerses. “Մատենագրական հետեզօտութիւններ. Վկայաբա ն ութիւն Ս. Թադէոսի եւ Սանդխտոյ կուսին եւ Կանոնք Թադէի” [Armenian literature research: Martyrdom of St. Thaddaeus and of the virgin Sandoukht and the Canons of Thaddaeus]. Handes Amsorya 83 (1969): cols. 399–426; 84 (1970): cols. 1–34.
Esbroeck, Michel van. “Le roi Sanatrouk et l’apôtre Thaddée.” Revue des études arméniennes 9 (1972): 241–83.
Calzolari, Valentina. “Les Actes de Paul et Thècle et le Martyre de Thaddée et Sanduxt arméniens: phénomènes d’intertextualité et rôle des femmes.” Mus 128 (2015): 381–414.
__________. “The Apostle Thaddaeus in Armenian Tradition. ” In The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Armenian, 29–47. Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha 18. Leuven: Peeters, 2022.
__________. “Réécriture des textes apocryphes en arménien: l’exemple de la légende de l’apostolat de Thaddée en Arménie.” Apocrypha 8 (1997): 97–110.