# Natar kursya

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{{Short description|Officer of the Church of the East}}
{{italic title}}
The '''''nāṭar kursyā''''' (or '''''nāṭar kursi''''', [Syriac](/source/Syriac_language) ܢܛܪ ܟܘܪܣܝܐ, meaning "guardian of the throne") was an officer of the [Church of the East](/source/Church_of_the_East). Originally charged with administering the church in the interim between the death of one [patriarch](/source/Patriarch_of_the_Church_of_the_East) and the election of a new one, the office had evolved by the end of the 15th century so that its holder was the designated successor of the reigning patriarch. At first, the [bishop of Kashkar](/source/bishop_of_Kashkar) was ''ex officio'' guardian of the throne, but by the 14th century the honour had been transferred to the [metropolitan of Elam](/source/Beth_Huzaye_(East_Syriac_ecclesiastical_province)). It was under Patriarch [Shemʿon IV](/source/Shem%CA%BFon_IV) (died 1497) that the office was transformed. Endeavouring to keep the patriarchal office in his family and in violation of [canon law](/source/canon_law), he appointed his nephew to the office and designated him his chosen successor. This practice became traditional, except when the church or a part of it was in [union with Rome](/source/Uniate).<ref name=DJW193>David J. Wilmshurst, ''The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913'' (Peeters, 2000), p. 193.</ref> Sometimes the ''nāṭar kursyā'' was a nephew, at other times a younger brother. The patriarch could change the appointment if the ''nāṭar kursyā'' fell out of favour. He was always a bishop.<ref>[Heleen H. L. Murre-van Den Berg](/source/Heleen_H._L._Murre-van_Den_Berg) (1999), "The Patriarchs of the Church of the East from the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries", ''Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies'' '''2''' (2), pp. 235–264, esp. at 239.</ref> By the end of the 16th century, he was usually appointed [metropolitan of Mosul](/source/Adiabene_(East_Syriac_ecclesiastical_province)).<ref>Wilmshurst, ''Ecclesiastical Organisation'', p. 352.</ref> Higher clergy in the Church of the East did not eat animal products other than eggs and dairy, and in the [Qūdshānīs patriarchate](/source/Assyrian_Church_of_the_East) this restriction was extended to the patriarch's sister during pregnancy, since she might have been carrying a future ''nāṭar kursyā''.<ref>Adam H. Becker, ''Revival and Awakening: American Evangelical Missionaries in Iran and the Origins of Assyrian Nationalism'' (University of Chicago Press, 2015), p. .</ref>

The system of the ''nāṭar kursyā'' was later extended to other dioceses.<ref name=DJW193/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Church of the East
Category:Eastern Christian ecclesiastical offices

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