Editing Hormizd IV (section)

==Policies and personality==
[[Image:"Khusrau Parviz before his Father Hurmuzd (?)", Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) MET DP215844.jpg|thumb|15th-century ''[[Shahnameh]]'' illustration of Hormizd IV seated on his throne]]
Khosrow I, aware that Hormizd had shown himself as a leader of quality, appointed Hormizd as his heir.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=466–467}} The decision was also politically motivated, due to Hormizd's maternal line being of noble lineage, whilst the mothers of Khosrow I's other sons were more lowly.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=466–467}} Hormizd came to the throne in 579: according to the narratives included in the history of [[al-Tabari]], Hormizd was well learned and full of good aspirations of kindness toward the poor and weak.{{sfn|Al-Tabari|1985–2007|loc=v. 5: p. 295}} He was seemingly less warlike than his predecessors, but was resolute enough to continue their reforms.{{sfn|Daryaee|Rezakhani|2016|p=42}} He appears to have strived his best to continue the policies of his father—supporting the landed gentry (the ''[[dehqan]]'') against the aristocracy and protecting the rights of the lower classes, as well as thwarting efforts by the [[Zoroastrian]] priesthood to reassert themselves.{{sfn|Axworthy|2008|p=63}} He did, however, resort to executions in order to maintain his father's policies, and as a result became the subject of hostility by the Zoroastrians.{{sfn|Axworthy|2008|p=63}} He declined an appeal by the priesthood to persecute the [[Christianity|Christian]] population by asserting his wish that "all his subjects were to exercise their religion freely".{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=466–467}} He reportedly had many members of the priesthood killed, including the chief priest (''[[mowbed]]'') himself.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=466–467}}

He strained his relationship with the aristocracy by having thousands of them killed.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=466–467}} Many had been distinguished figures under Hormizd's father, such as the latter's famous minister ([[wuzurg framadar]]) [[Bozorgmehr]]; the military commander (''[[spahbed]]'') of [[Khwarasan]], [[Chihr-Burzen]]; the ''spahbed'' of ''[[Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr#Kusts of Eranshahr|Nemroz]]'', [[Bahram-i Mah Adhar]]; the distinguished dignitary [[Izadgushasp]]; the ''spahbed'' of the southwest (Khwarwaran), Shapur, an [[House of Ispahbudhan|Ispahbudhan]] nobleman who was the father of [[Vistahm]]; [[Vinduyih]]; and an unnamed daughter whom Hormizd had married.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1989|pp=180–182}}{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|pp=106–108}} Hormizd was himself related to the family, with his paternal grandmother being a sister of [[Bawi]], the father of Shapur.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|pp=110–111}} Hormizd was not the first Sasanian shah to kill a close relative from the Ispahbudhan family: his father Khosrow I had ordered the execution of Bawi in the early 530s.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|pp=112, 268–269}} Nevertheless, the Ispahbudhans continued to enjoy such a high status that they were acknowledged as "kin and partners of the Sasanians", with Vistahm being appointed as the successor of his father by Hormizd.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|pp=106–108}}{{sfn|Shahbazi|1989|pp=180–182}}

Due to his persecutions against the nobility and clergy, Hormizd thus became viewed with hostility in Persian sources.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=466–467}}{{sfn|Kia|2016|pp=249–250}} This was not unusual: the 5th-century Sasanian ruler [[Yazdegerd I]] is portrayed very negatively in Persian sources due to his tolerant policy towards his non-Zoroastrian subjects, and his refusal to comply with the demands of the aristocracy and priesthood, thus becoming known as the "sinner".{{sfn|Kia|2016|pp=282–283}} Although met with hostility in medieval sources, Hormizd is portrayed in a more positive light in modern sources. The German orientalist [[Theodor Nöldeke]] deemed the negative portrayal of Hormizd as unreasonable, and considered the shah to be "a well-meaning sovereign who intended to restrain the nobility and clergy and ease the burden of the lower classes: his effort was on the whole justified, but the unhappy outcome shows that he was not the man to reach such lofty goals with peace and competence".{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=466–467}} Michael Bonner states that "the Persian royal tradition has covered Hurmazd in opprobrium, and the principal features of his reign have been deformed."{{sfn|Bonner|2020|p=237}}