preferred Gregory of Seleucia, who had once been her steward. The Synod (council) rejected the king's initial candidate, taking advantage of the ambiguity of name, and chose Gregory of Seleucia. The king was accordingly displeased, and reluctantly supported the elected candidate (after applying a hefty fine to him), and said, "Patriarch he is and patriarch he shall be – but never again do I allow another election." When the Catholicos Gregorius died a few years later in 608, the bishops made the usual request to the king to allow them to elect a new Catholicos, but Khosrau had not forgotten the events of the previous election and refused them permission to do so. The royal physician Gabriel of Shiggar, a staunch Miaphysite, suggested to make Henana of Adiabene or one of his students Catholicos, and also used his influence with the king to prevent an election. From 610 to 628 the last and most devastating wars between Byzantium and Persia took place. First Persia conquered parts of Byzantium, which were populated mostly by Miaphysite and Chalcedonian Christians. To be popular in the newly gained provinces, King Khosrau II did not want to favor the Nestorians any more. During the successful Byzantine counterattack 622–628, Chalcedonians and especially Miaphysites were on the advance in Persia and several sees and villages were lost by the Church of the East. The king successfully blocked an election in the church, preventing the church from having any figure who could allow new bishops and metropolitans to be consecrated. During the decades of this vacancy, the Nestorian church required a sort of authority. Because the king remained staunch in his policy, the church chose to separate itself from the king's royal proscription. Two vekils (regents) were selected as a stop-gap measure: Archdeacon Mar Aba, who handled matters in the South. In the North, Babai the Great was chosen to lead, who at the time was abbot of a monastery on Mt. Izla. He was nominated inspector-general or visitor of the monasteries of the three northern provinces by the Metropolitans of Nisibis, B. Garmai, and Adiabene. Therefore, Babai, even though not yet a bishop, acted as patriarch in all ecclesiastical matters, though he could not ordain or consecrate. He was appointed 'visitor of the monasteries' of the North, and administered the church in collaboration with Archdeacon Mar Aba. In particular, this new position allowed Babai to investigate the