The Death of Hypatia

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/william-lasseter2/episodes/The-Death-of-Hypatia-e2lbbfn

Hypatia's death reminds me of the song of Cock-Robin:

Who killed Cock-Robin?
'I' said the sparrow, 'with my little bow and arrow,
I killed Cock-Robin'.

Who saw him die?
'I' said the fly, 'with my little eye,
I saw him die'.

Who'll dig his grave?
'I' said the owl, 'with my spade and trowel,
I'll dig his grave'.

Who'll be the parson?
'I' said the rook, 'with my little book,
I'll be the parson'.

And all the birds of the air,
Fell sighing and a sobbin'
When they heard the bell toll for poor Cock-Robin.

Who will be chief mourner?
'I' said the dove, 'for I mourn my love,
I'll be chief mourner'.

Who will sing the psalm?
'I' said the thrush, 'as I sit in a bush,
I'll sing the psalm'.

Who will carry the coffin?
'I' said the kite, 'if it's not in the night,
I'll carry the coffin'.

Who'll toll the bell?
'I' said the bull, 'because I can pull,
I'll toll the bell'.

For all the birds of the air,
Fell sighing and a sobbin'
When they heard the bell toll for poor Cock-Robin.

Not long after the first Council of Nicea in 315 had settled the dispute of homoousian vs. homoiousian (Christ was "of the same stuff" vs. "not of the same stuff" as God), a political dispute in the Egyptian province of Alexandria led to the horrific assault and murder of one of the city's luminaries of knowledge and teaching. Born sometime around 350AD, Hypatia was the daughter of the mathematician Theon who led the teaching at the Platonic school of the Alexandrian Museum. She became caught in the political/theological struggle between the Roman prefect, Orestes, and the Alexandrian patriarch, Cyril. This struggle resulted in Hypatia being attacked in 415AD by a raging mob of parabalani, bodyguards to the patriarch, who stripped her, cut her, (probably raped her), tore her limbs off and burned her remains. Some Christian historians condemned this action writing that "nothing can be farther from the spirit of Christianity than the allowance of massacres, fights, and transactions of that sort" whilst others condoned it as putting an end to witchcraft. 

So Who killed Hypatia?

One thing is for sure, "The Church" didn't kill her.

But who did, then?  Why did she die and so brutally, too?  Was this all because religion just stinks and only stupid, violent people are religious?   Is it because "The Church" generally accepted people unconditionally, with no application to fill out proving their intelligence or goodness?  Is it because history is messy and sometimes very, very complicated? 

The death of this remarkable, intelligent, cultured woman is unquestionably a tragic moment in history; as was the death of Socrates, or of Princess Anastasia, or of Joan of Arc, or of Jesus the Christ.

But it certainly was not A. "the end of the pagan world and the triumph of the Christian world" nor B. "an example of the brutality and ignorance of Christians vs. the nobility and goodness of pagans."