Michael II of Antioch

Michael II
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
Church	Syriac Orthodox Church
See	Antioch
Installed	1292
Term ended	1312
Predecessor	Philoxenus I Nemrud
Successor	Michael III Yeshu
Personal details
Born	Barsoum
Died	7 December 1312

Michael II[nb 1] (Syriac: ܦܛܪܝܪܟܐ ܡܝܟܐܝܠ ܬܪܝܢܐ, Arabic: البطريرك ميخائيل الثاني)[3] was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1292 until his death in 1312.

Biography

Barsoum was born in the 13th century, and became the abbot of the Monastery of Gawikat, near Mopsuestia in Cilicia.[2][4] After the death of Patriarch Philoxenus I Nemrud, Barsoum was consecrated as his successor as patriarch of Antioch in November 1292 by Iyawannis, archbishop of Tarsus, and Basil, archbishop of Jerusalem, and assumed the name Michael.[5][6] Schism within the church erupted at this time as Constantine proclaimed himself patriarch at Melitene, and Ignatius bar Wahib was consecrated as patriarch of Mardin in January 1293.[7]

Michael issued a general proclamation on 6 January 1295 declaring his ascension to the patriarchate, and excommunicated Constantine of Melitene and his supporters.[2] The proclamation was also signed by the aforementioned Iyawannis and Basil.[5] In 1301, he resided at the White Monastery near Dara.[8] He served as patriarch of Antioch until his death on 7 December 1312.[2]

References

Notes

1. He is counted as either Michael I as the first patriarch by that name in Cilicia,[1] Michael II after Michael I (r. 1166–1199),[2] or Michael III after Michael II the Younger (r. 1199-1215).[1]

Citations

1. Burleson & Van Rompay (2011).
2. Barsoum (2003), p. 488.
3. James E. Walters (17 August 2016). "Michael I (III), patriarch". A Guide to Syriac Authors. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
4. Thomas A. Carlson (14 January 2014). "Gawikat". The Syriac Gazetteer. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
5. Barsoum (2008), p. 58.
6. Carlson (2018), p. 267.
7. Barsoum (2008), p. 48.
8. Barsoum (2008), p. 13.

Bibliography

• Barsoum, Aphrem (2003). The Scattered Pearls: A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences. Translated by Matti Moosa (2nd ed.). Gorgias Press. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
• Barsoum, Aphrem (2008). History of the Za'faran Monastery. Translated by Matti Moosa. Gorgias Press.
• Burleson, Samuel; Van Rompay, Lucas (2011). "List of Patriarchs: II. The Syriac Orthodox Church and its Uniate continuations". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
• Carlson, Thomas A. (2018). Christianity in Fifteenth-Century Iraq. Cambridge University Press.

Preceded by Philoxenus I Nemrud

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch 1292–1312

Succeeded by Michael III Yeshu