Pope Michael III of Alexandria (also known as Khail III) was the Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark (880–907). The patriarchal biography of Michael III comes from the writings of Michael of Damrū (Mīkhāʾil al-Damrāwī), bishop of

Tinnis Tennis or Tinnīs ( arz, تنيس, cop, ⲑⲉⲛⲛⲉⲥⲓ) was a medieval city in Egypt which no longer exists. It was most prosperous from the 9th century to the 11th century until its abandonment. It was located at 31°12′N 32°14′E, o ...

, in ''

History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria The ''History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria'' is a major historical work of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It is written in Arabic, but draws extensively on Greek and Coptic sources. The compilation was based on earlier biographical ...

''. During the consecration of a church to St. Ptolemy in

Xois Sakha, also known by the ancient name of Xois ( ar, سخا, grc-koi, Ξόις, cop, ⲥϦⲱⲟⲩ Strabo xvii. p, 802; Ptolemy iv. 5. § 50; , Stephanus of Byzantium ''s. v.'') is a town in Kafr El Sheikh Governorate of Egypt. Located near th ...

(present day Sakha, Egypt), the bishop of the diocese was late to attend the consecration and came into conflict with Pope Michael, throwing the offered but not yet consecrated bread on the floor of the church. The

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

and other bishops unanimously decided to condemn the bishop of Xois. The deposed and vengeful bishop then convinced ibn Tulun that the patriarch had vast wealth, and so ibn Tulun imprisoned Pope Michael for one year. The Coptic lay notables eventually negotiated for his release as paying 20,000 dinars in two installments. Michael of Damrū notes that the patriarch raised funds after his release from prison to pay the debt to ibn Tulun and also built a private latrine for himself in prison, at the cost of 300 dinars. In 882, when forced to come up with the funds to free the patriarch from prison, the Coptic church sold a church, which had originally been a synagogue and was converted into the church during the Byzantine era, to the local

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish community. This building was at one time believed to have later become the site of the

Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the ''genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo, ...

References

9th-century Coptic Orthodox popes of Alexandria 10th-century Coptic Orthodox popes of Alexandria People of the Tulunid dynasty {{OrientalOrthodox-clergy-stub