Patriarch of Antioch
The Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (, , from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has ...
, and head of the
Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The ch ...
from 1139 until his death in 1166.Moosa (2003), p. 47
Biography
In 1139, a
synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...
of twelve bishops elected and ordained Deacon Yeshu bar Qatra as patriarch in the city of Amid, facing pressure from the city's Muslim ruler, upon which he assumed the name Athanasius. A faction within the church, including the bishop of Jihan, claimed the ordination went against church canons and slandered Athanasius to Joscelin II,
Count of Edessa
The County of Edessa (Latin: ''Comitatus Edessanus'') was a 12th-century Crusader state in Upper Mesopotamia. Its seat was the city of Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey).
In the late Byzantine period, Edessa became the centre of intellectua ...
. Members of the faction suggested that Joscelin should hold another synod to elect a new patriarch according to the canons of the Syriac Orthodox Church. The count summoned Timothy, Bishop of Gargar, a city within his domain, to
Samosata
Samsat (, Ottoman Turkish صمصاد ''Semisat''), formerly Samosata () is a small town in the Adıyaman Province of Turkey, situated on the upper Euphrates river. It is the seat of Samsat District.Moosa (2008)MacEvitt (2010), p. 109
Athanasius subsequently travelled from the city of Melitene to the neighbouring
Monastery of Mor Bar Sauma
The Mor Bar Sauma Monastery was a Syriac Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox monastery located between Gerger, Gargar and Malatya in Turkey. The monastery served as the regular List of Syriac Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch, patriarchal residence from ...
. Joscelin II continued to interfere in church affairs as he proclaimed Basilius Bar Shumanna, Bishop of Kesum, as bishop of
Edessa
Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...
. The patriarch confirmed Bar Shumanna as Bishop of Edessa and in his place ordained Iliyya as bishop of Kesum, who assumed the name John. In return, John received the ritual objects needed to consecrate a new patriarch that Joscelin had seized from the Monastery of Mor Barsoum in 1129. Athanasius met and reconciled with Joscelin II, and bishops who opposed him, at Turbessel, the capital of the County of Edessa in early 1144, following Joscelin's return from the coronation of Baldwin III in Jerusalem in December 1143. Basilius Bar Shumanna and Athanasius later met at Amid and was ordained as bishop of Sebaberk, a diocese within the archdiocese of Edessa, as he had been deprived of his see following the fall of Edessa in December 1144.
During Athanasius' tenure as patriarch, the Monastery of Mor Barsoum was ransacked on 18 June 1148 by Joscelin II, who, seriously lacking in funds, stole the Hand of Mor Barsoum, the monastery's most prized possession, and took fifty monks as prisoners. The monks were later allowed to return to the monastery after their 10,000 dinar ransom had been paid in August 1148, and the relic was returned at the additional cost of 5000 dinars in December 1150. On 9 December 1157, Athanasius, alongside Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem,
Aimery of Limoges
Aimery or Aymery of Limoges (died 1196), also ''Aimericus'' in Latin, ''Aimerikos'' in Greek language, Greek and ''Hemri'' in Armenian language, Armenian, was a Roman Catholic ecclesiarch in Crusader States, Frankish Outremer and the fourth Latin ...
, Latin Patriarch of Antioch,
Thoros II
Thoros II (; died 6 February 1169), also known as Thoros the Great, was the sixth lord of Armenian Cilicia from the Rubenid dynasty from 1144/1145Kurkjian 1958, p. 506 until 1169.
Thoros (together with his father, Leo I and his brother, Roupen) ...
, Lord of Cilicia, Michael Rabo, abbot of the Monastery of Mor Barsoum and future successor to Athanasius, and others, attended the consecration of a new church in Antioch. The patriarch continued to administer the Syriac Orthodox Church prior to his death in 1166.