Sergius of Tella was the
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch 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 to or to 560.
Biography
Sergius was born at
Tella
''Tella'' or ''talla'' (Amharic ጠላ; , ) is a traditional beer from Ethiopia. It is brewed from various grains, which can change depending on location. These typically include barley or teff. Depending on region, wheat, sorghum, or corn may be ...
and was a friend of
Jacob Baradaeus
Jacob Baradaeus (; ; ; ), also known as Jacob bar Addai or Jacob bar Theophilus, was the Bishop of Edessa from 543/544 until his death in 578. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox Churches and his feast day is 31 July.Livingstone ...
. He became a monk at the monastery of Hala and was ordained a priest by the bishop John of
Anazarbus
Anazarbus, also known as Justinopolis (, medieval Ain Zarba; modern Anavarza; ), was an ancient Cilician city. Under the later Roman Empire, late Roman Empire, it was the capital of Cilicia Secunda. Roman emperor Justinian I rebuilt the city ...
. As a monk, Sergius accepted the doctrine of
tritheism, and accompanied Jacob Baradaeus to Constantinople in 527. At Constantinople, Sergius tutored Empress
Theodora's grandson
Athanasius
Athanasius I of Alexandria ( – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor, or, among Coptic Christians, Athanasius the Apostolic, was a Christian theologian and the 20th patriarch of Alexandria (as Athanasius ...
, and became a friend of
John Philoponus
John Philoponus ( Greek: ; , ''Ioánnis o Philóponos''; c. 490 – c. 570), also known as John the Grammarian or John of Alexandria, was a Coptic Miaphysite philologist, Aristotelian commentator and Christian theologian from Alexandria, Byza ...
, who wrote a
non-Chalcedonian
Non-Chalcedonian Christianity comprises the branches of Christianity that do not accept and uphold theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the council following Ephesus, held in 451. Non-Chalcedonian denominations reject the Chr ...
treatise named "A Treatise Concerning the Whole and the Parts" at Sergius' request.
Jacob Baradaeus, who had become
Bishop of Edessa
Below is a list of bishops of Edessa.
Early bishops
The following list is based on the records of the ''Chronicle of Edessa'' (to ''c''.540) and the ''Chronicle of Zuqnin''.
Jacobite (Syriac) bishops
These bishops belonged to the Syriac Orthodo ...
, consecrated Sergius as patriarch of Antioch at Constantinople, thus cementing the schism in the church of Antioch into the non-Chalcedonian
Syriac Church and
Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian Christianity is the branches of Christianity that accept and uphold theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, held in AD 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christological Definitio ...
Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Rum (endonym), Rūm Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (), is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox church within the wider ...
. Sources disagree on the date of Sergius' consecration as patriarch. According to the ''
Zuqnin Chronicle'', he was consecrated in 544, whereas
John of Ephesus in his ''Ecclesiastical History'' dates the consecration to 557. Sergius resided at Constantinople for the duration of his term as patriarch, for which he was later erroneously termed patriarch of Constantinople by the 14th-century historian
Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos in his ''Ecclesiastical History''. He died a natural death, either in 547 as per the Zuqnin Chronicle, or in 560 as per John of Ephesus.
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch
6th-century deaths
Year of birth missing
6th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops
People from Roman Syria
6th-century Byzantine bishops
6th-century Syriac Orthodox Church bishops