Ignatius Abdullah I

Ignatius Abdullah I
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
Church	Syriac Orthodox Church
See	Antioch
Installed	1521
Term ended	1557
Predecessor	Ignatius David I
Successor	Ignatius Ni'matallah
Personal details
Died	1557

Ignatius Abdullah I was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1521 until his death in 1557. ^{[1] [a]}

Biography

Abdullah was born at Qalʿat Mara probably at the end of the fifteenth century. ^[8] He became patriarch of Antioch in 1521. ^[9] As patriarch, he temporarily moved the patriarchal see from the Mor Hananyo Monastery to Amid. ^[8] In 1521 (AG 1832), Abdullah issued a document to attest that the Shamsīyah adhered to Syriac Orthodox beliefs and practices. ^[10]

Abdullah convened a synod at the Mor Hananyo Monastery in 1523 to resolve a dispute between Yusuf al-Gurji, metropolitan of Jerusalem, Syria, ‘Ayn Ḥalyyā, ‘Ayn Ḥaūr, and half of Ṣadad, and Diyūsqūrūs ‘Īsā Ibn Ḥūriyyah, bishop of Dayr Mār Mūsā, Al-Nabek, Ṣālḥiyyah, and half of Ṣadad. ^{[11] [b]} The dispute concerned a marriage at Ṣadad in 1519 which had divided the villagers and the two bishops as ‘Īsā Ibn Ḥūriyyah approved of the wedding whereas Yusuf al-Gurji did not. ^[14] However, the controversy escalated after ‘Īsā Ibn Ḥūriyyah took control of the diocese of Syria from Yusuf al-Gurji with a decree that he had received from Janbirdi al-Ghazali, who he had given 400 ašrafī, and Yusuf al-Gurji responded by retaking the diocese after having paid 70 ašrafī. ^[14] The synod was attended by Basilius Habib, Maphrian of the East, Philoxenus Saliba, metropolitan of Cyprus, Timothy, bishop of the Patriarchal Office, Severus Bishara, metropolitan of Gargar, and Yusuf al-Gurji. ^[15] Yusuf al-Gurji attended the synod on 28 January 1523. ^[16] Abdullah issued canons in Arabic that allowed marriages up to the fifth degree. ^[17]

Abdullah, with Philoxenus Faraj Allah, metropolitan of Amid, authenticated a document issued by Basil Iiya’ I, Maphrian of the East, dated 6 October 1542 (AG 1853), to confirm again that the Shamsīyah had accepted and conformed to Syriac Orthodox beliefs and practices. ^[18] The monk priest Moses of Mardin was despatched by Abdullah with two copies of the Peshitta New Testament and a commendatory letter to Rome, where he arrived in or shortly before 1549, and was tasked with procuring printed Syriac Bibles or for the opportunity to produce them. ^[19] Abdullah may have sent Moses in response to an invitation to send a delegate to the Council of Trent. ^[3] It is debated as to whether Abdullah had directed Moses to negotiate union with the Catholic Church. ^[20] Upon Moses' return, Abdullah entrusted him with a letter to the pope, written at the Mor Hananyo Monastery and dated 28 May 1551 (AG 1862), and a profession of faith to take back to Rome. ^[21] Pope Julius III replied to Abdullah in a letter dated 26 May 1553. ^[21] The Syriac New Testament was eventually printed by Moses with Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter and Guillaume Postel at Vienna in 1555, in which Abdullah was mentioned in the colophons. ^[22] Abdullah served as patriarch until his death in 1557 and was buried in the mausoleum of the Mor Hananyo Monastery. ^[23]

Episcopal succession

As patriarch, Abdullah ordained the following bishops:

• Timothy Iiya’ I, metropolitan of the Patriarchal Office (1527) ^[24]
• Basil Iiya’ I, Maphrian of the East (1533) ^[24]
• Grīgūryūs Yūḥannā of Mardin, bishop of Jerusalem (1540) ^[25]

References

Notes

1. The patriarchate of Ignatius Abdullah I is alternatively placed in 1520–1556, ^[2] or 1520/1521–1557. ^[3] Also known as Ignatius Abdallah ben Istifan, ^[3] Ignatius Abdullah I ben Stephanos, ^[3] and Ignatius ʿAbdullāh I bar Sṭephanos. ^[4] Alternatively spelt as ‘Abd Allah or Abdallah. ^[5] He is also counted as Ignatius III Abdallah. ^[6] (Syriac: ܥܒܕܗ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܐ ܕܡܢ ܚܣܢܐ ܕܐܢܬܬܐ). ^[7]
2. The synod at the Mor Hananyo Monastery is placed in either 1521, ^[12] or 1523. ^[13]

Citations

1. Kiraz (2011), p. 4; Wilmshurst (2019), p. 809; Burleson & Rompay (2011), p. 488; Bcheiry (2004), p. 217; Minnich (2023), p. 41.
2. Barsoum (2009), p. 180; Barsoum (2008), p. 8.
3. Minnich (2023), p. 41.
4. Burleson & Rompay (2011), p. 488.
5. Barsoum (2009), p. 166; Barsoum (2008), p. 39; Briquel-Chatonnet & Debié (2023), p. 206.
6. Wilkinson (2007), p. 65.
7. Dolabani (1990), p. 203.
8. Kiraz (2011), p. 4.
9. Kiraz (2011), p. 4; Wilmshurst (2019), p. 809; Burleson & Rompay (2011), p. 488; Bcheiry (2004), p. 217.
10. Barsoum (2009), pp. 187–188.
11. Bcheiry (2004), pp. 215–217; Barsoum (2003), p. 134; Barsoum (2009), pp. 166–167.
12. Barsoum (2003), p. 134.
13. Bcheiry (2004), p. 216; Barsoum (2009), pp. 166–167.
14. Bcheiry (2004), pp. 215–216.
15. Barsoum (2009), pp. 166–167.
16. Barsoum (2009), p. 166.
17. Barsoum (2009), p. 167; Barsoum (2003), p. 134; Bcheiry (2004), p. 216.
18. Barsoum (2009), pp. 180, 188–189.
19. Kiraz (2011), p. 4; Rompay (2011), p. 300; Wilkinson (2007), p. 65.
20. Minnich (2023), p. 41; Rompay (2011), p. 300.
21. Borbone (2017), p. 80.
22. Borbone (2017), p. 80; Kiraz (2011), p. 4.
23. Kiraz (2011), p. 4; Barsoum (2008), p. 61.
24. Barsoum (2008), pp. 39, 56; Barsoum (2009), p. 189.
25. Bcheiry (2004), p. 217.

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. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
• Barsoum, Aphrem (2009). The Collected Historical Essays of Aphram I Barsoum. Vol. 1. Translated by Matti Moosa. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
• Bcheiry, Iskandar (2004). "A List of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchs between 16th and 18th Century: A Historical Supplement to Michael the Syrian's Chronicle in a MS. of Sadad". Parole de l'Orient. 29: 211–261. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
• Borbone, Pier Giorgio (2017). ""Monsignore Vescovo di Soria", also known as Moses of Mardin, scribe and book collector". Christian Orient: Journal of Studies in the Christian Culture of Asia and Africa. 8: 79–114. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
• Burleson, Samuel; Rompay, Lucas van (2011). "List of Patriarchs of the Main Syriac Churches in the Middle East". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. 481–491.
• Briquel-Chatonnet, Françoise; Debié, Muriel (2023). The Syriac World: In Search of a Forgotten Christianity. Translated by Jeffrey Haines. Yale University Press.
• Dolabani, Philoxenos Yuhanon (1990). Die Patriarchen de syrisch-orthodoxen Kirche von Antiochen (in Syriac). Bar-Hebraeus Verlag. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
• Kiraz, George A. (2011). "ʿAbdullāh I bar Sṭephanos". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. p. 4. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
• Minnich, Nelson H. (2023). "The Organizational Structure of the Council of Trent". In Nelson H. Minnich (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Council of Trent. Cambridge University Press. pp. 32–52.
• Rompay, Lucas Van (2011). "Mushe of Mardin". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. 300–301. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
• Wilkinson, Robert J. (2007). Orientalism, Aramaic and Kabbalah in the Catholic Reformation: The First Printing of the Syriac New Testament. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.
• Wilmshurst, David (2019). "West Syrian patriarchs and maphrians". In Daniel King (ed.). The Syriac World. Routledge. pp. 806–813. Retrieved 13 February 2025.

Preceded by Ignatius David I

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch 1521–1557

Succeeded by Ignatius Ni'matallah