The See of St Mark remained vacant for 11 months and 26 days after his death. He died on the day of the feast of Epiphany (6 January 1339, 11 Tobah 1055 AM). He was buried in Deir Shahran (the monastery of Shahran). His body was later transferred to the Monastery of Abba Bishoy in the Nitrian Desert, the monastery that he restored after it was destroyed in riots. In his time, the Papal Residence was at the Church of The Holy Virgin Mary and St Mercurius in the Coptic quarter of Cairo.
Contemporary Rulers of Egypt During His Episcopate
He episcopate was at the time of the third reign of Al-Sultan Al-Nasser Ibn Qalawun. El-Malik el-Nasser Nasr el-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun ( الملك الناصر ناصر الدين محمد بن قلاوون), commonly known as Al-Nasir Muhammad ( الناصر محمد), or by his kunya: Abu'l Maali or as Ibn Qalawun (born 1285– died 1341 AD) who was the ninth Mamluk sultan of Egypt. Al-Nasir Muhammad ruled for three reigns: first as a child (December 1293–December 1294), then from 1299–1309, and a third reign from 1310 until his death in 1341.
Brief biography
His name at birth was Benjamin. He was born in a town of Demicrat (دميقراط) at the deep south of Egypt. He loved the life of solitude and tranquility and thus he led a life of solitude in the desert near his hometown. As many of his relatives and acquaintances started visiting him, he left the place and went to the monastery of the Mule in the Mount Tura to realize his longing for the life of solitude away from people. This was not possible, as soon his virtues became known. Many believers admired him and came asking for his advice and for his prayers. When Abba Barsoum El-Aarian saw him, he prophesied that he would sit on the throne of St. Mark. Indeed, 43 days after the repose of Pope John IX, the 81st patriarch, the bishops gathered at the Patriarchate to elect the monk Benjamin from Deir al-Baqal in Mount Tura. He was ordained on 15 Bashans 1043 AM (10 May 1327 AD) and was called Benjamin II.
In his days, as characteristic of the entire period, a storm of extreme persecution and distress fell on the Copts. Many churches and monasteries were destroyed. The monks and nuns were harassed, and the life of the bishops became especially hard. Of particular mention was a wave of persecution unleashed by the governor Sharaf el-Din ibn el-Taj, who remained in office for one year and then he died. His successor was a patient and fair governor who treated Muslims and Christians with fairness. Thus, Abba Benjamin was able to rebuild what was destroyed of the churches and monasteries especially the monastery of Abba Bishoy in the Nitrian Dessert, which had been completely destroyed.
In the third year of his papacy (March 1330 AD, 1046 AM), 20 bishops gathered in the Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great during Lent to consecrate the Holy Oil of Chrismation (Miron).
Then, the church faced a new wave of distress, this time at the hands of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad. The Emperor of Ethiopia intervened to create an atmosphere of peace between the Patriarch and the Sultan, which restored a period of tranquility.
Al-Ashraf Salāh ad-Dīn Khalil ibn Qalawūn was the eighth Mamluk sultan between November 1290 until his assassination in December 1293. He was well known for conquering the last of the Crusader states in Palestine after the siege of Acre in 1291.
Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun, commonly known as an-Nasir Muhammad, or by his kunya: Abu al-Ma'ali or as Ibn Qalawun (1285–1341) was the ninth Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt who ruled during three reigns: December 1293 – December 1294, 1299–1309, and 1310 until his death in 1341.
Cyril III, known as Cyril ibn Laqlaq, was the 75th Coptic Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria.
Pope Peter V of Alexandria was the 83rd Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.
The Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun Mosque is an early 14th-century mosque at the Citadel in Cairo, Egypt. It was built by the Mamluk sultan Al-Nasr Muhammad in 1318 as the royal mosque of the Citadel, where the sultans of Cairo performed their Friday prayers. The mosque is located across the street from the courtyard access to the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. The Sultan also built a religious complex in the center of the city, next to the one by his father Qalawun.
Pope Mark IV of Alexandria, 84th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.
Pope Athanasius III of Alexandria, 76th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.
Al-Wathiq I, was the fourth Abbasid caliph seated in Cairo under the Mamluk Sultanate between 1340 and 1341.
An-Nasir Yusuf, fully al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn al-Aziz ibn al-Zahir ibn Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shazy, was the Ayyubid Emir of Syria from his seat in Aleppo (1236–1260) and the Sultan of the Ayyubid Empire from 1250 until the sack of Aleppo by the Mongols in 1260.
Al-Malik al-Mansur Sayf ad-Din Abu Bakr, better known as al-Mansur Abu Bakr, was the Bahri Mamluk sultan in 1341. From an early age, Abu Bakr received military training in the desert town of al-Karak. His father, Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad, groomed him as a potential successor to the throne and made him an emir in 1335. He was consistently promoted in the following years, becoming the na'ib (governor) of al-Karak in 1339. In June 1341, he became sultan, the first of several sons of an-Nasir Muhammad to accede the throne. However, his reign was short-lived; in August, Abu Bakr was deposed and arrested by his father's senior emir, Qawsun. Abu Bakr was imprisoned in the Upper Egyptian city of Qus, along with several of his brothers, and executed on Qawsun's orders two months later. He was formally succeeded by his younger half-brother, al-Ashraf Kujuk, but Qawsun was left as the strongman of the sultanate.
Al-Ashraf Ala'a ad-Din Kujuk ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun, better known as al-Ashraf Kujuk, was the Mamluk sultan from August 1341 to January 1342. He was a young child on the throne, and real power was held by his regent Emir Qawsun, a senior aid to Kujuk's father Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad. When Qawsun was ousted in a mamluk revolt in late December 1341, Kujuk was deposed in the weeks after. Kujuk was later murdered at the age of nine as a result of the political intrigues in the sultanate.
Al-Ashraf Zayn ad-Din Abu al-Ma'ali Sha'ban ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun, better known as al-Ashraf Sha'ban or Sha'ban II, was a Mamluk sultan of the Bahri dynasty in 1363–1377. He was a grandson of Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad. He had two sons who succeeded him: al-Mansur Ali and as-Salih Hajji.
Saint Pishoy, known in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria as the Star of the Desert and the Beloved of our Good Savior, was a Coptic Desert Father. He is said to have seen Jesus, and been bodily preserved to the present day via incorruptibility at the Monastery of Saint Pishoy in the Nitrian Desert, Egypt. He is venerated by the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and is known in the latter under the Greek version of his name, Paisios.
The Madrasa of Al-Nasir Muhammad is a madrasa and mausoleum located in the Bayn al-Qasrayn area of al-Muizz street in Cairo, Egypt. It was built in the name of the Mamluk sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, but its construction began between 1294 and 1295 under the reign of Sultan Al-Adil Kitbugha, who was sultan in between Al-Nasir Muhammad's first and seconds reigns. When Al-Nasir Muhammad returned to the throne in 1299 he oversaw its construction until its completion in 1303. It is adjacent to the earlier hospital and funerary complex of Sultan Qalawun and the later Madrasa of Sultan Barquq.
Sanjar ibn Abdullah Alam al-Din Abu Sa'id al-Jawli was a powerful Mamluk emir and the Governor of Gaza and much of Palestine between 1311–20 during the sultanate of an-Nasir Muhammad and then again for a brief time in 1342 during the reign of the latter's son as-Salih Ismail. Prior to his first term as governor, al-Jawli briefly served as the Emir of Shawbak in Transjordan and before his second term as Gaza's governor, he was appointed Governor of Hama for three months.
Husam ad-Din Muhanna ibn Isa was the lord of Palmyra and amir al-ʿarab under the Mamluk Sultanate. He served between 1284 and his death, but was dismissed and reinstated four times during this period. As the chieftain of the Al Fadl, a clan of the Tayy tribe, which dominated the Syrian Desert, Muhanna wielded considerable influence among the Bedouin. He was described by historian Amalia Levanoni as "the eldest and most senior amir" of the Al Fadl during his era.
Al-Muzaffar Sayf ad-Din Hajji ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun, better known as al-Muzaffar Hajji, was the Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt. He was also the sixth son of an-Nasir Muhammad to hold office, ruling from September 1346 and December 1347. He was known for his love of sports and pigeon racing, acts which led to frustration among the senior Mamluk emirs who believed he neglected the duties of office and spent extravagant sums on gambling. His reign ended when he was killed in a confrontation with Mamluk conspirators outside of Cairo.
As-Salih Salah ad-Din Salih ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun (28 September 1337–1360/61, better known as as-Salih Salih, was the Mamluk sultan in 1351–1354. He was the eighth son of Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad to accede to the sultanate. He was largely a figurehead, with real power held by the senior Mamluk emirs, most prominently Emir Taz an-Nasiri.
Al-Mansur Salah ad-Din Muhammad ibn Hajji ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun (1347/48–1398), better known as al-Mansur Muhammad, was the Mamluk sultan in 1361–1363. He ruled in name only, with power held by the Mamluk magnates, particularly Yalbugha al-Umari, al-Mansur Muhammad's regent. The latter had al-Manur Muhammad's predecessor and uncle an-Nasir Hasan killed and al-Mansur Muhammad installed to replace him.
Sayf al-Dīn Salār al-Manṣūrī was the viceroy of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad during the latter's second reign (1299–1310). As a boy he was taken captive at the Battle of Elbistan in 1277 and became a mamluk of the emir al-Salih Ali and eleven years later by the latter's father Sultan Qalawun. Salar distinguished himself in his training as a skilled horseman among other mamluks of the Mansuriyya faction. He was promoted to the rank of ustadar (majordomo) by his friend, Sultan Lajin in 1299. After participating in Lajin's assassination later that year he effectively became the strongman of the sultanate alongside Baybars al-Jashnakir. Despite tensions and incidents between their respective factions, Salar and Baybars avoided direct conflict throughout their power-sharing arrangement. Salar continued as viceroy when Baybars acceded as sultan in 1309 after al-Nasir Muhammad stepped down and exiled himself. After Baybars was deposed in 1310, al-Nasir Muhammad returned to power and Salar was consequently imprisoned and starved to death. His sons and grandsons became middle-ranking emirs of al-Nasir Muhammad and his successors.
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