- Dionysius Telmaharensis
-
Dionysius Telmaharensis (or Dionysus of Tel Mahre) (died 848) was a patriarch or supreme head of the Syrian Orthodox Church (818 - 848). He was born at Tell-Mahre (hence the Latin genitive "Telmaharensis") near ar-Raqqa on the Balikh River.
He spent his earlier years as a monk at the convent of Qinnishrin on the upper Euphrates; when this monastery was destroyed by fire in 815, he migrated northwards to that of Kaisum in the district of Samosata. At the death of the Jacobite patriarch Cyriacus in 817, the church was agitated by a dispute about the use of the phrase heavenly bread in connection with the Eucharist. An anti-patriarch had been appointed in the person of Abraham of Kartamin, who insisted on the use of the phrase in opposition to the recognized authorities of the church.
The council of bishops who met at Raqqa in the summer of 818 to choose a successor to Cyriacus had great difficulty in finding a worthy occupant of the patriarchal chair, but finally agreed on the election of Dionysius, hitherto known only as an honest monk who devoted himself to historical studies. Sorely against his will he was brought to Raqqa, ordained deacon and priest on two successive days, and raised to the supreme ecclesiastical dignity on August 1. From this time he showed the utmost zeal in fulfilling the duties of his office, and undertook many journeys both within and without his province. The ecclesiastical schism continued unhealed during the thirty years of his patriarchate. The details of this contest, of his relations with the caliph al-Ma'mun, and of his many travels including a journey to Egypt, on which he viewed with admiration the great Egyptian monuments, are to be found in the Ecclesiastical Chronicle of Bar-Hebraeus. He sent two bishops, Mar Sabor and Mar Proth to India in 825. He died in 848, his last days having been especially embittered by Muslim oppression.
He was the author of an important historical work, which has seemingly perished except for some passages quoted by the anonymous Chronicle of 1234 (which the 1911 Encyclopædia attributed to Bar-Hebraeus) and by Michael the Syrian, and an extract found by J.S. Assemani in Cod. Vat. 144 and published by him in the Bibliotheca orientalis (ii. 7277). There are also quotes in the Chronicle of Elias of Nisibis.[1] We learn from Michael the Syrian that his Annals consisted of two parts each divided into eight chapters, and covered a period of 260 years, from the accession of the emperor Maurice (582) to the death of Theophilus (843).[2]
For accounts up to the 8th century CE, Dionysius used the chronicle of Theophilus of Edessa. He disapproved of it for two reasons. First, he implied that Theophilus was one which "composed its narratives in a summary and fragmented fashion without preserving either chronological accuracy nor the order of succession of events".[3] In addition he thought that it "deviates from the truth" - meaning, Theophilus was a Maronite while Dionysius was a rival, Jacobite. Despite that, his Chronicle carries more of Theophilus than did Theophilus's other two tradents, Theophanes the Confessor and Agapius the historian.[4]
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- "Dionysius Reconstituted" in Andrew Palmer, The Seventh Century in the West-Syrian Chronicles (TTH 15, Liverpool: SUNY Press, 1993) Part Two / text 13, 85-221
Preceded by
Quryaqos of TakritSyrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch
817–845Succeeded by
John IIIList of Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch Peter | Evodius | Ignatius | Heron | Cornelius | Eros | Theophilus | Maximus I | Serapion | Ascelpiades the Confessor | Philetus | Zebinnus | Babylas the Martyr | Fabius | Demetrius | Paul of Samosata | Domnus I | Timaeus | Cyril I | Tyrannus | Vitalis | Philogonus | Eustathius | Meletius | Flavian I | Paulinus | Eulalius | Euphronius | Flacillus | Stephanus I | Leontius the Eunuch | Eudoxius | Annanios | Meletius | Paulinus | Evagrius | Flavian I |Porphyrus |Alexander | Theodotus | John I | Domnus II | Maximus II | Basil of Antioch | Acacius of Antioch | Martyrius | Peter the Fuller | John II Codonatus |Stephanus II |Callandion | Peter the Fuller | Palladius |Flavian II , |Severus | Paul the Jew |Euphrosius | Ephrem of Amid | Severus | Sergius of Tella | Paul II | Peter III | Julian I | Athanasius I Gammolo | John II | Theodore | Severus II bar Mashqe | Athanasius II | Julian II | Elias I | Athanasius III | Iwanis I |Euwanis I | Athanasius alSandali | George I | Joseph | Quryaqos of Takrit | Dionysius I of Tellmahreh | John III | Ignatius II | Theodosius Romanos of Takrit | Dionysius II | John IV Qurzahli | Baselius I | John V | Iwanis II | Dionysius III | Abraham I | John VI Sarigta | Athanasius IV of Salah | John VII bar Abdun | Dionysius IV Yahya | John VIII | Athanasius V |John IX bar Shushan | Baselius II | John Abdun | Dionysius V Lazaros |Iwanis III | Dionysius VI | Athanasius VI bar Khamoro | John X bar Mawdyono | Athanasius VII bar Qutreh | Michael the Great | Athanasius VIII | John XI | Ignatius III David | John XII bar Madani | Ignatius IV Yeshu | Philoxenos I Nemrud| Michael II | Michael III Yeshu | Baselius III Gabriel | Philoxenos II | Baselius IV Shemun | Ignatius Behnam alHadli | Ignatius Khalaf | Ignatius John XIV | Ignatius Nuh of Lebanon | Ignatius Yeshu I | Ignatius Jacob I | Ignatius David I | Ignatius AbdAllah I| Ignatius Nemet Allah I | Ignatius David II Shah | Ignatius Pilate I | Ignatius Hadayat Allah | Ignatius Simon I | Ignatius Yeshu II Qamsheh | Ignatius Abdul Masih I | Ignatius George II | Ignatius Isaac Azar | Ignatius Shukr Allah II| Ignatius George III | Ignatius George IV | Ignatius Matthew | Ignatius Yunan | Ignatius George V | Ignatius Elias II | Ignatius Jacob II | Ignatius Peter IV | Ignatius Abdul Masih II | Ignatius Abded Aloho II | Ignatius Elias III | Ignatius Afram I Barsoum | Ignatius Jacob III | Currently: Ignatius Zakka I IwasCategories:- Syriac writers
- Syriac Patriarchs of Antioch from 512 to 1783
- 848 deaths
- 9th-century archbishops
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.