Simandu was an archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Cappadocia, attested between the tenth and twelfth centuries. Thirteen of its bishops are mentioned in the lists of Michael the Syriac and other Jacobite sources.

Sources

The main primary source for the Syriac Orthodox metropolitans of Simandu is the record of episcopal consecrations appended to Volume III of the Chronicle of the Syriac Orthodox patriarch Michael the Syrian (1166–99). In this Appendix Michael listed most of the bishops consecrated by the Syriac Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Twenty-eight Syriac Orthodox patriarchs sat during this period, and in many cases Michael was able to list the names of the bishops consecrated during their reigns, their monasteries of origin, and the place where they were consecrated.

Two twelfth-century bishops omitted from Michael's list are mentioned in the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum of the Jacobite maphrian Bar Hebraeus (ob.1286).

Location

Simandu was a district near Melitene, known in Greek as Tzamendos. During the twelfth century it was included in the territories of the Frankish County of Edessa.[1]

Bishops and metropolitans of Simandu

Eleven Jacobite metropolitans of Simandu are mentioned in the lists of Michael the Syrian.[2]

NameFromConsecrated in the reign ofPlace of consecration
YaʿqobUnspecifiedIwanis II (954–7)not known
BasilMonastery of the Mother of GodYohannan VI (965–86)not known
EliyaMonastery of PeterAthanasius IV Laʿzar (987–1003)Not known
PhiloxenusMonastery of Mar Bar Sawma, MeliteneDionysius IV Heheh (1032–42)Not known
IgnatiusMonastery of BaridAthanasius V Haya (1058–64)not known
AthanasiusMonastery of BaridYohannan VIII bar Shushan (1063–73)Harran
Yohannan ʿAbdonMonastery of Bar Gaghi, MeliteneBasil II (1074–5)Monastery of Mar Bar Sawma, Melitene
BasilMonastery of BaridAthanasius VI bar Khamara (1091–1129)not known
MattaiMonastery of Beth QenayaYohannan X Maudiana (1129–37)not known
BasilMonastery of Mar Ahron, ShigarAthanasius VII bar Qutreh (1139–66)not known

Two twelfth-century bishops of Simandu omitted from the lists of Michael the Syrian are mentioned in the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum of Bar Hebraeus:

  • Yohannan, previously bishop of Segestan, was awarded the diocese of Simandu at the synod of Kaishum in 1129, at the request of the Frankish count Joscelin I of Edessa.
  • Bar Turkaya, bishop of Tel Bshir, was transferred to Simandu in or shortly after 1132, and after a short residence as bishop of Simandu was again transferred to Habora.[3]

The diocese of Simandu seems to have lapsed around the end of the twelfth century, perhaps after the death of the bishop Basil (1139/1166).

Notes

  1. ↑ Fiey, POCN, 268
  2. ↑ Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, iii. 451–82 and 502
  3. ↑ Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum, i. 520

References

  • Abbeloos, Jean Baptiste; Lamy, Thomas Joseph, eds. (1877). Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum (3 vols). Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Fiey, Jean Maurice (1993). Pour un Oriens Christianus Novus: Répertoire des diocèses syriaques orientaux et occidentaux. Beirut: Orient-Institut. ISBN 9783515057189.
  • Jean-Baptiste Chabot, Chronique de Michel le Syrien, Patriarche Jacobite d'Antiche (1166-1199). Éditée pour la première fois et traduite en francais I-IV (1899;1901;1905;1910; a supplement to volume I containing an introduction to Michael and his work, corrections, and an index, was published in 1924. Reprinted in four volumes 1963, 2010).
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