From High Priest to Patriarch: History and Authority in the 'Ecclesiastical History' of Bar 'Ebroyo [Paperback]

The <i>Ecclesiastical History</i> of Bar Ebroyo has long beenrecognized as a crucial source for the history of the Eastern churchesin the Mongol period but it has hardly been appreciated as a literarywork on its own. Over the past decades, further study on Bar Ebroyo haspermitted to dismiss his undeserved label of unoriginal epistomist andto reassess the value of his work. This book seeks to inject thatperspective into the study of Bar Ebroyo as an ecclesiastical historianand it argues that his <i>Ecclesiastical History</i> offers an originalhistorical narration that encompasses geo-ecclesiology, theology andpolitical theory. Often read as a mere abridgment of Michael the GreatsChronicle, the <i>Ecclesiastical History</i> incorporates a number ofadditional sources and deploys specific narratological tools to convey aunique vision of history that results from the cultural, political andpersonal circumstances in which Bar Ebroyo wrote his work. In short,the <i>Ecclesiastical History</i> shows how the long-lived tradition ofthe Church history writing was adjusted to respond to the specificchallenges that the political and religious landscape of 13th centuryMiddle East posed to the Syrian Orthodox community.