Pope Michael III of Alexandria

Saint Michael III of Alexandria
Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
Papacy began	25 April 880
Papacy ended	16 March 907
Predecessor	Shenouda I
Successor	Gabriel I
Personal details
Born	Egypt
Died	16 March 907
Buried	Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great
Nationality	Egyptian
Denomination	Coptic Orthodox Christian
Residence	Saint Mark's Church
Sainthood
Feast day	16 March (20 Baramhat in the Coptic calendar)

Pope Michael III of Alexandria (also known as Khail III) was the Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark (880–907).^[1]

The patriarchal biography of Michael III comes from the writings of Michael of Damrū (Mīkhāʾil al-Damrāwī), bishop of Tinnis, in History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria.^[2] During the consecration of a church to St. Ptolemy in Xois (present day Sakha, Egypt), the bishop of the diocese was late to attend the consecration and came into conflict with Pope Michael, throwing the offered but not yet consecrated bread on the floor of the church. The Patriarch and other bishops unanimously decided to condemn the bishop of Xois. The deposed and vengeful bishop then convinced ibn Tulun that the patriarch had vast wealth, and so ibn Tulun imprisoned Pope Michael for one year. The Coptic lay notables eventually negotiated for his release as paying 20,000 dinars in two installments. Michael of Damrū notes that the patriarch raised funds after his release from prison to pay the debt to ibn Tulun and also built a private latrine for himself in prison, at the cost of 300 dinars.^[3]

In 882, when forced to come up with the funds to free the patriarch from prison, the Coptic church sold a church, which had originally been a synagogue and was converted into the church during the Byzantine era, to the local Jewish community.^[4] This building was at one time believed to have later become the site of the Cairo Geniza.

References

[edit]

^ "The Departure Of the St. Anba Khail (Mikhail) the Fifty Six Pope of the See of St. Mark". CopticChurch.net. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
^ N. Swanson, Mark (2010-03-24), "Michael of Damrū", Christian-Muslim Relations 600–1500, Brill, retrieved 2022-11-04
^ Swanson, Mark N. (2010). The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt (641-1517). American Univ in Cairo Press. pp. 44–45. ISBN 978-977-416-093-6.
^ Goitein, S. D. (1960). "The Documents of the Cairo Geniza as a Source for Mediterranean Social History". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 80 (2): 91–100. doi:10.2307/595583. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 595583.

Preceded by Shenouda I	Coptic Pope 880–907	Succeeded by Gabriel I

v t e Patriarchs of Alexandria
Patriarchs prior to the Chalcedonian schism (43–451)	Mark I the Evangelist (founder) Anianus Avilius Kedronos Primus Justus Eumenius Markianos* Celadion Agrippinus Julian Demetrius I Heraclas Dionysius Maximus Theonas Peter I Achillas Alexander I Athanasius I Peter II Timothy I Theophilus I Cyril I Dioscorus I
Coptic Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Timothy II Peter III Athanasius II John I John II Dioscorus II Timothy III Theodosius I Peter IV Damian Anastasius Andronicus Benjamin I Agathon John III Isaac Simeon I Alexander II Cosmas I Theodore I Michael I Mina I John IV Mark II James Simeon II Joseph I Michael II Cosmas II Shenouda I Michael III Gabriel I Cosmas III Macarius I Theophilus II Mina II Abraham Philotheos Zacharias Shenouda II Christodoulos Cyril II Michael IV Macarius II Gabriel II Michael V John V Mark III John VI Cyril III Athanasius III John VII Gabriel III John VII Theodosius III John VIII John IX Benjamin II Peter V Mark IV John X Gabriel IV Matthew I Gabriel V John XI Matthew II Gabriel VI Michael VI John XII John XIII Gabriel VII John XIV Gabriel VIII Mark V John XV Matthew III Mark VI Matthew IV John XVI Peter VI John XVII Mark VII John XVIII Mark VIII Peter VII Cyril IV Demetrius II Cyril V John XIX Macarius III Joseph II Cyril VI Shenouda III Tawadros II (current)
Greek Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Proterius Timothy II Timothy III John I Peter III Athanasius II John II John III Dioscorus II Timothy IV Theodosius I Gaianus Paul Zoilus Apollinarius John IV Eulogius Theodore I John V George I Cyrus Peter IV Peter V Peter VI Cosmas I Politianus Eustatius Christopher I Sophronius I Michael I Michael II Christodoulos Eutychius Sophronius II Isaac Job Elias I Arsenius Theophilus II George II Leontius Alexander II John VI Cyril II Sabbas Sophronius III Elias II Eleutherius Mark III* Nicholas I Gregory I Nicholas II Athanasius III Gregory II Gregory III Niphon Mark IV Nicholas III Gregory IV Nicholas IV Athanasius IV Mark V Philotheus Mark VI Gregory V Joachim I Silvester Meletius I Pegas Cyril III Gerasimus I Metrophanes Nicephorus Joannicius Paisius Parthenius I Gerasimus II Samuel Cosmas II Cosmas III Matthew Cyprian Gerasimus III Parthenius II Theophilus III Hierotheus I Artemius Hierotheus II Callinicus Jacob Nicanor Nilus Sophronius IV Photius Meletius II Nicholas V Christopher II Nicholas VI Parthenius III Peter VII Theodore II (current)
Latin Catholic (1276–1954)	Atanasio (Athanasius) Egidio da Ferrara (Giles) ?Humbert II, Dauphin of Vienne Juan (John) Guillaume de Chanac Arnaud Bernard du Pouget (Arnaldo Bernardi) uncanonical Jean de Cardaillac Pietro Amely di Brunac ? Johannes Walteri von Sinten uncanonical Simon of Cramaud Pietro Amely di Brunac Leonardo Dolfin Ugo Roberti Pietro Amaury di Lordat Lancelotus de Navarra Giovanni Contarini Pietro Vitalis di Mauléon Giovanni Vitelleschi Marco Condulmer Jean d'Harcourt Arnaldo Rogerii de Palas Pedro de Urrea Pedro González de Mendoza Diego Hurtado de Mendoza Alonso de Fonseca y Acevedo Bernardino Carafa Cesare Riario Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora Ottaviano Maria Sforza Julius Gonzaga Cristoforo Guidalotti Ciocchi del Monte Jacques Cortès Tommaso Alessandro Riario Enrico Caetani Giovanni Battista Albani Camillo Caetani Séraphin Olivier-Razali Alessandro di Sangro Honoratus Caetani Federico Borromeo Allesandro Crescenzi Aloysius Bevilacqua Petrus Draghi Bartoli Gregorio Giuseppe Gaetani de Aragonia Carlo Ambrosio Mezzabarba Filippo Carlo Spada Girolamo Crispi Giuseppe Antonio Davanzati Lodovico Agnello Anastasi Francisco Mattei Augustus Foscolo Paolo Angelo Ballerini Domenico Marinangeli Paolo de Huyn Luca Ermenegildo Pasetto
Melkite Catholic (1724–present)	Cyril VI Tanas Athanasius IV Jawhar Maximos II Hakim Theodosius V Dahan Athanasius IV Jawhar Cyril VII Siaj Agapius II Matar Ignatius IV Sarrouf Athanasius V Matar Macarius IV Tawil Ignatius V Qattan Maximos III Mazloum Clement Bahouth Gregory II Youssef-Sayur Peter IV Geraigiry Cyril VIII Geha Demetrius I Qadi Cyril IX Moghabghab Maximos IV Sayegh Maximos V Hakim Gregory III Laham Youssef I Absi
Coptic Catholic (1824–present)	Maximos Jouwed Kyrillos Makarios Stéphanos I Sidarouss Stéphanos II Ghattas Antonios I Naguib Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak
*Markianos is considered Mark II on the Greek side of the subsequent schism, hence this numbering of Mark III. Category Commons

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