252 l'i t l t ( i t,t,t, t t ll,t lt l, l
Letter Collections
Editions:
Grigor kat'ołikosi Tłay koch'ets'eloy, Namakani; Teułn
Lambronats'w|oy. . . t'ułt'ew chaik' (Letters of Katholikos Grigor Tłay antl Lt,,lt,
and Homilies of Lord NersŻs Lambronars'i (Venice, 1838)
Grigor Tłay ew s. Nersćs Lambronats'i. Namakani Grigori kat'ołikosi. ..
Lambronats'woy Atenabanut'iwn T'ułf ai Lewon t'agawor, Nerboł i Hambctnl:tttt,,,
K'ristosi ew i Galust Hogwoyn Srboy (Grigor Tłay and St NersEs Lambruttut,l',
Letters of Katholikos Grigor. . . and Oration of N. Lambronats'i Letter lo /.ttt,.
Lewon, Eulogy to the Ascension of Christ and the Coming of the Holy Sllit,tt
(Venice, 1865)
'T'ułt'Nersisi Ark'episkopi Kilikets'wots' Tarsoni pataskhani yOskann argelakan cll1,
nawori i metsn Antiok (Letter of Nerses, archbishop of Tarsos in Cilicia, in repl_y t,,
Oskan, amonkimprisonedinAntiochtheGreat)', Chiak'al(1859) 1,3-1l;2,37 ,|.t
'Pataskhani Oskan argelakan chgnawori i metsn Antiok (Reply of Oskan, a nltlltl..
imprisoned in Antioch the Great)', in Khurhrdatsut'iwn srbazn pulurtt,l,t
( Commentary on the Divine Liturgy) (Jerusalem, 1842)
K'. Kostaneants', ed., Grigor Magistrosi t'ułt'erć (Letters of Grigor Magi:łlnl:l
(Alexandropol, l910)
Translations:
E. Gjandschezian, 'Ein Brief des Gregor Magistros an den Patriarchen Petrrls
Zeitschriftfńr armenischen Philologie2(I903l4), 75-80 : letterno. 5 of Kostaneillll:,
(Ein Brief
des Gregor Magistros an den Emir Ibrahim', Zeitschri/i.lttt
armenischen Philologie 2 (I903l4).234 63 :
letter no. 70 of Kostanęants'
- wilsi
A.K. Sanjian and A. Terian, An enigmatic letter of Gregory Magistros', Jourrutl ,,l
the Societyfor Armenian Studies 2 (1985-6), 85-95 : letter no.12 of Kostanełtltl:,
Laments
I{erses Shnorhali
Critical Edition:
M. Mkrtch'yan, ed., Ołb Edesioy (Erevan, 1973)
Translations:
(1) E. Dulaurier, 'Elógie sur la prise d'Edesse', in RHC I,223-68
(2) I. Kóchichian, Nersćs Śnorhali. La complainte d'Edayse, Bibliotheca Armeniitt;r
Textus et Studia 3 (Venice, l984)
(3) T.M. van Lint, 'Lament on Edessa by Nersćs Śnorhali', in K. Ciggaar andH. Tctrl,,
eds., East and West in the Crusader States. Context, contacts, confrontalitttt:
Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 92 (Leuven, 1999), 49-105
Secondary Literature:
T.M. van Lint, 'Seeking meaning in catastrophe: Nerses Śnorhali's Lament on Etlc,s,,ttt'
in Ciggaar and Teule, ęds., East and West (Leuven, 1999),2941
Grigor Tlay
Edition and Translation:
E. Dulaurieą 'Elógie sur la prise de Jórusttlem' , in RHC' |, 26L) 307
ll
Nt,,.,t, ,,
Syriac Historiographi cal Sources
t
(,lt, \
WITOLD WITAKOWSKI
,
',\ l(lA(' HISTORIOGRAPHY HAS ONLY THREE WORKS
which provide historicirI.
lrttling Prosopographical, information for the period in question. Thcsc
'lr,
rlt' lllc chroniclęs (in chronological order) by Michael the Elder (Syr. Mikir'cl
lł,rlltl. (MTkha'al Rabba; hereafter
MR), an anonymous Edessene (,t,ltt,
t ltt'tlttit:le to the Year l234; hereafterXl234) and John Gregory BarEbrtlytl
{ \ t l|.1ilnnąn Greghoryós Bar'Ebhraya; hereafter
BE), also known in Arabic irs
\ llrl'l Faraj ('Father of what is pleasant').1
( icnerallY the Syriac chronicles
can be regarded as less important thirll
( llt:Ck Sources for
mainstream Byzantine history, and even less for Byzantillc
ilrtl:it)Po8faPhy.This is due to the fact that for most of the period l0ż5- l2(l4
tllt'ltl'e& inhabited by the Syrians, the members of the Syrian orthodox (i.c.
|,rt'rlbite) church to which all the three authors here examinęd belong,
lll ll 1|ilęgllY adjacent to the Byzantine empire. Thus Byzantium
did not lo<rlrl
l.rrrlc within the geographtcal horizon of our historians, who were c()llsc-
,;rrt'lltlY less interested in its affairs. The prosopographical contributiorr
tll'thc
lllrltticles for the period in question is not as rich as it is for the pre-lslirlllic
;'t'litld, during which the Syrians lived within the RomanlByzantine clrrlril.c:
,' lltat historiographical narrative
' of their affairs was naturally also a nźl1.I-źl_
tltt'tlf BYzantine affairs. As a result, for the period
1025-1 ż04 tlle Syl-iłrc
lrIrllricles-and there is hardly any other kind of Syriac sourcę that colltłriIls
,
r,'levant material-recede from the position of being primary sources, '|'Ilis
rlrlct; flot mean, of course, that they can be ignored. One shoulcl
bc awitI.c.
ll()Wcver that we do not learn much from them about the most inrptrrtitltl
, \('llts of BYzantine history and the people
involved in them. wlrtr tll'(cIt
l','ltlnged to court circles or the army. An example is provided by tltc sttll.y tll'
lll w|rat fbllows the sPelling
of Syriac names with a so-called 'patronymic' ('stl-c;rllctl' I.1ct.ltttsr.
l lIt lCS tlot alwaYs Provide the name of the bearer's father) is normalisecJ stl tIritt tltc ';llttlilttyltlit-'
r t rlltlbiiled with the
Preceding'Bar'('son of') but begins with a capital lcttcr. 'Pltttrltlytllics'ltlltl
l1,1llIcs with no corresPonding counterparts in English are spelt accorcling ttl it silu1llilictl
1lrlsl
, l,r'lsical Western SYriac pronunciati<lll; at first occurrencc they arc accolrrplttrictl l"ly
lr.lttlst.r i;llitrlr
r, r rltrlill$ to classical Syriltc rttlcs ilt
1,1itl,cll(hcscs, its is thc casc hcrc, ()bsrllctc l.:ttiItisetl lill lrls
rt, lt ils'lJirr llcbritctls'rlt-'ll;tI'llt.llIltt,tl*';ttr.;tvtlitlctl.
l'1,1t'1'1'1tj1l,q,ytlf'tltt,llt,ttt,lll ltlttlt,tttI l |.) '',[ )li' ,, llrt,lllilislr At.;rtlt.lrry ltX)'/
 254 witold wiłukow,łki sYlt lA( ,
l lls,l,( )lł l( X ;l{AIrl ll(,At, sOIJIąCtis 255
thę t204 Crusade and the conquest of Constantinople as told by the autlttlt I}Yzantine civil gtlvcrtl()rs tll,cc:clcsiirstical hierarchs are
most often netmetl
of the X]234.2 For this event of such tremendous importance no nźllllcs rl lhcY had contacts with Syriłtt,ls, or, respectively, with the Jacobite hier_
of Greeks are given, making an interesting contrast to the mention ol' tlrc rtl'elts. aS WaS the case, fbr examplę, with Nikephoros,
the Greek orthoclox
sultan of Ikonion (with whom the crusaders reached an agreement conccrtl lrrctroPolitan of Melitene, who opposed the Jacobite patriarch
ing their Passage to Syria), whose full namę and patronymic are providctl: John (yIII)
llllrAbdun's (Bar'Abhdun) warm reception in Constaniinople.8 In
such case
Rukn al-Drn, the son of Kilic Arslan.3 However, although the central evenls lhu SYriac chronicles are definitely very valuable, sinc. ,u.h persons
of BYzantine history are only sporadically reported, at least the names of thr would
1rnlbably not be mentioned by non-Syriac sources.
emPerors are Provided, usually on the occasion of one succeeding the othcl., In addition one must point to the fact thatthe Syriac sources
have a bias:
The SYriac chroniclers were not only less interested in Byzantine affait.s \(lllle measure of grudge, if not hostility, against the Greeks present,
is espe_
for this period but also less well informed about details of the events tll r'iilllY in Michael the Elder's work. This is, however, hardly
u .ir.,r-rtance
Byzantine history which they did in fact narrate. Unfortunately the missing llult diminishes their source value. By studying the Syriac sources
details include the names of the people who took part in the events describetl,
one ees
llyzantine history from a different perspective.
Moreover the dates provided are not always reliable.
These deficiencies are, however, balanced by much more abundant infor"
mation, including prosopographical, concerning individuals who had con-
MICHAEL THE ELDER
tacts with the Empire, be it Syrians, Armenians, Arabs, Ttrrks, or crusaders,
GenerallY the Syriac chronicles are more interested in events in the Byzantinr: Michael the Elder (MR) is known to western scholars under the name
eastern border provinces, close to the Syriac-speaking atęa. This is especially Michael the Syrian due to the fact that the first (and so far the only)
true for the eaĄ years of the period in question during which Byzantine gov-
editor of
lus Chronicle, Jęan-Baptiste Chabot, gave him this name (Michel
le Syrien),
ernors controlled territories inhabited by Syrians (such as Melitene), befotc trltlst ProbablY following the title of the edition of the Armenian
version by
the Turkish conquests removed those areas from Byzantine political control, t'ltlouard Dulaurier, P.rblirh.d first (fragments only) in the Journal
asiatique
Thus for the subsequent period the Turkish rulers take the place once held in { ltt48-9) and later in 1869 in the Recueil
des historiens des croisades.9 Even if
the chronicles by theByzantine governors. As an example we might name thc rtlclr a name makes sense when used in Armenian sourceslo
it has no justifi-
PaSSagę of the Xl234, which provides names of Turkish emirs, who becamc t'itlion in SYriac. In fact our chronicler is never so named in the Syriac
governors of tęrritories and cities captured from Byzantium.a \('tlrcęS. There hę is referred to by the name Mika'el
Rabo. 'Rabo'means in
Historical facts are reported if they take place within the Syriac historians' S.Yriac both 'great'and 'elder'. Our historian was
certainly one of the more
geograPhicalhorizon, as for instance the information given by the author tll' tltt;lortant Patriarchs of the Syrian Orthodox church (1166_99),
but it seems
thę X1234 about the expedition of Emperor John (II Komnenos) to Cilicia and tllirt he is callęd Rabo in later sources (BarEbroyo)l1 to distingńsh
him from
his death.s Another example may be the account of Kassianos, a Byzantinc lris namesake and nephew, Michael (II) Zeoro (Ze':óral,i.e. ,thó
governor in Anatolia, who went over to the Danishmendid ęmir Ghazi and ilr
Little,,or .the
\ilLrnger, Junior'. The latter was the anti-patriarch (1 lg9_12t5),
opposed to
return was given a position in the service of the emir.6 Howeveą there is harclty l'irtriarch Athanasios IX Slibo Qroho (Selibha
Qeraba; 1tgg_I207) and,after
anY mention of the affairs of the empire on its northern borders,7let alonę tll' llro latter's death, his successor.
the people involved in them. MR was born in 112617 in Melitene, a son of Elias who was a priest and
ir 1ll.ysician. As a young man MR became a monk, and
afte^o-. time, at
tllc age of thirty, abbot of the BarSawmo (BarSawmż) monastery
2 Xl2 34, vol. 2, 502, żI4-|5ttr, 160-1 .
(between
3 XL234,vol.ż, 50ż,zl4ttr. 16l.
4 X]234, vol.2, 24O, s}-lltr. 36-7.
5 Xl234, vol.2, 399, 107-9ltr. 8t4.
6 MR 610 central col,/tr. vol. 3, 227;BE * MR 562-3/tr.
Chronography 289ltr.255. vol. 3, 140-1.
7 OccasionallY
Pieces of information on events in that area canbe found, such as an account ttl " l)ulaurier, Extrait de la Chronique de Michel le Syrien.
the Cumans in MR, which is an excerpt from thę Chronicle of Basil BarShumno (Barśumnir); |" l ltlwever,
V Langloią another translator of thę Armenian version of MR,s work, did not
MR 600-1, central col./tr. vol. 3, 207,Thę author of the Xl234, who also knew Basil's work, by this name: Langlois, Chronique de Michel le Grand.
lrrrrl
call
does not however mention the cumans.
'| (iregorii Barhebraęi
(|hnni<,on ecclesiasticum, vo|.1,
cols. 535-6, 6l7-18.
 e,*
].5(l ll
'

tt, llt l l l
'

i t t t l,, r l l t
,,t,/,
i sYl( lĄ( ' l1ls l( )li l( x ;li \1,1ll(,^l S( )l]l{( ,I \ .r\ /

Mclitcnc ttlltl Sittnclsittlt). llc wits tlllcrccl thc c1-lisct)|]:lcy tll'Altlitllt ttl lIr, lll't''I lllc 1,1rlitl ;rlttliltlr.'ll tll l\tllitl1,|1,1'| lll I l7li/() llc
1rlritl:r visil lrl tllt,
but did not accępt it, whcrc:ts ilr thc rrcxt ycar hc wits olcctccl pirtl,i;ttt,ll l,,
"l lt'l tlSillclll. lJlrltlwirl lV. ill Al.ktl (AcI,c). llc wits illvilctl ltl 1,1ltI-1ici1l:rlt.
Synod convened in the monastery of Pesqin (Pesqin), arrcl wits c()l)sct,| ltlt.r l , ,,,
'l" llriltl l,ittcI'all (]tltlItcil (llt.i7. itgitinst thc AlbigcItscs). lltlt tlitl llrll
l8 October 1166 in thę monastery of BarSAwmo. l''l ll, llc clitl nonetheless write a treatise on thc topic: wItich wlts lrl llc
As the patriarch elect, Michael announced that he woulcl acccl-tt l llt, ;,, ,1, ,l.,,,,tl lrl tltc Council,
tificate if the bishops promised more strict observance of the cźlll()ll:i (lll, r, ll, ',rl1l1ltlrted the patriarch
of the Coptic church agetins1 a sc,ltisllllrlic lly
had been cases of simony among the bishops, changes of diocesc lllltl .ll,, IlIll' :| 1l<llcrrrical work. He maintained equally goocl rclłttitllts
wirlt l llc
,

irregularities). Soon after his enthronemęnt he passed twenty-ninc tlist,t1,1,,, ,ll1,1rl c:cclesiastics, katholikos Nerses IV Shnorhali (ll66
73), irIlcl ll is
ar} Canons. These reform efforts, followed by the deposition of soIrrc (,( l l ll ,I ) t
" "t,l (ircgory IV Degha, after the affair of Theodore BarW:tltbtlIl. lrl
bishops, causęd dissension, which in ll75 even led to MR's tt:lll1l.,t.,, , l l l l l l 99) MR participated in the coronation of King
Levon l.
imprisonment by the emir of Mosul, Sayf al-Drn. lrr ltls ctlntacts with the Muslim authorities hę was, oftęn
cluc tcl his 1lcl-
A more Serious problem was the schism in l180, when his forlllt.l ;ltt1,,l , llt 1rttt'i||]c and deftness, able to avert dangers that thretttenecl
tlrc clrrll-cll.
and godson Theodore BarWahbun (BarWahbDn) was electecl lr} ,,l|lll l ll l lre visited the Seljuk sultan Kilic Arslan
II.15 During the visit htl llcltl
bishops opposed to MR-as an anti-patriarch. MR promptly tlt.;r,, ,,t lli,Il )lIs tliscussion with a Muslim philosopher Kamłl
al-Din.
Theodore and shut him up in the monastery of BarSawmo, but stllltt.trl ll, \ lli rlictl on 7 Novembęr ll99 in the monastery
of BarSawmo. wIlcl-c llt.
monks helPed him to escapę, whereupon he went first to Daltrritst,tl,,,ltI,1 , rl .,, lrrrricd.16
Jerusalem in order to bring his cause before the Muslim authorilics (l-..rlrl \l|i r;ltlkc Syriac, Armenian and Arabic. He took an interest in tlrltlltl_
al-Drn, Saladin) and, when this did not succeed, he went to Ciliciir wltt,l, l, ,
'l'l , .lrrtl libraries; he himself copied books, some of which are prcscl-vctl.| /
WaS recognised as the patriarch of the Jacobites in thę kingdom o|'Al tlt,,l,, , i rttlt'llt't'ltral/literary production18 can be divided into the following gI()tl|)si:
The schism lasted until Theodore's death in 1l93. i tllłl11 litw:29 Canonslg which he passed soon after his instirlllltitlll. lt
Much of his pontificate MR spent travelling from place ttl 1ll;t., ,ll,r'l} lrlltl decretals concerning church administration. e.g.
tlrirt tlll tllc
required by the administration of the church. When not travelling hc lt.,,l, |, , r
",litll'rlVCl'of the diocese of Mardin to the authority of the mttpltritttt.)|
in Mardin or, most often, in his previous monastery, that of BarSitwrrr,, l l, lllllll'V- MR revised the Syrian Orthodox pontifical,22 ancl tlrc l.itc tll,
relations with the monks were, however, not good. Serious conflicls ()(,( llll, ,I l, r,tIlrlll (c.g. ms. Vaticanus Syr.5l); composed
an AnaphortL, thc |)fllycl.s
in l l7l and l|76. llr, lt lll'c arranged to form an acrostich of the Syriac alphirbct;
hc ltlsrl
As the head of his church MR maintained good relations with tllt...,, l |, l)l;lvcI,s called sedrć, which are inserted in the books of o1.ficcs.
siastical and secular authorities of his time. In 1l69 he was appl,tlltr..ll,.,l I

Emperor Manuel I Komnenos who invited him to Constantinoplc lill 1.1ll

ll l ,,| ]. 332 (BE's Chron. eccl. vol.I, col, 545).
concerning church unity. MR refusęd to go in person but did setrcl tlt.lt.1,,rt,
l \

' , (,/ll,. vol. 3, 390-1.

Another meeting on the question of union took place in ll72, with tllt. ( l t, , 'l,
, lll, ||i|\lc|,y
l
is today in ruins, Honigmann, Le couvent de Bctrsaunlrt.3 5.
Orthodox representative Theorianos.l2 Michael's delegate was tlrcIl 'l 'llt,, ,, l, ,, lll Srlr clLlclques autographes de Michel le Syrien patriarche d'Anticlchc tlc
l l(l(l ll l l()t),.
,, l t )t it,ttI chrćtien 19 (1914),318-97.
BarWahbun.13
|,, 1,1llt,'Michel le Syrien', l7l4-I7.
MR had good relations with the crusaders. While still abbot ol' l]lrl S,t,t r,, ] ,'l'' ittcltlclcd bY BarEbroyo in his Nomocanon: Nomoca1,I()na eli Bttr-Ilahtt,rl. ltirlilrll lr
monastęry he participated, together with Patriarch Athanasios Vtll. llr tl, ' |'l" l'llli. Sltcra Congregazione per lę Chiese orientali: Codilicaziottc canclIticlt tll.iclll:rle
consecration of a LŃin church in Antioch; later, in 1168, whc:ll lt, lr,.i , l ll.,t Illlillit antiochena (Siri) (Vatican, 193l).
t trlt \ Viiiihus, ed.,TheSynodiconintheWestSyriunTracliticllt,vo|.2,('S(,()vtll.
already become patriarch, he was received with honours by Ąltt.trr, ł7r,SS
(Amalric) of Nesle, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and later by Alltl,-t,, 'l"ltt,lrrl. |()7(l), l67ff.; tr. in the Versiovolume, CSCO vol. 37(l, SS l(l4. l7()ll,; scc ltlstl A
,
I l)l\('()Vcl'Y tll'a treatise about the ecclesiastical aclminislrirtiotl ascribctl trl Miclllrcl lllt,
' l ,l lIlll(|tlc tlocument in the literary genre of canon law', Churclt IIi;łtttr_1, 4] (l9]s). .) l (l
l llll. tll'lllc rnctroPolitan of the eastern dioceses (on tlic tcrrittlt,y
<ll'1llc lil1-Illcl.S;ts;ttlltl
| 'llt)rtl lllc SYriirn Orthodox church, second only 1o the patriitrch. l'lrc tlecl.cc is tltttllctl
llr
12 Thę Greek acts of this meeting are extant, PG l33, l l4tT, , rrr| .). 1łl _l/tr.247 B.
13 MR tr. vol.
3,334-6 (there is a lacuna in the Syriac text; Chabtlt's tritns|tttitlll is lrt,,l r,l,,l l \,r,,li,,'l,cs lcxlcs hibliqtlcs tllttls lc prllllilic:itl clc Michc| Ic (]1.1tlrtl (lI66 l |99|.. lltllltt.tt
the basis of the text in BE's Chron. ec:t,l. vol.I, cols. 549 6()). ,lł,l l()/ l]
 ]sti ll t1,1ltl ll'tlttlttnl,,tl, i
lllrgitlgrirllhy łrltcl [litlgrit1llly: llc tllltclc it I,cvisitllt tll'tltt: Lif<,tll /rlttt ll,i
(Ahhlruń, tlrc legenclary bislrtlp ()l'Nicttcit ilt thc cIlcl tll'tllc sixlll r.,r.,lllrrr
fact a composition of the iconoclast period clcl'cncling thc ctllt (ll t.,ll,
Wrote panegyrical homilies on John of Mardin (ur-rpLrblishccl)-],lltlltl rltl \l
BarSawmo:25 a poem celebrating a young Christian woman wlrtllll lltt. \ r ,l
of Mosul tried to force to accept Islam; a (lost) panegyric on his !'l,tt,t1,1 ,i
metropolitan of Amida,, Dionysius BarSalibi (BarSalibT; d. I17l).
Theology: a miaphysite creed, the result of his contacts with ccclt,.,1,1 ll
of other churches;26 adogmatic statement written in 1180 at thc t,r..t;rl,
the Coptic patriarch Marqus III ibn Zllr'a, directed against Marc1lls ll,rr
Qanbaą a Coptic priest and reformer with Messalian inclinatitllls. ll,,It,,
refutation of his vięws except those on the necessity of confęssioll lrr..l,,t, lI
communion, since this was the usage of the Syrian Orthodox chttt,t,lr ri
Treatise against the Albigenses (a result of his being invited ttl tllt. llr,,
Lńeran Council; written in 1178, now lost); instructions for 'l'llt,,,,l,,,
BarWahbun (l l72) for his talks in Constantinople on the union;:* lt,ll, r
the Armenian katholikos Nerses IV Shnorhali.
But MR's most highly valued work today is his comprehensivc ('llt,,tt,.
(Syr. Makhtabhanuth zabhne).It is a developed universal chroniclc. i.t. l,, ,.,,
ning with the Creation (and ending with the year 1 I95l6), and contll ill ll l l, l
toriographical material of a narrative charactęr. The work is clivitl,.,l ,,,,
twenty-one books, each containing several chapters. The material is l;l1,1 ,.,
in thręe columns providing respectively a record of church histclry.:,tr tl|,
history and varia (which oftęn include copies of documents relevllIlt l, ll,
events described in other columns, or longer quotations from othcr, \\,lIl,
With this arrangement in columns MR modifięd the pattern ęstzrlrlisll,,l
thę Chronicle of Eusebios of Caesarea,29 increasing the spatiul?l hi,llttt,t, tt,,,
three columns and reducingthefila regnorum to 'footnotes', i.e. plłrcilt1, llr,
at thę bottom of the manuscript page. This change had become neccss;l 1 1 , ,,
to the abundance of historiographical material.
23P. Bedjan, ed., Acta martyrum et sanctorum syriace, vol. 6 (Paris, 1896; rcpl,. lll1,1, l,,,
1968), 557 615.
24 A. Vóóbus,'Die Entdeckung des Panegyrikus des Patriarchen Mika'el iiber.ltlhltllrr,,,,
Mardć', Oriens Christianus 55 (1971), 204-9.
25 A. Vóóbus,'Discovery
of a panegyric by Michael Syrus', in Melanges Antoittt, (;tlllllllll,,
contributiolts d l'Ćtude des christianismes orientaux, Cahiers d'Orientalisme 20 ((icttcr,r |,,
271-85 (text in facsimile, no tr.).
26The creed, addressed to the Bmp for Manuęl Komnenos in 1169, is knowll ,,Illr
tra-uslations into Gre k and Arabic, Graf, 'Michael der crosse', 266.
27 Graf,'Michael
der Gro se', 26Ó ?,
23 The beginning is preservęd
in the x12_r4, vo1,2.3ll l4ltr.233 4.
29 Cf. \ł| Witakowski, "rhe Chronicle of Eusebius; its type and coDtintlilli.,ll lll ,,
ll 12 (|999 2000), 4l9 3?,
historiogtaphy', Aram Periotlirul
f SYltlA( llls l( }lł l( l( ;lł,\1,1ll( ,^l. s( )l l|<(,l \ .)\()
\lli ttl;ttlc ttsc tll- st,\'(,|'ill t,;ttltt,t lllsltlt,itlg1,1r1llliclrl wtll,ks. wlllcll llt. ll,r.
rrllt r;rltllctl vcl'blttilll. l itt t,lrtllt,l clltlclls lris wtlt,k is it ctlttsciclltirltts
"|,r1,1lt,'tl llltsccl Pirrtly tlIl lill()wll lrIltl pztrtly ()ll t_lllklttlwll (i.c:. lltll 1ll,t.
,,lt,,rItll'ccs. Tlrese arc,,]() up t() (]orrstantine, Euscbicls trl'('ilcsitt,cit (lltl(ll
' ltt,,ttit'l( and Church Hist.ory), Annianos, Andronikos; lilr thc ycł1l,s
lll, lllc ('hurch Histories of Socrates and Theodoret; lbr 4]l _5(1_5. tllc
",lt lli,l'ltll'y of Pseudo-Zachariah thę Rhetor; for 325 5B2, tlrc ('ltttn.lt
l .ll' .ltlltn of Asia; from Justinian to Herakleios, the Chrtlnit,lt, tll' (itrl,ilr
,,,,
l ll lrl1 1,_5 82,that of Cyrus (Qura) of Batnae/Serug (lost); lbr 32_5 ]26
, l l111111j1'|ę of Jacob of Edessa (partly lost); and for later periocls histtlritl-
,1,1ll, .tl wtlrks which are all lost, i.e. those
of John the Stylite of Litlrrblr ttl
, l )tl,rlysitls of Tel-Mahre for the period 582-842,Ignatios of MclitcIlc lilI,
l l l |i. l}irsil BarShumno (BarŚumna)3l of Edessa for the periocl l l ltt 4l.
ilrll,tlly.Iohn (Iwannis) of Kaishoum (d. 1134) and Dionysios BirrSirlilli
l l 'l ) lilr the period practically contemporary with MR. The last thl,cc
I ,t . t l() 2l ) are based on MR's own observations as patriarch.
ll, ll;llllcs all these sources, but it is not certain whethęr he usecl irll tll'
,,, , llt t'ct ly. In addition to being mentioned in the main text, they wcrc it lstl
,Illll l,rlctl in the preface, but since the first folio
or perhaps two are lclst, this
, , l | .rl,,rl gtlnę. It can be restored on the basis of the preface in the ArnlcIriitIl
,r"ll (('Ilabot used this for his translation),32 and that of thc Arlrlric
,r11 ll MR also hadat his disposal numerous documęnts, letters,
itcts tll'
,,,,, ||,,. t'll11O1lS, etc., which he frequently quoted
in long fragments or irl ltrll.
I lr|ll('cs źllso include an Arabic work, now lost, for the years ll()7 19.
l , lt tt;ls lrlso known to Ibn al-Athir (d. 1233), Book 14, which contitiIrs lttt
l ,,rtttl tll' tlre history and customs of the Turks, is most probably
bitsccl tltt
, | , ItItl s()[lt'ces.
, t lr, ll;tcladded seven appendices to the Chronicle, containing ( |) ir list tll'
|
l,Il(";lly succession starting from the Jewish high priests an<l contitltlirlg
'll lllt'1lirtriarchs of the four main sees (Rome, Alęxandria, Ephcsrrsi
1.1||tirltlPle and Antioch), (2) lists of secular rulers of various pctl;llcs
lll \.llttlt through the Roman emperors to the caliphs and tlre crustttlcl,
t ł) lr sketch of the history of the Arameans, (4) an annotatecl list tll' tlle
,lll tlt Ils tll- the Syrian Orthodox church from Severos of Antioch (_5l2 llś)
r , N,1l{ himself, together with a list of the bishops consecratecl by cvcl,y
l, ,,1,1lllg lo.1,-B. chabot,s analysi Chtonique de Mithel, vo1.1. pp, xxlv Xxxvll, A
i,,,l,,rlg|l analysis of Michael's sources is badly needed,
ll,rlrrr,. known only from consonantal pe|ling, can al o be pronouncc(l l}lrr.Sllrrn1,1lt,
,,]lllllll|ltl).
,, r,,l.,l,] tl.. vol, l. l 2,
,ll.|. .lli,lć syri chc l_i lc',
P
260 witold witakow,yki
Syrian Orthodox patriarch, starting from Kyriakos (792) again up to MR (it
contains about 950 names, mostly otherwise unknown), (5) a list of the sallllc
bishops, this time arranged by their dioceses, (6) a sketch of thę history tll
Armenia. The last of the appendices contains (7) a list of the kątholikoi ol
the Church of the East from Akakios (484) to John V (1000).
Thę Chronicle is regarded as the greatest achievement of Syriac histori
ography in general. It is an extremely valuable source-in its compilatory
part for its preservation of fragments of other Syriac historiographical works
which would otherwise havę been totally lost, and in its original part for tlrc
history of the twelfth century, the epoch of the crusades, due to its being
partly an eye-witness narrative, as Michael had often participated himself ilr
the events he describes.
The Chronicle was used by Gregory BarEbroyo in the thirteenth century,
for whose historiographical works it was the main source.
The Syriac original of the Chronicle was discovered in 1887 (tlrc
Armenian version was known earlier) by the Syrian Catholic patriarclt
Ignatius Ephrem Rahmani in a manuscript of 1598 in Edessa, which is thc
only one known, and of which Rahmani had a copy made in 1887. Anothcr
copy was made for J.-B. Chabot, in 1899, and it is this (imperfect) copy whiclr
was used by Chabot for the edition, which is in facsimile. He published it ilr
several instalments from 1899 to 1910 (introduction and index in1924), along
with a French translation.
Besides the Syriac original there are two Armenian translations: a longct
one from 1246 attributed to Vardan Arewelts'i (d. I27l) and his Syrian col-
laborator Ishoh (Iśób), and a shorter one from 1248 attrlbuted to Vardall
Arewelts'i alone. Both differ in many respects from the Syriac original, prc-
senting partly an abbreviated text of MR, but also having additional passagcs
of historical interest for Armenian readers.3a
In L759 an Arabic translation, very close to the Syriac original, was madc
by the Syrian Orthodox metropolitan of Damascus, Ęanna as- adadi ihlr
'Isa. It must have been done on the basis of the Edessene manuscript as it hrrs
the samę lacunae. The Arabic version is written in Karshuni, i.e. in the Arabic
language but in Syriac characters.3s
In addition to the narration of the events in which Michael the Elder totlk
part himself, the Chronicle is also characterised by making the succession tll'
the Byzantine emperors the principle of chapter division in the earlier part tll
3a Schmidt, 'Die zweifache armenische Rezension', 30ż, mentions that about forty manuscri1llr
of the two are known, but this is an underestimatę: on number of manuscripts and the attribrr
tions to Vardan Arewelts'i, see Tim Greenwood in this volume, pp. 2ż4-5, żż6-7, 244-5.
35 Graf, 'Michael der Grosse', 267.
,
sYlt l^( l l ll{,l,( tl{ l( X il{A1,1 l l(]A l. S()tJR(,tis 2ól
tlrc pcriod dealt witlr lrcre.l('lt is tl,tlc tltat the Arab or Turkish rulcrs arc
rt'pltrlarly mentioncd hcrc ttltl, but tltc l}yzantine emperor are usually namerJ
lll'st. For the latter part, dealing with the author's lifetime and personal obser_
t,rtlitlns, he had much Inore material to hand than for the previous period and
r'ł)lls Qu tltly keeping to the rule of starting a new chapter with a new reign
tt,rluld have made the chapters too long.
Michael has a rather negative attitude towards the Byzantines. He often
ttltrrates events which show their hostility towards the Syrians, such as the
1lcrsecution of thę anti-Chalcedonians, both Jacobites and Armenians, in
l{l(l1.37 Frequently he uses derogatory speech when talking about the Greeks
('llrc cruel Greeks' Yawnayć harmć;'evil' Yawnaye ffiśa;'always intęnt on evil
t l l i ttgs" amml nay la -bhl śatha).38
THE CHRONICLE To THE YEAR 1234
|'lris chronicle is anonymous. It is possible that the name of the author was
;rrrlvided in the colophon, but since the unique manuscript is mutilated at the
r,rrtlnothing more can be said. As can be established from the text itself, the
iltlthor may have beęn an ecclesiastic at Edessa. In any case he was a native
,rl' the region of northern Mesopotamia, and belonged to the Syrian
h'thodox church. only twice does he say anything about himself. He men_
t
trrltts that he was present in Jerusalem at the time when the city was captured
lrv lSalab al-Drn (Saladin) in 1187.39 In another place he says that in 1189 he
,l('companied maphrian Gregory I40 on the latter's travel to Takrit, Sinjar and
,rlller eastern districts of the Syrian Orthodox church.al
Onę can surmise that he was born not long after 1150 and died not long
,ll'tcr 1237. It is generally believed that the anonymous author was a native
rll' l]dessa, as the history of this city looms large in his work. J.-B. Chabot
rrrggested,a2 however, that this may be due to the fact that the material on
|,tlossa most probably comes from one of his sources, the Chronicle of Basil
ll;rrShumno, the metropolitan of Edessa (not preserved). Therefore it is pos-
,,tlllc, in Chabot's view, that the anonymous
chronicler wrote his work in thc
"' I lp to Book 15, chapter 7: EmperorAlexios (I Komnenos, 1081-t 1l8) (MR 583/tr. vol. 3, l78).
" MI{ 576ltr. vol. 3, 166-7 (both columns).
'' M[a 606, outer col.,4fromthebottom/tr.222;608 outercol. lltr.225;608 outercol,,6 5 frtlnt
tlrt. lltlttom/tr. Ż26.
'' ,\'l234, vol. 2, ż}Oltr. I50.
"'MichaeltheElder'snephewJacob, maphrian intheyears 1l89-12I4. Forthe titlemaphriun,
,,,r, itbove, n. 2l.
'| .\'l234, vol. 2,3l8ltr.238.
'' lIt the preface to the edition of the second part of the XI234, p. L
lj;
262 Wito|d Witakow,rki
monastery of BarSawmo (the monastery from which MR hailed), whcrc llł,
could use the library (he quotes archival documents). He may have bcclt rt
monk there.a3 But, as J.-M. Fiey observes,4 the information on events tlt
Edessa is continued beyond the year 1171 when Basil died, and seems ttl lrt.
the account of an eye witness.as This does not ęxclude the possibility that tlrc
work was written, at least partly, in the BarSawmo monastery.
The Chronicle was not his only work. He mentions that he wrote at lclrsl
one other work, a biography of Athanasios, the metropolitan of Edesslr
(Il7I-92), which has not survived. The anonymous chronicler says: 'Wc
wrote extensively in other books about the difficulties which accumulatr.tl
against him, and made known those who had instigated them and wclr.
causes of all the wrong things.'a6
Thę Xl234 is, like Michael the Elder's, a developed universal chroniclc,
which starts from the Creation and goes up to-as the conventional titlc
shows-the year 1234. It does not necessarily mean that it was written ()l
finished in that yęat. For example, the author writes about the governłll
of Sinjar, Malik al-Aśraf'of blessed memory',a1 but the latter died on 17
August 1237.
The Chronicle is preserved in a unique manuscript copied at the end of thc
fourteenth century. At the beginning of the twentieth century (the time fr<ltll
which we have information about it) the manuscript was in the private porr
session of one Boutros Fehim in Constantinople.a8 The manuscript is muti
lated and several folios are missing. It was discovęred and in part alsrl
published by Ignatius Ephrem Rahmani, the patriarch of the Syrian Catholic
church, in 1904-11, fragments of this part subsequently being translated intrl
French by Frangois Nau (publishedtn Revue de l'Orient chrćtieninthę yeal,
1907-8). The full text was published by Jean-Baptiste Chabot in the CSC]( }
series in 1916 (the second part) and 1920 (the first part). Chabot also trans-
lated the first part into Latin (1937), whereas the translation of the secontl
part (into French) was provided by Albert Abouna, and appeared in 1974.|tl
1933 A.S. Tritton published an English translation of the section relating ttl
the First and second crusades.
Thę Chronicle contains two parts (not identical with the parts of tlre
standard edition): the secular (the entire vol. 1 and vol. 2 up to p. 2Łlltr. I8lI
and the ecclesiastical (Kathabha da-śarbe 'edhtanay7,a9 vol. 2, pp. 242-35il
a3 Chabot's preface to the edition
of the XI234, partż, p.II.
e In thę introduction to the translation of the second part, p. VIII.
o' vol.2,171-2ltr.128 ( 45żb, chlrches in Edessa), l9ż-3ttr.144-5 ( 475, trouble-makctl
".g.
at Edessa), 223ltr.167 ( 515, the Edessenes'prayers for rain).
46 X]234, vol. 2,324ltr.
ż42.
47 X]234, vol.2, 518, 229, 19-20
a8 Chabot, Mes chroniques, 12.
$awa la-dukhrana tabhąltr. I72.
49 XI234, vo]'. 2, l7 I9ltr. 12: ż2ltr.
, 15.
sY l^(, l l l,{ł,l,( )lł l( X ; lł A l(,A l. S()[, R(.IiS
R 1,1 l 263
ll |). l82-end).
"flre lirttcl,;rirrt is shtlrtcr and in the manuscript it begins,
,lllt'l'll lacuna, from thc rcign tll'thc Emperor Justinian (527-65). We know
ltrlWOVCf that the author startęd it much earlier, as he says that he treatecl
*'r t'lcsiirstical and civil history together only up to the Emperor Constantine.50
llrc ccclęsiastical part is continued up to t207, where again the manuscript
lltr'ilks off. It was written before the seculat part, as we know from the fact
tlurl it is quoted in the lattęr.sl However, in the manuscript (and the edition)
ll rs Placed after the secular. The author may have planned to stop in 12034:
lltts can bę inferręd from two notes to that effect.52 It seems, however, that a
, rltlple of decades later he changed his mind and continued his work to 1234
,tl l)orhaps beyond that date (the end of the secular part is also lost). It is,
lltlwcver, also possible that after these notes thę Chronicle was continued by
r,,tttcbody else.53
'l'he anonymous chronicler
names some of his sources in his introduction
lllw Chronicles of Eusebios, of Andronikos and of Jacob of Edessa), some he
rhn:snot name (the Bible, the Cave of Treasures). For the earlier periods onc
r tlll identify the Church History of Eusebios and those of Socrates
\t'lrtllastikos, John of Asia (6th c.), Pseudo-Zachariah the Rhetor (6th
c.),
lrirtl Dionysios of Tel-Mahre (d. 845). The latter's work has not been pre-
it't'Vcd and in fact the X]234 (along with the Chronicle of MR) is the best
,łr,tlrcg by which Dionysius's
work can be recovered.5a
It is rather surprising that our anonymous chronicler did not use MR's
l'ltronicle, which he apparently did not know. On the other hand he did use
lllillly of the sources MR used, as well as some of documents written by him,
'.ttch as for instance Michael's letter to Theodore BarWahbun,5s or the patri-
,tlch'S decree of 1195, bringing the diocese of Mardin under the sway of the
lłtttphrian rather than that of the patriarch.56
For the late period, at least from II44,57 he used the (lost) History tt'
l,)tlr:ł:;ą by Basil BarShumno, the metropolitan of Edessa (d. 1171), but, on
llls clwn testimony, he abbreviated it.5s
Since in some cases he gives dates according to Hijra, it seems that hc
,tlstl used Muslim Arabic sources,59 as'well, probably, as an Armenian sourcc
" ,\'l234, vol.l, 137ltr.109.
' c.g, vol. l,
I52ltr. 1201' 313ltr. 244, etc. (Fiey, introd ., IX, n. 23).
' .\'l234, vo7.2,2l3-14ltr. 160 (secular part),340ltt 253 (ecclesiastical).
' Ąs L.I. Conrad believes, 'Syriac perspectives',34-5.
l ('l. the quotations in part 2,18ltr,13 ( 206), 20ttr.14 (
208).
.|'l234, vol. 2, 312-14ltt. 2334.
'' .\' I234, vol, 2, 33l-3ltr. 247-8.
.\'l234, vol. 2, l2)Itr.90.
' .\'I234,vol.ż,309,224: 'What we have written above about the Edessenes we have copiccl
lrtltt't the writing of the late metropolitan Basil, abbreviating in many casęs.'(French
tr., 23l),
'' l|ctween the years łn 812 and 846 (: l9't-232 Hij.); Fiey's introd.. X.
]64 ll' i t t llt l ll' i l tt li t nrsl,
(or sources'/), since in one place lrc uses thc ArIrlclriitn lill'lll tll'thc llillllt'r,l
Jacob, namely Agób (and not Ya'qóbh) Arslan.6()
Some scholars have considered our chronicler to be biasęcl agltitlsl lll,
Franks.olThis opinion was dismissed by J.M. Fiey,62 who showecl tlrlrl tlr,
anonymous chronicler was rather objective, both in appreciating s()lllr
Muslim rulers, and in pointing to the crusaders'excesses (e,g. the pilllrl'rrl1,
of the monastery of BarSawmo by Joscelin in ll48). His symPathics rr,'r,
nevertheless with the crusaders, as he twice calls them'thę blessed Frłttrk:.
The source value of Xl234 is considerable since it preserves Source nlltlt,l
ial which is not known from elsewhere, as well as the author's own obscl r.,
tions. Howevęr in places where his text can be compared with the tlllt,
chronicles. it is shorter due to the fact that he abbreviated his soufcos ltlrll,
than the other historians. such is the case, for instance, in the account trl llr,
capture of Constantinople by the Latins tn I204.6a which is shorter thall ll1.1t
of BarEbroyo,65 although both seem to have used the same source.
of the three chronicles presented here this one has been studied lc;r ,t
and consequently therę are many unsolved or only tęntativel} Solved;lr,l,
lems in it (the sources, the author's sympathies). It definitely deserves d llItll,
systematic study.
JOHN GREGORY BAREBROYO
BarEbroyo (BE) is the author of two historiographical works in Syriac:rr1,1
one in Arabic. He is also known for many other works covering Practicall.Y ,rll
the scholarly knowledge of the period. He is regarded as the greatest
,7ll,r,
polymath of his time or perhaps the greatest Syriac scholar tout Court.
John BarEbroyo was born in Melitene in 122516, the son of a physicl,rr,
Aaron. His 'patronymic', mistakenly Latinised as BarHebraeus, l'llislt',l
generations of scholars into believing that he was of JeWish dest't'lrl
(Bar'Ebhraya-Syr. 'the son of a Hebręw'). Only recently has it become cl,',,,
that the name refers to his (or rather his family's) origins in the village "l
,Ebro (class. Syr.'Ebhra) near Melitene.66 The Arabic form of his nalll('
Ibn al-'IbrT, and he is also called Abu'l Faraj ('Father of what is pleaslrrrt
60 X1234. vol,ż, l59.8/tr. 120, Fiey's introd., XI.
6l Cf. Renć Grousset, L'histoire des croisades et du royaume de Jćrusalem, vo|. Ż (Paris, l') \
866-,I.
62 Fiey, 'Chrćtiens syriaques entre croisós et mongols',
63 Phrangayć bartkhć, Xt234, vol.2, ll3.7ltr.85; 139,10/tr,
6a See above, n. 2.
65 BE, secular part, 415 l6ltr. Budge 351,9.
66 Cf. Fathi-Chelhod, 'L'origine du nom Bar'Ebroyo'.
t sYl{l,,\( llll-, lt ll(l( X ;l(.,\1,1ll(,^l s()l Il{( IiS l (,.5
i|, t,,tt,lve(l it llltlttlttt]lt t,tltlt,;tltrlIl. tł,lticll. irl irtlclititlll ttl littlgttttgcs (Syritrc.
rlllt ilrltl (ircck), iIlcltrtlctl llrcttltlty. 1llrilosophy, itlrtl rlrcdicirre, the latter
,,,l,-| tllc clircctiolr cll'his lirtlrcl,. In 1244 the family movęd to Antioch, thęn
, tlr,,Illttttls clI'the crusetders, where BarEbroyo continued his studies. Atthe
, ,,l ltlltlLlt seventeen he became a monk, but soon moved to Tiipolis (also
,,|,l tllc crusadęrs'domination) for further studies, in rhetoric and medi-
llI rllttlcr an East Syrian ('Nestorian') teacher named Jacob. Soon, however,
l\,l\ sllmmoned by Patriarch Ignatios II and ordained bishop of Gubos
'
,ll Mclitene), being then only twenty years old. It is believed that he
,ltttctl tlre name Gregory on that occasion, John being his baptismal name.
.| l,t:itr he was transferredto the nearby see of Laqabin and in 1253
l ,
\ le 1lpo; after atemporary recall by Patriarch John BarMadani
ll rrNllr'tltrnT), due to BE's supporting another candidate for the patriarchal
l( l||(,, hc was reconfirmed there in 1258.
llt, probably played an important part in the election of the next patri-
,,ll lglratios III (1264), whereupon he was raised by the latter to the
,,,lll()ll of mtlphrian. Duę to political unrest hę was consecrated at Sis in
,l lrrt,lliil (Cilicia), and was not ablę to assume the maphrianate at Takrit until
łl(r llc was well received by the christians, both the syrian orthodox and
,,, ,,, llclonging to the Church of the East, as well as by the Muslims. His
lIl, l, tlclnanded much travelling. He not only visited the dioceses within the
r r;ll1l,i1111211e, but also Armenia (Cilicia) and Baghdad, where hę maintained
,, ttrll! relations with the East Syrian ęcclesiastics. In 1282hę went to Tabriz
,, l 't,lsiil to vow allegiance to the new Mongol ruler Ahmad, and was recon-
,,,r,,tl ill his office. In the later period of his pontificate he often spent longer
, ll,. ;rl Maragha (Persian Azerbatlan), where the Mongol court was based,
,ll \\l)cl,e many Christians of various confessions also lived. He died there
,, i().ltrly 1286, and was burięd in the Mar Mattay monastery near Mosul.
llr,lltlrial was attended by Christians of all denominations, showing their
1 1,1t,t,iittion of BE's truly ecumenical outlook.67
\ltlst of the information about his life comes from hts Autobiography,68
l l, |l wźls posthumously continued by his brother BarSawmo. There is in
I
l
l,,llll)llI,cwhathewroteintheBookoftheDove(A.Wensinck,tr.,BarHebraeus'BookoftheDove
r . tlt,,l-tt,illt:;ome chapters.from his Ethicon (Leiden, l919), 60, quoted by H,G.B. Teule, 'It is not
,, t,, t,ttIl tllł|,sęlves Orthodox and the others heretics,. ecumenical attitudes in the Jacobite church
328 33, Il, lttttc tl['the Crusaders', in Krijnie Ciggaar and Herman Teule, eds., East and West in the
, ,t,lt,t, ,\ltt!t,,y. (-ontext, (znt0(ls, confrontutions, Acts of the Congress held at Hernen Castle in
104,
l l ')')7, vtll. 2, Oricntaliit LtlvatricIrsia Analecta 92 (Leuvcn, l999), 22: 'Thus I discovcred that all
l,l l ,l l:lll 1lctlplcs, ntllwil hstir lltlirlg, tlle ir tlillcre rlccs, łtrc in ctlllctrrd with cttch othcr.'
lll t'ltt,tltlit,tllt l,t,clc:łitt,s!it,lllll, v'rl|, ]. t,tlls. .ll l ttó
266 Witold Witukow,:łlri
addition a rhymed biography composed by his disciple Gabriel rl|
Bartelló.69
BE was a genuine intellectual and prolific author. He left over thirly
works in such different areas as theology (e.g. Lamp of the Sanctuary,1|' ll
summa theologiae in twelve books), exegesis (The Storehouse of Mysteries, tttt
extensive commentary on the Bible),7l canon law (The Book of Directions,l,L'
thę Nomocanon),1z ethics (Ethikon),73 logic (Book of the Pupils of the Eyc,t,
unpubl.), philosophy and physics (The Wisdom of Wisdom. , an unpublishctl
encyclopaedic work covering the whole Aristotelian corpus; translations tll
the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) into Syriac), medicine (several books,
including translations from Greek: Dioscorides, De materia medica), granl
mar (The Book of Rays),7a astronomy (Ascent of the MtnĄ,15 and historiclg
raphy. Nor was entertaining literature alien to him, as hę collected a voluttlc
of Laughable Stories.76
Most of his works were written in Syriac, some in Arabic. He may nrli
have been an original thinker, but his erudition over the whole scientilir,
gamut of the epoch is most impressive. He enriched the Syriac intęllęcturrl
tradition by introducing into it material from Greek and Muslim scholarshi;l,
It is mainly due to his scholaĄ output that the whole period of the twellllr
and thirteenth centuries is called the 'Syriac Renaissance'.
In the field of historiography BE is known for his Chronograplt,v
(Makhtabuth zabhne--), a universal chronicle. It is the last work of Syriac clas
sical historiography, after which the Syrians did not venture to write univcr
sal history any more. As the last chronicle of this type it was often copied antl
69 Cf. Sauma, oCommentary on the "Biography" of Bar Hebraeus'.
70 In PO, vo|s. 22, 24, 27, 30, 3 1, 35, 40, 41, 43 (1930-86).
71 J. Góttsberger, Barhebraeus und seine Scholien zur Heiligen Schrift, Biblische Studien 4 1
(Freiburg im Breisgau, l900); M. Sprengling and W.C. Graham, eds., Barhebraeus' Scholia on th,,
Old Testament, part I: Genesis-Il Samuel (Chicago, 1931); Assad Sauma, Gregory lłut
Hebraeus's Commentary on the Book of Kings from his Storehouse of Mysteries: a critical atht
with an English trans., introduction and notes (Uppsala, 2003); WE.W Car1 tr. and ed., Greglrt
Abu'l Faraj commonly called Bar-Hebraeus, Commentary on the Gospels from the Horrł,tlttt
Mysteriorum (London and New York, 1925).
72 See above, n. 19.
73 H.G.B. Teule, ed. and tr., Gregory Barhebraeus' Ethicon ( Memra ł, CSCO 534-5, SS 2lB l''
(Louvain, 1993),
7a Axęl Moberg, ed., Le livre des splendeurs: la grande grammaire de Grćgoire Barhebraeus, (Lullrl.
l9ż2\;A. Moberg, tr., Buch der Strahlen: die gróssere Grammatik des Barhebrtius (Leipzig,l9l\l
75 F. Nau, ed. and French tr., Le livre de l'ascension de I'esprit sur laforme du ciel et de la t<'rn,
cours d'astronomie rćdigć en ]279 par Grćgoire Aboulfarag, dit Bar-Hebraeus, Bibliothćquc tlr,
l'Ecole des hautes ótudes; sciences philologiques et historiques, 12l fasc. (Paris, 1900). Thclr
works are listed in Chronicon ecclesiasticum, vol.3, cols. 475-8ż. For furthęr literature, see }iit,V
'Esquisse d'une bibliographie de Bar Hóbraeus (+ 1286)'.
76 E.A.W Budge, ed. and tr., The Laughable Stories, collected by Mar Gregory Bar Hebrultl
(London, l897).
SYląIA(, l llli,l,( )l{ l( X ;liA1,1 ll(]AI., S()[JIt(,lls ż67
rrlltscQu tltly.---contrłtry t() tllc citsc witlr all other Syriac hist<lriographical
rr,rlt,ks-it is preservecl ilr ll1()l,c tltitn one manuscript.
Ąs the material that BE collected for this work was quite bulky, he divicled
rt iltto two parts, seculai and ecclesiastical, but, abandoning the arrangement
,rl' tlre other two chronicles described above, he seems to have published the
trvtl parts sęparately. In any case the two are sometimes transmitte,d in
,rt,|)irf&t manuScripts.77
The secular part (known from its first edition of 1789 as Chronicon syri-
ttł,lłlfl, or from thę title of its English translationas Chronography) is a univer-
.,;r1
chronicle covering the period from the Creation until BE's own time. After
lrrs death it was continued by an anonymous writer (probably his brother
lllrrSawmo) up to the year 1297.It is divided into eleven parts called 'succes-
iltllls' or 'dynasties' Qłubbalą by which BE encapsulates thę idea of world
t,ltlpires originating from the prophecięs of the Book of Daniel, but dęveloped
,ltttl brought up to date: he includes as the eleventh empire that of the Huns,
r c. the Mongols. Within the era of the Arabs he deals with the history of the
t.;tt,ly crusades, inluding the capture of Constantinople by the Franks.78
'Ihe ecclesiastical part(Chronicon ecclesiąsticum) is itself divided into two
;xtl,ts of which the first contains the succession of incumbents of the Jewish
,rrrtl Christian sacerdotal office as it was understood in Christian chronogra-
1rlry. Consequently it begins with Aaron, the Old Testament high
priest, and
t (}lltinues with the line of the Jewish high priests up to Caiaphas and Annas
,ll' tlre New Testament epoch; after them thę sacerdocium was takęn over by
tlre church, of which Peter was the first 'high priest'. The hierarchs dealt with
tttt,tl out, however, to be merely the patriarchs of Antioch, and from Severos
,ll' Antioch on, those of the Syrian Orthodox church, which is of course in
.tt,ctlrdance with the vision of church history as conceived by an ęcclesiastic of
tlrltt church. The second part is a chronicle of the ecclesiastical affairs of the
r.;rst (i.e of Christianity in Mesopotamia and Persia). It starts with the apostles
I lttlmas, Addai and Mari, and continues with the katholikoi of the church of
tlrc East, but from the sixth century onwards (from Alludh'emmeh) with the
,,ttcccssion of the Syrian Orthodox maphrians up to BE himself. What is
rlrtllcrrtant, howeveą is that material concerning the hierarchs of the Church
,rl' the East is included, a tare phenomenon in West Syriac (Jacobite)
lrrstoriography, showing BE's irenic and ecumenical attitude.
"fhis part was also continued after BE's death, first by his brother,
llltrSawmo, and latęr on up to the year t496by an anonymous hand.79
'
|,ilr a list of the manuscripts, see Baumstark, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur, 3l8, n. 6.
" l'ltc secular part, 4l5-I6ltt. 357-9.
'' l'hcre is also a furthęr continuation up to 1582, which, howeveą remains unpublished: Brtlck,
'ivt iitc historical writing', 2l.
 ]6li ll'ittlltl ll'iltt|tln,,tl, i S\ l( l,\( lll]. l{ )li l( )( il(l\l,|ll('Al. s( )l Il{(,l,s ](lt)

dividing his lristoriographical work into twtl pźtl,ts (likc thc ilLltlltlI ,,l
IrT
XL234) BE gave up the model of the Eusebian chronicle with its ctlllllr,,,
construction, which had still been preserved by his predecessor, Miclrlrcl tll,
Elder.80
Thę latter's Chroniclewas BE's main source for the period up to thc l,r
Years of the twelfth century, but MR's material is abbreviated and fll,|,illl,,ł,l
in a different way. The secular chronicle also includes material based oil tlllrl
Sources. The work is of course fully original for the period after MR's rł,r,l
came to an end. Although the account of many events in this sectitlll. l,,r
which he was an eye witness, is BE's own contribution, he also used wI.ill, rr
Sources-documents in Syriac, Arabic and Persian, to which he had ?occss lrr
the Ilkhans'library in Maragha.
For the ęcclesiastical part of the Chronicle, the sources were-in acltlil r, ,,
to MR's work-documęnts of the Syrian Orthodox church, and, as far its llr,
Church of the East is concerned, the Book of the Tower (Liber turris), ll llt
torY of the East Syrian katholikoi, written in Arabic by Mari ibn Sulainrlrlr
,\ltlltltrglr ltll's lltslrltl(|J,|;|1tltlt,:ll wtll,ks hitvc [-lcc:Il klltlwtl ltl sclttllllIs lilt,
lllll(, ll ltlIlg tilrlc, ltlltl llltrc tlltctl l,1ccll ttsccl as s()Llrccs lilI, Iris(tlricitl l,cscltl,t,lt
rllrl Ihc: lristory ol'tllc Ncitr llast. no systematic nronogrltplt ()ll lltly tll'
Il11,1ll llils ever been produced. Such a study or studies renrrtins łtll tlvcl,tltlc
r |,,ltlcrlttum.
l \, l;tl,as the extent of coverage of Byzantine history is concęrned, tlrc nrtlst
l ,,llll)l,chensive chronicles are those of MR and the secular chronicle tll' l}li.
l lrt, llttter has of course also thę advantage of covering the epoch allcr Ml{'s
,,,1 |, g2lpę to an end. BE's ecclesiastical part is the least informative lbr otlt,
1,1ll l)()se, as its focus is mainly on the internal affairs of the Syrian Orthotlox
, lrrtl,cli. Thę Xl234 occupies an intęrmediate position between the BE's ecclc-
, l,r,lical part on the one hand and his secular and MR's work on the othu^t,.
l llt, wofk of the Patriarch Michael is of course very valuable becausę o1- its
, rrtllttll,'s direct involvement in the politics of his time, a privilege that thc
I

,,llrr,t,two chroniclers did not possess. MR's account of his pontificatc is

The secul ar part of the Chronicle was first edited and translated into l .lIt llr
in 1789 by Paul Jakob Bruns and Georg Wilhelm Kirsch, but neithcl, l|l,
edition nor the translation was satisfactory. In 1890 another and bettet.t.rll
tion of the Syriac text was published, anonymously, by Paul Bedjan. E.A tt
Budge's Publication of 1932 provides a facsimile edition of a manuscrilrl r,,
the Bodleian Library, Oxford, but his English translation is based oo thc lt.l
1,111gri.1.6 by BE (in his Ecclesiastical Chronicle),but much is lost, for exittrr-
|,|,, lllc name of the Emperor Manuel, who corresponded with MR, does ntlt
, r t ll ()ccur in BE. However these two, MR and BE, have each their own intli-
1,1ttltl virtues, a fact which, incidentally, makes a study of their respectivc
l l1||-1-: an urgent desideratum.
i

edited by Bedjan.82 The ecclesiastical part has been edited and transllrtt.,l
(into Latin) only once, in 1872-7, by J.B. Abbeloos and Th.J, Lamy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
At the request of some Muslim friends, in 1285 BE wrote an 'abridgenl(.ll l

of his Syriac secular chronicle in Arabic, entitlęd An Abbreviated History f t l t l t ,

DYnasties (Ta'rTkh mukhtąsar al-duwaĄ. However this is not a simple abbt,e r r

ltllt1,IOGRAPHIES
ation of his Syriac work, as the title may suggest, but one that has lrt,r,ll
adjusted to the needs of his Muslim readers, inter alią by replacing t|r, l l,t,1|1i116| Nestle, Brevis linguae syriacae grammatica, litteratura, chrestomathiu (Plrris.
material taken from MR with Arabic Muslim ources, e.g. the Chroniclt, ,,l lstJl)
'Izzal-Dln ibn al-Athlr of Mosul (d.1233).83 The Abbreviated History bec;tll,, r .rrl lJrockelmann, Syrische Grammatikmit Paradigmen, Literatur, Chrestclnlulltic tttttl
known to western scholars before BE's Syriac historiographical works. ;r .
( iltlssar (lOth edn., Leipzig,1965),150-84

it was Published, with a Latin translation, as early as 1663 in Oxfortl l,r l'lrcse two contain a short but comprehensive list of the essential older litorlttrllt,.

Edward Pocockę, t ilil Moss, Catalogue of Syriac Printed Books and Related Literature in lhc l]riti,rlt
eum (London, 1962)
|| I t t,y

('tlvers the period up to l959.

', l' llrock, Syriac Studies: a classffiedbibliography:
80 See above,n.29.
8l Maris, Amri et Slibae, De patriarchis l l I l960-70, Parole de l'Orient 4 (1973), 393465
Nestorianorum commentaria, ex codicibus v.l(l(;llll
edidit [ac latine reddidit] Henricus Gismondi, pars prior; Maris textus arabicus (Romc, lS,1,1r
lrl l971-80, Parole de l'Orient 10 (l981-2).291412
lll l981-5, Parole de l'Orient 14 (1987),289-360
[Arabic]; Maris yersio latina (Rome, 1899); pars altera: Arnri et Slibae textus (Rtlnlc. ll"irlr,t
[Arabic], Amri et Slibae textus versio latina (Rome, 1897).
|,tl l986 90. Parole de l'Orient 17 (1992),2l l -30l
82 The Bodleian
Library manuscript is imperfect. l5l l991 5, Purolc dc l'Oricnl ż3 (1998).2ll 30l
83 As has beęn
shown by Teule, 'Thc crusaclcrs in Barhcbracus', 47. ltc:tlrs l 4 arc ctlllcctctl ill it scpłtrttte publicatitlll:
,!

270 |,ll i t o l d W i tu k tnt,,y lr i

f sYl{l^(, l ll l ( )l{l( X ;t{A1,1 ll(,Al. s()tll{(,lisi )1l

Sębastian P. Brock, Syriac Studies: a classified bibliography (tgóT tg90)(Kirslrl, l lrlr,;rl l9()7
Lebanon, 1996) l/ltlrt,tls Duval, Lu littćnttlI1,1, ,l:1,t, j11111lr,, llibliothćque de l'enseignelncnt clc l'hislttir.c
t,cclcsiastique: ancictltlcs littcrlrtLrrcs chrótiennes 2 (3rd edn., Paris, l907)
ĄIr carly monograph on the history of Syriac literature arrangcd in clrit1,1tct,s
GBNERAL LITERATURE QUOTED IN ABBREVIATBD FORM (,()vcring the genres; historiography, pp. I71-2I5.
l l,rlrsc l925
Barsoum 2003 1,1lr IIaase, Altchristliche Kirchengeschichte nach orientalischen Quallan (Lcipzig,
Ignatius Aphram I. Barsoum, The Scattered Pearls; a history of Syriac literatu,rt,tttt,l l 925)
sciences, tr. and ed. Matti Moosa (2nd edn., Piscataway, NJ,2003) lrrcludes presentation of the sources, pp. 6-24.
l,.,rrvcrau l960
A translation of a monograph written in Arabic by the patriarch of the Syl.i,rr,
Orthodox church (1933-57). Using the results of western scholarship, Barst,ltt,, li Kawerau, Die Jakobitische Kirche im Zeitalter der syrischen Renais,sant,c: ltlcl,
l(,l,

combines them with his own studies of Syriac literature, extending his work ttl tll, tttul Wirklichkeit, Berliner byzantinistische Arbeiten 3 (1st edn., Berlin, 1955; 2nd
beginning of the 20th c. However, as far as our historians are concerned, hc supplemented edn., 1960)
1rl,, Ą general presentation of the sources, i.e. all the three chronicles dealt with horc.
vides little new material.
'],rllcl l990
Baumstark 1922
Anton Baumstark, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur; mit Ausschlu/3 der chri,rllitlt Nagel, 'Grundzi.ige syrischer Geschichtsschreibung', in Friedhelm Winkelmaltll
|',,lt,l,

paltis tinensis chen Texte (Bonn, 1922) ;rrlcl Wollram Brandes, eds., Quellen zur Geschichte des friihen Byzanz (4. q.
The best monograph so far on the history of Syriac literature; in addition to lltl, .Iuhrhundert): Bestand und Probleme, Berliner byzantinistische Arbeiten 5.5
{ l}crlin, l990), 245-59
liographical references (which require updating) it provides information otl llt,
extant manuscripts. Ą more up-to-date account of Syriac historiography.
Brock 1979-80
l llllz de Urbina 1965
Sebastian Brock, 'Syriac historical writing: a survey of the main c[:s]ource l1,1lillius Ortiz de Urbina, Patrologia syriaca (2nd edn., corrected and supplementccl.
s', Jtlurtt,tl
of the Iraqi Academy, Syriac Corporation 5 (1979-80), 1-30 l{tlme, 1965)
The basic short account of Syriac historiography. Ątl account of Syriac religious literature, including historiography of the post-
Brock 1997 1l;rtristic period.
',,,y;tl 1962
Sebastian Brock, A Brief Outline of Syriac Literature, Moran'Eth'ó Series 9 (Blrkr.r
Hill, Kottayam, Kerala, 1997) t lt Scgal, 'Syriac chronicles as source material for the history of Islamic peoplcs', itl
English translations of fragments of many items of syriac literature, ll. Lewis and P.M. Holt, eds., Historians of the Middle East (Londorr, l9(l2;,
.],ł(l -58
Chabot 1921
J.-B. Chabot,'La littórature historique des Syriens', RevLle historique l37 (annóc .lr,r Ą short account of the Syriac historiographical works relevant to Segal's topic.
(I92l),74-80 \\ ll;t|towski 1987
An early brief account of Syriac historiography. \\ rttlld Witakowski, The Syriac Chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel-MahrO; tt ,1,1tul),
Chabot 1934 tttlhe history of historiography, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Studia Semiticir
l lpsaliensia 7 (Uppsala, 1987)
J.-B. Chabot, Littćrature syriaque, Bibliothdque catholique des sciences religiettst.,,
Littóratures chrótiennes de l'Orient (Paris, 1934) llrcludes a sketch of Syriac chronicle-writing.
A monograph on the history of Syriac literature: still useful. \\ ll;rktlwski 2001
Chabot 1947 \\ lttllcl Witakowski, 'Interpreting the past: Syriac historical writing', in At thc'liłrlt tll
J.-B. Chabot, Mes chroniques (Louvain, 1947) tlrc Third Millennium: the Syrian Orthodox witness, The Hidden Pearl: thc Syl,ilrrl
( )r,thodox church and its ancięnt Aramaic heritage
An account of the discovery of the Syriac manuscripts of the Chr. of MR 3 (Rome, 200l ), 167 8.1tł.5 94
;tlr,l
XL234 and of the circumstances of their publication, A general account of Syriac historiography.
Conrad 1991 \\ r rllht l894
Lawrence I. Conrad, 'Syriac perspectives on Bilżd al-Shżm during the Abbirsr,l \\rllilttn Wright, A Short History of Syriac Literature (Amsterdam, l966: l,tltltlrltt,
l|t94)
Period', in Muhammad Adnan al-Bakhit and Robert Schick, eds., Bildrl al_,\lt,ttt,
during the Abbasid Period (132 A.H.1750 A.D.-451 A.H.t1O5g A.D.). Proc,ccrlitt,t,, l'lrc classic monograph on the history of Syriac literature.
of the Fifth international conference on the history of Bilad al-Shąm, 7-1l Sltt|l,,ttt \,,rrsil'2002
1410 A.H.l4-8 March 1990 (Amman,l99l), English and French section, 1 44
l 1,1ll,ctn-Isa Yousil Les c,hroniqueurs syriaques (Paris, 2002)
Includes presentation of historiographical sources. l)trlvides short in(rtrcluctitlns and French translations ol' liagnrcrlts tll' tlrt,
t,ltrtlniclcs in cltlcslitltl.
 272 Ifittlld Wituktnr,yki SYl{lA(, l llli l ( )l{ l( X ;l{A1,1 ll(,Al, ti()t jlł(,lisi 271

Rev.: Amir Harrak, Hugoye. Journal oJ' Syriat: Stutlie,y 6.2 (2003), l{tlv. l .l 1ltit,lt,l l()(X)); vtll. 2, lirsc. l (l9()l): I{ubcrls l)tlvitl, ,ltlttrttttl
tll'vol. l, litst:.
http ://syrcom. cua.edu/hugoye tt,s,itttitlua L).20
(l9()2). .]2(l ,].l
l{cv. ol'vo|.2,|hsc, 2 (1904): llubcns Duval, Journal asitttique l0.1 (l9()3), _57ó ll
l{cv.of vol.2,fasc.3(l904):RubensDuval, Journalasiatir1ue l0.4 l904), l77 84
GENERAL LITERATURE ON ALL THREE CHRONICLES l{ev. of vol.3, fasc. l (1905): RubensDuval, Journąlasiatic.lue l0.5 (l905),557 tl
l(c:v. of vol. 3, fasc. 2 (1906): Rubens Duval, Journal asiatique 10.9 ( 1907),353 (l

R,A. Guseinov, 'Posledstviia srazheniia pri Mantsikerte (1071 g.) dlia Zakavknil,t l l t,, .4 rmenian Versions:
VV29 (1968-9), 148_52 '|'ifil Greenwood
',r,i, in this volume, pp.244-5.
Consequences of the battle of Mantzikert for the Caucasian region on the btlsll, ,,l
the late Syriac chronicles. l t t,.l rubic Translation:
istorii otnoshenii Yizantli s Seldzhukam|', Palestinskii Sbornik n.s. 23 ( Ht,t \ tlltltltna Ibrahim, ed., The General Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, Patriarch o/'
(I97l), 156-67
-(IZ .,llttioch, vols. 1-3, translated into Arabic by Mar Gregorios Saliba Shamoun,
SYriac Sources (MR, X]234, BE) on the history of Byzantine relations with tlr, rrlotropolitan of Mosul, edited and introduced by Yuhanna Ibrahim, metropolitan
seljuks, mainly on the battles of Mantzikert and Myriokephalon. tll' Aleppo (Aleppo, 1996)
istochniki po istorii Yizantii XI-XII vv,', VV 33 (t972),120-8 lrr Arabic; not seen.
Syriac sources (MR, X]234, BE) on 11th- and 12th-century Byzantium.
-'Siriiskiie daf! Literature
Anneliese Ltiders, Dte Kreuzztige im {Irteil syrischer und ąrmenischer \ t, t,t t n :
Quellen, Bc1.liIl,,r
byzantinistische Arbeiten 29 (Berlin, 1964) ll,r t,stlum 2003, 445-8
A thorough study based on MR's Chronicle, BE's Secular Chronicle,his Ttirtltt l l;r rrtnstark 1922, 298-300

and the Armenian chronicle of Matthew of Edessa. lltrlck 1979-80, I5-I7

Rev.: R.Vl Thomson, Journal of Theological Studies n.s. 16 (1965), 232-3 lllł lck 1997 , 268-70
Rev.: Peter Kawerau, Zeitschrift fiir Kirchengeschichte 76 (t965), I7o-I t 'lritbot I92I,78
Rev.: Stephanou Pelopidas, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 31 (1965), 215_16 ( lllrbot 1934,125-7
Rev.: E. V[oordeckers], Byz 34 (1964),3I2-I3 t'ltlrbot 1947,2-I0
Rev.: J. Assfalg, BZ 58 (1965), 121-2 ( 'tlllfad I99I,I44
A. Rticker., Aus der Geschichte der jakobitischen Kirche von Edessa in der Zeia łltl l )tlvttl 1901, 196-8, 401
Kreuzfahret', Oriens Christianu.l 32 (1935) , 124_39 l l;t;tse 1925,2I-2
Using all three Syriac chronicles and the Armenian Chronicle of Matthcw .t ll,;twctau 1960, 4-6
Edessa. N;rgcl 1990,257
t}rtiz de Urbina 1965,22I
1962,255-6
:it,11lrl

THE LATE SYRIAC CHRONICLBS Witirkowski 1987, 83-5

Witlrkowski 200l, 1 89-90
Wright 1894,250-3
Michael the Elder \iltrsif 2002,123-204
Editions and Translations | ĄBfalg,'Michael I', in W.
: Jens, ed., Kindlers neues Literatur Lexikon ll (l99()),
J.-B. Chabot, ed. and tr., Chronique de Michel le Syrien, patriarche jacobite d'Antiłlt.lt, 630-1
( 1166-1199), 4 vols. (Paris, 1899-1924; repr. Brussels, l963
with the Syriac tcxl ltl An encyclopaedia article.
vol.4) ,\llclulmesih BarAbrahem, 'Patriarch Michael the
Great: beyond his world chroniclc',
Edition of the Syriac text in a facsimile of the unique manuscript, together witlr ,l .Iournal of Assyrian Academic Studies I2.2 (l99S),3345
French translation, and valuable notes and introduction, providing the bt.rt Reflections in response to D. Weltecke's paper of 1997, on the basis of the Arabic
account so far of the sources. translation, The General Chronicle of Michael the Syrian (Aleppo, 1996),
Rev. of vol. l, fasc. 1: J. Parisot, Revue de l'Orient chrćtien 5 (1900), 322-5 I l}. Chabot,'La chronique de Michel le Syrien', Acadćmie des in,scription,r ęt ht,llt,,s
Rev. of vol. 1, fasc. 1: F. Nau, Revue de l'orient chretiens (1900), 328-9 lcttres: comptes rendus des sćances de l'annće 1899, ser.4, vol.2J.476 84
Rev. of vol. l, fasc.2: J. Parisot, Revue de l'Orient chrćtien 5 (1900), 660_2 An early account of the Chronicle.
Rev. of vol. 1: A, Baumstark, oriens Christianus l (190l), l87-91
 274 |,I'ittlltl Lllilttktnr,:,lii s\ l{l.,\( lll.\l()lil(X;l(^1,1ll(,^l.S()lll{(,l,s ]75
J,-B. Chabot,'Les ev6ques jacobites du VIII" au XIII" siecle cl'apres llt clrt.tltlit;tlt.,l, l rll',l Iltllliglllltllll, Ll't,tlIl|,t,ttl tlt, llttl,,ltllttl!(t (l lt,pulriurt,ttl,fttt,ttllill,tl',.lttlitlt,lt1,1,1
Michel le Syrien', Revue de l'Orient chrćtien 4 (l8gg), 44+ 5l, 491-5 l l 5 ( l ()()( )l tll,
; \t,l,ił,, (]SCO l46, Strllsltlilr 7 (l,rlrlv:rirl, l954)
605-36; 6 (l 901), 189-220 llisttlrY of the nrtlttrtstcl,y tll' MI{, arrcl of the geographicitl sprcact ol' thc Syr-ilrrl
Pre-Publication of the lists of bishops from Appendices 4 and 5 of MR,s ( łl, t )1,1hoclox church written largely on the basis of
MR's Cltrtlłtit.lc.
des croisades', Acadćmie des inscripriin, et belles lettres; comptas t.l,tlllll |' lr.ltwcrau, 'Barbarossas Tod nach 'Imad ad-Din und Michael Syrus'. ()ril,tt,s,
-'P.lros
des sćances de l'annće 1938, 448-61 ('l l r i,s t ianus 48 (1964), 13542
Pages 455-61 deal with MR's evidence on the date of the death of Aimery. t ll, (.)tltltes
MR's short but informative account of the emperor's death.
Latin patriarch of Antioch. l l lktlr Fł. Maksoudian, 'Michael the Syrian', Dictionary of the Mitttlte Agas 8 ( l9tl7).
W. de Vries, 'Michael I der Syrer' , Lexikonfl.ir Theologie und Kirche 1 (l962\,col. ,ltt l()5 6
A short encyclopaedia article.
l

Ą rr cncyclopaedia article.
E, von Dobschtitz, 'Die Chronik Michael des Syrers (Nachtrag zu Nr. XV llltllltl Meissner, 'Eine syrische Liste antiochenischer Patriarchen', Wiener
s. 364 39.1l Zeit,;cltri.l't
Zeitschrift ftir wissenschaftliche Theologie 41 (1898), 456_9
liir rlie Kunde des Morgenlandes 8 (1894), 295-311
MR's PersPective when relating historical facts, different from that of Byzatlllrr, Ąllpended to the Arabic version of MR's Chronicle.
chroniclers. \llr ltltcl G. MoronY, 'Michael the Syrian as a source for economic
R,Y Ebied and M.J.L. history', Ilu,gtlyt,;
Young, 'Extracts in Arabic from a chronicle erronotltlslt .ltll1yną| of Syriac Studies 3.2 (July 2000), http://syrcom.cua.edu/hugoye
attributed to Jacob of Edessa' , Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica 4 (lg73),l7J q(, lhc economic information in MR's Chr. concerns agricultural prÓ,duction. livc-
Actually from the Arabic translation of MR's Cłr. ';lrlck, the labour force, commerce, etc. The author argues for a compatristlll
Siegmund Fraenkel, 'ZuMichael Syrus', in idem, 'Bemerkungen zu syrischen Tcxlt,lr llctween MR's material and other sources.
l.' , Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlcintlischen Geseltschaft 56 (1902), 98_9 I Nitu, 'Notice Sur un manuscrit dę l'Histoire cle Michel le Grantl, patrial.clrc
A few emendations to the Syriac text of thę Chr. tl'Antioche 1126-1199', Journal asiatique 9.8 (1896), 523-7
StePhen Gero, 'The relation of Michael the Syrian, Bar Hebraeus, and the
Armcrli;rr, Ą l'ew remarks on the sourcęs of the Chr. on the basis of a Karshuni manuscri1-11.
ePitome', in idem, Byzantine lconoclasm during the Reign of Leo 11d CSt,r l 'Lettre du R.p. constantin Bacha sur un nouveau
Subsidia 4l (Louvain, 1973),205 9 manuscrit carchouni clc llr
.'llronique de Michel le Syrien et sur Thóodore Abou-Kurta', RevLle rle l'Orit,ltt
The relation between these sources in their accounts of the Emperor Leo ltlt,l , ltrćtien l1 (l906), 1024
Caliph Yazid's iconoclasm. ,ĄItnounces the existence of the third Karshuni manuscript of MR's
resur8ence of Byzantine iconoclasm in the ninth century according lrl ,r Cltr. ill
lcrusalem.
Syriac
-'The source', Speculum 5I (I976),1_5 ll'll;lCc EPhrem Rahmani,'Lettre de S.B. Mgr Rahmani au sujet
Based on MR's Cłr de la publioatitlIl tlc
llr chronique de Michel', [Ód. par] F.N.[al], Revue de l'Orient chrćiien
Georg Graf, 'Michael der Grosse', in idem, Geschichte der christlichen arttbi,s,1.1t, t, l0 (l9()_5).
.1 l5-8
Literatur, zweiter Band: Die Schrdisteller bis zur Mitte des ]5, Jahrhunderls" t'I'iticises J.-B- Chabot's edition of MR's Chr., thę unique manuscript o1-whiclr
Sltt,lr
e Testi 133 (Vatican City, I94]),265-7
tvits discovered in l888 by Rahmani.
An account of the Arabic translations of MR's works. \lltll'ca B. Schmidt, 'Die zweifache armenische Rezension der syrischen Chrollik
L Guidi, 'La cronica siriaca di Michele I', Giornale della Societćt asiatica italitttttt \ Michaels des GroBen', Le Musćon 109 (1996) ,2g9_3l9
(1889), 167-9
ĄrlalYses the two Armenian translations of MR's Chr., and, provides a c()llc()l-_
Announces the finding of the Syriac manuscript of MR's Chr. by E. Rahmalli tlltnce of the contents of the two by comparison with the syriac text.
R,A. Guseinov, "'Khronika" Mikhaila Siriitsa', Palestinskli sborirk 68
(1960),85-105
1: n.s. ,,I 'SYrische Tiadition in armenischer Adaption:
dię armenische Rezc1llitltl tlt:s
( icschichtswerks von Michael
Syrus und der antichalcedonische Jr_ltlcirbricl' lrll
A general account of MR's Chronicle. Kitiser Markianos', in Renó Lavenant, ed,., Symposium Syriac:um VII, Ullp,vtltt
Felix Haase, 'Die armenische Rezension der syrischen Chronik Michaels des
Grłl1.1t.ll IlttiversitY, Department of Asian and African Languages ll l4 Atłgtt,ll l9l)(l.
Oriens Christianus 2.5 (1915), 60-82, 27I-.84 ( )riontalia
Christiana Analecta 256 (Rome, 1998), 359-7l
The Armenian version is not a literary translation but rather a reworking tll, ()rl the recePtion of MR's Chr.in Armenia,
llr, analysed in detail using 1ltc cxitlll1llc
SYriac original, Some parts of the latter being removed, others abbrevi:rlt..l tll' the anti-Chalcedonian propagandistic Letter
whereas sections concerning Armenian church history are added.
o.f' the Jelr,,y ltl lltl, Iitttllt,rttl.
hI urcian.
Wolfgang Hage, 'Michael der Syrer (ll26t27-1lgg)'. Theologische Realen:.|,liltlllij,|1, l l Sttcrntann, 'The Turks in Michael the
Syrian', The Harp 5 ( l992). 39 5 l
22 (1992),710_12
l)citls with the origin, migration, religion and customs ol- thc'I'rtrks. tlll lllc lrltsis
An encyclopaedia a,rticle. tll'the fourteerrth h<ltrk tll- thc (łr.
I rlvlltlcl Tcr-Milt:rssi;tltlz. l)it'ttt'ttll,tti,s,rltt, Kircltt, in ihrllt I}a:irlttttt,ql,tt
:tl (lt,tt ,s:l,t.i,l.t.ltt,tt
h'irt'ltctt lli.s' ::ttttt l'.'tttlt'tlt',l' li .lttltrlttttttltt,1,1,, tttlt,lt tl<,tt ttrtttt,tti,l,t,ltt,tt ttttt1,1,|,l.i,1,1,1tt.tt
276 w i t ol d wi t ct li olt,,yli t liYl{lA(, l lls l ( )l{ l( X ;l{A1,1 ll(,Al. S()( ]l{(,lisi 277

Quellen, Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlicherl l,i(r,t;tlrtr l ll ('lurbtlt, cd., Atttllt.l,ttti (ttl(,ll)t,i,\,('ltnlttit,tltt url unnunt Chrił;ti l)-l4 pcrtitlr,łl,r,, vtll. l.
36,4, neue Folge I1.4 (Leipzig, l904) l'ntcttti.:;sum c,sl ('ltnltti(,()ll (t!l()tl.|,tlttttlt ud A.D. 8l9 pcrl.i.nan,s, curatrtc Ąphrirllt
Includes a chapter on MR and his relations with the Armenian cltttlrlr ll;ll,sltum, CSCO 8l, SS 3.14 1: .}(l] (Paris, 1920)
pp. 122-36. l'llc standard edition ol'the Xl234, part 1.
E. Tisserant, 'Michel le Syrien', Dictionnaire de theologie catholique I0.2 (1929), 11l l l 'l ,lnon.ymi auctoris Chronicon ad annum Christi l234 pertinens, vo|.2, C-'SCO tl2,
An encyclopaedia article. SS 3.15I: 3]] (Paris, 19l6)
Jiirgen Tirbach, 'Michel Syrus', Biographisch-bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon 5 ( lt)t) t l |'llc standard edition of the X]234, part 2.
1467-7I
An encyclopaedia article, l ł,tttslttlions:
Jan J. van Ginkel, 'Making history: Michael the Syrian and his sixth-century otl1,(,(,.. l Nlttt, tr., 'Tiaduction de la chronique syriaque anonyme óditóe par Sa Beatitr"rclc
in Renó Lavenant, ed., Symposium syriacum VII, Uppsala University, Depurltttt,łtt Mgr Rahmani patriarche des Syriens catholiques', Revlłe de l'Orient chraticn lż
of Asian and African Languages, 11-14 August ]996, Orientalia Chrislilrrl,1 ( |907), 42940; l3 (1908), 90-9,32I-8,43643
Analecta 256 (Rome, 1998), 351-8 Ą French translation of extracts of the part published by I.E. Rahmani (from
The paper shows how MR used his sources taking the example of John of Ąsr,l .
( 'rcation to the death of the Emperor Anastasius).
Church History, of which about 75oń was left out. Only what was 'relevitlll' ltr I lt (]lrabot,tr,, Chronicon anonymum ad annum Christi l2j4 pertinens,vol.1, CSC]O
MR's view was taken over. l()9, SS 3.141: 56] (Louvain, 1937)
.Michael the Syrian and his sources: reflections on the methodology
of Miclllr. l Ą Latin translation of the first part of Chabot's edition.
the Great as a historiographer and its implications for modern historiarrs', Jtltlt,lt,tl
- of the Canadian Society \|llt,t,t Abouna, tr., and J.-M. Fiey, introduction and notes, Anonymi aut,lori:ł
for Syriac Studies 6 (2006),53-60 ('ltronicon ad A.C. 1234 pertinens, CSCO 354, SS 154 (Louvain,1974)
Methodological warning against drawing conclusions about the views of the hislnl
ians whose works were used by MR: he arranged the material taken from lllt,,,, Ą F'rench translation of the second part of Chabot's edition.
sourcos according to his own ideas. \ S 'kitton, tr., and H.A.R. Gibb, notes, 'The First and Second Crusades from lttt
Dorothea Weltecke, 'The world chronicle by Patriarch Michael the Great (l l2Gl l()'lt illlonymous Syriac chronicle', Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1933), 69 l0 l ,
some reflections', Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies ILz (1997),6-29 ,]73-305
A general account of MR's work, subsequently developed in her 2003 monogrit1llr Ąrr English translation of the part relevant to thę crusadęs.
and function of formal structures in the chronicle of Michacl tll ',,, I, ( ) l I d ury Literature :
Great', Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 3.2 (July 2000),
-'Originality
http ://syrcom. cua. eduihugoye |1,1lstlum 2003,454F5
Argues that the formal layout (in tables) of MR's Chr, is an essential part tll' llr, ll,t rttttstark 1922, 30ż
Eibt..ras"
work; there are, however, doubts as to whether the arrangement of the materi:tl ,r ,
ltlrlck 1979-80, I1-I8
known from Chabot's facsimile edition is the original one. t Il;rlrtlt 1921,78-9
der Zeiten' von Mór Michael dem GroJ3en (I126-1I99): łttt, r ll;llltlt 1934, 129-30
Studie zu ihrem historischen und historiographiegeschichtlichen Kontext, CSCO 5(),l t lr;tlltlt 1947,10-12
-Die'Beschreibung
Subsidia l l0 (Louvain, 2003) t r lll|,lld I99l, l2-I3,34-5
A thorough monograph on MR and his work, dealing with research on MR stl llrr l,,],rllcl 1990,25]-8
MR's epoch and his life, his historiographical methods, the Chronicle's talrtrl.rr t )Iliz de Urbina 1965,2I2
layout, and the author's vision of history. ',,,y;tl 1962,254h-5
Witold Witakowski, 'Michael I der Syrer', Lexikon fiir Theologie und Kirche 7 ( l t)t)|-i l \\lrtltkowski 1987, 85
40l Wrllrkowski 2001, 190
A short encyclopaedia article. \,,rtsi1- 2002,205-37
the Elder (the Syrian)', Aram (Stockhom) 7 (1998), 28-34
A general account of MR's life and literary output.
i |;rttcle cahen, 'some new editions of oriental sources about syria in the tinlc ol' lhc
-'Michael r-:rllsades',inB.Z. Kedar, H,E. Mayer, R.C. Small, eds., Outremer: Stuclic:; in tlrc
The Chronicle to the Year 1234 Ili,story of the Crusading Kingdom of Jerusalem presented to hl:shuu l'ruvl,r
(.lcrusalem, 1982), 323-3l
Editions: ('oncludes that there must have beęn two authors of the XI234, one living ill l lfl7
Ignatius Ephraem Rahmani, ed., Chronicon civile et ecclesiasticum anonymi utl(ll,t l\ lrlrd the other in 1l39, but this conclusion is based on a printing errtlr in.l.-M,
ex unico codice edesseno (Scharfeh, 1904, l91 l) Iiicy's introduction to the French translation of the second part o1-Iłlc Xl2_t4 hy
The first and second instalment of the first edition of the X]234, plannec,l ltl ll., A. Abouna (p. VII) whoro l l39 is printed instead of l |89.
complete;but never actually completed.
Rev.: F. Nau, Rcyae de l'Orient chrćlicn l0 (l905),439 40
218 l,|'iltlltl H" ilulitnt,,yl, t S\ l{l,\r ll11,1r,|{|()(il{l\I,1ll(,Al.s()tIlł('|,S -1'l')

J.-B. Chabot,'Un episode inedit de l'histoire des croisadcs (lc sicgc clc I-1irtlr. l1,1',t
L'Acadćmie des inscriptions et belles-lettres: comptes rendus des sĆuncc:ł dc l'tttttt,,
]9]7,11-84
The siege of Birtha on the Euphrates by Zengi, after his conquest of Eclcssir.
recorded in the XL234.
'P6ęrse pendant la premióre croisade' , Acadćmie des inscriptions et belle";-lcttt, ,
comptes rendus des sćances de l'annće ]9l8,43142
- liev.: Ernst Honigmann,'Zltr Chronographie des Bar Hebraeus', Orianluli,,;ti,u'lu'
Based on the history of Edessa by Basil BarShumno, as transmitted in the X l.' i l
ópisode de l'histoire des croisades', tn Mćlanges offerts d M. (itt,l,t,tl.
Schlumberger . , , d l'occasion du quatre-vingtićme anniversaire de sa nui,l,tlltt,
-'fJn
r \ W. lltltlgc. ctl. lttltl lt l'lt,,('ltt,,ttl1,1:t,tt1lltv tlf (ira,4lrr ,,llui1-Iilntj l-).).5 l.),\ó, tllt'
\tlll alf' ilttnltt, lltt, lL,llt-r,ll, l'lt|,1,I(,tlttl, ktttllt,tt u,y IJur IIcllructt,y, llcilt.{ lltc f it',l'l 1lttrt
,,1 lti,s, l\llititul IIi,sltll,.v tlf tltt l,|,|lrll, vol. l, English tratlslittitlIl, vtl1.2. lircsirllilcs
,r ,ll tllc Syriac texts irr tl,c Bodleiarr MS. Hunt No ó2 (Ltlndtlll. l9.12; r'cllr.
\lllstcrdam, l976)
l lrt: Syriac text is published in a facsimile edition of a manuscript irl thc l]tldlciarl
l illl,irry, the translation is based on Bedjan's edition.
l i l cruturzeitung 37 (1934), 213-83
|'lrlvides corrections (esp. of the toponyms) important for the understandirrg tll'
,

(17 octobre 1924) (Paris, 1924), 169 79 l}l:'s text.

A French translation of the account of the conquest of Edessa by Zengi in l l,|,I llt,, .lrubic Version:
according to the X]234, taken by its author from the work of Basil BarShutlllr,,
Muriól Debió, 'Record keeping and chronicle writing in Antioch and Edessa', 1,1t,,tttt 1,1rt:tI,d Pococke, ed. and tr,, Historia compendiosa dynastiarum authore Grcgoritl
Per io dical l 1-12 (1999-ż000), 409-17
llrul-Farajio malatiensi medico, historiam complectens universalem a ntutultt
Points to the use of material in local archives, inter alia by the author tll'lll, , tl111!i7g, usque ad tempora authoris res orientalium accurantissime describen,r,2 vtlls.
1( )xfbrd, 1663)
XL234.
Jean-Maurice Fiey, 'Chrótiens syriaques entre croisós et mongols', ln Sympt1:,tttt,, ,\rl carly edition and Latin translation of BE's Arabic Abbreviated History.
Syriacum 1972, celebrć dans les jours 26-31 octobre ]972 d l'Institut ponlift,,tl \l ( icorg Loręnz Bauer, tr., Gregorius Abulfaradsch, Kurze Geschichte der Dynustit,tt

,,tlt,r AuszuT der allgemeinen weltgeschichte besonders der Geschichte der chulili,tt
oriental de Rome: rapports et communications, Orientalia Christiana Analectit l')
(Rome, I974),32'74l tttd Mongolen, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1783, 1785)
t

Argues for impartiality and even sympathy towards the crusaders by the ąl{filt1 r ll Ą German translation of Pococke's Arabic text, with notes.
\lrltll) SżlhanT, ęd., Ta'rtkh mukhtasar al-duwal (Beirut, 1890, repr. 1958, 1983)
XL234.
R.A. Guseinov, 'Siriiskii anonim |ż34 g, o Vizantii i io sosediakh', Antichtt,tt,t Ą good edition of BE's Arabic Chronicle.
l ,ll,rt1 Armalet, tr., Ta'rtkh al-zaman (Beirut, 1986)
drevnost' i sredniye veka I0 (1973), 146-50
A general account of the X1234 as a source for the history of Byzantium. Ąrr Arabic translation of the secular part of BE, from E.A.W. Budge's E,lrglisll
N.V. Pigulevskaia, Vizantiia i Iran na rubezhe VI i WI vekov, Trudy Institrrt,r trltnslation, starting with the Abbasid period.
Vostokovedeniia Akademii Nauk SSSR 46 (Moscow,1946) Il t lt l t, rn Translations:
Pages 252-89 have a Russian translation of an extract from X]234, concerlrill1,
. rlrlćddin Yaltkaya, Ebiilferec lbnillibri, Tarihi muhtasartiddilvel, Ttirk Tirrilri
sixth-seventh century relations between Byzantium (from Maurice to Heraklci,,, l
aynaklarr 1 (Istanbul, 1941)
lt
and Persia, including the Arab conquests.
Ą Turkish translation of some fragments of BE's Ta'r\kh mukhtu;ur u|,lttlltl
t,tlncerning Turkish history, translated from A. Salhanr's text.
l }lllcl,Riza Dogrll, Gregory Abń'l Farac (Bar Hebraeus), Abń'l Farac: Turilti, ('ill I.
The Chronicles of Barebroyo
|'iirk Tarih Kurumu Yayinlarrndan,Znd ser. no. 11a (Ankara, 1945)
The Secular Ą Turkish translation of the secular part of BE's Chr. made from E,.A.W. Budgc's
l irlglish translation,
Editions and Translations :

P.J. Bruns and G.W. Kirsch, eds., Bar-Hebraei Chronicon syriacum e codit,il,tt,,
l lre Ecclesiastical
b o dleianis de s cr ip tum (Leipzig, l 789)

An early ędition, not very reliable. l ,lili()rls and Translation:

P.J. Bruns and G.W. Kirsch, trs,, Gregorii Abulpharagii sive Bar-Hebraei Chrt1l1j, ttll
l lt. Abbeloos and T.J. Lamy, ed. and tr., Gregorii Barhebraei Chronictln cttlc:;itt:;lil,tlltt
syriacum e c o dic ibus b o dleianis (Leipzig, 17 89)
(ltl()d e codice Musei Britannici descriptum conjunc,ta opera edidcrttltl, lttlittitttlt,
A Latin translation of the previous item.
paul Bedjan, ed., Kathabha d+makhtabhanath zabhnć da-slm l+mar(y) Grigltttt,t,,,. thlnurunt, annotatianibusque theologicis, historicis, geogruphit,i,y cl un,ltttt,tlltl,tlil,i,:,
: illu,ltrarunt, vol. l (Louvain, 1872),vol.2 (Paris and Louvain, ltl74). vtll. l (l'ltt'ls
Bar'Ebhraya Gregorii Barhebraei Chronicon syriacum e c,odd. m,rs. elncn(lttlttttt
;ttld Louvain, 1877)
ac punctis vocalibus adnotationibusque locupletatum (Paris, 1890)
llclition and [,atill lt,itttslitlitltl.
The best edition of the chroniclę so far; thc Syriac text is vocalised by thc ctlil,,l
2ti() Wittlll lĘituktnslłi sYt{l^(, llls l( ll{l( X;llA1,1ll(,Al. |i()tll{(,liti 2l{ l

Llllcvicillcltisttlil-ctl'lltltlttltlYttlr.:s',
Julius yeshu,, ed,, Grigorios Bar'Ebhrayu, Makhtubhzabhrul d-atllasy'tt,l'tt,lt l,.,tttlilttlri_('hclllrltl.'l,'rltl1,,1111,rltlttrlllllllrr,'tiblrlyo:
tical Chroniclef , (G|ane, Holland, I98] ) lItt,qtl.yc: Jtntrttttl tlf ,\i|,t tttt, ,\ttttlit,,l,4.1 (2()0l), http://syrcot]l.cuźt. cclLr/hugtlYc
|E c cles ias
Syriac text only; not seen. Sllłlws that thc ltltlg wcslet,tl traclition of interpreting thc llilt't'tc l}trrI'il'llrlytl
(llar'Ebhrayzr) as 'thc soll ol'a Hebrew'is wrong; it points to the origirrs tll' IJ[j's lirrrr-
Secondary Literature: ily l'rom the village of 'Ebro ('Ebhre),
Barsoum 2003,463-81 f{.illl-Maurice Fiey, 'Esquisse d'une bibliographie de Bar Hóbraeus (ł lż86)'. Purullc
Baumstark |922,312-20 tlc l'Orient 13 (1986), 279-312
Brock 1979-80, I9-ż0 Arl extensive bibliography of BE containing both the western and Arabic wtrrks;
Brock 1997,ż76-1 l} E's historiographical works, pp. ż99-304.
,itcllhcn Gero, 'The relation of Michael the Syrian, Bar Hebraeus, and the Arnrcniittl
Chabot 1921,19-80
Chabot 1934, I3t-1 t:l)itome', in S. Gero, Byzantine Iconoclasm during the reign of Leo 11ł CSCO Subs.
Conrad I99I,14-17 4 l (Louvatn, 1973), 205-9
Duval I90],198-ż00 of the Emperor Leo antl
't'he relationship between these sources in their accounts

Haase 1925,22-3 t'aliph Yazid's iconoclasm.

Kawerau 1960,7-t2 Wtlllgang Hage, 'Gregor Barhebrius (Iż25126-1286)', Theologische Realenzykloptidic
Nagel 1990,258-9 l4 (1985), 158-64
Ortiz de Urbina 1965,22I-3 Ąrr encyclopaedia article.
Segal 1962,256-8 'Gregory Bar-Hebraya, the Syrian Orthodox scholar and Maphrian of the liast.
Witakowski 1987,85-7 ilt W. Hage, Syriac Christianity in the East, Móran 'Eth'ó Series 1 (Baker }Iill,
Witakowski 2001, 190-1 Kottayam, Kerala, 1988), 80-93
Wright 1894,265-8I Ą general account of BE's life and work.
Yousif 2002,239*76 l tlrluard R. Hambye, 'Bar'Ebroyo and the Byzantine empire', in Renó Lavenant, ccl..
l/ Symposium syriacum ]988, Katholieke Llniversiteit, Leuven, 29-3] aońt I98|t,
Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz,'Bar Hebrżlś, Biographisch-bibliographisches Kirchenlexil,''tł
()rientalia Christiana Analecta 236 (Rome, 1990), 403-8
l (1975),370-|
An encyclopaedia article. Ą short account of BE's mentions of Byzantium on the basis of both the Syriac:
('hronicle and the Arabic Ta'r|kh,thę latter being more informative than the formcr.
Ludger Beinhard, 'Die Legitimitót des lateinischen Kaiserreiches von Konst&ntintllrr
l

iniatouitischer Sicht', Jahrbuch der ósterreichischen byzantinischen Gesellschu|i ll' l ltcrman, 'Barhóbraeus', Dictionnaire d'histoire et de gćographie ecclĆsiastitlut',y (l
(1932),7924
(1967),133-8
Ąrr encyclopaedia article.
BE in his Ta,r\kh writes that in 1204 Constantinople was're-captured'by tlr,
ł ir.tll,g Lane, An account of Gregory Bar Hebraeus Abu al-Faraj and his relatitllls
Franks, an expression which is explained by his belief that'the Romans wt't'
with the Mongols of Persia', Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies2.2 (July 1999).
Franks'.
(4th ctlrr :/isyrcom.cua. edu/hugoye
Sebastian Brock, 'Gregor ibn al-'Ibrl', Lexikon fi)r Theologie und Kirche 3
l l t tp
|)resents BE's biography with emphasis on his contacts with and attitude ttrwltl'tls
1995), 1001-2
the Mongols.
An encyclopaedia article.
HayatEl_Eid Bualwan, 'Syriac historical writing in the thirteenth centurY: the histtlt t'
, l Nltu,'Bar Hebraeus', Dictionnaire de thćologie catholique2.1 (l9l0),401-5
An encyclopaedia article.
of Ibnal-'Ibri(BarHebraeusAbul-Fara )', Paroledel'Orient26(200I),145 5li
l lrt,tldor Nóldeke, 'Barhebraeus', in Theodor Nóldeke, Orientalische Skizzen (I}cl'lill,
A general account of BE's Arabic al-mukhtasar ta'rlkh,
J._g., Ćhabot, 'Echos des croisades', Acadćmie des inscriptions et belles lettres:
Cllll|llt l l89ż),25I-13
A sketch of BE's life; a little information on his works as well.
rendus des sćances de l'annće ]938,448-6I
'Barhebraeus', in Theodor Nóldeke, Sketches from Eastern History, translatccl lry
BE's Chr. eccl. doęs not conflrm some western data on Patriarch Ignatios ll
.lohn Sutherland Black (London, 1892),236-56
conversion to Catholicism (pp. 448-55).
An English translation of the previous item.
Lawrence I. Conrad, 'On the Arabic chronicle of Bar Hebraeus: his aims and audictl' '
l ttrtlit Rose, 'Bar Hebraeus', Dictionary of the Middle Ages 2 (1983), l08
Parole de l'Orient 19 (1994), 319-78
Ąn encyclopaedia article.
An important study of the Ta'rlkh; on the basis of a detailed comparistlll (1rlr
\.,s;rcl Sauma, 'Commentary on the "Biography" of Bar Hebraeus', Aranl (Stockhollrt)
34I_78) of the material of the first book of the Syriac secular Chronicle żrlltl
tlr,
written for a Chrislr,rrr 7(l998),35-68
Arabic Ta,rlkh,the author argues that the latter was also
A summary of BE's biography by Gabriel of Bartellc (d. 1300).
audience and not for Muslims.
Il 282 wilold witaktlwski

J.B. Segal, 'Ibn al-'Ibrl', The Encyclopaedia of Islam, new edition 3 (I97l),804-5
An encyclopaedia article.
N.I. Serikov, 'O putiakh proniknoveniia vizantiiskoi dukhovnoi kul'tury llil
l2
musul'manskii Vostok: Grigorii Ioann Abu-l-Faradzh Ibn-al-'Ibri (Bar Ebrel) i
vizantiiskaia istoriograficheskaia traditsiia', YV 45 (1984), 2304I
In BE's Ta'rtkh connections with Byzantine historiography can be observed as wcll sources in Arabic
as a tendency to assimilate the Christian vision of history to that of Muslim readcrs.
Hidemi Takahashi, 'Simeon of Qal'a Rumaita, Patriarch Philoxenus Nemrod and Bitr
'Ebroyo', Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 4.1 (January 2001), CAROLE HILLENBRAND
http ://syrcom. cua. edu/hugoye
BE's contacts with the priest-physician Simon BarYeshu', who was an important fig"
ure at the llkhanid court in the 1260s and to whom BE dedicated two of his works,
'In the last thirty years prosopographical studies have significantly enlarged the
Herman G.B. Teule, 'The crusades in Barhebraeus'Syriac and Arabic secular chrott-
icles: a different approach', in Krijnie Ciggaar, Adelbert Davids, and Herman Teulc, understanding of Islamic medieval societies.' (Manuela Marin)l
eds., East and West in the Crusader States. Context, contacts, confrontations. Ac,lł
At'lpR A BRIEF INTRoDucTIoN, this overview will focus on three major area
of the Congress held at Hernen Castle in May ]993, Orientalia Lovaniensiłt :

Analecta 75 (Louvain, 1996), 3949

BE used different sources for his secular Syriac Chronicle (MR's Chr.) and for the
Ta'rlkh for the period of the crusades (Kamilfi'l-ta'rTkh by Ibn al-AthTr).
al:Ebri', Encyclopaedia Iranicc 8, fasc. I (1997),13-15
An encyclopaedia article.
-(Ebn Barhebraeus and his time: the Syrian Renaissance', Journal of thł
Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 3 (2003),2143
-(Gręgory
Presents a general intellectual portrait of BE, partly in connection with his histo-
riographical output; BE's knowledge of languages other than Syriac (thesc
included Persian), Christian and Muslim sources and their use.
Susanne Regina Todt, 'Die syrische und die arabische Weltgeschichte des Bar
Hebraeus: ein Vergleich' , Der Islam 65 (1988), 60-80
Shows differences between BE's Syriac and Arabic historiographical works: he
omits in the Ta'rtkh events that have a meaning only for Christian readers, uses
different dating systems and mentions different physicians in each.
Witold Witakowski,'L'horizon góographique de l'historiographie syriaque: apergu
próliminaire', in Arnaud Sórandour, ed., Des Sumćriens aux Romains d'Orient: lu
perception gćographique du monde: espaces et territoires au Proche-Orient ancien;
Actes de la table ronde du 16 novembre 1996 organisće par I'URA ]062 ńtudc:ł
sćmitiques, Antiquitós sómitiques 1 1 (Paris, 1997), 199-209
BEt sęcular chronicle, its material on the division of the world between the sons ol'
Noah (Diamerismos) , and its arrangement in eleven 'dynastic' periods: pp.206-9,
Ecclesiastical Chronicle of Gregory Bar'Ebroyo', Journal of the Canadiut
Society for Syriac Studies 6 (2006),61-81
-śThe
A general account of the ecclesiastical part of BE's chronicle, dealing with its
structure, contents, sources and vision of history.
'Iwag Zakka, 'Ibn al-'IbrT (1226-1286)', Journal of the Iraqi Academy, Syriu,
Corporation 5 (1979-80), 5-43
Not seen.
Joseph Zolinski, Zur Chronographie des Gregorius Abulpharagius, Inaugural-
Dissertation, Heidelberg (Breslau, 1894)
Chronological (Eusebian) tables derived from BE's Bible commentary, Thc
Storehouse of Mysteries.
rl tliscussion of medieval Arabic (and, to a lesser extent, Persian) narrative
|i()ilrces which deal with the period 1025-1204, a survey of medieval Islamic
l)r()sopographical material, including biographical and autobiographical
lilcrature, and an analysis of the current state of research on Islamic pro o-
1ltlgraphy. This overview will also mention cęrtain ancillary sources, such as
illscriptions, which atę a useful prosopographical tool. The bibliography
which follows this essay provides comments, sometimes detailed, on certain
llrtlividual authors and works which will be of special value to the
l}rosopography of the Byzantine World project. These comments will not be
rt:capitulated here. Instead, an attempt will be made to give a background
irttalysis of thę historiography of thę period under investigation.
INTRODUCTION
'l'he Geographical
and Historical Background
lrr the eleventh century, the Muslim world lay on the eastern and southern
llirnks of the Byzantine empire. The'House of Islam'controlled the sinews of
l}yzantine trade and its fleets dominated the Mediterranean. The Muslim
world was effectively boundless, immeasurably richer than Byzantium.
Moreover, since the seventh century and for almost thę whole of thę eleventh,
Muslims held sway in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
The days of a Muslim world, ruled by a single theocratic state, were long
since past. From the ninth century onwards smaller political entities governecl
l M. Marin, 'Biography and prosopography in Arabic-Islamic medieval culture. Introcluctory
t'clllarks', in M. Marin, ed., Medieval Prosopography. History and collective biography, Speckil
is,sue. Arab-Islamic Medieval culture 23 (2002), 12.

l'xl<,eecling,s oJ'thł lłritlsh ,,tt,łnh,nt| 1.12.2tł3 34(). (()The British Acadcnly 2(X)7.