Barsauma

Barsauma (Syriac: ܒܪܨܘܡܐ‎, Barṣaumâ), nicknamed Bar Sula, "son of the shoe" in Syriac, was Metropolitan of Nisibis in the 5th century, and a major figure in the history of the Church of the East. Under his leadership the church moved away from Roman loyalties and became increasingly aligned with the Nestorian movement,

Barsauma had been a teacher and student at the School of Edessa, where his mentor had been Ibas, Bishop of Edessa. Barsauma was excommunicated with Ibas and other churchmen for their support of Nestorian teachings, which had been declared heretical at the First Council of Ephesus in 431. Though Ibas was acquitted of heresy at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, following his death in 457 his associates found themselves expelled from their positions once again. Barsauma and other of Ibas' followers relocated to Sassanid Persia, where the persecuted local church had declared itself independent of the Church of Antioch.

Barsauma became metropolitan of Nisibis, one of the five great archdioceses of the Church of the East. He quickly became a favorite of King Peroz I, who preferred his compliant stance to that of Babowai, Catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon and head of the Persian Church, whom he regarded as a pro-Roman traitor. Over time Barsauma and Babowai's relationship grew openly antagonistic and came into conflict over the issue of the marriage of bishops, which provoked outrage in the Church of the East. Barsauma was instrumental in Babowai's downfall, ultimately leading to the latter's execution by Peroz in 484.

Bar Sawma (disambiguation)

Bar Sawma (also spelled Barsauma or Barsoum) is an Aramaic or Syriac name meaning "Son of the Fast" or "Son of Lent." It may refer to:

People

Places

See also

Bar Sawma (Nestorian patriarch)

Bar Sawma was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1134 to 1136.

Sources

Brief accounts of Bar Sawma's patriarchate are given in the Ecclesiastical Chronicle of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus (floruit 1280) and in the ecclesiastical histories of the fourteenth-century Nestorian writers ʿAmr and Sliba.

Bar Sawma's patriarchate

The following account of Bar Sawma's patriarchate is given by Bar Hebraeus (who erroneously placed him after the patriarch Makkikha I instead of Eliya II):

Bar Sawma was consecrated catholicus of the Nestorians on Sunday, 4 ab [August] in the year 528 of the Arabs [AD 1134] in succession to Makkikha bar Shlemun. This Bar Sawma lived a life of bitterness, on account of the heavy burdens that were laid upon him, and was constantly praying for a quick and early death. His prayers were answered, for after fulfilling his office for only one year and five months, he died on the eleventh day of the former kanun [December] in the year 533 of the Arabs [AD 1136].