Eliya VII

The ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery, former residence of the Patriarchs of the Church of the East

Eliya VII was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1558 to 1591, with residence in Rabban Hormizd Monastery, near Alqosh, in modern Iraq.^[1]

Biography

Eliya was younger nephew of patriarch Shemon VII Ishoyahb (1539-1558), who originally designated Eliya's older brother Hnanishoʿ as his successor. Several years later, probably because Hnanishoʿ had died in the interim, patriarch Shemon VII transferred the succession to his other nephew, fifteen-year-old Eliya. Thus he became natar kursya (designated successor) of the Patriarchal Throne. In 1545, Eliya was made Metropolitan. His uncle, patriarch Shemon VII, died on 1 November 1558, and was succeeded by Eliya who became new Patriarch of All the East (designated as Eliya "VII" in older historiography, but renumbered as Eliya "VI" in recent scholarly works). During his patriarchal tenure, from 1558 to 1591, Church of the East preserved its traditional christology and ecclesiastical independence. He died on May 16, 1591, and was buried in the Rabban Hormizd Monastery.^[2]

See also

• List of Patriarchs of the Church of the East

Notes

References

• Baum, Wilhelm; Winkler, Dietmar W. (2003). The Church of the East: A Concise History. London-New York: Routledge-Curzon.
• Murre van den Berg, Heleen H. L. (1999). "The Patriarchs of the Church of the East from the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries" (PDF). Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 2 (2): 235–264.
• Wilmshurst, David (2000). The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913. Louvain: Peeters Publishers.
• Wilmshurst, David (2011). The martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East. London: East & West Publishing Limited.

External links