Pope Athanasius III of Alexandria


Pope Athanasius III of Alexandria, 76th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.
He was known as Athanasius ibn Kalil. His episcopate lasted for eleven years, one month and 18 days from Sunday 9 October 1250 to 27 November 1261 AD.
The See of St Mark remained vacant for one month and 5 days after his death and he was succeeded by Pope John VII of Alexandria. He was buried in Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo.
In his time, the Papal Residence was at the Church of The Holy Virgin Mary & St Damiana known as The Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo.

Contemporary rulers of Egypt during his episcopate

The episcopate of Pope Athanasius III of Alexandria started at the time when the Ayyubid Dynasty lost power to their slave troops in Egypt and elsewhere. The Bahriyya Mamluks was a Mamluk dynasty of mostly Turkic origin that ruled the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate from 1250 to 1382. They were succeeded by a second Mamluk dynasty, the Burji dynasty. Their name "Bahriyya" means 'of the river', referring to the location of their original settlement on Al-Rodah Island in the Nile in Medieval Cairo at the castle of Al-Rodah which was built by the Ayyubid Sultan as-Salih Ayyub
Pope Athanasius III of Alexandria became the patriarch at the time of the reign of Al-Ashraf Musa, Sultan of Egypt who was the last, albeit titular, Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt. Al-Ashraf Musa was the puppet of the strong Mamluk ruler Izz ad-Din Aybak.
Thus, the episcopate of Pope Athanasius III of Alexandria coincided with the following rulers: Al-Ashraf Musa, Sultan of Egypt, Izz al-Din Aybak, Al-Mansur Ali, Qutuz, and Baibars. Below is a tabulation of the periods of reign of various rules of Egypt at the time.
2 May 1250–July 1250 AD: Shajar al-Durr whose Royal Name was al-Malika `Aṣmat ad-Dīn Umm-Khalīl Shajar ad-Durr . She was the wife of Sultan al-Malik As-Salih Ayyub, Egypt's Sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty and later married Izz al-Din Aybak, Egypt Sultan of the Bahri Mamluk dynasty. Aybak married her to claim access to the throne. Shajar al-Durr played a crucial role after the death of her first husband in Al-Mansura during the Seventh Crusade. She became the Sultana of Egypt on May 2, 1250, marking the end of the Ayyubid reign and the start of the Mamluk era. Her reign was short, lasting under three months. Many Muslim historians believed that she was of Turkic origin and some believed that she was of Armenian origin
July 1250 AD : Mamluk Sultan al-Muizz Izz al-Din Aybak - His official reign was from 1254-1257 AD, however, he was the de facto ruler since 1250 AD.
July 1250 – 1254 AD: Ayyubid Sultan al-Ashraf II Muzaffar ad-Din . Al-Ashraf Musa was the last, albeit titular, Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt. Al-Ashraf Musa, Sultan of Egypt, was the puppet of the strong Mamluk ruler Izz ad-Din Aybak.
1254- 1257 AD: Mamluk Sultan al-Malik al-Mu'izz Izz al-Din Aybak al-Jawshangir al-Turkmani al-Salihi - His official reign was from 1254-1257 AD, however, he was the de facto ruler since 1250 AD. Izz al-Din Aybak was the first of the Mamluk sultans of Egypt in the Turkic Bahri line, if the reign of Shajar al-Durr is discounted.
1257-November 1259 AD: Mamluk Sultan Al-Malik Al-Manṣūr Nūr ad-dīn ʾAlī ibn Aybak . Al-Mansur Ali was the second of the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt in the Turkic, or Bahri, line. Some historians, however, consider Shajar al-Durr as the first of the Mamluk Sultans; thus, Al-Mansur Ali was the third Mamluk Sultan He ruled from 1257 to 1259 after the assassination of his father Aybak during a turbulent period that witnessed the Mongols invasion of the Islamic world.
November 1259-24 October 1260 AD: The Reign of Mamluk Sultan al-Malik al-Muzafar Seif al-Din Qutuz .. Under his leadership, the Mamluks defeated the Mongols in the key Battle of Ain Jalut. Qutuz was assassinated by a fellow Mamluk leader, Baibars, on his triumphant return journey to Cairo.
24 October 1260 - 1 July 1277 AD: The Reign of Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baibars I al-Bunduqdari nicknamed Abu al-Futuh and Abu l-Futuhat — He was one of the commanders of the Muslim forces that defeated King Louis IX of France to end the Seventh Crusade. Louis IX was defeated by the Ayyubid Sultan Al-Muazzam Turanshah, supported by Faris ad-Din Aktai's Bahariyya Mamluks, Baibars al-Bunduqdari, Qutuz, Aybak, and Al-Mansur Qalawun. Louis was taken prisoner, and approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for his release. Baibars also led the vanguard of the army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked the first substantial defeat of the Mongol army and is considered a turning point in history. The reign of Baibars marked the start of the age of Mamluk dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean and solidified the durability of their military system. He managed to pave the way for the end of the Crusader presence in the Levant and reinforced the union of Egypt and Syria as the region's pre-eminent Muslim state, able to fend off threats from both Crusaders and Mongols, and even managed to subdue the kingdom of Makuria, which was famous for being unconquerable by previous Muslim empire invasion attempts. This marks the start of the spread of Islam south of Egypt.

Brief Biography

After the repose of Pope Cyril III of Alexandria ) 75th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, on 10 March 1243 AD, the Episcopal See of St Mark remained vacant for seven and a half years. The Copts were obliged to pay a fee of 3000 dinars every time they ordain a new Pope, which was a prohibitive sum. However, when Sultan Ezzeddin Aybak ) became the de facto ruler in 1250 AD, the Copts offered him a gift of 500 dinars for the purpose of this ordination, and he accepted it. Moreover, it seems that this was the last time that such a fee was imposed, as there is no record in history that the Copts had to pay this fee again.
The person selected for the Patriarchate was a priest and a monk from the Monastery of St Anthony in the Eastern Desert. His name was Paul ibn Kalil al-Masri. He was a deacon and the son of a priest and then he became a monk and priest under the name Paul and was nicknamed "the son of Rev. Makarim ben Kalil". He was selected over a priest and monk named Gabriel, who was a relative of Bishop Abba Peter of Tanbadi, who was hoping for the position, supported by the children of Al-Assal, but the people rejected Gabriel the monk. Bishop Abba Yousab of Fouh and Upper Menouf the author of a useful work on Church History played an important role in establishing the ordination of the priest Paul ibn Kalil the monk, and finally all agreed on his ordination.
When he was chosen for the patriarchate, he was promoted to the rank of Hegumen of the Hanging Church in Cairo on Sunday 2 October 1250 AD with great glory and celebration. After being promoted to the rank of Hegumen in Cairo, he traveled with the bishops, the senior clergy, and the Coptic leaders to Alexandria to complete his ordination as Patriarch, as was the custom. There, he was consecrated Patriarch in the Church of Sotir in Alexandria a week later on Sunday 9 October 1250 AD.
At the time of the ordination of Pope Athanasius III, the Vizier Sharafuddin Abi Said the son of Sa'id al-Nayizi was present in Alexandria. The Pope met with him, and the Vizier received him for a long reception. Before leaving Alexandria, the new pope consecrated several churches and ordained a number of priests. He then headed to monasteries of Nitria, as was the custom of the new patriarchs when they were ordained.
In the year 1257 AD, Pope Athanasius III consecrated the Holy Oil of Chrismation in the monastery of St Macarius. The consecration was attended by several bishops. They included Bishop Abba Yoannis of Samannoud, Bishop Abba Gregorius of Mahalla, Bishop Mikhail of El-Baramon, Bishop Abba Yousab of Fouh and Upper Menouf the author of a useful work on Church History, Bishop Abba Abraam of Nestroh, Bishop Abba Boutros of Sinjar, Bishop Abba Youanes of Laqana, Bishop Abba Mark of Dafri, Bishop Abba Yoannis ibn Al-Khazen of Abu Tig, Bishop Abba Yusab of Akhmim, Bishop Abba Boutros of Fayoum, and Bishop Abba Youannis of Al-Bahnasa .
He struggled during his episcopate for peace within the Church and struggled against the ill effects of Simony. When he became patriarch, he attempted everything within his power to heal the church and repair the damage caused by his predecessor, Cyril III. He pressed hard on the bishops who ascended to the episcopate by the Simeonite way, the manner in which Pope Cyril III sold the various positions of the episcopate. Because of this, Many Coptic bishops left the Orthodox faith.
In his days, a governor official named Assaad Sharaf al-Din Hibatullah bin Sa'ad al-Nayzi, who used to be a Coptic Christian, charged the Christians double the allocated taxation.
In his days also, the Muslims rioted in Damascus and destroyed the Church of the Virgin Mary after burning and looting what was in it.
Also in the year 1259 AD, a group of Christians were killed in Damascus and their homes were looted just before the Battle of Ain Jalut. Following the Battle of Ain Jalut and the defeat of the Mongols, the Mamluk Sultan al-Malik al-Muzafar Seif al-Din Qutuz entered Damascus, and ordered the Christians to pay 150,000 Dirhams, which collected from them and carried to him by the Embassy of the Persian Prince Farisuddin Aktay. There was a large Coptic presence in Damascus in these days, and they had many Coptic Churches in Damascus.