Sylvester of Antioch

Life and Achievements of an 18th-Century Christian Orthodox Patriarch

Mihai Ţipău

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN:
  9783110988710
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Early Modern History

In 1724, Sylvester, a native of the island of Cyprus, was elected Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East. For more than four decades, he endeavored to preserve the legacy of one of the earliest Christian Churches in the Levant. He faced major challenges because of the ever changing balance of power between the Latin Church and its missionaries, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the French and English interests in the Levant, and the central and local Ottoman authorities. In his efforts to provide church books for the Arab Orthodox Christians, Sylvester was helped by rulers of the Romanian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia. He printed a number of books in Jassy and Bucharest and opened an Arabic press in Beirut. Alongside his patriarchal duties, Sylvester was also an accomplished icon painter. His works, in the Post-Byzantine Greek style of the 18th century, are preserved in Syrian and Lebanese churches, as well as elsewhere. Their study reveals just another aspect of his complex activity. The book presents for the first time in English the biography and achievements of Sylvester of Antioch, based on a wide range of contemporary Greek, Arabic and Romanian historical sources.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1 Before 1724
• 2 Letters and Codices as Sources on Patriarch Sylvester’s Life and Works
• 3 In Search of Sylvester’s Origins
• 4 Sylvester as Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
• 5 A New Decade and New Travels, 1730–1740
• 6 From 1740 to 1748, in Moldavia, Constantinople, and Wallachia
• 7 Back to Constantinople and “Arabia”
• 8 Patriarch Sylvester in Damascus after 1760
• 9 Sylvester of Antioch’s Network of Collaborators
• 10 The Patriarchate of Antioch in Sylvester’s Times: “Greeks” and “Latins”
• 11 Sylvester’s Schools
• 12 Sylvester’s Books
• 13 Travels in Europe and Asia
• 14 Sylvester and Russia
• 15 Sylvester of Antioch’s Printing Works
• 16 Books Printed by Patriarch Sylvester in Moldavia, Wallachia, and Beirut
• 17 Other Printed Items
• 18 Glimpses of Sylvester of Antioch’s Patriarchal Activities
• 19 Sylvester of Antioch as an Icon Painter
• Addendum 1: Catalogue of Icons Painted by Sylvester of Antioch or Attributed to Him
• Addendum 2: Inventory of Documents and Correspondence
• Addendum 3: Greek Sources on Sylvester’s Life and Works
• Abbreviations
• Figures
• Index of Names and Places