John XII bar Maʿdani

John XII bar Ma'dani
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
Church	Syriac Orthodox Church
See	Antioch
Installed	1252
Term ended	1263
Predecessor	Ignatius III David
Successor	Ignatius IV Yeshu
Personal details
Birth name	Aaron
Born	Ma’dan
Died	1263 Baqismat Monastery, Sis, Cilician Armenia

John XII bar Ma'dani was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1252 until his death in 1263.

Biography

John was born as Aaron in Ma'dan in the 13th century. In 1230, Aaron was ordained as metropolitan of Mardin, upon which he took the name John and two years later he was elevated to maphrian by Ignatius III David. As maphrian, John studied and became fluent in Arabic, with which he wrote sermons and letters.

After the death of Ignatius III David, John was elected as patriarch and was consecrated on the 4th of December 1252. John was patriarch for eleven years before his death in 1263 at the Baqismat Monastery in Sis, Cilician Armenia.

Works

Whilst acting as maphrian, John is known to have composed fifty-two short stories, one of which was translated into Arabic. As well as this John wrote an ode to Aaron the Ascetic and a forty-seven page anthology, containing his most famous poem, The Bird.

John also wrote four homilies in Syriac on Palm Sunday, the Cross, the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple and New Sunday which he later translated into Arabic. In addition to this, John wrote a liturgy and seven canons, six of which he issued at the Monastery of Mor Hananyo and the seventh was included in his early patriarchal proclamations.

See also

• Opizzo Fieschi, nephew of Innocent IV and Latin Patriarch of Antioch during John XII's tenure

References

• The Scattered Pearls: A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences - Ignatius Aphrem I Barsoum.
• "Catholicate of the East".