The city of Melitene (modern Malatya) was an

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

of the

Syriac Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = syc , image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg , imagewidth = 250 , alt = Cathedral of Saint George , caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascus ...

, attested between the ninth and thirteenth centuries but probably founded as early as the seventh century. More than thirty Syriac Orthodox bishops or metropolitans of Melitene are mentioned either by

Michael the Syrian Michael the Syrian ( ar, ميخائيل السرياني, Mīkhaʾēl el Sūryani:),( syc, ܡܺܝܟ݂ܳܐܝܶܠ ܣܽܘܪܝܳܝܳܐ, Mīkhoʾēl Sūryoyo), died 1199 AD, also known as Michael the Great ( syr, ܡܺܝܟ݂ܳܐܝܶܠ ܪܰܒ݁ܳܐ, ...

or in other Syriac Orthodox narrative sources. The archdiocese is last mentioned towards the end of the twelfth century, and seems to have lapsed in the early decades of the thirteenth century.

Bishops and metropolitans of Melitene

Seventh- and eighth-century bishops

The names of four early Jacobite bishops of Melitene are known. Michael the Syrian provided a cursory list of 28 undated bishops and metropolitans of Melitene, most of whom were Jacobite bishops consecrated between the ninth and twelfth centuries who featured in his regular lists. The first five names (Leontius, Otreius, Acacius, Mama and

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...

) were of bishops who flourished before the seventh century. According to Michael, these men were followed 'long afterwards' by the Jacobite bishops Thomas, Ezekiel, Gregory and Ahron, presumably to be dated to the seventh and eighth centuries.

Ninth- to twelfth-century bishops

Twenty dated Jacobite metropolitans of Melitene between the ninth and the twelfth centuries are mentioned in the lists of Michael the Syrian.Michael the Syrian, ''Chronicle'', iii. 451–82 and 497

References

Citations

Bibliography

The main primary source for the Syriac Orthodox metropolitans of Melitene is the record of episcopal consecrations appended to Volume III of the ''Chronicle'' of the Syriac Orthodox patriarch

(1166–99). In this Appendix Michael listed most of the bishops consecrated by the Syriac Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Twenty-eight Syriac Orthodox patriarchs sat during this period, and in many cases Michael was able to list the names of the bishops consecrated during their reigns, their monasteries of origin, and the place where they were consecrated. For the thirteenth century, Michael's lists are supplemented by several references in other Syriac Orthodox narrative sources. * * * Jean-Baptiste Chabot, ''Chronique de Michel le Syrien, Patriarche Jacobite d'Antiche (1166-1199). Éditée pour la première fois et traduite en francais I-IV'' (1899;1901;1905;1910; a supplement to volume I containing an introduction to Michael and his work, corrections, and an index, was published in 1924. Reprinted in four volumes 1963, 2010). {{Authority control Syriac Orthodox dioceses Oriental Orthodoxy in Turkey nl:Lijst van Syrisch-orthodoxe aartsbisdommen van Antiochië