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Moses of Mardin ( Latin: ''Moses Mardenus'') was a
Syriac Orthodox , 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 ...
priest and bishop who played a significant role in printing the first Syriac bible and served as perhaps the first Syriac teacher/scholar in Europe.


Biography

Moses was born in the village of Qaluq near
Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location o ...
in the Tur Abdin region to a
Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages ...
family. Moses is first mentioned in 1549 as an envoy of the Jacobite
Patriarch of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian c ...
, Ignatius Abdullah I Stephan, to Rome to seek the means to print Syriac copies of the New Testament. His mission also included negotiations of unity with the Catholic Church in anticipation of the Patriarch's arrival. Whilst in Rome, Moses stayed in the monastery of
St Stephen of the Abyssinians St Stephen of the Abyssinians ( it, Santo Stefano degli Abissini) is an Ethiopian Catholic church located in Vatican City. The church dedicated to Stephen the Protomartyr is the national church of Ethiopia. The liturgy is celebrated according t ...
where Johannes Potken had printed the first Ge'ez book, ''Psalterium David et Cantica aliqu''. Here he printed a
Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages ...
manuscript with the assistance of the Cardinals
Marcello Cervini Pope Marcellus II ( it, Marcello II; 6 May 1501 – 1 May 1555), born Marcello Cervini degli Spannocchi, was a Papalini Catholic prelate who served as head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 April 1555 until ...
, Reginald Pole and
Jean du Bellay Jean du Bellay (1492 – 16 February 1560) was a French diplomat and cardinal, a younger brother of Guillaume du Bellay, and cousin and patron of the poet Joachim du Bellay. He was bishop of Bayonne by 1526, member of the ''Conseil privé'' (pr ...
. However the manuscript produced was defective as the printers did not understand the language. In 1550, Moses travelled to Venice to meet Guillaume Postel to promote the idea of printing a Syriac copy of the New Testament which Postel had been working on since 1537. Despite this Postel could not help print it as he did not have the characters to print in Syriac. In 1552, Moses then returned to Rome where he taught Syriac to
Andreas Masius Andreas Masius (or Maes) (30 November 1514 – 7 April 1573) was a Catholic priest, humanist and one of the first European syriacists. He was born in Lennik, Flemish Brabant. Following his education, and after a short period of training at Leuve ...
and Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter among others. Upon the advice of Masius, he left Rome in the company of Cardinal Pole as he was returning to England, to meet Johann Jacob Fugger in
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...
. However, whilst staying in Dillingen he met Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter, then chancellor of the Austrian lands. Both sharing the same goals of printing a Syriac copy of the New Testament, Widmanstetter travelled with Moses to Vienna where they convinced Ferdinand I to fund their project. Thus one thousand copies of the Syriac version of the New Testament was printed in 1555 and Moses himself received half of which to distribute in the East. Moses remained in Europe until 1562 before returning to the East; however before departing he sold 250 copies on the European market. In 1578, he is mentioned returning to Rome as a bishop accompanied by the deposed patriarch Ignatius Nemet Allah I. In 1581, Moses was appointed Professor of Syriac at the College of the Neophytes.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mardin, Moses of Year of birth unknown 1592 deaths 16th-century births 16th-century Syriac Orthodox Church bishops 16th-century people from the Ottoman Empire Oriental Orthodox bishops in the Ottoman Empire