GIACOBITI. — Name given to the Syrian Monophysites, derived from Giacomo Baradeo, who around the middle of the 6th century organized the Monophysite Church, especially in Syria.
I. HISTORY
Monophysitism in Syria became established already after the Council of Chalcedon (451). The Monophysites succeeded in occupying the see of Antioch for the first time in 468 (Pietro Fullone). Their most authoritative representative and the father of the later Monophysitism, which was in any case purely verbal, was Severo, patriarch of Antioch (512–18) under the emperor Anastasius, who was likewise favorable to Monophysitism. With the accession of the emperor Giustino (518), the situation changed and Severo was forced to flee. When, under Giustiniano (527–65), conditions became increasingly critical for the Monophysites, whose bishops were imprisoned, the monk Giacomo Baradeo succeeded, with the assistance of the empress Teodora, in having himself consecrated bishop and in consecrating Monophysite priests and bishops in turn. In this way he created an entire Monophysite hierarchy alongside and in opposition to the Orthodox hierarchy. From his time onward, therefore, there has existed a Monophysite Church of Antioch distinct from and opposed to the Orthodox Church. The Syrian Monophysites are therefore rightly called Jacobites.Monophysitism became established in Syria chiefly in the countryside, where the Syrian language was spoken. In the Hellenized cities, by contrast, Orthodoxy prevailed. In northern Mesopotamia, for example, in Edessa, Amida, Mabbûg, etc., Monophysitism became dominant. A considerable measure of Syrian nationalism, in opposition to the hated Greeks of Byzantium, who were regarded as oppressors of the Syrian people, also became involved in the religious struggle over Monophysitism.
The Monophysites were expelled from Persia after Nestorianism was introduced there toward the end of the fifth century. They were nevertheless able to return when, at the beginning of the seventh century, the Persians temporarily conquered Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. The period up to the arrival of the Persians was filled with internal disputes among Monophysites of various tendencies, conflicts that at times even became violent.
Under the rule of the Persians, who conquered Antioch in 611, the Jacobites felt liberated from the continual harassment of the Byzantines. In order to win the Monophysites over to the cause of the Empire, Erachio (610–41), after driving the Persians from Syria (629), propagated Monophysitism as a formula of reconciliation. The Emperor recognized the Monophysite patriarch Atanasio as the sole patriarch of Antioch.
The invasion of the Arabs definitively separated Syria from the Empire, apart from the temporary return of the Byzantines in the second half of the tenth century. As opponents of the Byzantines, the Jacobites initially enjoyed the favor of the conquerors. But toward the end of the seventh century their situation too began to deteriorate.
Among the Jacobites, the question of the “mafrianate” was highly agitated during the Arab period. Mafrêjân (= “he who makes fruitful”) was the title of the supreme head of the eastern part of the Jacobite Church, which had previously been subject to the Persians. Once, as a result of the Arab invasion, the boundary between Persia and Syria had disappeared, the mafrianate seemed to have lost its reason for existence. The patriarch Dionigi of Tellmahrê (818–45) succeeded in subjugating the eastern part, which was under the mafrianate, as well.
The Byzantine conquest in the second half of the tenth century once again brought the Jacobites into contact with the Byzantines, who disturbed the peace by attempting—not without recourse to force—to convert them to Orthodoxy. Recalcitrant bishops and monks, and on one occasion even the patriarch himself, were deported to Constantinople. The Jacobites rejoiced at the Seljuk Turks’ victory over the Byzantines and preferred the rule of the Turks, who did not interfere with their faith, to that of the Byzantines.
The relations between the Jacobites and the Latin Crusaders were generally good. In particular, the patriarch Michele il Grande (1166–99) was a friend of the Latins. The patriarch Ignazio II even made a profession of the Catholic faith (in 1237 at Jerusalem).
The Council of Florence made an attempt to unite with the Jacobites. In 1444 the delegate of Patriarch Ignazio IX recognized the supreme pontiff Eugenio IV in the name of the Jacobites residing between the Tigris and the Euphrates. But this union did not become effective. Another attempt was made under Gregorio XIII, who in 1581 recognized Patriarch Ignazio David Sàh as patriarch of Antioch. But since the patriarch refused to recognize the Council of Chalcedon and to condemn Dioscorus, the union failed. Later, in the seventeenth century, through the patient work of Latin missionaries, a community of Catholic Syrians slowly took shape, converted from Monophysitism; they had their first patriarch in 1662, in the person of Andrea Akidjan.
Centuries of oppression by the Muslims reduced the once flourishing Jacobite Church to very little. Even during the First World War, many Jacobites in Asia Minor were massacred by the Turks. After the war, the patriarch transferred his see from the Dér Safrán monastery near Mardin in Turkey to Homs in Syria. Many of the faithful likewise sought refuge in Syria or Lebanon under the French mandate. Thus, very few of them remained in Turkey.
The Jacobites (they themselves do not like this name, preferring to call themselves “Orthodox Syrians” or “Old Syrians”) are deeply attached to their Syrian nationality, although today they speak Arabic. In Syria there are 24,000 of them (according to the statistics of the French government in 1935), and in Lebanon 3,000. For the most part they are refugees who immigrated after the war of 1914–18 from Turkey, Edessa, Mardin, or even Iraq. The Jacobites are particularly numerous in the north-eastern corner of Syria (the Upper Jazira), where there are 10,000 of them. Many have long been resident at Homs and in its surroundings, as well as at Damascus. Besides the patriarch, who resides at Homs, there are bishops in Syria at Aleppo and in the Upper Jazira. Another has his see at Beirut in Lebanon. In Palestine the Jacobites are few in number. Monophysitism was never able to take root in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. In the Holy City the Jacobites possess the celebrated Monastery of St. Mark, with a rich library of manuscripts and a printing press.
The Jacobites are more numerous in ‘Irāq, where their number reaches 12,000. They are especially strong at Mossul, where they have long resided in comfortable circumstances. There are beautiful old churches there. The bishop also resides at Mossul. Nearby is the famous monastery of Mār Mattaj, with the tomb of Bar Ebreo (d. 1286). On the Jacobites of India V. MALABARESI.
II. LITERATURE
The Jacobites possess a rich theological literature. The history of the Syriac literature of the Monophysites can be divided into three periods: the first extending up to the Arab invasion, the second up to the end of the first millennium, and the third ending with the thirteenth century. After that, no author of note is found. The period of complete decline begins.The principal Father of the Monophysite Church is Severus, patriarch of Antioch (512–18), who wrote in Greek. Many of his writings have been preserved only in Syriac translation; such are his letters and sermons. The first Monophysite writer of distinction in the Syriac language is Philoxenus, bishop of Mabbùg (Hierapolis), who died in 523, an ardent champion of Monophysitism. Jacob of Sêrùg (d. 541) is the most
celebrated poet of the Syriac Monophysites, called “the flute of the Holy Spirit”; he was of a peaceful nature and did not concern himself with theological controversies; he wrote numerous metrical homilies. John, bishop of Ephesus (d. after 585), is the author of a celebrated history of the Church.
In the second period of Jacobite literature, theological controversies no longer occupy so prominent a place, since the Jacobites had by then separated from Byzantium. Yet Greek influence remained strong. Arabic soon penetrated among the Jacobites, so that toward the end of this period Syriac literature began to disappear.
With Severus Sebòkt (666) a period of prosperity began for Hellenized Syriac literature. His school included Athanasius of Bàlàd, elected patriarch in 684 (d. 687), Jacob, bishop of Edessa (d. 708), the most noteworthy representative of Christian Hellenism in Syriac literature, comparable to St. Jerome, and George, bishop of the Arabs.
The consolidation of Arab rule eventually led to the decline of Syriac literature. The broad and multifaceted activity of Moses bar Kéfà (815–903) represents the twilight of this period.
In the second millennium, the Syriac literature of the Jacobites experienced a new period of prosperity. Renewed contact with the Byzantine world, saturated with culture, also gave fresh impetus to Jacobite literature. The most distinguished representatives of the literary revival belonged to the Jacobite higher clergy. Patriarch Michael I the Great (1166–99) is known for his history of the Jacobite Church. The activity of the bishop of Amida, Dionysius bar Šalibi (d. 1171), marks the apogee of the revival of Syriac literature. The influence of Arab culture is strongly evident in the monk Jacob bar Šakkò (d. 1241), who wrote a philosophical Summa and a theological one, and also in the last and perhaps most authoritative and universal theologian of the Jacobites: Gregory Bar Ebreo (1226–86), comparable in several respects to his Western contemporary St. Albert the Great. After him begins the definitive decline of Jacobite literature.
III. DOCTRINE
The monophysitism of the g., like that of Severus of Antioch, is purely verbal. They admit that Jesus is true God and true man, and that he possesses everything pertaining to human nature and to divine nature. But they obstinately refuse to admit the formula of the two natures and reject the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon, which, in their view, would have fallen back into Nestorianism. The g. are therefore rather schismatics than true heretics. It is clear that they do not accept the Councils that followed that of Chalcedon. As for the doctrine of the Sacraments, the g. have not developed a system. They accepted the number seven under Catholic influence. The minister of the Sacraments is the priest alone. Only recently have the g., under Catholic influence, admitted Baptism administered by laypeople in cases of necessity. The ancient authors do not seem to admit a true transubstantiation in the Eucharist, but rather teach a kind of impanation. Marriage was recognized as a Sacrament only recently, under Catholic influence. In their doctrine concerning the epiclesis, the matter of the Eucharist, and Communion under both kinds, the Jacobite authors seem to have accommodated themselves to the doctrine of the Greeks.Guglielmo de Vries