but on the whole condemned Mark. Mark then turned Orthodox, went back to the Copts, turned Orthodox again, and then wanted to go back to his own people once more. But this time they would not have him back; he died in obscurity, apparently out of communion with everyone.[1] After his time we hear no more of the absurd abuse he attacked; so he seems to have accomplished his purpose. But confession among Copts has always been, and is now, a rarely used Sacrament (p. 279). About the same time we hear of controversies about circumcision. All Copts circumcise; but they argued at length whether this should be done before or after baptism.
During the 13th century the Crusaders repeatedly attacked Egypt. In 1219 they took Damietta;[2] but in the same year they were driven back. In 1249 St. Lewis IX of France (1226-1270) invaded Egypt and again seized Damietta. It is well known that then he himself was taken prisoner, ransomed by a heavy sum, and lost all his conquests. From the first siege of Damietta (1219) dates the establishment of a line of Latin Patriarchs of Alexandria, who, however, soon became merely titular.[3]
Cyril III (Coptic Patriarch, 1235-1243) was one of the worst of his line. He acquired his place by intrigue and bribery, and practised barefaced simony throughout his reign. However, during his time a reforming synod was held and canons were drawn up, which he did not obey, but which form part of the Coptic law. These canons begin by a profession of Monophysism, ordain that a general synod be held every year during the third week after Pentecost, that boys be circumcised before baptism, that a complete collection of canons be drawn up, and so on. The collection of canons was duly made.[4] At this time a
- ↑ A very hostile account of Mark Ibn alḲanbar (accusing him of many strange heresies), by Michael, Metropolitan of Damietta, will be found in Abū Ṣāliḥ (ed. cit. pp. 33-43).
- ↑ It was then that St. Francis of Assisi († 1226) came to Egypt, seeking to convert the Sultan (Al-Kāmil Muḥammad, 1218-1238) or to die a martyr's death. He succeeded in neither; but from his place with God he must rejoice to see his friars for long centuries, and still to-day, the heroic guardians of the Catholic faith throughout the Levant.
- ↑ The list in Lequien: Oriens Christ. iii. 1143-1146.
- ↑ Renaudot: Hist. Patr. Alex. 582-586.
