For other people called Yahballaha, see Yahballaha (disambiguation).
Mar
Yahballaha III
Patriarch of the Church of the East
A 15th-century miniature depicting Riccoldo da Monte di Croce in the audience before Yahballaha III
Church
Church of the East
See
Seleucia-Ctesiphon
Elected
November 1281
Installed
21 November 1281
Term ended
13 November 1317
Predecessor
Denha I
Successor
Timothy II
Other post(s)
Bishop of Northern China and Ongud
Orders
Consecration
1279 by Denha I
Personal details
Born
Markos
c. 1245
Koshang, Ongud
Died
13 November 1317 Maragheh, Ilkhanate
Nationality
Ongud
Denomination
Church of the East
Residence
Maragheh, Ilkhanate
Yahballaha III (c. 1245–13 November 1317), known in earlier years as Rabban Marcos (or Markos) was Patriarch of the East from 1281 to 1317. As patriarch, Yahballaha headed the Church of the East during the severe persecutions under the reign of khans Ghazan and his successor Öljaitü. He acknowledged the primacy of the Pope and tried to form a church union, which was rejected by the Nestorian bishops of the Church of the East.[1]
A native of Koshang, Marcos travelled with Rabban Bar Sauma, an ascetic Nestorian monk from Mongol-controlled China to Jerusalem. However, they were prevented from reaching their final destination due to the war between the Mongols and Mamluks. Patriarch Denha I of the Church of the East recalled them and consecrated Markos as the bishop of Katay and Ong, Mar Yahballaha. However, both opted to remain in monasteries in Mosul.
Yahballaha's election as the new patriarch of the Church of the East was approved by Abaqa Khan for political reasons and consecrated in 1281 as Yahballaha III. In 1282, Abaqa Khan's brother Tekuder, a convert to Islam, succeeded the throne. The Old Mongol party of Buddhists and Nestorian Christians opposed Tekuder, who started persecuting the Church of the East for siding with the Old Mongol party. Yahballaha was imprisoned, but his life was saved by Tekuder's Christian mother Qutui Khatun. In 1284, Abaqa Khan's son Arghun became the khan, and he held both Yahballaha and Bar Sauma in high esteem. Arghun sought an alliance with Christian Europe against the Muslims in Syria and Egypt and, advised by Yahballaha, sent Bar Sauma for the first East Asian diplomatic mission to Europe in history. After the fall of Acre to Muslims in 1291, the popular opinion in Ilkhanate started to incline towards Islam. The relations between the Church of the East and the khan remained well during the rule of Gaykhatu, Arghun's successor. However, with Arghun's son Ghazan ascendance to the throne, Muslims gained dominance. Ghazan started the persecution of Christians, and Yahballaha was again imprisoned. He was ransomed by Hethum II of Armenia.
In 1289, Yahballaha allowed the Dominican friar Riccoldo da Monte di Croce to preach among the Nestorians and renounced their heterodoxies. He sought a church union with the Catholic Church in Rome. He started negotiations in 1302 by writing to Pope Boniface VIII and Pope Benedict XI in 1304, professing the Catholic faith in the latter letter and acknowledging the pope's primacy over all of Christendom. However, the union was rejected by the Nestorian bishops. In 1304, Öljaitü succeeded Ghazan and renewed the persecutions against Christians, which Yahballaha unsuccessfully tried to end. Yahballaha died in Maragheh in 1317.
YahballahaIII (c. 1245–13 November 1317), known in earlier years as Rabban Marcos (or Markos) was Patriarch of the East from 1281 to 1317. As patriarch...
of the East from 1190 to 1222 YahballahaIII (1245–1317), patriarch of the Church of the East from 1281 to 1317 Yahballaha IV (died 1580), patriarch of...
China to Jerusalem with one of his students, Markos (later Patriarch YahballahaIII). Due to military unrest along the way, they never reached their destination...
church of Mar Quriaqos in Cranganore mentions Patriarch YahballahaIII (whom it calls Yahballaha V) and Metropolitan Yaqob of India. Cranganore, described...
Yahballah V may refer to: YahballahaIII, Patriarch of the Church of the East 1281–1317 Yahballaha IV, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon 1572–1580...
Quriaqos in Cranganoor mentions the patriarch YahballahaIII (whom it curiously describes as Yahballaha V), and the metropolitan Yaʿqob of India(described...
Katai and Ong probably sat at the Yuan capital Khanbaliq. The patriarch YahballahaIII grew up in a monastery in northern China in the 1270s, and the metropolitans...
two groups later established a union with the Catholic Church. After YahballahaIII, the Nestorians accepted union with the Catholic Church. Father Jordanus...
vacant (1136–1139) 74. ʿAbdishoʿ III Bar Moqli (1139–1148) 75. Ishoʿyahb V (1149–1176) 76. Eliya III (1176–1190) 77. Yahballaha II (1190–1222) 78. Sabrishoʿ...
Clergy Simeon Rabban Ata Rabban Bar Sauma Patriarch YahballahaIII Sites Cross Temple, Fangshan Related Christianity among the Mongols Sorghaghtani Beki...
(1265–81) YahballahaIII (1281–1317) Timothy II (1318–c. 1332) Denha II (1336/7–1381/2) Shemʿon II (c. 1385–c. 1405) Eliya IV (c. 1405–c. 1425) Shemʿon III (c...
alliance but did not materialize because Pope Gregory X died in 1276. YahballahaIII (1245–1317) and Rabban Bar Sauma (c. 1220–1294) were famous Mongolic...
of the East for the appeals to Kublai Kahn and threw its Patriarch YahballahaIII into prison, planning to execute him. His life was saved by the intercession...
(d. 1306) Thomas de Berkeley (the Wise), English nobleman (d. 1321) YahballahaIII, patriarch of the Church of the East (d. 1317) Ziemomysł of Kuyavia...
Clergy Simeon Rabban Ata Rabban Bar Sauma Patriarch YahballahaIII Sites Cross Temple, Fangshan Related Christianity among the Mongols Sorghaghtani Beki...
Frederick III of Sicily, becomes the new Duke of Athens upon the death of his older brother, Manfred of Sicily. November 13 – YahballahaIII, Patriarch...
abundantly for his gifts to the Church, as apparent in the history of Mar YahballahaIII. He was described a just and charitable ruler in Tārikh-i Āl-i Saldjūq...
was a Jew, and his friend was the Nestorian Catholicos named YahballahaIII. Yahballaha was an Ongud Turk born in Shanxi who had come west with Rabban...
because he was nothing but a figurehead under grips of nobles. Mar YahballahaIII also noted Baydu being a weak khan. Conspirators divided the empire...
million followers. However, a decline had already set in at the time of YahballahaIII (1281–1317), when the Church of the East reached its greatest geographical...
well as demolition of churches. Nevertheless, he also protected Mar YahballahaIII. He had at least 4 wives, by whom Chupanid dynasty descended. Most of...
Clergy Simeon Rabban Ata Rabban Bar Sauma Patriarch YahballahaIII Sites Cross Temple, Fangshan Related Christianity among the Mongols Sorghaghtani Beki...
the Church of the East and the St. Thomas Christians, the Patriarch YahballahaIII, and Mar Yaqob of Cranganore whom he describes in the following quote:...
time of writing. The scribe refers Catholicos-Patriarch of the East YahballahaIII as Yahaballaha the fifth. Johannes P. M. van der Ploeg comments that...
forces in the Levant, who fought in alliance with Christian vassals. YahballahaIII, an Ongud Mongol earlier known as Rabban Marcos, became the Patriarch...
leaders of the Church of the East in China, Denha consecrated Markos as Mar Yahballaha, Bishop of Katai and Ong, and named Rabban Bar Sauma vicar general. Later...
number of new details and brought it up to the reign of the patriarch YahballahaIII (1281–1317). Sliba, in turn, continued ʿAmr's text into the reign of...
Global Information