Coptica v. 16 2017

84 Mark N. Swanson

The Literature of the Late 14 th /Early 15 th Centuries: Some Typical Characters

The Good Ruler

The relationship of the patriarch to the ruler of Egypt has always been an important theme in the story of the Egyptian church under Islamic rule, from the well-known story of the first encounter between ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ and Patriarch Benjamin at the time of the Arab conquest 14 to stories about contemporary popes and presidents—Pope Kīrillos VI and President Jamāl ʿAbd al-Nāṣir, for example. The Lives of the saints that we are considering here are unanimous in their good opinion of the ruler al-Ẓāhir Barqūq, who became sultan in 1382 but who had already been the effective ruler of Egypt for a few years before that. He ruled, with one interruption, until 1399—and thus his rule overlapped with the patriarchate of Pope Matthew I for most of the last two decades of the 14 th century. The Life of Pope Matthew says of Barqūq that “he loved this father; and he [Matthew] loved him also.” 15 Barqūq is also said to have had the greatest admiration for the monk Marqus al-Anṭūnī. In the Life of Marqus we read: The Lord spread the reputation of this Old Man [i.e., al-shaykh Marqus] until it filled all of Egypt and its inhabitants, not only among [ordinary] men and women, but among kings and great ones as well, such as, in that time, King Barqūq, who did not take his seat as king until he had sent messengers in secret and took counsel with this Old Man. 16 As for Anbā Ruways, he spoke out against the emir Minṭāsh when he exiled Barqūq in 1389 and usurped his throne; the saint predicted Barqūq’s eventual victory and return to power. 17 Although Anbā Ruways’s astonished disciples advised him to keep quiet, the saint went directly to Minṭāsh’s soldiers with the warning that they were on the losing side. For that he earned a vicious beating, imprisonment, and an assassination attempt. But Barqūq was able to turn the tables on Mintāsh and return to power in 1390; the Life of Anbā Ruways attributes Barqūq’s astonishing comeback to the power of God and the prayers of the saint. When Barqūq entered Cairo in triumph, the Life tells us, the rejoicing crowds cried out and said: “God give victory to the Sultan!” But Anbā Ruways chose that moment to make a sad prediction:

You will never again find another king like this king, because of the greatness of his love for you. Instead, it is your destiny to weep

14 For a brief introduction, see Swanson, The Coptic Papacy , 6-7. 15 HPEC 3.3, p. 252 of the English translation. 16 MS Monastery of St. Paul, hist. 115, ff. 28v-29r. 17 MS Paris ar. 282, ff. 137r-139r (from Miracle #14).