Blessed Dositheus of Jerusalem, Pillar of Orthodoxy (Feb 21 OC / Feb 8 NC)

Book 12 - Dodecabiblius (Twelve-Books) of Blessed Dositheus of Jerusalem

Book 12 of 12

The Dodecabiblius (Twelve-Books) is the the shortened title of Blessed Dositheus’ most monumental work “The History of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem” which is (predictably) divided into 12 Books. It was composed over the course of his life and was not published until after his repose by his nephew and successor: Patriarch Chrysanthus of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, getting access to this book online is seemingly impossible for someone who does not speak Greek. This work was published in Russian by some who manually retyped it from the manuscripts of Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which I have translated into English with consultation from the Greek. I have made edits here and there to keep consistency and readability, but in general it is not a professional translation. Nevertheless, I found it so valuable to publish, that I felt it did not need to wait until being formally translated to English. The titles of each section are from the original text. That which is included in brackets were added by me, while that which is included in parentheses is present in the original text. The footnotes were composed by me and are not in the original text.

The phrase “Catholic Church” in this book refers to the Orthodox Catholic Church. It does not refer to the papists.

The words “Greek” and “Roman” is used interchangeably in this text since the Greeks of the Ottoman Empire considered themselves Romans, inheritors of the Roman Empire. At no point does the word “Roman” refer to the papists in this text.

Chapter 1

Section 1: About the fact that from ancient times there was one monastic order and one charter of monastic life. Even when the Popes, due to their usual penchant for innovation, came up with various monastic societies that, although mutually hostile to one another, were unanimous in relation to the teachings of the Pope, when the teaching concerning the procession of the Holy Ghost, secretly disseminated in Bulgaria, became known in Constantinople. When the new Monastic Societies were established — the Cluniacs, the Camaldolese, and the Franciscans. When and who was the first Pope to allow the Symbol with an addition¹ to be sung, and about the criminal actions of the Franciscan monks in Jerusalem.

Since ancient times, the bright order of monasticism has been the only one in the entire Church. During the reign of Justin the Thracian, Saint Benedict, following the example of Saint Pachomius, wrote rules that were honest for monastics: however, there was one glorious rule of monastic life and one monastic order. But from the time when the Latins began to make innovations in the Church and secretly dispel the false teaching regarding the procession of the Holy Ghost: [this is] how they began to separate from the Church, little by little introducing new opinions into Orthodox teaching, so that the Western Church in the other major part of its teaching represented nothing more than a mixture and collection of innovations that were not alien to heterogeneous parts, then, among other innovations, they came up with various monastic societies, which are hostile to one another, spy on [one another], and argue with each other, both orally and in writing, because their way of life is completely different [as well as their] charters, and rituals, and customs, to put it briefly, they have nothing in common, except perhaps the teachings of the Pope. The rumor about the secretly disseminated teaching regarding the procession of the Holy Ghost reached Constantinople for the first time because it had already spread to Bulgaria in about the year 860 AD. Around 910, the Cluniac society arose², and in the year 1009, during the reign of Basil the Purple-Born³, Pope Sergius first began to sing the Creed with an addition⁴, and in the same year, the Camaldolese Society was re-established⁵. When, for an obvious deviation from the betrayed Fathers and the Apostolic Faith, the Latins in 6552⁶, as we said at the beginning of the 8th book, were solemnly excommunicated and alienated from communion with the Orthodox Church, then the monastic societies multiplied. Anyone can learn about this from Emilius in the 5th book, from Calvesius in the 5th book, from Sabellicus⁷ in the 6th book of his 9th Ennead, from Polydorus Virgil in the essay “On the Inventors of Things”⁸ in the 7th book, in the 4th chapter, and in Spondanus⁹. Yes, this is how it should have been when the Pope separated from communion and unity with the brethren and wanted to be and be revered in the Church as God, in other words, he wanted to be an adversary of God, or as it is written in the Chapter 9 of the Apocalypse¹⁰, Abaddon — in Hebrew, Apollyon — in Greek, that is, the destroyer and consumer of the Christian race, also the king of the locusts described there, the king, that is, of lawless societies and parties, with which he fights together. The well-known saying is also appropriate here: The Emperor is close to pride and to that which is indecent to even talk about. He is preparing many priests to destroy the Orthodox in soul and body. For destruction according to the soul — because he draws many into destruction; to destruction in the body — because the sin of those lying monks produces temptations, wars, and turmoil among Christians. And not at one time, like the Egyptian locust, but always and everywhere it is the reason that the blood of Christians flows like streams, or better, like rivers in the East and West, in the North and South, and he looks at all this with pleasure, like what kind of Zeus, sitting, however, not on Mount Ida¹¹, but in the Pantheon. So, around the year 1170, “the vegetating root sprang up” (Heb. 12:15) and gave birth to the Franciscan³⁰ society, as Sabellicus and Virgil say in the mentioned places in their writings. During the reign of John Cantacuzenus, several Franciscans³¹ came to Jerusalem, and with their characteristic hypocrisy, having seduced the then Patriarch, they received from him the Monastery of Holy Zion. The Saracens, however, took it away from them and turned it into a school. The Iberians¹² gave the Monastery of Saint John the Evangelist in Jerusalem to the Franciscans for rent, and they took it over for themselves.

Section 2: That there is no greater evil among the orders of the monks than of the Pope and, in fact, about the Franciscans, and about the evil deeds and mischief that they do to the Holy Sepulchre, and of the illegalities and frauds of their priests and laymen, from which the throne of Jerusalem and its Patriarchs wandered the world in support of the Orthodox.

The fates were not happy with the rule of the Saracens, but the Latins ruled in the East and brought on the disasters that we talked about in Book 8. And when the Latins were driven out of there, the house of God was at peace. But again, God allowed the papists to come to Jerusalem, and perhaps, as the wise Onomademus reasoned, who advised those who were in Chios to leave some of their enemies in peacetime, that is why God allowed the papists to be enemies of the Church, so that we, when completely were free from enemies, did not start quarrels with friends, and the Jerusalemites did not quarrel among themselves, as happened in other states, or because the pious must certainly endure adversity, as Plato reasoned, who says in Cratylus: “But it is not possible, Theodorus, that evil should be destroyed — for there must always be something opposed to the good; nor is it possible that it should have its seat in heaven.” But there is no greater evil than that carried [out] by the monastic parties sent by the Pope, and especially by the Franciscan parties, because they, by their hypocrisy, are drawing some of the Sovereigns themselves into their bloodthirsty intent. First of all, when the Saracens and other infidel peoples ruled in Jerusalem, the Patriarchs rarely traveled to Constantinople, and then only for reasoning and spiritual conversations. And from the time the Franciscans came to Jerusalem, the Patriarchs could only be at peace as long as they (Franciscans) lived peacefully. And so, when under Patriarch Germanus, the Franciscans began to carry out their atrocities, the Patriarchs also began to travel like wanderers, night and day, circling the land and the sea and always enduring disturbances from the heat of the day and the cold of the night. This is not enough: they had to have strong debates with the Western ambassadors of the kings in Constantinople, go involuntarily to the courts, and appear before the Kings and Lords in the city (as Job said) and the house of our God. However, during the rule of the Arabians, the Franciscans were not yet strong: but after about 1517, Sultan Selim conquered Jerusalem under his rule, they began to show a lot of evil through money. Secondly, In some, they weakened the strictness of Orthodox morals because if any priest commits fornication, murder, or some other mortal sin, and falls under the Church’s prohibition, the Franciscans, always going beyond the boundaries in their actions, readily accept such, and by definition false Latin Councils, and especially, according to the rules of the Council of Trent, filled with the most lawless innovations, give him the right to still be the priest first. Why, according to the rules of the Holy Fathers, such people were always cast out and deprived of the priesthood. The Franciscans also act in relation to lay Christians, condescending to them in breaking fasts, entering into impermissible marriages, fornication, adultery, murder, deceit, quarrels, and other similar matters. Thirdly, since, due to their machinations, the Patriarchal House is constantly in the heaviest debt, the Patriarch cannot properly care for the Orthodox subordinates, from which many became apostates, although Divine Providence, acting contrary to the wickedness of the Franciscans, rejected and deceived by them in Palestine, confirms countless peoples and cities in the Orthodox faith through the travels of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem. For wherever they are, their first occupation is preaching the Gospel without any self-interest, teaching Christians good morals, establishing them in Orthodoxy, exposing sinners, and in general, their work is the common good of the Orthodox Church. Some of their many actions, if God so commands, will be spoken about.

Section 3: Regarding the events surrounding the custom of the Litia in the Holy Cave and what the Franks did to the Patriarch Theophanes on the eve of Christ’s birth, for which the Patriarch received the decision of the judge of Jerusalem about the Holy Cave and Golgotha, he also placed the Golden Bull about the Deposition from the Cross, the Holy Cave, and Golgotha on the royal step, and all the counsels of the previously numbered Franks in Jerusalem fled.

It was said that this is what the Franks did under Patriarch Sophronius, having in their power the Holy Cave of Bethlehem¹³. According to ancient custom, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, the all-night vigil was celebrated in the great Church by the Patriarch with the bishops, with the priests and with the entire Church. And when they sang the Litia on both sides, that is, on the North and South near the doors to the Holy Cave, located on the North side, in the middle of the great Church, at that time, a chanter entered through the North doors into the Holy Cave and sang: “Thy Nativity O Christ Our God,” and then left the Cave by the South Doors. Thus, when in 1629 AD, or in 1040 of the Mohammedan era, the Patriarch, having arrived in Bethlehem, began to perform the Litia, as usual, and when it was necessary to go through the Northern doors to the Holy Cave, and when the southerners came out, the Latins began to say during the Litia that the Candle-Igniter ate the loaves. When a place was prepared for the Patriarch and he sat down, then again, after quite some time, they began to say that the Candle-Igniter had left for Jerusalem. Patriarch Theophanes, without finishing the evening prayer, immediately went to Jerusalem and devoted the matter to silence. And the Latins, seeing that the Patriarch was silent, and having half of Golgotha behind them, broke through the Patriarchal place, which was located between the vaults, near, that is, the place where their half of Golgotha is, they also broke through the vault opposite the Patriarchal place, and left one a weapon that testifies to their arrogance. It was then that the distressed Patriarch went to the local judge, showed him the ancient Golden Bull¹⁴ of the Sultans, and after the judge’s consultation he received both the Holy Cave and the Holy Golgotha. The pasha, or the glorious local leader, was someone there at that time, his name was Abufoulis. The Latins promised this man a lot of money, and he imprisoned the Patriarch in Kula, or in the city prison, and in the evening he went to the Kadius, that is, to the local judge, in order to persuade him to kill the Patriarch. But the judge rejected his proposal, released the Patriarch from custody, and released him to his cell. However, the Patriarch lived secretly, and in the month of July, when there is a holiday in the monastery of Saint Elijah, located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, he left Jerusalem with women in women’s clothing, and left the monastery of Saint Elijah at night and went to Acre. The Pasha, having learned about this, wrote to Mineyus, that is, to the ruler of Tziniou, so that he would seize the Patriarch and with his own hands would receive from the Latins the promised thousands of florins¹⁵. Mineyus sent his eunuch to find the Patriarch, and he found him near Mount Carmel, when he was resting at a certain spring. But, being an Ethiopian by birth, and formerly a Christian, the Eunuch, out of special respect for Master Theophanes, sent him on his way in peace, and having received a gift of 100 gold pieces, he returned to Mineyus with the news that he had not found him. And Theophanes, having arrived in Acre, boarded a ship here, and went to Constantinople. The Latins also came here and started court with the Patriarch in the Divan, that is, in the State Council, and by the power of the Golden Bull, the Patriarch receives the shrines, and it was he who then returned the Deposition from the Cross, Golgotha, and the Holy Cave from the Franks. He left the lamps of the Latins in their places, forgiving them for their offense. All this happened in the year 1043 of the Mohammedan era¹⁶. After, Theophanes received a Khatreshi (a notification and a decisive letter of affirmation) from the Kazaskerids, and according to Khatreshi he received the Hatisherif, or Golden Bull, and through Agan, that is, the Royal official, returned from the Latins the Holy Cave of Bethlehem, the Deposition from the Cross, and the entire Holy Golgotha; and even in Bethlehem there was a garden near the altar of the great Church, and the Southern Porch, where the tombs of Christians were located.

Section 4: That the Armenians, by giving a large amount of money to the beggars, arrived before the Romans in the Holy Sepulchre to perform the Holy Fire ceremony; the zealots of the faith of Constantinople came to the fields of Hadrianopolis, where Sultan Murat was under a tent even they received the victories, but then when the King returned to Constantinople, having gathered the Armenians in the royal procession, Bostantricus helped the Romans in this way, nodding to the Hieromonk of Amygdalus, on purpose, where he and the King were dressed in other clothes, planned a deception to feign ignorance, and then ask him to speak freely.

In the same year, that is, in year 1043 of the Mohammedan era, the Armenians, in every 90th year, having the habit of celebrating their Easter one week after the celebration of Easter by the Orthodox Church (and such a year happened then in year 1044 of the Mohammedan era), were the first to establish the celebration of the ritual of the holy fire, and then, by the force of this custom, they decided to seize the primacy for themselves. And since it was not possible to overcome this with the permission of the Kadius, which is the local judge, or with the permission of the Pasha, which is the main local commander, but [since] it was necessary to have the Sultan’s command, they did not hesitate to go to Constantinople. But Sultan Murat was then in Adrianople and he was plotting a war against the Hungarians, although apparently he was still maintaining peace. Therefore, from Constantinople, many God-loving men went to Adrianople by water, and found the Sultan in the plains beyond Adrianople in the camp. Many, they say, out of love for piety, came barefoot from Constantinople to Adrianople to debate with the Armenians. And by the grace of God, the Orthodox people of Constantinople were granted a special right to promote the good of the Church, as shown by the events that happened under Basilicus, Justin the Thracian, and the events with Dalmatius during the Third Council under Theodosius the Younger. Several thousand Orthodox Christians flocked to Adrianople. But the Vizier, Ibrahim Pasha, originally from Armenians, was completely unanimous with the Armenians in everything. King Musaepi also had one particular, very beloved interlocutor whose name was Abaza Pasha, and this man was a friend and patron of the Armenians. After all the delays in the matter, the Vizier ordered the Romans [Greeks] and Armenians to go to trial before the Kazaskerides of the West, which was the highest and foremost judge in the affairs of the West: The Armenians had a report from the Saracen Rulers in Jerusalem, and a report from the Kadius, that justice was on their side. But Kazaskerides, having asked one of them, and precisely only one, about from whom Omar received Jerusalem, and heard in response that from the Greeks, he said: so what do the Armenians have to do with Jerusalem? And having given a severe reprimand especially to Kadius, that is, to the local judge for the report, and to the Saracen commanders for the same thing, he decided that the Greeks should take precedence. Thus, by the grace of God, the Romans again gained the upper hand, and received a Khatreshi, or an affirmative letter, and by the Khatreshi they received the Golden Bull. When the Sultan returned to Constantinople, the Armenians, both local and those who came from other places, as well as the Persians, hoping for money, began to walk around the doors of the nobles, and promised them about 400,000 grosias, which is 100,000 florins. The Greeks, although they trusted in God, tried their best themselves; and seeing that everyone was on the side of the Armenians, they resorted to the Bostantricus, or to the chief of the gardens, that is, to the chief caretaker of all the Royal palaces. And the Bostantricus, who was a Greek by birth, and whose Christian mother was still alive (Theophanes sent her from Greece, and she greatly helped him with her intercession before her son), ordered the following regarding the Greeks: when the day of the Divan came, that is, the whole of the Supreme State Court, and a countless number of Armenians flocked to the Divan, so that both the inner and outer courtyard, and the entire circumference of the Church of the Holy Wisdom, were filled with them, then the Sultan, according to God's dispensation, appeared in court in a different set of clothes, and not in royal clothes, and with him the Bostantricus. One hieromonk of the Holy Sepulcher, named Amygdalus, who was appointed as the Metropolitan of Chios, also came with them, and the Bostantricus ordered him to behave first as if he did not know either himself or the Sultan and then talk to him lovingly as to a friend.

Section 5: A question of Bostantricus to Amygdalus, the Armenian assembly, and the Romans; and Amygdalus’s answer, from whom the Sultan takes the floor, and is ably elected to Amygdalus, from where he decapitates Amiagus the Pasha, and orders the capture of many Armenians, and takes the money from others of them, but to Theophanes he gave Golden Bull.

Then Bostantricus himself, pretending that he does not know Amygdalus at all, addresses him with the following words: “MIRE Kaloser!” Which means, “Monk!,” or “the Vile Monk!” What does this meeting of the Romans mean? Amygdalus responded by telling him: “This, Sovereign, is not a meeting of Romans, but of Armenians.” “What are the Armenians looking for,” the Sultan asked him. And Amygdalus, in response to the Sultan’s question, explained the matter in detail and with all the evidence as follows: “They, that is, the Armenians and Persians, are aliens; and this place and the Empire belonged to the Romans, and the Romans were native inhabitants. Therefore, the Muslims — Omar and, after him, the Arab Sovereigns, descendants of Amirov and the Sultans, as long as the Turkish Emperors gave the Romans the right to dispose of Jerusalem as their own property, and especially Omar. In the agreement he concluded with Patriarch Sophronius, he writes that he gave Jerusalem to the Patriarch with such an order that all Christians, no matter where they came to Jerusalem for pilgrimage, would be subordinate to the Greek Patriarch so that they would go to worship at the shrines in Jerusalem with his will, and that each of them would bring him a gift of one piece of silver and half a drachma. And now the Armenians, relying on their wealth, want to take away both shrines and primacy from the Romans. Not only that: out of their shamelessness, they think, with such a gathering of theirs they will bring the Sultan himself into fear. “So really, the Sultan doesn’t know about this, and maybe the Armenians don’t have any other assistant?,” the Sultan asked him. “No, Aga,” which means, “No, my Lord,” Amygdalus said in response, “The Sultan knows nothing about this; Yes, the Most Just Sultan Murat will not do such an offense to the Orthodox people submissive to him, and will not patronize the Armenians. We are afraid only of Amiagius the Pasha, who is the imperial adviser, who is at one with the Armenians and helps them, because he took from them 60 portions of silver, which 30,000 grosias, in order to insidiously not inform the Sultan about our affairs, and to offend us.” “Do you know for sure what Amiagius the Pasha took from the Armenians?,” the Sultan asked him. “I know for sure,” Amygdalus answered the Sultan, and I think that these ones lie in his storeroom, still sealed with the seals of the Armenians. Then the Sultan immediately sent officials from here. They searched Amiagius the Pasha’s storeroom and found the items still sealed with the seals of the Armenians. The king immediately called Amiagus the Pasha and cut off his head. Then he went out into the outer porch of the Church of the Holy Wisdom, and standing at the side of the judgment seat, shot arrows from his bow, and thus killed many of the Armenians with his own Royal hand. Since one Armenian priest was still screaming a lot, the Sultan ordered the executioner, and he cut off his head at once in the very place where he stood, and his head rolled on the floor. The Sultan wanted to put all those Armenians to death with his decree, but Capitzalar of Kekhazia, who was originally from the Armenians, presented to him that the people were not guilty, but those leading them were guilty. Therefore, the Sultan gave orders to the Vizier, who was still in the Supreme Royal Court, to capture the Armenian leaders and bring them to him. The vizier captured them, 80 in number, and sent them to the Sultan. The executioner had already cut off the heads of three of them, and the Sultan wanted to put them all to death, but the mentioned Armenian Turk suggested to the Sultan that it would be more prudent not to kill them, but to imprison them and take money from them, since they were rich. The Sultan decided to imprison them and took from them as much as they promised to give him. And the Golden Bull was sent to Jerusalem and Easter was celebrated according to the establishment of the Orthodox Church. The Armenians were left with shame. In addition, one Hieromonk, named Athanasius, who was still a slave from the Armenians, took a copy of the Golden Bull, went around the judicial places of the entire East, and did what the judges wrote down the Golden Bull in the journals of all the Public places, so that the Greeks everywhere had primacy over the Armenians. Thus, the Armenians stopped making intrigues until the year 1650, as will be said.

Section 6: That the Franks, after the Ottoman war against Baghdad, having betrayed the Vizier for money, received the pilgrimages to the Holy Sepulchre, and then the Greeks received them through the Golden Bull because of the preaching of Kaimakam Mustafa Pasha, and in it, an endorsement of the commandment of the Greeks through the Golden Bull, and of the King’s order in it, threatening death to those who would otherwise be judged.

In the 1045th year of the Mohammedan era¹⁷, Sultan Murat declared war on Baghdad [Safavid Iran], and sent his Vizier Ibrahim Pasha to war with his entire army. And this Ibrahim Pasha, seduced by the gifts of the Latins, deceived Sultan Murat, presenting to him that Sultan Suleiman gave the shrines in Jerusalem to the Latins, and having cleaned out the name of the Greeks in the Code of Sultan Suleiman, and putting in its place the name of the Latins, he gave this last decree is to take possession of the shrines again. The Latins, having given 16,000 florins to the Sultan for this, and 25,000 florins to the Vizier, went to Jerusalem, again took the shrines from the Greeks for themselves, and thought that for such a lot of money, how much they distributed to the King, Vizier, Mufti, and many others, will forever own the shrines. Theophanes was then in Wallachia, but God did not leave his Providence, and as we said, the Vizier went to war against the Persians and Baghdad, and in his place remained under the Sultan as a ruler, whom the Turks call Kaimakam, perhaps if someone promoted him, Kara Mustafa Pasha¹⁸, originally Albanian. This Mustafa Pasha, when the Vizier in the year 1045 of the Mohammedan era went to war, instructed the Greeks on what they should do. It was when Theophanes arrived in Constantinople, and the Sultan lived outside the city, in one suburb called Daut-Pasha, that on the advice of Mustafa Pasha, the great Economos¹⁹ of the Jerusalem Church, priest John and the aforementioned Amygdalus, came to the Sultan, and reported to him in writing about the wickedness of Ibrahim Pasha with such success that the Sultan himself spoke to the Economos in Arabic. Then the Sultan asks Mustafa Pasha about their case, and he confirms the words of John and Amygdalus, who submitted reports. As a result of this, the Sultan sent the Aga, who, having sealed the holy Cave of Bethlehem, and taking the keys to the holy Cave, and several Latins, returned to Constantinople. And in the 1047th year of the Mohammedan era, the Patriarch and the Latins were again sued, first by the Mufti, and then in the Supreme Royal Court, and again, by the grace of God, the shrines were given to the Greeks; and the Sultan, through the Proconsul, gave the keys to the holy Cave into the hands of Patriarch Theophanes. Then the Sultan presented the Patriarch the Kabbadion, as well as those entrusted with the Holy Sepulcher, with clothes; and the Royal servants escorted the Patriarch with his retinue from the Royal Chambers to the courtyard of the Holy Sepulcher in the Phanar, which lies below the All-Holy of Magoulion [Panagia Magouliotissa]. Finally, the Patriarch received from the Divan, that is, from the Supreme State Court, a Khatreshi, which is a notification or affirmative letter; as well as they received a Golden Bull for the possession of all shrines. In these events, everyone can see the mercy of God and marvel at how much God has disposed the heart of the aforementioned Sultan towards the Orthodox. For so that not even the slightest injustice would be done in the decision on their case, he gave the following personal command to the Kadius, that is, the judge, and Pasha, that is, the glorious local commander: “See that the matter is carried out according to my divine commandment; and if you are deceitful in anything, then I will cut off your heads. Know this.” With the Golden Bull, Theophanes sent the Aga to Jerusalem, and the Aga, together with the judges, gave all the shrines to the Greeks; they also opened the holy Cave, which had been sealed nine months before. And from that time on, the Latins did not ask in the Divan, that is, in the Supreme State Court, until our Patriarchate, that is, until the year 1675 A.D., when Sultan Mehmed [IV] was Sultan and Adrianople was ruled Vizier Pasha Ahmed²⁰. Let’s talk about this, if God commands, in its own place. And here we note: When Theophanes first received the shrines, he left the lamps of the Latins and Armenians intact in Golgotha and in the Holy Cave. When the Latins took possession of the shrines, they threw away the Greek lamps. For this reason, the Greeks, having again received the shrines into their power, took out the lamps of the Latins. The Armenians themselves took out their lamps. When the Greek fathers began to say to them: “What are you doing? You leave your lamps,” then in response they said to them: “Tomorrow the Latins will receive the shrines into their power, and then we will hang our lamps with their lamps.” Thus, the lamps of the Armenians were left out. The Golden Bull gave the Greeks the right to take over the Latin-owned monastery in Bethlehem, but Metropolitan Athanasius of Bethlehem, then locum tenens of the Patriarchal throne, God knows why, did not want to take it. Let us also note: Theophanes then concluded an agreement, by virtue of which the Throne of Jerusalem undertook to give to those living in the Mosque [under the rulership of] Sultan Ahmed, the father of Sultan Murat, for each year 420 Venetian florins, so that in this way the Latins could not find access to the nobles had no hope for them. And we still pay this money to those living in the deserted Mosque.

Section 7: Regarding the assistance of Cyril Lucaris to pay off the debt accruing in the Throne of Jerusalem from the scandals of the heretics, and the tour of Theophanes in Macedonia and Thetalia for this reason.

Through the machinations of heretics, and especially the Latins, the Patriarchal Throne of Jerusalem fell into the greatest debts, and there was no longer any hope of freeing oneself from such debts through human efforts. But Cyril, Patriarch of Constantinople, helped the Throne of Jerusalem with two graces. First of all, with his teachings in Constantinople and Gelete, he greatly touched the Christians, and out of love for Christ, they helped a lot. And secondly: he called superiors and subordinates, as well as foreign superiors of kings, to the Patriarchal House, and by making an entreaty, he collected quite a large sum from compassionate people. After this, Theophanes also traveled throughout Macedonia and Thetalia to collect alms.

Section 8: About the emigration of Theophanes to Iberia, where he was given a precious cup by Teimuraz, which was stolen in Constantinople, and about the nobleman Scarlat, who was well known to the King.

Theophanes also traveled around Iberia²¹, and during this journey he gave the Bishop of Kutaisi the right to be called Metropolitan and wear the Sakkos. Teimuraz I, that is, the King of Kakheti (Albania²²), provided a particularly large donation here to Theophanes. He, precisely, gave the holy chalice, decorated with precious stones. Its price is 20,000 grosias. Afterwards, at the insistence of the nobleman Scarlat, Theophanes brought this cup to Constantinople to pay off the debt. The Jews, who knew the value of stones, gathered here to evaluate her, and when she walked from hand to hand, they lowered her from sight, and she disappeared. It is worth noting here that the aforementioned Scarlat was in love with the Sultan. He went to Jerusalem for pilgrimage, and to enter the temple, he had a Hatisherif, or Golden Bull, which is also called a sacred form. The judges also gave him permission to enter. But when he was still entering the doors of the porch, one Arab who had been bribed stood in front of him and said to him: “Christian! You have [been given] permission to enter, but will you rather leave?” And thus Scarlat did not go further than the wall that the Fathers of Jerusalem erected among the Patriarchal House, and which is located in front of the Church of Saint Constantine.

Section 9: The Monastery of Saint Sabbas in Jerusalem was deserted, and about the rebellion of the Monasteries of the Saints and Archangels against Theophanes of Jerusalem and the illegal judgment against the Patriarchs, depriving Jerusalem of these Monasteries and Churches in his throne, and about the incident of debt to these Monasteries, and the flight of the Monks in them, and the payment of this debt in front of Jerusalem so that the Monasteries are not taken over by the papists and Armenians, and of the emigration of Theophanes of Jerusalem to Moldavia to Prince Basil, whereupon the whole debt of the Holy Sepulcher is given, 1056 florins, and about the mercy of the Egyptian Seidilach to the Holy Sepulchre in the form of 10,000 florins.

In the Lavra of Saint Sabbas there is a book called the Book of Fathers²³, with which there is this kind of entry: “The wonderful temple of the Lavra of Saint Sabbas was created in the year 6070 [560] from the creation of the world. During the reign of Heraclius it was destroyed by the Persians, and in the year 6615 [1105] the Saracens destroyed it, when it was in the possession of the Latins. In the year 7104 [1594] it was again somewhat destroyed, and in the year 7120 [1610] it was again renewed, and the Lord will establish it until the end of the age, for the salvation of many, amen.” This entry briefly outlines the fate of this temple. But it is not known why and when the Serbian monks, subject to the jurisdiction of Archbishop of Peć, settled in the Jerusalem Archangel Monastery and took possession of it. Some, probably, avoided the taxes they had to pay, settled in the Lavra of Saint Sabbas, and became the perpetrators of two evils. And firstly: Like the Iberian monks, they did not want to be in agreement with the Patriarch and created discord, and it was taxes that they began to give separately for themselves, demanding a certain place for themselves at shrines. Their abbot went to the Patriarch with a staff, and finally they went to the Patriarchs of Constantinople and the other Patriarchs with a complaint that the Patriarch of Jerusalem was offending them, and received letters. Then the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch are invited to Jerusalem to conduct a trial, and the Patriarchs determine that those monks should be free and not subordinate to the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Thus, these Patriarchs, either out of compensation, or out of recklessness, and all to their shame, deprived the Patriarch of Jerusalem of power in the monasteries located not only in his Diocese, but in his very capital city, acting maliciously against the Canons of the Council and against faith. And if only the Serbian monks and Saint Sabbas could read the life of Saint Sabbas, they would be so proud! Secondly: When admirers came, the monks of the Archangels and Saint Sabbas met them and accepted them into their monastery, and the Patriarch was thus forgotten. But those living in the monastery of Saint Sabbas happened to suffer a great disaster from the Arabians, and so they built a tower against their monastery on the western side. And since the costs of building the tower amounted to 20,000 grosias, from those costs and their other unscrupulous affairs they finally fell into excessive debt. They sold everything they had in their monasteries, but even then they were still in debt, they were forced to all run away, so that not a single person remained in their monasteries. As a result of this, the Franks decided to take possession of the Archangels monastery, since it was not far from them, and the Armenians wanted to take possession of the monastery of Saint Sabbas. And for Theophanes there were more worries. He repaid the creditors 54,000 grosias of the debt owed to those monasteries, and takes possession of both monasteries. But the leaders of those places demanded from the Patriarch the taxes that those monasteries had previously paid as usual, and this custom was only by force of many Royal decrees, and at great expense Theophanes and Paisius after him were destroyed. And as, through the machinations of the Armenians and Latins, the debt at the monasteries of Saint Sabbas and the Archangels increased more and more, and there was no longer any hope of paying it off, Theophanes goes to Iași to Prince Basil, and immediately on the first day upon arrival in the morning, he appears in the palace of this Sovereign. Basil, having learned about this, went out barefoot to meet the Master, and this one gave him a rope and said: “My son! Strangle me so that the Turkish lenders do not strangle me.” The Prince immediately wrote to his officials in Constantinople, and they paid the creditors the debt of the Holy Sepulcher 6,000 Venetian florins. Not much later, the Aga came to Iași with the Sultan’s command - to take the Patriarch for the other 6,000 florins, in which he owed, the Prince paid this money too. Then this venerable Ruler learned that the Holy Sepulcher was still in debt, and he sent two of his officials to Jerusalem, and with them 40,000 Hungarian florins, and they repaid the entire debt to the creditors of the Holy Sepulcher. There were still 4,000 grosias left. Turkish lenders came to Wallachia, and this Christ-loving man paid them. He did a royal and pious deed, no, much more than a royal one; because, since the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, none of the Kings and Rulers has shown so much kindness to the Patriarchal Throne of Jerusalem.

One letter has been found from Blessed Gerasimus, Patriarch of Alexandria²⁴, which was written in Egypt on 25 November 1624, to Theophanes, Patriarch of Jerusalem. In this letter he writes that Theophanes, for the reasons that the Holy Sepulcher was in great debt and, due to the amendments of the monastery of Saint Sabbas, another debt was added, sent with the priest Philotheus and with the elder Bartholomew to sell the utensils of the Holy Sepulcher and his mitre in Egypt. One Egyptian nobleman, named Seidilach, seeing these things in the hands of the Jews, came to regret, and with the mentioned priest Philotheus sent 8,000 florins to Theophanes in Jerusalem, under his seal, Patriarch of Alexandria Gerasimus, and not much later, to him, and for the seal of his own Patriarch with Elder Bartholomew sent 2,000 florins, which is how these fathers brought the utensils of the Holy Sepulcher and the mitre back from Egypt to Jerusalem. The Patriarch of Alexandria also writes to Theophanes, albeit in secret, asking him to immediately give the money to the lenders, praises him for establishing a community of residence with the monks of Saint Sabbas, and constantly calls Theophanes in the letter the Patriarch of His Holiness. Eternal memory to the venerable and in the full sense Patriarch Gerasimus, and the venerable Seidilach!

Section 10: About how Theophanes of Jerusalem obtained the Monastery in Iași, called Galata, and that of Saint George in Bucharest, and that he bought a metochion in Constantinople together with the upper garden, while Paisius bought the Western garden, and the stone buildings of Manolache the Castorian, but the buildings on both sides were forgotten by the author of the books, and about the last years of the Patriarchate of Theophanese, and the election and ordination of Paisius in Iași, and his idioms and expressions.

Theophanes was donated the Galata Monastery by Prince Radul, located opposite of Iași. And this monastery was built and first donated to Kiev by Prince Peter. But since the Russkiy (Russian) brought it into decline, the Prince Radul, while Maria, the wife of Zotov, and the daughter of Peter the Prince, returned from Venice to Iași, donated it to the Holy Sepulchre. Metropolitan Athanasius, nephew of the Patriarch (both of them were Pelonskinians, from the town of Dimitrani), a man worthy of wonder and a Saint, took over the management of this monastery of Bethlehem. Theophanes also acquired the monastery of Saint George in Bucharest, which was under the jurisdiction of Bishop of Wallachia. During his time, the Arabs took possession of Ocelan, which is located near the Patriarchal house, precisely between the Patriarchal house and the baptismal house. Theophanes also bought a courtyard in Constantinople, which the Church now owns, with an upper garden, and Paisius bought the Western garden. The stone cells were donated to the Holy Sepulcher by the nobleman Manolache under Nectarius; and the cells on both sides of the courtyard were bought by me.

Having remained in the Patriarchal rank for thirty-seven years, Theophanes died in Constantinople in the year 1645, and was buried in the Patriarchal Church, and was buried in the monastery of the Birthgiver of God on the island of Halki, where Timothy of Constantinople and other Patriarchs were buried. After the death of Theophanes, Patriarch Parthenius of Constantinople, who belonged to the Ioannian society, thinking more than was right, wanted to install Joannicius, Metropolitan of Verria, as Patriarch of Jerusalem. But the people of Jerusalem, knowing that for the Patriarchal Throne of Jerusalem it is necessary that the Patriarch be a peace-loving and humble man, a leader, not a ruler, they arrived with a humble request to the aforementioned Prince Basil of Moldova, who was famous for his wealth and power more than the Sultans, and through him they succeeded. They elected Paisius, Abbot of the Galata Monastery, as their Patriarch (there were then four monasteries belonging to the Holy Sepulcher in Iași, namely the Galata Monastery, Mnurnoski, the Monastery of Saint Sabbas, and Nikoritza). Basil writes about the election of the fathers of the Holy Sepulcher to the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Synod, and Parthenius, respecting Prince Basil, did not oppose the determination and assembly of the fathers. Metropolitan-Exarch Gregory of Larisa, and others sent by the Patriarch, and ordained Paisius as Patriarch of Jerusalem in Iași. Paisius was a pious man, originally from Dimitrani, and a relative of Theophanes. He came to Jerusalem in his youth, and for a long time he was a Subdeacon under Patriarch Sophronius. Then he retired to the vicinity of Jordan, and there he spent quite some time living an ascetic life. From here Theophanes summoned him and appointed him abbot of the Iași monastery of the Birthgiver of God of Bournoskis in Iași next to Galata monastery, which is located opposite of Iași. Paisius at that time delivered as much money and benefits to Jerusalem as no one else had delivered; likewise, during the famine, whole ships brought bread and oil from Moldavia and Wallachia, and all kinds of products that were found in Iași. He was not a covetous man, and therefore never had an ark or anything else; He was also a zealot of the Divine, very courageous. On the way from one village of Panagia, which is called Toporutri, not far from Khotinium, he alone threw 20 robbers to the ground, and took their horses. He is small in stature, with a long beard, dark, sociable, courageous, philanthropic, and majestic.

Chapter 2

Section 1 - The Arrival of Patriarch Paisius in Jerusalem; its acceptance by the Synod and the Fathers; his prudent admonition of the Clerics who rebelled against him; his travels to various places and slander against him by Parthenius the Second, Patriarch of Constantinople, who locked the courtyard, and slandered him to the Lords of Moldavia and Wallachia, who brought him to the point that the Government condemned him to the gallows.

Having accepted the Patriarchal rank, Paisius and the Sultan’s official set off through Constantinople to Jerusalem by land. The Synod and the fathers accepted him as the legitimate Patriarch, but the clergy did not want to accept him for the reason that this is how the Egyptian rulers ruled in Jerusalem, as we said before, it was not the Greeks, but the Arabs who were elected to the Patriarchs. But around this time, the natives also began to have great power in managing Church affairs, because the Arabs behaved extremely lowly, and always favored their own beyond measure, and therefore the Patriarchs of the Arabs indifferently began to share power with their fellow tribesmen and with the natives. And after that, the Patriarchs from the Greeks, having troubles with the pagan peoples, left in the power of the Arabs what was given to them by time, so that all the income of the Patriarchal Throne was predominantly taken over by the native Arabs, and they mainly disposed of what was necessary for maintenance, having, however, only for my own benefit. And since Theophanes somewhat limited the previous insolence of the natives, then when the newly installed Patriarch Paisius arrived, they, in agreement, came out of the holy city and threw a pile of stones, doing all this with the purpose of showing opposition to the Patriarch. But Paisius, as was said, was a man of strong spirit. He secretly spoke with the judges, gave them some money, so that they would not show favor to any of the natives who would dare to refuse respect to him. Then he laid down rules for the natives, and transformed them so much that they completely came to their senses. Until now, as can be seen, they live decently and peacefully; reverent and have the fear of God. This is the first good thing that Paisius did in Jerusalem, of the only importance. After spending some time in Jerusalem, he undertook a journey and went from here to Constantinople by sea, and from Constantinople to Moldavia and Wallachia, and from there to Moscow. Meanwhile, Parthenius of Constantinople, who has already been mentioned, the second Patriarch of this name, wrote a lot of bad things about Paisius to Moscow, but did not manage to do anything. For the Most Pious Sovereign Alexis Mikhailovich received him graciously and rewarded him with gifts in true royal fashion. Upon returning to Iași, Paisius went to Constantinople. Here Parthenius slandered him to the Government, saying that he was in Moscow, in a foreign country, and according to this slander, Vizier Sultanov Ibrahim took Peskhesius from him, which was a gift of 4,000 florins. From Constantinople he went to Jerusalem, and from here again to Wallachia. Since the Church in the courtyard in Constantinople was very small and devastated by the Pomors, then with the care of the Gunarads, a large one was built again, in what form it is to this day, and the fathers of the Holy Sepulcher brought again one Miraculous icon of the Mother of God. Parthenius, being at enmity with Patriarch Paisius because he did not give him anything for his ordination, because many people flocked to the courtyard to see the Miracle-Working icon, locked the Church, using as a plausible justification that the crowd of people here takes away the honor of the Patriarchal Houses. Not only that: he slandered Paisius to the Lords of Moldavia and Wallachia, as if he was slandering them and humiliating them in the same way as Pope Nicholas first wanted to humiliate Louis, the King of the West; but just as he could not carry out his intentions, neither could this one. But the Lords, finding all these actions of Parthenius offensive to the Holy Sepulcher, rebelled against him himself, and by the verdict of the Government he was strangled between Oxia and Plataea. Parthenius was nicknamed Goliath for his pride.

Section 2 - On the miraculous event in Belgrade regarding the addition of ten days by the Latins, presented by Paisius of Jerusalem.

From Iași, Paisius went to Constantinople, from there to Adrianople, Philippopolis, Sofia, and Belgrade, and during his stay in Belgrade the following incident happened: One Orthodox woman to another woman of the Latin confession, who on 20 July²⁵, when the memory of the Prophet Elijah is celebrated, wanted to knead dough, said: “Today is the feast of the Prophet Elijah, so don’t get busy.” And the Latin woman answered her: “Ten days have already passed since the feast of the Prophet Elijah,” and so they both argued against one another about whether the papists were right to add ten days. Then the Latin woman began to knead the bread. Behold: the dough in her hands turned into stone! Rumors of this incident also reached Serbia, To be sure, the people divided the stone among themselves; Paisius took a part, which to this day hangs on the icon of the Prophet in his monastery, located near Jerusalem. Then Paisius was in Serra, Thessaloniki, Verria, and again in Constantinople, and from here he went to Jerusalem. Here an incident occurred that was the cause of great strife, worries and countless expenses.

Section 3 - Paisius defeated the Armenians with a deadly medicine by having taken possession of their shrines in Jerusalem and all that they had by royal decree. But by the power of the Eparch of Gaza, the Armenians received them, hence they led both in the kingdom until the alternation of three Viziers, and about the removal of the Magistrates by the Army, and the Vizier Kioproulus, and his family, and why he is called Kioproulus.

The Habeshas³², in the neighborhood of the Sultans of Egypt, and because they were co-religionists with the Copts of Egypt, received from the Egyptian Sultans a part at the holy gates of the Holy Sepulcher on the eastern side, which is called Aaraam. They also had other buildings in Jerusalem, and under the Great Church of the Holy Sepulchre, they owned cells on the south side of the Holy Edicule, and some other buildings. They had a lot of gold and silver utensils and gold-woven clothes. And since they were Theopaschites, they entered into communication with the Armenians, also Theopaschites. But the Armenians, an insidious and bloodthirsty people, deceitfully seized from the Jacobites the buildings that belonged to them in Bethlehem, distributed these buildings, and completely took possession of them. They have caught the Copts in their nets and serve on their throne in Bethlehem. The Patriarchs were also deceived; They rented the monastery of Saint James from them on the condition of paying 50 florins a year, and meanwhile, after a little time, they refused to pay for the rent and began to own the monastery of Saint James as their own property. And what they say about themselves, that they have owned this monastery since the time of Constantine the Great, is a complete lie. The Armenians also made friends with the Ethiopians, and not much later, taking their jewelry as collateral for a small sum and establishing a common table and dwellings with them, one after another, they poisoned them so that all the Ethiopians were exterminated, then the Armenians took possession of the monasteries and other buildings belonging to them. The King of Ethiopia, having learned about this, did not release any other of his subjects to Jerusalem, and the Armenians finally remained the complete owners of everything that belonged to the Ethiopians. Among these latter establishments was one mill, which was driven by horses and was located opposite the entrance of the Patriarchal house. The Armenians turned it into a horse stall. When they got here, they committed outrages. The Patriarch and the fathers often said to the Armenians: “Give us at least this mill from the entire estate of the Ethiopians so that your children do not commit outrages before us, but only receive curses from them.” As a result of this, Paisius asked for a decree in Constantinople against the Pashas, or the main regional commanders, who offended the pilgrims when they came to the Jordan, also against the counterfeit and counterfeit money that the Pashas forcibly imposed on the monasteries, and demanded real money back from them, and regarding other matters, as well as regarding the Ethiopians, which is to say that they were under the possession of the Romans, and their property should also be at the disposal of the Romans. And through the request of Paisius to Bostantripas, the decree receives the power of the Hatisherif, which means it was approved by the Royal hand. It was the Sultan who wrote on the right side of the decree: “Do it according to my divine script.” This is usually called sacred writing. And Paisius, having arrived in Jerusalem, takes into his jurisdiction everything that belonged to the Ethiopians in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem, their monastery, and everything that they had in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and their lamps in the holy Edicule and in the holy Apocaphilosis. But when Pasha Hussein, a strong and autocratic man, became the Ruler of Gaza and Jerusalem, the Armenians gave him a lot of gold, and he autocratically took back from the Greeks everything that belonged to the Ethiopians and gave them to the Armenians; He also gave them one of the gates of the Holy Cave of Bethlehem, and threw away the Greek lamps. Then the Armenians, in order to confirm their daring act by decree of the Sultan, went to Constantinople to the court officials, white and black, and to other government officials. But on the day when it was appointed to resolve the matter in favor of the Armenians, the army rebelled against the dignitaries of Constantinople; they were all put to death, and having skinned them, they hung their corpses under cannonballs on the horse lists, and thus the evil intent of the Armenians was destroyed. Meanwhile, Suleiman, originally from the Armenians, was made Vizier, and again, the same quests, gifts, portions, and a lot of money from the Armenians. The Patriarch of Constantinople was then Joannicius, originally from Heraclea. The vizier calls him to him. The Orthodox become alarmed and run to the Sultan’s palace and to the Vizier’s palace, screaming, crying, and shouting: “They are offending us!” When the Vizier began to demand an account of this from Joannicius, he said that responsibility for this matter lay not with him, but with the Patriarch of Jerusalem. During these incidents, Suleiman was deprived of power, and another was made Vizier. And again the same efforts on the part of the Armenians, the same firmness of the Orthodox. There is turmoil in Constantinople! Meanwhile, the Vizier drew up a decree to please the Armenians and, putting it in his bosom, went to the Sultan (Mohammed was the Sultan at that time, who had not long before been enthroned) to make this decree a Hatisherif, that is, to approve by the Sultan’s hand. But as soon as he came to the Sultan - Wonderful are Thy works, O Christ the King! - The Sultan deprives him of power, and Kioproulus becomes Vizier. This one was from Albania, the son of a priest, and his mother died a nun. He was 20 years old when he accepted Mohammedanism, and gradually rising, he finally achieved this supreme power. He was nicknamed “Kioproulus” because he got married in one place, which lies near Sinope and is called Kioprium.

Section 4 - In what manner did Paisius come to Constantinople, and concerning his judgment on Kioproulus with the Armenians, and the taking of the places of the Ethiopians, and the expulsion of the Armenians from Bethlehem by the appointment of a bishop, and concerning the places which the commissioner of the Holy Sepulchre, Anthimus, left to the Armenians out of his petition to Paisius.

Paisius, having been oppressed in Jerusalem by the Pasha of Gaza, wrote about this to his confidants in Constantinople. The attorneys came to Kioproulus at his first hearing in the Supreme State Court and reported everything to him. Kioproulus immediately sent the Aga to Jerusalem with a decree, and this brings the Patriarch to Constantinople. Arriving here, Paisius, 17 January 1656, on the day of Resurrection [Sunday], appeared in the Supreme State Court, and in the presence of Vizier Kioproulus, Mehmet Pasha sued the Armenians on account of Holy Bethlehem and the shrines belonging to the Ethiopians. When the Armenians were convicted of the injustice of their requests, the Vizier immediately presented to the Sultan a talhil, that is, a report on all legal proceedings, and in accordance with his report, the Royal decision followed, which is called a Hatisherif, and by virtue of this decision was written decree and issued into the hands of the Patriarch and the Greeks. Were with the Patriarch in the Supreme State Court: His translator Michael Kyritzis the Stooping One, the Great Dikeophilax, originally from the town of Saint Paraskeva, which lies opposite Kiniz, who was the Locum Tenens of the Holy Sepulcher for forty-five years — a man of small stature, but great in eloquence and intelligence and famous for his zeal for Orthodoxy; Constans from Sycamore of Trebizond; and Hieromonk Gabriel from the Jews, originally from ancient Patras; also Kapikehasiadas (who wereenvoys of the Moldovans and Wallachians). When these persons presented the Golden Bulls of the ancient and recent Sultans to the Vizier in the Supreme Royal Court, the Vizier, all breathing love for the Greeks, ordered the Golden Bulls to be read in the hearing of the entire Supreme Court; and when they were read, he turned to the Armenians and said: “Do you hear? — don’t try to fix things with money: justice is on the side of the Greeks.” And he immediately kicked them out and wrote a report to the Sultan, as was said above. Then, turning to the Patriarch, the Vizier said: “Give the Sultan, for the fact that he has shown justice to you, 100 portions of silver,” but the Patriarch said in response: “We are poor people, and we give those living in Tzama. Sultan Akhmet, 400,000 Venetian florins every year.” The vizier answered this: well, if you give so much money to those living in this Tzam every year, then give at least 30 portions, and go.” — When the decree was written, the great Translator Panagiotacus contributed greatly to this, and therefore the Hatisherifs (or sacred letters)were spelled out in detail in it — Omar, Sultan Suleiman, Sultan Selim, Sultan Murat and Sultan Ibrahim. And when this decree was made, Paisius sent him to Jerusalem with Rous Hussein, and gave him 600 grosias for the journey. Hussein, having arrived in Jerusalem, immediately went to the Kadius, that is, to the judge, where Pasha also came, who was the regional commander, and gave the shrines that belonged to the Ethiopians to the power of the Greeks, as was prescribed in Hotreshi, which is the affirmative letter. The next morning, the Kadius and Rous went to Bethlehem, and having driven the Armenians out of the holy Cave, they gave it to the Greeks. It was 7 May 1657. But the lawless Anthimus, originally from Sikurt, impudent and angry like Achilles, and consumed with envy of the Patriarch, went and broke the seals of the Church of Saint John, which was outside the holy gates, and gave it to the Armenians, as well as four cells at the holy gates; also the monastery of Saint James prevented the Greeks from taking it over; why he remained with the Armenians. However, the Patriarch gave glory to God for the buildings of the Ethiopians and other things that belonged to them.

Section 5 - About what Kioproulus said against Hussein Pasha of Gaza when he was returning from Hebron through Gaza to Constantinople, and about the silver donated by Paisius to the kingdom, which Hussein Pasha unjustly took from Jerusalem, and how Paisius then took Saint James by appointment from the Armenians to Tagiaroglu, Eparch of Jerusalem.

Vizier Kioproulus, while Paisius was in Serbia, was the ruler of Damascus. But since the rulers of Jerusalem, Naples, Gaza, and Galaseda were also subordinate to him, he undertook a journey through these regions for entertainment, and on a favorable occasion to worship, he was there at the shrines in Jerusalem, and from here he visited Abraham’s settlement in Hebron. Here, news came to him that another had been made ruler of Damascus, and he, going to Constantinople, took the route through Gaza in order to avoid the rocky path through Jerusalem. When he passed through Gaza, Hussein Pasha came out to meet him with 4,000 Arab troops. Kioproulus, a shrewd and cruel-tempered man, saw on the one hand that Pasha, out of pride and contempt for him, did not come out to honor him with a small number of people, but came out with a large army; on the other hand, he guessed that the ruler of such a small region as Gaza, for some reason, had such pride. And therefore, although he was angry at this, he did not show anger and did so, perhaps, as Homer said, in accordance with the circumstances. But when, having become Vizier, Kioproulus decided to humiliate the arrogant Hussein Pasha, himself aware of his weakness, aroused Tagiaroglu, the ruler of Damascus, and some others to rebel against Kioproulus, he did not give the monastery of Saint James to the Greeks, and did not even allow Raus Hussein to return to Constantinople. Meanwhile, Patriarch Parthenius was hanged in Constantinople, and the heretics told Hussein Pasha in Jerusalem that they had hanged Patriarch Paisius of Jerusalem in Constantinople. On this occasion, Pasha was excited by three circumstances, namely, first, that he had enmity towards the Patriarch, who deceived him into leaving him for Constantinople; second, that as a Turk, he could attack Christians; and third, that he was secretly baptized by the Franks, and therefore he dreamed, in case of some kind of trouble with him, to flee to France and live there (the Franks and Armenians in Jerusalem always live in peace, and on the contrary, they are always enemies of the Greeks). He was excited by these circumstances; how much evil did he do in Jerusalem, and how much money did he collect! The Patriarch, meanwhile, was waiting for the return of Raus to Constantinople, and in September, he returned because Hussein Pasha was deprived of the leadership of Jerusalem, which was given to the administration of Tagiaroglu, the ruler of Damascus, and Hussein Pasha retired to Gaza, to his region. With Raus returning from Jerusalem, the Patriarch went to the Vizier for Sixtus and Avidus, where he was on the occasion of the construction of new fortresses, and Raus reported to the Vizier the following: “The Greeks are being treated unfairly; Hussein Pasha is not afraid of either the Sultan or your power; He wanted to kill me too, but I disappeared, and he took a lot of money from the Romans.” The Vizier asked the Patriarch: “How much did Pasha take from you?” The Patriarch replied: “100,000 grosias, which we must give to the Royal treasury.” The Vizier immediately sent 40 Mnaki Kular (slaves) to Gaza to take the indicated amount from Hussein. Having gone to Hussein Pasha for the mentioned money, the Vizier sent another Aga, named Ismail, to Tagiaroglu with forty people, with a decree, and with the command to give the monastery of Saint James to the Greeks. But Tagiaroglu, having taken fifty grosias from the Armenians, did not give the Aga any satisfaction, and the monastery of Saint James again remained with the Armenians. Not only that, in order to frighten the Greeks, Tagiaroglu tied up Parthenius, a native of Jerusalem from Amykla, and the elder Athanasius, a native of Arab, forced them to walk on foot to Damascus itself, and did a lot of other evil to these fathers. Paisiy sent Elder Dionysius, originally from Dimitrana, to the Vizier in Adrianople, and this, having gained access to the supreme court, reported everything to the Vizier. The vizier immediately sent the third decree and Raus the Albanian with four people. Rous, having arrived in Jerusalem, encourages Kadius, (or local judge) for the immediate execution of the decree, and thus, the monastery of Saint James on that day was given to the Greeks, and the matter with the Armenians was over.

Section 6 - Patriarch Paisius was accused by some to the Proconsul of having made a crown as a gift for the King of Moscow, and as such, he was locked in the pit of the murderers, and the crown was sent, after a report from the Proconsul to Adrianople, to Kioproulus, and people were sent by the Patriarch to report the matter and inform the Vizier of the case.

The Jew Gabriel, whom we have mentioned, was an excellent connoisseur of precious stones. Having learned that Paisius had a mitre from Moscow adorned with precious stones, he [Gabriel], intending to steal some of them, advised the Patriarch to remake the mitre in the style of the Byzantines and to give it a better appearance, and he convinced the Patriarch of this. But when the mitre was remade, some slandered the Patriarch of Jerusalem to the Proconsul of Byzantium, saying that he had made a crown worth 100,000 grosias and wanted to send it as a gift to the Emperor of Moscow. The Proconsul demanded the mitre from the Patriarch. The Patriarch himself wanted to leave for Adrianople, using this proverb: Is a bird well in a nest or in a basket, that is, a cage?— and it would be good if he did it; but some of his confidants prevented him from going to Adrianople. Three days later, the Proconsul summoned him; the aforementioned Jew and others came with him. And the Proconsul, turning to the Patriarch, asked him: Why are you plotting against the State? The Patriarch answers: “Do you yourself say that I am plotting against the State, or do others testify to you against me in this?” But the Proconsul, without trial, put him in the dungeon, that is, in the pit appointed for murderers, and while the others fled, the Jew, through weakness, could not escape, they threw him also to the Patriarch in the pit of murderers. After three or four hours, the Proconsul ordered the Patriarch to be brought out from there and put him in a prison appointed for debtors, with the intention of taking a bribe from the Patriarch to release him; and then seizing the nobles in Constantinople as if they were accomplices in his evil plot, and taking a bribe from them too. But the good Archpastor wanted to undergo death himself rather than be the cause of any misfortune for those in authority, and he courageously endured the torment. And so the Proconsul, seeing that none of his plans would succeed, and moreover, lest the Christians should bring a complaint to the Sultan, reflected within himself, prepared his Aga alone for the journey, and sent him and the Mitre with the following report to the Vizier: “Since it has become known to us that Paisius of Jerusalem has made a Crown worth many thousands of grosias, in order to send it to the Emperor of Moscow, we have detained him in prison, and are sending the Crown to your authority, and are awaiting a decision on how to proceed in this matter.” Meanwhile, the Fathers of the Holy Sepulchre secretly learned of the present affairs, and four of them, namely, the aforementioned Father Dionysius, a native of Demetrion; Father Theodoret, who was later Metropolitan of Lanidemon, and also a native of Demetrana; Father Archimandrite Joseph of Andria and Father Meletius of Thessaloniki set out for Adrianople before Aga, and having arrived here, they immediately came to Kioproulus. Kioproulus ordered them to be patient until Aga came.

Section 7 - Concerning the various tortures and martyrdoms of various kinds, which the most athletic Patriarch Paisius endured all night long at the Proconsul’s palace before the Vizier’s decision was made.

Meanwhile, by order of the Proconsul, the Patriarch and the Jew were taken out of prison one night. They dragged the Jew on foot, but they put the Patriarch on a horse that had a saddle of the kind used on horses that carry heavy loads, or a camel’s saddle, without allowing him to hold on to the bridle, and they gave it into the hands of the executioners, who dragged him. There were not even stirrups on the saddle on which the Patriarch could rest his feet. And since the horse was all beaten, weak, for which there was no care, which, being now forced to walk on the stone pavement, stumbled now this way, now that, and judging by what happened that night, since the legs of the Patriarch, who always loved exploits, suffered from rheumatism, then his thighs, worn out from the saddle, completely weakened, and the skin came off his knees. Meanwhile, as they were walking from the prison to the Ozunjarsi, that is, to the square, a man came running, who had a wooden stake on his shoulders and several people with torches with him cried out to Sumpas, that is, the chief of the executioners who the Proconsul had appointed to impale him, that he should bring the Patriarch. Then the Jew began to sob, and Paisius was so calm that looking at him, one would have thought that he was resting on his bed. Sumpas and Hasampas, that is, the heads of the executioners, threateningly demanding money from the Patriarch, said to him: “Man! Spare your life; behold, you are close to death; tell me what you promise the Proconsul, that you may escape death.” And the Patriarch answered them: “I promise nothing, I give nothing: do what you will.” Immediately after this, another, sent by the Proconsul, ran up with a torch and said to Sumpas: Aha! The Proconsul ordered that both the Patriarch and the Jew be hanged on Parmakhapi, that is, on the latticed door. And when they approached Parmakhapi, without any delay, they tied a rope around the Patriarch’s neck and placed him in the middle of the door. The one who wanted to pull the rope had already climbed up to the door, and the Patriarch stood and looked at heaven, praying for his salvation. And when Sumpas began to speak to the Patriarch: “What do you promise to Pasha?” The Patriarch was silent, preparing for death. And the Jew, despairing of his life, wept bitterly. But he immediately came running with a torch and said: “Aha! Do not hang him (the Patriarch), but put him in Ak-Saragiy, since he is suspected of Tzengeli (theft).” And so they led them to the house of Sumpas, which is between Blanca and Contoscalium, and having put shackles on the legs of the Patriarch, which were then so swollen that from the swelling there was no sign of them, and having passed a stick through his legs, which were connected by a chain of shackles, they dragged him around the house and asked: “what do you promise to Pasha?” The Patriarch cried out in great pain and complained of his tormentors. But when they saw his inflexibility, they stopped torturing him. In the morning there came to him a certain Ahmet Tzelepis, a Turk from the Latin Chios, sent expressly by the Pasha, because the Pasha had begun to fear from the direction of Adrianople. Under the pretext of friendship with the Patriarch, Ahmet took him on bail, so Sumpas the Jew let him go, and he went to the courtyard, and the iron fetters were removed from the Patriarch, and the compatriots living in Kontoskalia visited him, served him, and brought him what he needed. And I, being at that time still a youth, about eleven years old, when I did not yet wear boots, came to him in the courtyard without sandals. During the day, the faithful served him, and in the evenings, they left him and spent the night in the courtyard. I say that I did not wear boots, I say this because at that time our abbots instructed us to do so, and we carried out these instructions out of obedience and out of respect for our abbots.

Section 8 - A decision was made at the royal court by the Vizier and the Mufti that the Crown is the garment of the Patriarch. The Vizier showed it to the Sultan, who wished to place it on the head of a eunuch, and, saying it was beautiful, it was granted to the Patriarch to wear. Whereupon the Patriarch, having been released from prison, made a short tour out of mercy.

When the messenger from Kanmakam the Proconsul, came to Adrianople with the mitre and the report, then the fathers came to the Vizier for trial. And they asserted that it was customary for the Patriarch to wear such a mitre, that it was made for him, and they presented as proof:

1. The words embroidered on its top, near the Cross, show that it belongs to the Patriarch and not to the Emperor of Moscow.
2. Since this mitre is worth no more than 5,000 grosias, and not 100,000, as the Proconsul says, that the Emperor of Moscow cannot wear such an insignificant Crown.
3. Since the top plate of this mitre is silver.
4. Two of its stones are made of glass.

All this shows that it belongs to a man who is not rich; it is unbecoming for the Emperor of Moscow. The Vizier, in order to give the Patriarch’s case full credibility, sent the fathers and the official Proconsul to the Mufti for trial, that is, to the guardians of the dictates of the law, and at the end of the trial, a decision was made to give the mitre to the fathers, since the right to wear such mitres was given to the Greek Patriarchs by the Sultans. Then the Vizier, having learned that the matter of the mitre had become known to the people, and fearing that it might reach the Sultan and he would not accept it otherwise than as it was, took the mitre, went to the Sultan, and showed it to him, told him the details and the whole matter, noting in particular that at the time when he went from Damascus to worship in Jerusalem, he saw there six other mitres, and that all of them were granted to the Patriarchs by the Sultans, his ancestors. Then he called a man who knew the value of stones to see what the mitre was worth, and the Jew who came for this matter declared that it was worth only 4,000 grosias, and no more. The Sultan, looking at the beauty of the mitre, at the twelve turrets around it, at its graceful form, was amazed and, placing it on the head of one of the Ethiopians, exclaimed: “Wonderful ornament! And since my ancestors granted it to the Patriarchs, I also grant it to them, and I command that it be given to the Patriarch and that he be free.” The Vizier, having taken the mitre, returned to his palace, summoned the fathers, and having given it to them, gave a decree, and with the decree, an official was sent. This, having come to Constantinople, immediately appeared to Kanmakam the Proconsul, and gave him the decree; for this, they sent Raus, and he took the Patriarch from the house of Sumpas. Following the Patriarch came Peter the furrier of Kakumis, from Chernitzain the Peloponnese, and other patriots, and myself. When the Patriarch came to the house of the Proconsul, he was declared free from imprisonment, and he went to the courtyard. Likewise, the officials, who had been imprisoned separately, were freed and sent to their homes; and thus peace came. But after a few days, the Vizier deprived Kanmakam of the proconsulate and sent him to war in Crete, and there he ordered him to be put to death. The Patriarch, freed from bonds, and having learned that the Orthodox had also regained the monastery of Saint James from the Armenians, was filled with joy, and when the opportunity arose in the month of Genvar, he went to Panormus, then to Pergamum, from there to Artakia, Michanion, and to Kalomemnos, and here he celebrated his Easter. From Kalomemnos, he went to Sykia and Muntenia, then to Caterlia, and from there to Constantinople.

Section 9 - About the emigration of Patriarch Paisius to Iberia, his miracles in Sinope, the place of refuge in Circassia, and the stele and the miracles that occurred around it, and about the history of the Zikhs, that is, the Circassians.

It has been said above that the Government took thirty portions of silver from the Patriarch, but according to the customs of the Ottoman Porte, they took many more from him. The expenses thus doubled, and the Patriarch borrowed the entire sum. And so need forced him to undertake a pilgrimage to ask for assistance. At first he sent to Iași, but the messenger, sent on the occasion of the rebellion which Stephen had made against the commander Basil, returned unsuccessful. And so he decided to go himself, and not being able to do this quickly because of his affairs. Already in the year 1658, he asked permission to travel to Iberia from Mihnea, the ruler of Wallachia, of whom we will speak later, and in the year 1658, in the month of May, he set out for Sinope, accompanied by his retinue, to which I was also counted. In Sinope, on the 21st of May, there was a great fire. Beginning from the north side, it greatly devastated the city. The Patriarch, having poured some water into a cup, sent one of his deacons; he sprinkled water on the fire, and, to the amazement of everyone, the fire stopped there and went out. On the 4th of July, having boarded a ship, we set out straight for Mingrelia and, sailing in a direct direction with a favorable wind, in five days arrived in Circassia. Strabo calls the inhabitants of this country the Cercetes, and the Turks [call them] Circassians; but more correctly, they are Zikhs, whom travelers, through ignorance, call Cercetes. The Cercetes live on the northern side of the Caucasus, in the plains that are there, and where we landed, there was a mountainous place of the Zikhs called Kontos; here, between two streams, they have a safe harbor. We saw there a steele, an oblong square stone set upright. Above it is a stone parasol, which has no depression at the bottom, but is level. In front of the monument, they found a copper image of Saint George, and around the monument were scattered the heads of pigs and deer, arrows, spears, and swords; on the trees were hung ship anchors. However, safety in Kontos is limited to this: if anyone is found further than the aforementioned streams, then such a person is robbed, and a foreigner is made a slave. And if a ship, having been wrecked, touches the shore, then the sailors are taken prisoner, and if it is at anchor, then only the natives are taken, if any of them are hiding in the ship, and the others are not touched. And in Kontos itself, Greeks and Turks, and others who happen to be there, stop as if in their own harbor, disembark from the ship, and live freely, as in their own homes. There is no robbery there, no enslavement, or anything similar; and the natives especially receive and entertain strangers as their friends. And if anyone leaves anything there, or forgets it, none of them takes it for themselves. They also instilled in us that none of us should steal anything, and as a warning, they said that in such a case, we would be subjected to inevitable disaster. They told us, confirming their words with examples, “See this small galley which is outside the pier” (there was exactly one galley there, half sunken): “Behold, when the Turkish fleet sailed from Kafa, buffeted by contrary winds, and entered this pier, all the sailors and soldiers maintained respect for the monument and for this Icon; and one soldier from this galley, disdaining our holy things, carried off one flame-throwing machine or Tufekiy. And what happened? — all the galleys, or boats, left the pier safely, and only this one was flooded. See that nothing of the sort happens to you.” After much discussion on various subjects, an old man appeared and began to tell about himself, that he had been sent by the local Zikhs as an ambassador to the Tatar Khan, and that he had not changed his faith there. We asked him what his faith was, but he could not say clearly. He took out a book from a bag that hung on his right hand and asked us if we could give him more of such books. When we opened the book, we saw that it was a Greek Irmologion, printed in Venice, and we told him that the Patriarch of Jerusalem was on the ship and that we were in his retinue. Hearing this, he showed signs of joy, as did those who were with him, and we learned that they were Christians, however, only because they fast on Thursday and Friday, and some of them also keep the fast of Great Lent. And indeed, there were Christians there before, it seems, and the people were not wild. And the Patriarch Photius, referring to the words of Strabo in his seventh book, writes in the 96th letter that Pontus was unfavorable to strangers, especially because the Scythians sacrificed people, and that the Milesians and Ionians, having built cities there, softened the customs of the peoples who lived there. However, when these people fell under the power of the Turks, they returned almost to their former state of ignorance.

Section 10 - On the history of the Iberians and the nations around Iberia, the Patzinaks, Khazars, Zikhs, Sagids, Avasgians, Abkhazians, Svans, and many others, and their religion, and beliefs, and the events that occurred at that time.

That²⁶ the Alans were once strong, as the historian Menander relates, is evident from the fact that when the Avars first came to these countries, they came with a request to the leader of the Alans, Sarosius; Sarosius sent Candichus as an ambassador to negotiate about them to the great Justinian, and Justinian allowed the Avars to settle in Pannonia since they were of the same tribe as the Hungarians. In the reign of Justin, the Alans had an ambassador from the Turks, Maniachus; with him, a certain George was sent as an ambassador to the Turks, who betrayed the Alans while they had Parodius as their leader. In the reign of Justinian, the Alans, according to the testimony of Procopius in the fourth book of the Gothic War, fought on the same side as the Persians. According to the story of Zonaras, Justian the Slit-Nosed (Rhinometos), during the war with the Avasgi, sent to the Alans with a request for help from Leo the Isaurian, who was still an Archon at that time, and to please the Emperor, the Alans armed themselves against the Avasgi. Both the Alans and the Zikhs were Christians. But when the Tatar invasions followed, that is, when the Tatars entered into a close alliance with them, and through this alliance took possession of many Greek cities, they also deviated into pagan superstition. And when the Turks took Constantinople, then both through the seductions of the Tatars and for lack of bishops, because bishops no longer came to them from Constantinople, they deviated completely from the right path. That the Alans and Zikhs were Christians is evident not only from the above but also from their letter of Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople to the Bishop of Rome, which he wrote in Nicaea. During the life of this same Germanus, there was Theodore, Bishop of Alania, and at the Council under Patriarch Luke, there were Archbishops of the Goths, Matrakh and Sugduful. In the list of the Episcopal Sees, which was compiled by Michael’s son Andronicus, and at the Council which he convened against Beccus, the Metropolitans of Alania, Sotiripolis, Zikhia, and Basil of the Caucasus are mentioned. Metropolitan Theophanes of Sugdaia was at the anti-Florentine Council, which was assembled in Byzantium after the outbreak of the plague in the year 6992 [1484]. In the Sumela monastery, there is a Golden Bull of the King of Trebizond, on which is written: “Alexius, by the grace of Christ God, King and Autocrat of all the East, Iberia, and Peratia, to the Great Comnenus.” Here, Peratia is called the land of the Abkhazians and Zikhs, from which it is evident that under this Sovereign, Christianity was in a flourishing state among these peoples. But after the fall of the Orthodox Kingdom, they also changed in faith, as has been said. Namely, the Alans, who lived near the Tatars, mixed with them. Some accepted Islam, and the rest remained Christians, although not baptized. They differ from those who accepted Islam in some Christian customs, which they retain, and in some fasts, and also in the fact that Christians eat pork, while others do not. The same must be said about the Zikhs. Those of them who lived near the Tatars accepted Islam; and those who lived at a great distance from them, like the Alans, remained Christians. They try to acquire Greek books and Greek priests, if they find them, they accept them with deep respect. Let us note here: according to the testimony of Procopius, in Book 4, Chapter 3 of the Gothic war, the Sagids mixed with the Zikhs. And these Sagids lived further to the West of the Zikhs. Their cities were Sevastopol and Pityus, which the Persians seized after their conquest of Lazica in the time of Justinian, and now we have neither signs nor names of those cities. Let us also note: George of Cyprus, a native of Lanatus, in his work (on the bishops of the Five Patriarchal Thrones), which he wrote during the reign of Emperor Leo and the Patriarchate of Photius, in the year 6392 [883], notes that in Aulegia there was the Archbishopric of Sevastopol, which was under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople, and that the Svans accepted Christianity at the same time as the Colchians. According to the testimony of Procopius in the fourth book on the Gothic War, the people living to the West of the river Phasis were Christians from ancient times. They were famous from ancient times. The rhetorician Priscus relates that under Leo Macella there were quarrels between the Romans and the Laz over the Svans, and the Persians waged wars with the Romans over the Svan fortresses. The proctor Menander writes that under Justin, an ambassador came from the Persians to negotiate about the Svans and that during the treaties between the Romans and the Persians under the same Emperor, there were great disputes concerning the Svans. From the Romans, there was an ambassador in Persia named Peter, who represented to Khosrow that the ruler of the Svans was subordinate to the Sovereign of the Laz and gave him tribute in honey and skins, and that when the King of the Svans died, the Sovereign of Colchis reported this to the Emperor of Constantinople, who sent the new ruler of the Svans royal decorations, and that it was now the duty of the King of the Svans to see to it that the Scythians did not invade Colchis, or according to Procopius, the Roman Land. Khosrow, for his part, represented to Peter that the Svans were predators and robbers and that he alone wanted to rule over them, especially so that the Scythians did not cross through their territory into Asia since the territory of the Svans served as a route for sudden Scythian invasion. The Svans, together with the Persian Shah Kavadius, fought against the Romans, but they [the Svans] flourished as long as the Iberian Kingdom was strong. When the Iberians weakened after the Turks captured Constantinople, the Svans weakened even more. However, they still remained Orthodox together with the Iberians because the Svans understood their language, and they went to Jerusalem on pilgrimage. But when, under Mehmet, that is, after the year 1650, the Iberians were oppressed to a degree they had never suffered such before, and when the King of Mingrelia, to whom they were subject, became extremely weak from the intrigues of the Iberians and the Abkhazians, the Svans little by little lost their pious devotion, but not their Orthodoxy. The Avasgi accepted Christianity, as has been said, under Justinian. They wanted to send eunuchs to the Roman Land, but Justinian, having learned of this, stopped them from doing so, presenting the fact that he could not accommodate them. They obeyed and accepted Christianity, and the Emperor built them a Church in the name of the Mother of God and other holy temples. But prior to this, according to the testimony of Procopius in the fourth book about the Gothic war, they worshiped trees, and had two Monarchs. After accepting Christianity, they overthrew the Monarchs and began to live freely. Then they asked for and received a Roman Archon and were under his command and his successors until Pogonatus. At this time, since the Roman Archons, according to the testimony of Zonaras, had treated them unjustly, the Avasgians finally chose a ruler from among themselves and were governed by their own rulers until Justian the Slit-Nosed sent Leo the Isaurian against them and with the help of the Alans defeated them. Then they submitted to the Emperor, and during the reign of Michael and Theodora, they sent a leader of the Avasgians from Constantinople to war, and Constantine the Purple-Born granted Pancratius [Bagrat III], the righteous leader of the Avasgians, the rank of Kuropalates. Under Basil the Purple-Born in the year 988, George, the ruler of Abkhazia, also ruled over Iberia, and in the year 1029, Romanus Argyropoulos honored Pancratius [Bagrat IV], the ruler of Abkhazia, with the rank of Kuropalates. The wife of the King of Avasgi, on her visit to Romanus, presented him with the fortress of Akalisra, which was considered the strongest, and Romanus granted her son Demetrius the title of Magister, as Kedrinus writes. This dominion of the Romans continued even when the Comneni ruled only in Trebizond. This is shown by the following Greek inscription on the wall painting in one Mingrelia monastery, which lies near Abkhazia and is called Mokfi. It was decorated with paintings during the reign of Alexius Comnenus and under David the Great, King of Abkhazia.

Section 11 - About the list and lineage of the Abkhazian Kings, the Kings of the Iberians, and the miracle that took place in the temple of Saint George near Mingrelia, and of George, who practiced asceticism in Zetzanteli, whose miracles occur every year, and of John who practiced asceticism in Zetzanteli, and the fact that the Iberians needed the Abkhazians for the brewing of the Myrrh, and about the separation of the Mingrelians from the King of Imereti with the help of Sultan Suleiman, and how Guria is interpreted, and that the office of the Kings of the Iberians was held by the Emperors of the Romans.

In an ancient book written in the Georgian language, at the end of this book, there is an entry made by Pancratius [Bagrat III], King of Apkhazia, and it seems that the Kings who reigned after the deposition of the Roman rulers are indicated in it. Namely, according to the words of this entry, the kings were as follows:

1. The first King was Anos
2. His son, Ghozar,
3. His son, Justinian [Istvine]
4. His son, Phinictios
5. His son, Barnucius
6. His son, Demetrius I
7. His son, Theodosius I
8. His son, Constantine I
9. His son, Theodore
10. His son, Constantine II
11. His brother, Leo II, who reigned for 35 years
12. His son, Theodosius II, who reigned 27 years
13. His brother, Demetrius II, who reigned 36 years
14. His brother, George I
15. The son of Demetrius II, Pancratius I, who reigned 20 years
16. His son, Constantine III, who reigned 39 years
17. His son, George II, who reigned 45 years
18. His son, Leo III, who reigned 10 years
19. His brother, Demetrius III, who reigned 8 years
20. His brother, Theodosius III the Blind, who reigned 3 years
21. His nephew, David Adarnase [David III Kuropalates]
22. The Compiler of this Catalogue, Pancratius III, nephew of George and son of Pancurian [Gurgen Magistros], King of Iberia, reigned 36 years

Since, according to the traditions of the Iberians, Pancratius, the first Monarch of Iberia, came from the line of the Monarch and Prophet David, and their Monarchs were mostly called Bagrationi: for this reason, even now, the Sovereigns of Imereti, Kartvelia, and Kakheti are called Bagrationi (the Sovereigns of Mingrelia and Guria belong to another and lower line). Pancratius ruled in Abkhazia until the year 6500 [990], and after him, his son David ruled for 20 years. In the same record, it is written that Nina came from Jerusalem to Kartvelia in the year 5835 [325], and lived here for 20 years; that from Miran, the Iberian King, to the fourth son of King Vakhtan, 200 years passed, and there were 20 Sovereigns, and that in the year 6752 [1242], during the reign of David of Iberia (the third King of this name from David the Prophet), George, Ephraim, and Theophilus came to Iberia from the holy mountain and translated many Greek books into the Georgian language. It is also said in that record that in the year 6160 [650], a certain John came from Mesopotamia and led a strict ascetic life in Zetzanteli; that in Mingrelia on the 3rd of November, the Iberians, Mingreli, and Avasgi gathered together, locked and sealed the local Church of Saint George in the evening; then before the Liturgy they open it, and find there the best ox, which they slaughter, divide among themselves, and send parts to their Monarchs. This is still the case. It should be noted here, firstly, that the same thing happened to the Avasgs as to the Alans and Zikhs, and for the same reason. Secondly, since the capital of lower Iberia was in Abkhazia, the first-throned Council remained there for a long time. Therefore, even now, when the Iberians want to brew the holy Chrism, they do this brewing in no other way than there. Therefore, they live in peace with the Abkhazians, take security from them, then go to them and brew the holy Chrism. Thirdly, Dadian Leo, who reigned for a long time in the year 1600, gave the Abkhazians 40,000 Persian servants, 40,000 of whom he baptized, and gave them a bishop. Fourthly, the Mingreli, during the time of Sultan Suleiman, in the year 1520, rebelled against Mep of Imereti, came to Byzantium, promised to pay tribute to the Sultan, and with his help separated Mingrelia from Imeretia. The leader of the Mingrelia is called Dadian, which means “fleeing,” and it is called so because Mingrelia, for the most part, consists of plains. Fifthly, Guriani means the same as Jew, because a Jew in Georgian is called Uryanin, and many Jews lived there before. The rulers of Imereti, Kartvelia, and Kakheti are called Meps (that is, Kings), but the Roman Emperors give them the title of Kuropalates only, and therefore the Archons of the Imperials, who are of higher rank than Kuropalates, occupy places above these Kings. Justinian wanted to decorate Gelimer, King of the African Vandals in Libya, whom Belisarius captured, with the rank of Archon, but since he was an Arian, he made him only the overseer of the animals fattened for slaughter. The Mep of Kutaisi calls himself the King of Kings of Iberia, this is because Justinian, according to Theophanes, sent Chaf, the King of Colchis (which consists of Imeretia, Guria, and Mingrelia), a royal crown and presented him with a white and gold woven chlamys, on which was a gold plate with the image of Justinian, and a white tunic studded with gold, also with the image of Justinian, and also changiyas or sandals of a pale color and a gold belt decorated with precious stones. This Sovereign, however, the Sultan of Turkey calls him Melik, which means Little King.

Section 12 - About the arrival of Patriarch Paisios from the port of Kontosi in Circassia to the port of Guri in Mingrelia, and by land to the Diocese of Mokfel Monastery, and from there to the Palace of Authent Vamekh, then to the Koskheri Metochion of the Cross.

From the port of Kontos we set out on the 8th of July, and having arrived in Mingrelia, we stopped at the port called Guri, where the Dioscuri once were. Having disembarked from the ship ashore, we found here near the port several dwellings made of reeds, and one wooden house, or kiosk, in which the bishop stopped. Two days later, the diocesan Bishop Mokfelskius (he is called Mokfelskius from Mokfa since the Georgians are accustomed to accepting names according to the places which someone owns or over which someone rules, — for example, according to the place of Genlat, they are called Genatelsius, according to Kutaisi — Kutaiskius, according to Mokfa — Mokfelskius) arrived to us and, having taken us from here, he sent us to his monastery, where his Episcopal See is. This monastery lies between two rivers, which unite under the mountain of the monastery, and is decorated with paintings by Greek artists, as the following inscription shows: “Decorated with paintings during the reign of Alexius Comnenus, and under David the Great, King of Abkhazia.” A certain Iberian named Nicholas, from a noble family, having come to Jerusalem, entered into monasticism in the main Iberian monastery of the Cross; then, out of curiosity, he traveled to enrich himself with information, to Venice, to Rome, to Gaul, to Spain, to England; he was also in other states and regions and again returned to Jerusalem. Here, as a subtle man, he entered into such a close relationship with Patriarch Theophanes that Theophanes, at his death, deigned to make him his successor, although this succession did not fall to him. This Nicholas, being then in Iberia, and the Bishop of Mokfa, having received the Lord, escorted him to the main palace of Dadian, because the Mingrelian Sovereigns do not have a place for their permanent residence, and they have palaces in many places, and their main palace is called Zugdition. Here, the Lord had a meeting with Dadian Vamsk and his wife Elena, and was given to him for residence in Koskheri, a dependency of the monastery of the Cross, and the Iberians living in Jerusalem. From labor, we were very weak and suffered from many ailments.

Section 13 - About the transfer of Paisius from Koskheri to the city of Kutaisi to Alexander Mepes, about the divine relics found in the Gelati Monastery by type, and about the relics of Saint Cyriacus in the Hopi Monastery, and the Robr of the Birthgiver of God, and the miracle therein.

From Koskheri, we went to Kutaisi, the capital of Imereti, which Procopius also mentions in Book 4 about the Gothic War. Alexander was the king at that time; during our stay there, he was waging war, and in his army, there were very few Iberians but a countless multitude of foreigners and Gurians. For the winter, the Patriarch stayed in the Gelati monastery, which stands higher than Kutaisi, at a distance of about three hours by road. The Kutaisi monastery of Gelati was built by the Iberian kings with the purpose of serving as their burial place, and with amazing skill, it was decorated with paintings by Greek and Georgian artists. In the altar of the temple on the holy throne, there is one nail of the Lord, which, as a most precious gift, was sent by Constantine the Great to the Iberians who accepted Christianity in his time. This nail is sealed with the Royal seal. Outside the altar, on the left side of the place of the Lord, stands a full-length, painted image of the Mother of God. Jesus Christ is held by the Mother of God on her bosom; before her alone is the King in a kneeling position; at her head is an enfranchised figure, almost the size of a partridge’s egg, which cannot even be estimated. On the left side of this Icon is a golden Cross, all strewn with precious stones, mostly emeralds and sapphires, and all of great size; in the middle of the Cross is a small golden plate, this is the same gold, they say, which the Magi brought as a gift to God the Word, Who became man for our sake in Bethlehem. At the top, in the very dome of the temple, on the left side is an image of the Mother of God with doors, gilded inside and out; inside, moreover, it is all strewn with large precious stones; a crown on the Mother of God made of round Sardis stones, which the Turks call Lalami; the size of all these precious stones is the same as a face. They also say that this Image was painted by the Evangelist Luke. We stayed in the monastery of Gelati for quite some time. And before the feast of the Epiphany, Mep invited the bishop to the place of Guria, which lies from Kutaisi to Kartvelia, to spend the feast with him and to ordain Kinatelus, that is, the bishop of the monastery of Gelati, the very one in which we were staying. But we did not go to Kartvelia because the Turkish Mep was there, and the bishop was afraid that the Armenians, with whom Mep Alexander was at war at that time, would arrange some kind of tricks, and the King of Persia would take him to Isfahan. And so in the winter we went to Mingrelia, to the Hopi monastery, and stayed here for several days. The Hopi monastery lies to the south of Zugdutiya, that is, in Guria, and is called Hopi after the river that flows near it, which is called Hopi. The Greeks call Hopi Kopi, and the Georgians, instead of Kopi, change the letter k in h, and pronounce Hopi. In the Hopi monastery, there are many holy remains; however, I do not remember them all, but I know only about the Relics of Saint Cyriacus, the greater part of which is kept in this monastery, and about one very white and thick srachitsa (the same white fabrics are now in Jerusalem) with a small collar, the lower part of which is cut off, and which is kept in a small reliquary behind the Royal seal. This srachitsa looks new, and according to tradition, it belonged to the Most Holy Birthgiver of God. The elderly people there say that the collar of this srachitsa used to be wider than it is now and is gradually shrinking, but God alone knows why.

Section 14 - About the journey of Patriarch Paisius from the river Hopi to the sea and the river Phasis to the Koumbouletes of the Guria staircase, in which the Authent of Guria, Caechostros, and his mother and the women of those killed in the war with Alexander accused Alexander to the Patriarch, and about the river Phasis, and the fortresses of Petra and Apsyrtus, and why it is called Apsyrtus.

When at last everything was ready for our departure at the Hopi monastery, about the time of Great Lent, we set out to sea on a Georgian ship along the Hopi River (this river is large; similar to the Seireti River, which flows through Moldavia and Wallachia, or the Pyramus, which flows through Mopsuestia), and by sea we passed into the Phasis River, which the Iberians usually call Rion. The Phasis has many islands and flows through various branches; this river is almost equal in size to the mouth of the Danube at Chilia. The geographers Strabo and Caesar Procopius speak much about it. It flows between Mingrelia and Guria; therefore, Strabo says incorrectly that the Phasis flows from the side of Russia and that at a distance of four days’ journey from the Phasis, the Gura River is navigable; because the Phasis flows from the Caucasus Mountains through Imeretia, the Gura below Tbilisi is not navigable. It merges with the Araxes River near Scheta and receives other rivers, and below the city of Hekia, it joins the Araxes. However, above Scheta, in the summertime, the Araxes River is crossed on horseback, and in the month of August, the Gura River above the fortress of Cori (which is a day’s journey above Tbilisi) is crossed on horseback. By the Phasis River, we again came to Guria, to a harbor called Cupuleta, and by the river that flows there, having traveled for about two hours, we found hospitality among the faithful and in the houses of the nobles who were there. This was the 22nd of March, 1659. The ruler of Guria, Kanhostrus, also came here to us. Having met with the ruler, he complained much about Alexander, who had defeated him in the war. The mother of the ruler of Guria also came here, and the wives of the Archons who had died in the war, some in hair shirts, others in leather clothes. An hour’s ride or more to the east of Cupuleta lies the fortress of Petra, from which the well-known wars between Justinian and the Persian King took place, from which countless armies were defeated, many leaders perished, and the peoples and tribes living there came to utter ruin. Under Petra, to the east of it, although not close, was the port of Batoni. Petra now lies in ruin. At a distance of a day’s ride from it, according to the testimony of Procopius, was the city of Apsyrtus, and from Apsyrtus, at a distance of three days’ journey, was the city of Athena. The name of Apsyrtus was given to the said city because here, through the treachery of Medea and Jason, Apsyrtus perished.

Section 15 - About the arrival of Patriarch Paisius from Guria to Trebizond, and from there to Tripoli, Ineos, Sinope, Taphonis, Kelli, and then to Sinope unintentionally, and from there through Ionopolis, Amastris, Pontyraclia, and Hylia to Neochorion, and about the events in between the arrival.

In the month of May 1659, we arrived in Trebizond and were received quite kindly. The government there helped the Master both with its deeds and with its advice, and all the Christians, whoever could, thanked him when he officiated in all the neighboring Churches at their invitation, as well as in the monastery of the Mother of God, called “God-Guarded” [Theoskepastos]. The Pasha, or regional governor, wanted to oppress the Master; but the Kadius, or judge, of Trebizond, who had previously been Naib (that is, the deputy of a judge in Jerusalem) and was acquainted with the Master, freed him from the oppression of the Pasha with God’s help. In the last days of June, we set out from Trebizond for the mountainous regions, and after two days, we arrived at the monastery of Sumela, which stands on rocky and inaccessible places that required entry by stairs. From here, we went to Canis, and then on the day of Saint Elias, we returned again to Trebizond and celebrated the Liturgy in the Metropolitan Church of Saint Philip with all the people assembled. From Trebizond, we sailed to Tripoli, then to Ineos, then to Sinope. Here we changed to another ship in order to go along the Danube because the bishop had the intention of visiting Wallachia, and in September, setting out from Sinope, we arrived at Tafonis Boluklavan, which has a most beautiful harbor. In Tafonis, we found devout Christians and the monastery of Saint George, which stands on the southern side of the pier, almost at the very top of the mountain. This shrine is opposite Karampia itself. We stayed here for quite some time, however, almost all secretly, for fear that the Khan would find out about our arrival here and that we would not suffer the same as Bishop Theophanes suffered. Having left Tafonis on our ship, we arrived in Kiliya. And since Mihnea, who was at that time the ruler of Wallachia, renounced his allegiance to the Turkish Sultan, and because of this circumstance there was a war, the bishop decided to move to Varna. On the third day, the 8th of October, when the memory of Saint Pelagia is celebrated, we set out from the mouth of the Danube, called Selina, during a fierce storm and were exposed to the greatest dangers. At Pontyraclia, we lost the boat that was with the ship and were forced to land again at Sinope. And from there, via Ionopolis, Amastris, Pontyraclia, and Hylia, we arrived at Neochorion on the 7th of November.

Section 16 - About the injustices and murders of Velles Pasha against the Ottomans in Jerusalem, Christians, the Holy Sepulchre, and all the Monasteries belonging to Paisius in Iberia.

While Patriarch Paisius was in Iberia, Ibrahim Pasha (who later became ruler of Egypt) was Teuterdarius, or State Treasurer, of the Turkish Empire. His younger brother, named Veles, was Flamuarius in Jerusalem (later, when he was Pasha of Sebaste, Cyoprullus executed him for oppression). This man was cruel and unreasonable and oppressed the Turks and Christians so much that neither before nor after, nor even to this day, since the very time that the Turks held Jerusalem, has there been an oppressor in the Holy City like him. The then governor of the Holy Sepulchre, known as Anthimus, hid himself. Velles, extorting money from the monks, hanged several of them in the Cathedral Chamber of the Patriarchal House. He drunkenly entered the Church of Saint Constantine and, taking a censer, began to burn incense. He drank the wine without any fear and openly, completely without shame. Most of the fathers, having suffered many other similar disasters from him, withdrew to Rempli and Joppa. Some of them at that time wanted to lower several boxes with Church utensils through the window of the Patriarch’s house in order to hide them inside the Holy Sepulchre, but the rope broke, the boxes fell and were broken; about two hundred of the best Church utensils were broken, among which were silver reliquaries and censers, excellent Crosses and other remarkable things. Meanwhile, the tormentor Velles seized another Jew, put him to death without any guilt, and seized all his property, and the Jew had pledged several chests of treasures of the Holy Sepulchre, containing money which he had lent to the Holy Sepulchre. Thus, Velles seized these treasures for himself also and destroyed them so that to this day, they are no longer at the Holy Sepulchre. Killing other people, Velles threw their bodies before the gates of the monasteries and extorted from the monasteries whole thousands of grosias, and from us, he extorted (besides the broken Church utensils and those treasures which were pledged by the Jew, and which Velles seized for himself) 18,000 grosias by which amount of money the interest later increased fivefold. Because the fathers of the Holy Sepulchre, forced by the tortures of Velles, gave him such money as was borrowed with the payment of the interest, they and many others went to Prusa, where the Sultan and the Vizier were at that time, and with tears reported to the Vizier about the oppression of Velles. The Vizier, having deprived him of his command, appointed another as Governor in Jerusalem.

Section 17 - Kehagiampi and Reiz Effendi received money from the Armenians and, with the cooperation of Hermineos Panagiotacus, who was scandalized after Paisius, deceived Kioproulus into decreeing that the monastery of Saint James would belong to the Armenians.

The Armenians, after the monastery of Saint James had fallen into the hands of the Greeks, tried by various means to regain it, but for a long time, they could not do so. Finally, they promised a large sum of money to the Aga, Kehagiampi Suleiman, that is, the trusted servant of the Sultan in all matters concerning the infantry army, and Reiz Effendi, or the great Chancellor (whom Justice had betrayed after a cruel execution). Panagiotacus, the great Translator at the Sultan’s Court, was somewhat angry with the Patriarch, so all three of them came to an agreement — and Kehagiampi went to Kioproulus with Reiz Effendi and told him that the Armenians had been in possession of the monastery of Saint James for 300 years and the Greeks had taken possession of it unjustly, especially because they had come to possess it, not by Sultan’s decree, but by the will of the rebel Tagiaroglu (this Damascus Pasha had been a participant in the rebellion of Ampaza Hasan Pasha, whom Kioproulus executed afterwards); and they had falsely reported this matter to Kioproulus. The Vizier, in order not to be deceived, secretly called Panagiotacus to him in order to learn the truth from him, as an interpreter and a Greek, because he did not know at all about his agreement and conspiracy with the aforementioned two persons. Panagiotacus answered the Vizier: “As Kehagiampi and Reiz Effendi reported to your lordship, so it is.” The Vizier then judged that the Armenians had indeed been unjustly treated and gave a decree that the Armenians should again possess the monastery of Saint James. Since this decree could not destroy Hatisherif, that is, the charter confirmed by the Royal hand, which Paisius received when he was tried in the Supreme State Court, Panagiotacus wrote to Jerusalem to Anthimus, so that he should give, according to the Vizier’s decree, the monastery of Saint James to the Armenians, if he did not want to be imprisoned. The judge, however, did not accept or confirm the Vizier’s decree when it arrived in Jerusalem; but asked only 300 grosias from Anthimus, and the monastery of Saint James would again be in the power of the Greeks. But the damned Anthimus, out of deep-rooted enmity towards the Patriarch, went to the judge and told him that the monastery belonged to the Armenians and asked to let them own it. So the Armenians took possession again of the monastery of Saint James, and the gate, the garden, and two houses in Bethlehem that belonged to the Ethiopians, and they own them even to this day.

Section 18 - About the poor lineage, homeland, upbringing, and authority in Wallachia of Mihnea, and the murders he committed against the Lords of Wallachia, and his apostasy and flight to Hungary and drugging.

Mihnea, of whom we once spoke, boasted that he was the son of Prince Radu, who ruled in Wallachia during the reign of Sultan Osman. The truth is that he was the son of a poor Ioannite and one Sultana, or Queen, the wife of Conan Pasha. Her palace was near Eska Sarai, the old palace of the Sultan, where she adopted him as her son. When Prince Matthew of Wallachia died, the Hungarian King George Rakovich assisted in enthroning Constantine, the son of the former Prince Șerban, against the will of the Turkish Sultan. When Kioproulus ordered him to go to Constantinople to kiss the hand of the Sultan, that is, to receive confirmation and signs of power, and he did not want to do this, then Kioproulus decided to deprive him of power. Since there were often such disobedient ones, he no longer wanted to make any of the Wallachians ruler, and therefore, at the suggestion of some of his confidants, he made the aforementioned Mihnea ruler of Wallachia. Mihnea was raised poorly, not educated at all, and, moreover, was frivolous and proud by nature. He arrived in Wallachia and was immediately crowned there as Prince. At the instigation of his depraved confidants and himself not having the fear of God, he killed all the important nobles in one night in Tergovnet. When Kioproulus began to demand from him the lives of the nobles in a manner to accuse him of murder without the knowledge of the Sultan. Given the importance and great number of the nobles, Mihnea saw that his affairs would not go well and decided to rebel. Without delay, he put to death all the Turks who were in Wallachia and gathered Hungarian, Wallachian, and Bulgarian troops, thinking foolishly that he would defeat the Turks, destroy their Empire, and become Sultan himself. But, as soon as Kioproulus sent the Turks and Tatars to Wallachia, the cowardly Mihnea fled to Hungary and poisoned himself. The Tatars, having destroyed almost all of Wallachia, installed Ghica as its ruler. That was the end of Mihnea’s plans.

Section 19 - Because Paisius of Jerusalem previously succeeded in his mission to the Vizier concerning Saint James, he tried again and, having failed, fell ill. Then he sailed to Lesbos, Chios, Kos, and Rhodes. He fell asleep opposite Kastellium ​​in a deserted place, and about here, we have his last words.

Paisius, having arrived in Adrianople, presented himself to the Vizier in his house and, having given him a sable coat as a gift, tearfully asked him for the return of the monastery of Saint James. The Vizier went into the courtroom, and when Kazaskeris of Rumeli, that is, the highest judge of all judges in the affairs of the West, accidentally entered there, the Vizier called Reiz Effendi, that is, the great Chancellor of the Empire (whom his son later killed in the war with the Franks). I was an eyewitness to this meeting. On the falsely presented evidence of the latter, the Vizier rejected the request of the Patriarch. The Patriarch, having arrived in Constantinople in the year 1660, on the week of the Prodigal, had frequent communications with Eleazar, the Armenian Vartopedes, with whom he had, as is known to all, a great and long-term struggle. One day, the very same day when, as has been said, the Seven Churches of Contoscalia and Blanco burned down, when the Patriarch was reasoning with Eleazar about Blanco, he suddenly felt a special trembling in his heart. In the month of September, he traveled to Chios, Prusa, Michalitzi, Pergamum, and Gallipoli in the hope of collecting some alms. But seeing that he could not collect enough to pay the debt, he began to suffer severely from a flow of blood, and for three days, he did not speak at all. But having somewhat recovered, he went to Lesvos, and thence to Chios, and although he made use of a physician, he could not obtain any benefit because he could not bear two sorrows, the first, that the Armenians had taken possession of the monastery of Saint James, and the second, that he saw no way of paying the debt; and thus he drew near to the gates of death. When we asked him to make a will, he agreed but abandoned it. From Chios, the Patriarch went to Kos, and from there, he wanted to go to Rhodes; but since there was no favorable wind, he stopped opposite Kos at Butrum, where the ancient Halicarnassus was, and on arriving from there to Rhodes, he could no longer eat at all, and began to have fears when there was no need to fear anything. Lydda and Prochorus, who were with us (the latter of whom, by God’s permission, was afterwards Bishop of Nazareth, then Patriarch of Alexandria, and perished during an earthquake in Smyrna in the year 1689), hired a ship to go to Attalia and carried the Patriarch into it. But having passed Kastellium, we stopped aside from Anatolia, opposite and far from Kastellium, at a distance of exactly about ten miles. Here, Paisius, constantly speaking about the two things and in extreme sorrow, closed his eyes. He said, firstly: “To all Christians who have offended me, I leave full forgiveness; and whoever of the faithful has sinned, however, I pray God to grant them remission of sins; but whoever was treacherously guilty of the transfer of the monastery of Saint James to the Armenians, let him, as an accomplice of heretics, be condemned to eternal damnation.” He also repeated the words: “Nicholas! Nicholas!” - perhaps predicting the elevation of Nectarius to the Patriarchal Throne after him. He died in my arms, in the presence of Doxa of Sinope, a venerator of the shrines, in the year 1660, the 2nd of December, having been on the Patriarchal Throne for eleven years.

Section 20 - About the burial of Paisius of Jerusalem in the sea-side chapel, whom Lydda and Prochorus reviled, but the passengers mourned and sang praises to him with the modest women, who passed away without tears.

In the retinue of the blessed Paisius were, as has been said, Lydda and Prochorus. These evil-tongued and impudent people began to blaspheme the blessed ascetic to revile his life and death. I, and the worshipers of the Holy Sepulcher who were with us, proposed to transfer the remains of the blessed one to Myra in Lycia and bury him there out of respect for his death and for our own safety; because an insult could happen to us from one of the Turks who were not far from us, and in Myra there was no word of them. They, in their obstinacy, did not consent to this. They clothed his remains not in the ordinary clothes befitting a dead man, as the need, the place, and the circumstances required, but in the Epitrachelion and Omophorion (to which the Shepherds of the rational sheep, so much higher than us, as if on some mountain, look with the deepest attention). They dug a grave on the top of a mountain adjacent to the sea, where we stopped. They buried here the remains of this blessed man, who righteously and God-pleasingly served the blessed house of God, often despising even death itself. That the blessed one was reproached by his neighbors, I think God allowed this for two reasons. Either because, first, if any sin remained on him, then God allowed reproaches to fall on him for the cleansing of this sin, or, secondly, because the people mentioned were vessels prepared for destruction (as their life and death show), then God allowed them to blaspheme a righteous man for their greater condemnation on the day of the Lord. If the devil prepared Shimei to insult David, then God raised up an undoubtedly better benefactor, Vergilius, for the consolation of the righteous man. And if Satan devised through Ahithophel to destroy the King, then God saved his servant, having frustrated the enemy’s plan with the advice of Hushai. Likewise, at the blessed death of Paisius, if, by the action of Satan, his subordinates reviled him, then by the arrangement of God, the ever-memorable Doxa, venerator of the Holy Sepulchre from Sinope, Humnena from Mytilene, and some men from Snetus and Avidus with their God-beloved wives, who went to venerate the Holy Sepulchre — all with us, in accordance with Scripture, honored the memory of the deceased, composed, as they could, praises to the ever-glorious one and blessed his burial. The Lady Doxa of Sinope began this blessing, having uttered the following speech with tears over the sacred remains: “They heard in Sinope the venerable name of the rank of Patriarch, they wished to see and pay homage to it, as justice demands. For if the Hierarchy, in general, represents the whole Christ on earth, then the Patriarchal office represents the whole Christ and shares the gifts of Christ in the most excellent measure with the faithful, because the firstfruits of the Ghost, which, according to the words of the Divine Paul, the Apostles had, the Patriarchs have in everything almost equally with the Apostles. Therefore, the great Maximus, in his commentary on the great Dionysius, worthily calls them the successors of the Apostles; therefore, the Sinopeans desired to see the face of the Patriarch in Sinope in order to touch at least his vestments. In the last times and years, God, in whose sight a thousand years are as one day, has fulfilled our desire, having sent thee to us, thou gilded house of grace! We saw thee, as we heard, filled with grace and the Holy Ghost, and the fragrance of Christ, we saw thee appearing like the sun in thy chamber of troubles and misfortunes, which thou enduredest for Christ in the city where the abomination of desolation stood in the shrine! Not only we, but the whole Church saw thy labors, travels, zeal, virtues, and life, conformable to the life of Christ, saw and prepared both for thine end and for thy burial, so that as thou laboredest for the good of the Church, so the Church could give thee glory at thy death. For they say that the glory given at burial serves as the voice of the blessed inheritance in heaven. Behold, we see thee now dead in a deserted place, alone, with none of thy close ones to mourn thee. Not only this: thy close ones, whom thou didst raise and exalt with honor, revile and blaspheme both thy life and thy death only because you tried to tame their inclinations to evil. But is a glorious burial always required as a voice of eternal life? And if this was the case in ancient times with the Patriarchs, then the honor at burial in relation to them meant something mysterious. For what was the use of caring for a funeral and a glorious burial for those who were expecting the everlasting city and, therefore, lived in tents? And what need was there for the weeping of men for those who considered themselves strangers, aliens, and emigrants on earth? It is obvious that the special honor given to them at burial meant something mysterious. But when, through the solemnity of the burial of the dead, it was not intended to signify anything mysterious, then all solemnity was, for the most part, abolished. Therefore Moses died in obscurity (and his burial was planned by the destroyer of all things); and the Prophets died without honor, according to man’s understanding of honor; and the Apostles are crucified on the Cross, their heads are cut off, they are cast into the rapids, they are burned with fire. Thou, having becomest a participant in them, both in life and in teaching, almost accepted the death and burial of a martyr. As thou didst always reject every pleasure, so also at death, thou didst reject every human honor, so that, having endured all sufferings, thou wouldst accept all the wounds of Christ and enter gloriously into His glory. This seems to be the reason why the evil tongue of the aforementioned people reviled thee. But we, and these wandering brothers, who saw thy life, and were honored with thy benefits, rejoice that we have become participants in thy sufferings, we hope that we will also be glorified with thee, if not with equal glory, then with such as the will of God is pleased to glorify us. That we wept and weep for thee, it is because we find ourselves in circumstances similar to those of Martha and Mary. Moving from here, thou didst call upon a certain Nicholas; we understand by this that thou hast been granted the gift of prophecy, for Nicholas will certainly be thy successor. Finally, we pray to the Lord that by thy prayers, He may pacify the world and grant us His rich mercies.” Thus those who surrounded the Master honored his memory with tears.

Section 21 - About the works and buildings that Paisius of Jerusalem carried out in Jerusalem and elsewhere.

It is worth mentioning some more of the deeds of Patriarch Paisius.

1. First: Having learned that the worshippers who went by sea to Joppa, for want of shelter, stopped on the bare sands, suffered great inconvenience from the heat of the sun and the cold of the night, and having learned that the Arabs were stealing from them, he, with the consent of Hussein Pasha, the ruler of Gaza, built houses in Joppa, which still exist. For the same reason the Latins and Armenians built houses there.
2. Secondly: In Lydda, the Saracens took possession of half of the magnificent Church of the Great Martyr George (in which is the tomb of the saint and whose roof, although dilapidated, belonged entirely to the Orthodox) and made a mosque and a Metres, that is, a school, there; and the other half was taken over by the Turks later on. The Christians, not having the opportunity to build a new temple, suffered great crowding in the performance of divine services. The wise Patriarch, having used all the treasures and not sparing money, with the help of God, acquired half of the temple, starting from its middle to the front side, and as before, the temple began to belong to the Orthodox. And the back from the middle part, which the Turks had previously captured, remained in their hands, and they made a mosque out of it.
3. Thirdly: Between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, there is a magnificent temple with a beautiful fence and a monastery in the name of the Prophet Elijah. The fence here collapsed over time, and only the Church and the monastery remained. The Patriarch, having sacrificed very large expenses, built a new fence on the western side, which is still located at the temple of the Prophet. Cyoprullus, while he was governor of Damascus, was passing here to Hebron to honor Abraham’s hospitality, and seeing the new enclosure, he became very angry with the Patriarch, however, with God’s help, he managed to appease his anger with money, and no offense was done to the monastery.
4. Fourthly: When Saladin took Jerusalem from the Latins, then at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, having built narthexes, he made the Church look like a prison so that the priests performed the Divine Service in the darkness. During the time of Patriarch Paisius, his deputy Anthimus, with good arrangements, opened the entrances to the holy altar and many others, and this temple of God became bright. Likewise, the Divine Service began to be performed as we want, and not as before, without any certainty.

Chapter 3

Section 1 - Regarding the injuries we suffered at the hands of the Aga of Kastellium, who asked us for the wealth of Paisius, and regarding our return to Constantinople, while thoughts were being had about the Patriarch of Jerusalem, letters were sent by the Synod, electing Nectarius of Sinai to the throne of Jerusalem, and Gabriel of Philippopolis as the celebrant of his ordination.

After the burial of Paisius, they came from Kastellium and detained us, and from the bad management of the affairs of Lydda and Prochorus, we had to endure many troubles because the Aga of Kastellium began to demand from us the property of the deceased Patriarch. But by the grace of God, we were freed from their claims. We saved, I do not know how, whole and unharmed the Hatisherifs, or so-called sacred charters of the Sultans, which we had, and through Attalia, we passed to Constantinople. Here, when they were certain of the death of the famous elder, Governor Basil, who happened to be in Constantinople at that time (for his son Stephen was then the ruler of Wallachia) with Patriarch Parthenius and the Translator Panagiotacus, with the Synod, with the nobles and the elders of Constantinople, with the bishops who were then there, and with other respected fathers of the Holy Sepulcher, began to discuss the matter of choosing as Patriarch of Jerusalem a man zealous and experienced in civil affairs, because the Patriarchs of Jerusalem travel to many places, visit cities and peoples, kingdoms and regions, and many ask them about various subjects of faith, and therefore they must also be experienced in Scripture in order to give answers to those who ask, and also preachers of the Word of God. In addition to what is absolutely necessary, they must be from the region of Jerusalem since all canonical and ecclesiastical law is preserved there unbroken, and the ancient rites and customs of the Orthodox Church are maintained as a kind of unchangeable image. During these discussions, Gabriel of Philippopolis proposed that Nectarius the Sinaite was a wise man and a native of the region of Jerusalem (since Sinai is counted among the Bishoprics of Jerusalem). Hearing this proposal, everyone cried out: “Nectarius alone is worthy of this honor!” Then they wrote a definition and a conciliar letter to Nectarius, which they sent to Mount Sinai with some of the Jerusalem brothers. They also sent Gabriel of Philippopolis on their behalf so that he would finish the matter and so that no confusion or obstacle would arise with Nectarius.

Section 2 - About the ordination of Nectarius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, at the Holy Sepulchre, and the buildings he built, and the houses he bought in Jerusalem and elsewhere.

Gabriel of Philippopolis, having taken the council charter and the intelligent eulogy, the work of Nicholas Kerameus, and having hired a ship from the same, set out with me from Constantinople in the month of February. In Joppa, we learned that Nectarius was in Gaza because, after the death of Bishop Joasaph of Mount Sinai, he was going to Jerusalem for ordination since he had been elected bishop. The fathers carrying the charter from Constantinople met him on the way and came with him to Rempli, where they met with Gabriel of Philippopolis. Upon arrival in Jerusalem, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, on Palm Sunday, 1661, on the 9th of April, with the consent of all the fathers of the Holy Sepulchre who were in Jerusalem, Nectarius was ordained Patriarch of Jerusalem. He remained to live in Jerusalem, in order to survey his diocese and get to know the people, and then to proceed to external affairs. During his stay here, he covered several cells, which had already become dilapidated; bought houses near the Church of the Forerunner for 700,000 grosias; then went to Gaza with a request to Hussein Pasha (as we said above, the Government demanded him to come to Constantinople a little later after the death of the Patriarchal predecessor, Paisius, and in the same year, where his head was cut off due to the complaints of Paisius) and rebuilt monasteries and cells in Rempli. We lived sometimes in Jerusalem, sometimes here. In this year, there was a great famine from locusts throughout Palestine, and there was great poverty even at the Patriarchal house. However, from Greece, the blessed Hieromonk Macarius, a Cretan by birth, and many worshipers came with large amounts of alms. Through this, the need and arrangements for all other matters were alleviated.

Section 3 - About the emigration of Nectarius of Jerusalem to Constantinople and how he twice escaped the pirates.

About Easter of the next year, that is, in 1662, Patriarch Nectarius decided to go to Constantinople and make Metropolitan Neophyte of Bethlehem his viceroy, and he set out by ship through Joppa to Attalia. When we had passed Ptolemada, two brigantines or galleons and one frigate overtook us and shot two arrows at us; but they flew past over our heads without causing any harm to any of us. One galleon came within a cubit of us, but at that time, a northeast wind blew, and by the grace of God, we were saved from them, taking refuge in Tyre. When we were sailing from Tyre to Larnan in Cyprus, we fell into the hands of French pirates. But God covered the moon with a small cloud, so the pirates could not see us in the darkness, and we hid in Larnana. Here, however, we left the ship and went by land to Limassol and thence to Paphos. From Paphos a ship was leaving, and we went on it to Alogia, which Strabo calls Coracisium, and from Alogia to Attalia with Hotza Basil, and stayed here for some time. Since the Master became ill with a severe fever, we stayed until August and then went to Prusa and thence to Constantinople.

Section 4 - That Nectarius of Jerusalem was the founder of the Byzantine School, about his travels to many parts of Europe, how he was healed of his suffering by the Life-Giving Spring, and about the crystal cases he made for the holy relics in the Holy Sepulchre, the golden and silver Cross, and the Precious Wood, which he adorned with silver bands and precious stones, and about his many other renovations and buildings in Jerusalem and Rempli.

While Patriarch Nectarius was in Constantinople, a school was established there by his efforts and at the expense of the nobleman Manolache the Kastorian. In the year 1663, in the month of September, he was in Iași, and in the year 1664, in the month of April, in Wallachia, then in Rusicon, Rasgrata, Provence, Varna, and Tarnovo. Here, having become ill with colic, he went to Adrianople, where the Sultan was at that time, and from Adrianople to Constantinople. I, having gone on an errand to Iași and Wallachia, also arrived in Constantinople. Patriarch Nectarius, whose life had already begun to be despaired of, went here to the shrine of the Life-Giving Spring, and only after he had blessed the water and drunk of it did his colic leave him in an instant, and he was not ill with this disease until his death. From Constantinople, through Calliopolis, Smyrna, Lesvos, Chios, and Rhodes, in the year 1665, in the month of September, he returned to Jerusalem. As before, as soon as he became Patriarch, he noticed that the holy relics were neglected, and the holy throne was not well honored as a result, and also learned that the fathers were sending holy relics as gifts to the Sovereigns and other persons; then while he was in Iași, he sent to Poland with the order to make various reliquaries of crystal and simple glass, and to bring them with him to Jerusalem, putting into them all the known and canonized holy relics that were there. He covered these reliquaries with silver frames, and he attached a charter to each of them, showing which Saint’s relics were there. He also made two wooden reliquaries — Itolapi — which had compartments inside, judging by the size of the glass reliquaries, and put these reliquaries in them. In one reliquary, he made a place for the Cross and put there the man-sized Cross which he made in Iași, and of which one part was covered with gold plates and the other with silver. Also, a part of the Honorable Tree in Jerusalem was opened; many cut off from it and took it for themselves. Nectarius also overlaid this part, at its corners, with gold and precious stones, and covered its width with crystal, and in one place made an opening which was locked and unlocked for worshipers. These and other sacred things he finally placed inside the aforementioned large Cross. He established that during religious processions, the priests should carry the Holy Relics in their hands, and whoever carries that large Cross should walk in front of the procession. This decree is observed to this day. In the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, a small and broken marble stone served as the Throne, in other words, there was no throne. Nectarius made a magnificent throne, and on its upper part, having separated a place, he placed here the Holy Monasterium with the Lord’s Bread and hung seven lamps before it. In Rempli, he built cells that still exist today, namely, near the Church of Saint George on its western side. The construction of these cells was carried out under the supervision of the Elder Habbakuk, whom Nectarius appointed as a caretaker here, and the money for their construction was donated by the venerator of the Holy Sepulchre, Gregory from Prousa. Since the cells and walls in the Lavra of Saint Sabbas had become dilapidated, and there was not even an outer wall, as it should have been, Nectarius made an inventory of the monastery through the officials of the Kadius and Pasha, and when he was given permission to renew it, he rebuilt the outer wall starting from the tower to the lower gate, repaired the other walls, and built an even larger cell for foreigners. In the Monastery of the Archangels, he rebuilt and repaired many things, and in other places, he also brought many things, one after another, into a better form by the grace of Christ. The construction and repairs in the Lavra of Saint Sabbas were carried out in the year 1667 from the Nativity of Christ.

Section 5 - About my recent elevation to the throne of Caesarea in Palestine, the deceit of the Franks to take the lead in the Tabernacle of the Holy Sepulchre and the litanies, and the intrigues they committed against the Holy Stone and scandals in Jerusalem and Constantinople, and about the subsequent emigration of Nectarius to Constantinople.

In the year 1666, on the 23rd day of October, I was consecrated Metropolitan in Caesarea of ​​Palestine. In the year 1667, about Easter, the following events occurred: From the time of Patriarch Germanus, who renewed the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre, the Edicule was constantly, as before, under the complete control of the Patriarch. But after the death of Paisius, his commissioner in Jerusalem named Lawrence, a monk in form but frivolous in mind, was deceived by the Franks. Lawrence allowed them two things, and the first of these things thus exposes their deception: The roof over the Holy Stone had become old. The Franks began to tell Lawrence that it was necessary to change it out of reverence for the place; perhaps they even gave him money, and Lawrence allowed them to do this. They made the roof but were not satisfied with it, and having appropriated the Holy Stone for themselves, they finally began to place candlesticks with wax candles on it on feast days. Another deception: On the feast of Palm Sunday, the Orthodox celebrated Matins according to the ancient Church Regulations; but the infidels celebrated according to their own statutes in their own sections, and after the end of the Orthodox Matins in the Cathedral Church, the Franks began to serve first, then the Armenians, then the Copts, Syrians, and others in order. Meanwhile, the Franks began to feign complaints that it was offensive for them to serve together with the heretics and asked that they be allowed to celebrate their Matins early in the morning after the end of the Orthodox Matins. The faint-hearted Lawrence bowed to their words and allowed what they asked for. But they were not appeased by this, and having produced witnesses that their Matins were celebrated before the Matins of the Romans²⁷, they went secretly to the judge and obtained a Hotreshi or letter of approval. Then, the next year, they served their matins later, and the third year, they served it in the morning, but with some insult to the Romans, and the Romans told them that if the morning passed, they would not allow them to serve. After six or seven years, the Franks completely disregarded the agreements concluded with Lawrence and began their matins at sunrise. Moreover, having celebrated their matins with slowness and vanity, they immediately set up seats and began to serve the Liturgy before the gates of the Cubiculum. The Patriarch was then sick with gout, and the Metropolitan of Bethlehem serving inside the Church was a very ordinary man; therefore, he did not dare to speak out. I went in, saw, cried out, and finally, we went to Kadius, that is, to the local judge. The Franks also came there and were revealed to be deceivers. We received the Hotreshi, that is, a letter of confirmation that we have the primacy and that we are the main owners of the place. After Easter, they sent me with the Hotreshi to Adrianople, and on the way, I fell into the hands of sea robbers, but I bought myself off from them. When I arrived in Adrianople, I could do nothing because I had no money, and no one knew me; and the Franks, meanwhile, having given gifts to the Kadius in Jerusalem, received another Hotreshi, in which it was said that justice was on their side, and the Germanic ambassador, having presented this Hotreshi to the Porte, that is, to the supreme State court, received by virtue of it and the Royal firman. By the way, it is worth noting here about three circumstances. First, when the Franks performed the rite of the so-called holy gifts; then the Romans, out of respect for this rite, spread carpets around the entire Apocaphilosis, which were usually called pines. But when Patriarch Nectarius, on his return from Constantinople, entered the Holy Sepulchre to venerate it, and the Franks did not light their lamps for him, he also ordered the carpets around the Apocaphilosis, which the sacristan had then spread, to be taken down; and thus they were deprived of this honor. Secondly, while Nectarius was in Constantinople, the Franks entered the Edicule with axes and other implements and hewed the Holy Stone with the intention of sending it all, or as much as possible, to France. But the Greek fathers, having learned of their doings, brought them before the judge, and from that time on, they have had strict supervision over such things. Thirdly, when the great wall began to crumble, the Romans, Franks, and Armenians, at a common cost, built supports, which still exist, and sent to Adrianople the Hotreshi, or confirmation letter of the Kadius. By the power of this Hotreshi, the German ambassador drew up a firman, in which meanwhile they put first the name of the Franks and then the Romans. These circumstances and other similar ones finally produced hostility between the Romans and the Franks, and the Patriarch, unable to bear such unpleasantness, went to Constantinople when Methodius was Patriarch there, namely in the year 1668.

Section 6 - About Nectarius’ decision to abdicate the throne due to suffering from various illnesses, which he revealed to us, and about our advice to him with reasons that were both sound and God-pleasing.

Nectarius, feeling himself weak, and, so to speak, each of his joints being afflicted with a special illness, and at the same time remembering the struggle of the monks, who were dissatisfied with the state of things and full of self-love, decided to ask for dismissal from the management of the flock. At first he revealed this to me as a secret, consulting on what to do. I gave him the following advice: “Your Beatitude knows, firstly, that many enemies always arrange such varied and diverse wiles against this blessed house, as varied as malice itself is. Secondly, you know that this house is burdened with heavy debts, and these debts are constantly increasing, but we still do not find the means to pay them off. Thirdly, since this holy house is constantly subject to attacks, oppression, and insults and therefore the Patriarchs must be absent most of the time, and the Monks living at the Patriarchal house, being uneducated and proud, cause this holy house many losses and damages by their bad management and disorder. Now, even the Iberian Monasteries are in danger of being taken over by the heretics for their debts, and the Church of Bethlehem is threatened with complete destruction; thus, these circumstances also require that the future Patriarch of Jerusalem be chosen in a proper manner. Moreover, since we are under the yoke of a tyrant, and it is no longer possible to have complete well-being, then we must at least wish for this, and as soon as it is possible, to choose the lesser evil, if (as the civil laws say) it is impossible to do without evil. If, then, the state of affairs is such, since the Patriarch of Jerusalem is a Jerusalemite, or one of the Fathers of the Holy Sepulchre (His Beatitude, although he is from Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai is also counted among the Bishoprics of Jerusalem), then where and how and in such a short time, do you think, can such a man be found who, moreover, being a foreigner, could properly manage and manage such affairs? Good was once rare, and now it is very rare. What Diogenes wanted to express by his action, seeking a man with a lit candle while the sun is out, is already coming true. If the Patriarch of Jerusalem is a foreigner from another country, who, not having the ability to govern the brethren, wants only to show his power over them, then instead of benefit, he will do more harm to them and to the throne. Especially, one must fear that some of these have the custom of ordaining for money, taking florins from priests, forcibly demanding money from Christians, and transgressing Church laws (which has never happened before on the Jerusalem throne, by the grace of Christ) and thus Justice cannot be done for many reasons. Let us add that if you abdicate from the throne here, then the Patriarch of Constantinople will certainly demand money from the one who is about to ascend the throne of Jerusalem. If he gives it, then an evil custom will be introduced, and if he does not give it, then the same temptation will occur as under Paisius and the Goliath (Parthenius). What is most important and worst of all, however, is if you alone have decided to do such an important matter, then this act may seem unpleasant and offensive to the fathers of Jerusalem, and one may fear that some temptation will arise from disagreement, and all the affairs of the Holy Sepulcher will be upset at once. From all that I have said, I deduce one truth — to write to the elders and abbots of the deserts and monasteries so that they gather in Jerusalem. Your Beatitude will also go there, and there before the Holy Gospel, propose the matter, and take an oath from everyone to be guided not by passions but by justice alone. Whoever is chosen, let him be Patriarch. To do so is both safe and praiseworthy, and it seems in accordance with God’s intention. God will also protect the chosen one.” These are my words.

Chapter 4

Section 1 - About our Patriarchate, where we were ordained, how much debt we owe to the Holy Sepulchre, and to which land we first emigrated on a pilgrimage to Wallachia.

My words had no effect. On the advice of some elders and abbots, Patriarch Nectarius sent me to Larissa, where the Sultan and the Vizier’s Viceroy were, because the Vizier himself was then waging war with Crete, he sent me to ask for a firman to appoint in Constantinople the Patriarch of Jerusalem whomever Nectarius himself desired. It happened that the Ruler of Moldavia was then Duca, who was the custodian of the treasures under the Ruler Basil. He took it upon himself to intercede with the Sultan and gave a firman affirmative of our request, namely, to elect as Patriarch of Jerusalem whomever Nectarius himself desired. Immediately after the firman was given, the Sultan’s Viceroy wrote to Methodius, the Patriarch of Constantinople: “The Patriarch of Jerusalem, due to his advanced years, wishes to renounce the throne, giving it to someone around him. Since his bishops are not with him, and it is necessary to demand bishops from you so that the custom according to the order of your faith may be observed, and the elected Patriarch may receive confirmation, then beware, beware of taking anything from him; otherwise you will act against the will of the Sultan, and as soon as he hears of this — death!” So the Patriarchs, Metropolitans, Clergy, nobles, ambassadors, and the brethren of the Holy Sepulchre who happened to be there at that time, gathered at the metochion: and the lot fell on me, and in the year 1669, on the 23rd day of January, on a Saturday, I was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem. The amount required to be paid on account of the issuance of the Sultan’s firmans was covered by the aforementioned Ruler of Moldavia, Duca, who was my sincere friend. The debt on the Holy Sepulchre was then, in Constantinople, 6,000 grosias; and to Vartopedes of Armenia alone, 10,000 grosias; and to Jerusalem, 65,000 grosias of capital debt, and the interest had not been paid for nearly three terms. This debt was from the time of Paisius and arose first from the intrigues of the Armenians, secondly from the rebellion of the Governor of Damascus against the Sultan, and thirdly from those who were in charge in Jerusalem at the time of the rebellion. Nectarius, because of his old age and infirmity, could do nothing to relieve the debt. In the month of June, as governor, he set out for Jerusalem, and we sent a certain Gerasimus by land with 10,000 grosias. Then Dionysius, formerly Patriarch of Constantinople, a native of Andria, having come to Constantinople from Thessaloniki, stayed at the metochion and then went by way of Attalia to Jerusalem. In the month of July, we also set out for Adrianople, and from there in August to Philippopolis, where the citizens of Philippopolis received us with love; we stayed with them until the last days of October and were given a large gift by them. Gabriel of Philippopolis was there then, and he contributed much to the fact that they showed us alms. When, during our stay with Chancellor Athanasius, in whose hospitality found both Theophanes and Paisius, news arrived of the capture of Handak by the Turks, we went to Stenimakh and Pazarchika. In the month of November, we went to Eski-Saray, and from there to Iampol; From Iampol, Father Callinicus and the monk Parthenius were sent to Jerusalem with 20,000 grosias, and we ourselves went to Selimnus, from there to Albania, to Tarnovo, and on the feast of the Epiphany of the year 1670, we were in Chervenvoda, from there to Dristra, and then, after many dangers from the storm, on the 5th of February, we arrived in Flora, and from Flora to Bucharest of Wallachia during the Great Forty Days of the year 1670.

Section 2 - On the brewing of Holy Myrrh in Jerusalem by the former Jerusalemite Nectarius and in Wallachia by us.

When, during the first Patriarchate of Parthenius IV, at the expense and diligence of the Translator Panagiotacus, they began to brew Holy Chrism in Constantinople, and other Patriarchs from that time ceased to brew it, and because of this, there was a shortage of Holy Chrism: then Nectarius together with Dionysius, formerly Patriarch of Constantinople, who was then in Jerusalem, brewed a large quantity of Holy Chrism of amazing quality. By Divine inspiration, we were moved to prepare Divine Chrism in Hungary and Wallachia, and at public expense, we brewed it weighing almost 210 liters, of amazing quality. The ruler himself, the bishops, nobles, and many priests served in the brewing. This Holy Chrism was sent to the Christians living in Hungary and Moldavia and around the Danube River.

Section 3 - About our passage from Wallachia to Moldavia, the monasteries we received there, our return to Constantinople and Adrianople after the greatest danger on the way, and then on our way to Jerusalem we risked the sea, having also valuable offerings, which Attalus Basil gave us, about our works in Jerusalem, and the building of Holy Bethlehem.

From Wallachia, in the month of May, we moved to Iași, which is in Moldavia. Here, we received into our possession the monastery of Cetățuia, which was built by the commander Duca on a mountain and which forms a small fortress. On the day of the Dormition of the Mother of God, we consecrated it with due solemnity. The inhabitants of Epirus donated to us the monastery of Khlinci. In the last days of August, through Galatia, we went to Adrianople and, from there, after a short time, to Constantinople. Here, too, having stayed for a very short time, we were forced, with great need, in the winter time, to go again to Adrianople, and during this journey, we were twice in danger of losing our lives. The reason for our return journey to Adrianople was the French ambassador, as we will say later in another place. From Adrianople through Attalia, we went to Jerusalem, and at sea, we were twice exposed to extreme danger. Meanwhile, we had with us 40 silver lamps and one gold one, and also a gold censer, which things Basil, a native of Attalia, entrusted to us to take to Jerusalem, where we arrived in the month of March. Here, after Easter, by the grace of God, we paid off the debt in full and returned from the hands of the creditors the Church utensils of the Holy Sepulchre, which had been given to them as collateral for the debt. Moreover, we destroyed, although not without danger to ourselves, some of the additions of the infidels in the old Church along the Western side of the Holy Edicule, where other noteworthy objects were also located. Meanwhile, Philotheus from Adrianople arrived with a firman and with artists, and the buildings of Holy Bethlehem were completely finished from the month of September to July. The temple was built by artists sent by the nobles of Chios, and the island of Chios gave them payment for their work. The wood for the construction of the temple and the gold were acquired from alms and the donations of poor people. However, if it is reasonable, it is possible to tell in detail about this building.

Chapter 5

Section 1 - About the construction of the great Temple near Bethlehem on the Holy Cave, who first built it, and who later renovated it, up to the renovation we have, for which Archon Manolache of Kastoria sent the material.

At first, Constantine the Great built a small Church of the Holy Bethlehem; then, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Elijah, began to build a Church of greater size. Since he could not finish it, the great Justinian finished it. When this temple fell into extreme disrepair, we renewed it in the form in which it now stands. It must be noted here that the real marble stones laid in the walls were taken out by Sultan Suleiman at the time when he was building the mosque, but the same kind of stones that were inside and above the Holy Cave remained; because a fire appeared and began to burn the workers who wanted to take them, and so they left them. When this temple of the Holy Cave fell into disrepair from the time of Justinian until our time and when it was renewed, I cannot say. However, that during the reign of Manuel Comnenus, it was dilapidated and was restored and adorned with paintings by this Emperor, has been said above, in Book 8, Chapter 10, Section 5, and even now in this temple of holy Bethlehem, the following inscription is found: The present work was completed by the hand of the monk Ephraim, a man skilled in painting and painting, in the reign of the Purple-Born, Manuel Comnenus, under the most holy Bishop Raguel of Holy Bethlehem in the days of Amir, King of Jerusalem, in the year 6677 [1169]. As I said, the temple was dilapidated. It is necessary to understand its roof because the walls were built in the strongest manner, and therefore, it is impossible for them to quickly become dilapidated. But the roof was wooden because, with such vastness and thinness of the walls, it was impossible to make vaults. Since the lead was not repaired in time due to neglect, the roof became wet and rotted, and little by little, the beams also rotted, and finally, a large part of the lead and beams fell. Paisius wanted to rebuild this roof. Matthew Basarab, the Ruler of Hungary and Wallachia, gave him 7,000 grosias for this need, but he did not manage to do anything. Nectarius, on his return from Dacia and Mysia to Constantinople, having found favor in this matter in a certain nobleman named Manolache the Castorian (who had done much good for the Church of Christ, and had built, as we have already said, schools in Byzantium, Chios, and Arta), urged him to renew the roof of this holy Temple of Holy Bethlehem. When Manolache promised to do this work, Nectarius himself told him that this construction could be completed without great expense. The nobleman, in accordance with his promise, immediately prepared the material for the building, namely, 40 trees, 15 cubits, and other necessary things, such as boards, iron, and nails. All these materials were brought to Joppa by the efforts of the monk Philotheus from the island of Kos, who we are well acquainted with.

Section 2 - On the manner and means by which and through which the Vizier gave a decree of the renovation of the Temple in Bethlehem.

Without delay, Nectarius went to Constantinople a second time and brought back a report on the dilapidated roof from the Jerusalem judge. This report, however, later became the cause of much trouble because the judge in it spoke not of the roof of the Church but of the roof of the Nativity of Christ as if he wanted to hint to the Government and give his consent to the restoration; however, Nectarius submitted it. But no matter how much he asked for the restoration, the son of Kioproulus, who was then the Vizier, would not hear of it. When he set out for Crete (he took Haidan with him on this expedition), his viceroy was of the same mind as he. However, the Vizier had a close friend, an elderly Turk named Suleiman Efendi, and close to him was a certain George, a Peloponnesian by birth, nicknamed Hapsa. And so, when the Vizier returned from Crete to Adrianople, then Suleiman Efendi, at the request of Hapsa, and the aforementioned Philotheus, who, although he was called to Adrianople on other matters, was instructed to observe a convenient opportunity, and for this matter persuaded the Vizier to issue a decree. Having received this decree at an expense of 7,000 grosias, Philotheus returned to Joppa in the month of July and brought with him ten workmen, natives of Mytilene, experienced in the matter of construction. Fortunately, the Kadius, that is, the judge of Jerusalem, was then a man of very good integrity, and the Pasha, that is, the chief governor of the region, was in Mecca, and Palestine, by the grace of God, enjoyed peace.

Section 3 - About the manner and much pain and labor by which the material for the construction of the holy Bethlehem Temple was brought from Joppa to Bethlehem, and its perfect construction.

We carried the light materials for the building from Joppa to Jerusalem on camels, but we did not know what to do with the large trees. But a poor old man, a native of Cappadocia, named Nicholas, made two-horse carts; we bought forty oxen, and we harnessed them to the carts to transport the trees to Rempli. I, for many reasons, was always in the lead in this transport. We chose the road from Rempli to Jerusalem for the passage of carts because it is better than others, that which goes from Vantisalaam, or Himarra Salamski, so that Emmaus remains then to the north; but on account of the impassability of this place, it was impossible for carts to pass there. Therefore, being unable to repair the road, we asked poor people to repair it, and the poor, out of love of piety, came from Rempli, Lydda, Ramala, and most of them from Jerusalem. They came with their tools and labored for us for several days without pay and at their own expense. They razed the hills, filled up the ditches, and made the road level. We, beginning in August, transported the trees to Jerusalem in December and, from there, having repaired the road, transported them to Bethlehem, which was built as it is now. Not only did we restore the roof, but also the walls. We opened the windows, which had been filled up with pale-colored stones, and made them of iron and glass. Moreover, on either side of the Holy Cave, we made two elevated places of the local marble and covered the walls with a fireproof substance and transparent stones ground into powder. We broke down the walls that separated the Holy Cave into two semicircles, and in the two sections that were on the western side of the semicircles, we made three doors, which are locked for the protection of the Holy Cave and the Holy Altar. Since the lead was melted down when the roof was renewed, and a lot of it was lost because of this, we bought a lot to make up for this shortage.

Section 4 - How we threw out the dirt from the courtyard of Holy Bethlehem that the Franks brought from foreign lands to bury their dead in, about how we constructed the Temple, and other valuable vessels in the Temple.

The Franks, having first taken possession of the Holy Cave, also took possession of the vestibule which is on the southern side, and began to bury the dead there, and had already erected seven rows of monuments, one next to the other. They brought earth from other places, for the place was entirely rocky. Theophanes recovered this vestibule from the Franks in the 1047th year of the Mohammedan era [1636], and we opened the door in the baptistery, which led from the great Church into the vestibule (and formerly the fathers entered the Church through the altar and left it for the monastery). We also opened another door in the outer wall towards the field, and the earth, as well as the corpses that the Franks had buried there fifteen years ago, were carried out of the vestibule and carried a long distance. It was a cause of great trouble for us since the Franks stirred up the inhabitants of Bethlehem and they rose up against us so that we were twice in danger of being killed by them. Then, we called skilled workers from the island of Chios, and they built, as has already been said a temple. At the same time, we managed to acquire the best Church utensils and other necessary things.

Section 5 - Regarding a general definition of the building of Bethlehem and the expenses therein, since the decree concerning Nectarius was specific.

Since the Vizier’s decree spoke of restoring the roof of the Nativity of Christ, when this decree arrived, the Mufti of Jerusalem, that is, the guardian of the law, objected that the place of the Nativity of Christ is a cave, and therefore only the roof of the cave should be restored, and not the entire Church. We managed to sway the Mufti with a large sum of money, however, so that we could open the blocked windows, paint the wall. and lay the floor in the Church. We sent a special ambassador to Adrianople, and we were given another decree from the Government, which cost 800 florins. The Pasha of Damascus sent an official with 280 men to inquire in detail regarding the construction. He, too, was satisfied.

Section 6 - Regarding our return from Jerusalem to Constantinople, the fact that the Mutebel of the Gate of the Holy Sepulchre and the authorities sent reports to the Sultanate regarding the renovated Church of the Holy Cave in Bethlehem at the suggestion of the Franks, the repairs we made at great expense, the places we visited, the monasteries we received in Moldavia, Hungary, and Kaluga, where we found a part of the venerable head of the Forerunner, and sent it to the Holy Sepulchre.

After we finished the building of the Church in Bethlehem in the month of July, 1672, we set out through Syria, Cilicia, Lycaonia, and Bithynia to Constantinople. The aforementioned Church had previously served as a common inn for those passing through from Syria and was in extreme neglect because neither the upper floor of the Holy Cave nor the holy altar itself was enclosed by a fence. As a result, the infidels would go there for lodging and would stay not only in the Church but also in the holy altar itself. When this Church had been restored and enclosed, Mutebel (the chief) of the gates of the Holy Sepulchre, in whose jurisdiction the village of Bethlehem also lay, having arrived here, stopped in the Church near the iconostasis itself, next to the altar. When, despite all the requests of the fathers, he refused to leave there, they brought a complaint against him to the judge. He was summoned for questioning and received a reprimand. Meanwhile, the Franks taught him how to take revenge for this, and he wrote a report to the Turkish Government, in which he presented that the tombs of the Muslims were crowded in the rebuilt Church. When this report arrived in Kamenets because the Government was there at that time, the Vizier sent one of the Royal Kapuchtipas, that is, the great gatekeeper Capuchimpas, to Jerusalem for investigation. The judge, the Pasha, and other rulers of the city visited Bethlehem and wrote a report to the Vizier filled with many lies. They extorted the fathers out of 60 portions of silver with threats to destroy the Church itself. The entire amount of the cost to the fathers was borrowed with interest. Moreover, Capuchimpas came to Constantinople in the hope of taking a bribe from us and told us everything. Since we knew nothing before, we were frightened by his story. We persuaded him and came to Adrianople before him in the month of November. Through the great interpreter, the blessed Panagiotacus, we set matters straight. Therefore, the report against us from the Jerusalemites, sent with Capuchimpas, had no force. On the contrary, the Vizier learned that the report of Mutebel was false, immediately replaced him, put another in his place, and gave us a charter that no one should disturb the Church of Bethlehem in the future. This charter cost eight portions of silver, which sum the Castorians and the Peloponnese fur-traders contributed to us for this. Thus, with God’s help, having overcome our enemies, we set out from Constantinople to Wallachia. On this journey, we received into our charge the Monasteries of Caluia and Ungreia. In the Monastery of Caluia was a part of the Honorable Head of the Forerunner, which, considering this place unsafe, we transferred to Jerusalem. From Wallachia, we again arrived in Constantinople, and from there, in December of the year 1673, we set out for Sofia and Belgrade. But let us turn to the beginning of the hostility between us and the Westerners.

Chapter 6

Section 1 - Regarding the scandals that arose between Romans and Franks in Jerusalem due to the pilgrimages, and especially the Holy Edicule.

Concerning the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre, it should be noted that in the inner cave, which is the Holy Sepulchre itself, the Liturgy was not served in ancient times; but in the outer (it was said in Book 2, Chapter 1 that the cave of the Holy Sepulchre consists of two parts), where the stone that was at the door of the sepulchre is located, the Liturgy was celebrated. This is shown by the marble stone lying behind the doors and facing the East, which serves as the holy table on which the Liturgy was celebrated. From what time the Romans [Greeks] ceased to celebrate the Liturgy here, this is unknown. Sometimes the Armenians, Franks, and Ethiopians served before the Holy Sepulchre, and the Romans served every Saturday opposite the Edicule on the throne in the larger section. But here, too, for a long time, they ceased to serve. At last Nectarius, who strove with all his heart to defend his privileges against the Franks, and although he could not do what he wished, nevertheless introduced again the service of the Liturgy every Saturday in the aforementioned section. It is surprising, then, that the Romans abandoned the service of the Liturgy in the Holy Sepulchre, especially when, after Theophanes, disputing with the Armenians about the primacy at the Holy Sepulchre, overcame them, they had great glory. The Golden Bull, which Theophanes corrected against the Franks in the 1047th year of the Mohammedan era [1636], made him the complete master at the Holy Sepulchre, and the Romans, meanwhile, did not serve the Liturgy here. So, after the death of Paisius, the Franks, because they had covered the side-chapel of the Holy Stone and celebrated their matins early, decided to appropriate the Holy Edicule as well. After they had gained the upper hand over Nectarius as well and began to serve the Liturgy on Palm Sunday before the Holy Edicule and to sing matins before the Romans, they considered themselves to be the full owners of the Edicule. They immediately brought in precious gold fabrics and covered the entire floor before the Holy Edicule with them, hung lamps around the Edicule, exactly like the former ones, and placed silver candlesticks with wax candles over the Holy Sepulchre, which are usually called candelabra. They began to do impudent things often, as will be said later. Thus, for example, the first time we came to Jerusalem in the month of March, Easter was in April, and the Franks, because there was much debt at the Holy Sepulchre and the Patriarch was a new man, imagined that this was finally the most favorable time to completely remove the Romans from the Holy Sepulchre. So, when the Orthodox celebrated the Liturgy on Saturdays in the greater section, as has been said, which is also called the Ascension (because the Ascension is depicted at the very height of its vault), the Deacon placed the analogion [lectern] between the Cubiculum and the holy table, on which he read the Gospel. The Franks at the time we are describing, having completely lost their minds, forcibly pulled the analogion from its place just as the Deacon was reading the Gospel on it. From this there arose confusion and noise between the fathers and the Franks, so that it came to blows. Twenty-five Franks came out to fight, and there were only five fathers. So we were forced to go to the judge, brought the Franks there, proved their offense, and the Holy Sepulchre was confirmed for the Romans. The Franks, on their part, demanded that the Romans not serve the Liturgy inside the Holy Sepulchre. We, because Holy Bethlehem was then being built, agreed. However, three privileges remained for us: First, our fathers always, during the service, placed the analogion there. Second, they place two lamps on both sides of the gates of the Holy Cubiculum. Third, that the Franks have no part in the chapel of the Holy Stone.

Section 2 - Concerning many discussions about who is to be preferred, the Watchman of the Franks or the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and where Peter the Spaniard wrote a speech to Nectarius of Jerusalem about the Pope, in which the constitution of Nectarius against the authority of the Pope.

The Franks also demanded that the Patriarch first visit their Watchman, and afterward, the Watchman would visit the Patriarch, and there were many disputes about this. One Spaniard named Peter even wrote to Nectarius about the power of the Pope. When Hilarion Tsigala, a Cypriot by birth, who knew both Latin and Italian well, translated the work of the Spaniard into Greek, then Nectarius also answered this work, and Tsigala himself greatly assisted him in challenging the power of the Pope. The work of Nectarius is known under the title: Syntagma [Συνταγμα] Against the Power of the Pope. This was in the year 1671.

Section 3 - About the battle of the Franks with the Fathers over the Cubiculum, and the incident of murder on the part of the Franks, and the disorder and lawlessness that the French ambassador committed along the way and in Jerusalem.

The Franks, although they always did evil to the Romans, have never suffered any injury from the Romans, but under the present rulers, there have appeared among them leaders causing all kinds of evil to the Holy Church of Jerusalem, as has been shown in the history of the Patriarchate of Sophronius and Theophanes, and as will be said about this later. Just about the present time, that is, in the year 1673, an ambassador came from the Franks to the Turkish Government, which was then in Adrianople, named Denoadelus, demanding the shrines, and he presented many reasons for this, and among other things, that he supposedly had papers proving that the shrines belonged to the Franks, as their property. But the Turks, in the treaty with the French, decreed the following: that the Franks should possess what they formerly possessed in Jerusalem and demand nothing more from them, and that they should only go to worship in the shrines and do nothing else here. In the year 1674, the aforementioned ambassador cunningly asked the Proconsul of Constantinople for permission to travel to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage, and the outrages he committed on the way would seem incredible if they were told. When he arrived in Joppa during Cheesefare Week, the Franks who were in Jerusalem went berserk. In order to prepare the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre for the reception of the ambassador, they wiped away the dust inside the Edicule and decided to clean out with cords the holes through which the smoke from the lamps passes. So one of the Franks remained inside the Edicule, and the others went up to the roof. In order to pull the cord from one end and the other, and thus clean out the holes. When the Roman fathers began to say to them: “We will pull from the roof by the upper part of the cord because if you go up to the roof, you will take the Edicule for yourself too,” they hindered them from going up. Then the Franks, making their way to the roof with blows, beat two fathers, namely the elder Macarius, who was a pious man, a native of Macedonia, and the sacristan Zacchaeus, and left them half dead. One papist, who was called a priest, a native of Spain, having struck the monk Clement, who had come from Rusicon Milius, killed him to death with a strong stone. This was on the third of March, 1674. When there was confusion on this occasion, then the Kadius sent officials to inquire into what had happened. The Franks gave the Kadius presents, and he wrote in his report that the murder took place in a fight between the Romans and the Franks, and from which side the fight began is unknown. Meanwhile, the Gallic one³⁸, having learned in Rempli of these events, did not say a word and, in a rage, like the ancient Herod, rode to Jerusalem. When the fathers did not come out to meet him, he became even more furious, and being already in Jerusalem, passing through the gates of the Patriarch’s house to bow to the holy gates, he ordered his confidants to tear off the kamilavkas of the fathers who were there and did other cruel and unlawful deeds. Then he sent a letter to Nectarius, who was then in Jerusalem, written with shamelessness and threats because he did not honor such a famous ambassador of the Sultan with a meeting. Nectarius, fearing that the Gallic one, who was going back to Constantinople, would not put his threats into action, withdrew to Egypt and from there to Sinai. Here, troubled by ghosts and twice having been insane (the ghosts were known only to him, perhaps because he left Zion and withdrew here), he returned to Jerusalem and, with his own eyes, saw the expulsion of the Franks from the Holy Cubiculum.

Section 4 - About the cunning of the French ambassador in Bethlehem, the robbery attempt at the Holy Sepulchre, his failure in both, and his shameful return to Constantinople.

The Gallic one went on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, but with the cunning of finding an opportunity to enter the Holy Cave at night and then immediately compel one of the papists to serve the Liturgy in the Holy Cave. Having thought over his plan, he began to ask the abbot, Father Cyril, who was a respectable man, a native of Cyprus, to let him into the Holy Cave around midnight. Meanwhile, the Greek youth, who was the ambassador’s servant, had already informed the abbot of his plans. The abbot showed that he was quite ready for this service and informed the Christians living in Bethlehem about this, and they flocked together as if to see the ambassador. When the Holy Cave was opened, the Christians entered it first, and then the Gallic one, who, having been warned by caution, could not carry out his plan. During Holy Week, he sought an opportunity to enter the Great Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and on Great Tuesday, when the pilgrims were at the Jordan, he entered it with several axes into the section behind the holy altar near Golgotha, where a part of the stone to which the Lord was tied and beaten with whips is kept under the holy table. He made an opening at night in order to steal that stone. The fathers, having learned of this, announced to the Viceroy: “he runs to the judge, stirs up the city, the officials of the rulers of the city come, and immediately open the holy gates.” The Gallic one, throwing down his axes, fled. The Viceroy uttered a thousand reproaches to the ambassador and immediately cast him out of the Great Church. This was on the 15th of April, 1674. Although the ever-vigilant judgment of God is slow in dealing with those who rise up against the Church of Christ, it yet does its work when necessary. The Gallic one gave in, and although he had written many evil things against the fathers to the Sultan’s Viceroy (who was then waging war with the Apollonians and was in a certain place in lower Mysia, which is called Baban, and near Tom), but the Vizier had already learned of what had happened by other means besides the letter to him from the Gallic one. Although he wrote to the latter on the contrary, he wrote with the understanding that he should certainly go to Constantinople. The Gallic one wanted to go to Egypt, but in Gaza, they overtook him with the letter from the Vizier, and he returned to Constantinople in shame.

Chapter 7

Section 1 - When did the Armenians become Christian, about the Arsacids who overthrew the Persians, about their descendants, about the acceptance of Christianity by King Teridatus and the Armenians due to Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia, about the false history recounted by the Armenian historian Moses and the papists, about the number of peoples baptized in Armenia, their bishops, to which bishop they were subject, and at how many Councils were the Armenians united with the Orthodox Catholic Church.

How and when the Armenians accepted Christianity, the Church historians tell about it. In the life of Saint Gregory, the following is written: “There were four brothers of the Arsacids, who once destroyed the Persian Monarchy, and having subjected the Persians to their power, divided Armenia, India, and the land of the Massagetae among themselves. Of their descendants, three brothers are known: Artabanus, Kusar, and Anak. Anak had a son named Gregory. Kusar reigned over the Armenians after Artabanus. Teridatus, the son of Kusar, accepted Christianity from Gregory and afterward sent Gregory himself with a letter to the then Metropolitan of Great Caesarea, Leontius. Leontius ordained Gregory as Bishop of Great Armenia. When Gregory returned after the ordination, Teridatus received him with honor. At that time, Gregory baptized Teridatus himself in the river Euphrates along with a large number of Armenians, Assyrians, Medes, and Persians; more than 400,000. Then he withdrew into the desert out of love for solitude. In his place, he ordained Alvian as Bishop of Euphalius, Bassan, and ten other chosen men. He appointed 400 bishops to other cities and peoples. Gregory had two sons according to the flesh: Orphanes and Aristanes [Aristaces]. Teridatus, grieving over the departure of Gregory, called him from the desert, but since Gregory did not want to be on the episcopal throne, he elevated his son Aristanes in his place. But even before his departure into the desert, Gregory, and with him Teridatus, went to Constantinople to the great Constantine and was received by him with high honor. During the first Council, Aristanes was sent to it by Teridatus. Here, with all the Fathers of the Council, Aristanes stood against Arius and returned to Armenia after the Council had already ended. Armenia received ordination from the Bishop of Caesarea in subsequent times. That is why Leontius of Caesarea signed thus at the first Council: “Leontius, Bishop of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia, Galatia, and Lesser and Greater Armenia, signed.” However, the Armenian bishops received ordination from the Bishop of Caesarea only up to a certain time; after that, they began to be ordained by their own synod, and received the name of Catholicos, meaning that they were not subject to the Patriarchal throne. But from the time that the Armenians separated from the Orthodox Church, nothing reliable can be said about them because the Armenian Historian Moses (who lived 500 years after Christ and wrote the History of the Armenians) tells many lies. The Latins, who translated this History from Armenian into their own language and printed it, mixed so many lies here that the Armenians themselves, marveling at their inventions, say that they do not know at all what the Latins write about them. However, George of Cyprus, a native of Lapat, says the following in a work on the bishops of the Five Patriarchal Sees, which he wrote during the Patriarchate of Photius and the reign of Leo the Wise, in the year 6392 [884]: “The Armenian Archdiocese is independent, not subject to the Patriarchal See, and has 200 villages and cities under its jurisdiction. The record of an unknown writer says that the First Council in Nicaea was in the 34th year of the reign of Teridatus and in the 20th year after the arrival of Gregory from Lakku.

1. And so, the first Armenian Archbishop was Saint Gregory, who ruled for 30 years,
2. Then his son Rostan, or Aristanes, for two years.
3. After him, Vertan [Vrtanes] for three years,
4. Gregory [Grigoris] for eleven years,
5. Hesychius [Husik or Yusik] for six years,
6. Farnezek [Pharen] from the village of Asprakov for four years,
7. Then Saint Nerses for 34 years. By the treachery of Formis, he was killed.
   
   Then three Catholicoses ruled:
8. Hesychius [Sahak] for three years,
9. Zagen [Zaven] for four,
10. And Enurakes [Aspuraces] for seven years. However, the Metropolitan of Caesarea, on the occasion of the violent death of Saint Nerses, forbade them to ordain bishops in Armenia.
11. Then Saint Isaac was ordained Catholicos, and the Metropolitan of Caesarea again gave him the right to ordain bishops. Isaac was bishop for 40 years. But after a few years from his ordination, they slandered him and the Armenian King, Artasir [Artaxias], before the Persian Shah Vramsap [Vramshapuh], and he deposed the saint from the throne.
12. In Isaac’s place, Surmak was elevated, who himself was an Artsacid. Sorman was deposed from the throne as a consequence of the petition of the Armenians to the Persian Shah.
13. In his place, the Persian Syrian [Brkisho] was raised.
14. After three years, the Armenians hated the Syrian, and Musulius was given to them; however, the Syrian also ruled and died two years later.
15. Meanwhile, the Armenians began to ask Isaac to forget the evil they had done him and to return to the throne. Isaac, in response, told them of a vision which he had seen, and which indicated the coming apostasy of the Armenians to heresy. However, he appointed Macarius Mastinza as bishop in their place.
16. When Isaac and Mastinza died, Chitus [Gyut], from the village of Atmiza, became Catholicos and ruled for 17 years. During the reign of this Catholicos, following a petition from the Armenians, the Persian Shah issued a command for the Armenian bishops to ordain their own Catholicos Archbishop, and from that time the Armenian Archbishops ceased to be ordained by the Metropolitan of Caesarea.
17. After Chitus, the Armenian Church was governed by John Mertakun for six years,
18. Anunpen [Babken] for five,
19. Samuel for 20,
20. Museles [Mushe] for 50,
21. Isaac for seven,
22. Christopher for six,
23. Leontius [Ghevond] for three years,
24. And Nerses, from Aparaxa for nine years.
    
    The Armenians were also present at the Second, Third, and Fourth Ecumenical Councils, and stood firm against the heretics of that time. In the year 435, they assembled their Council and condemned there the work of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Diodorus of Tarsus. This Council of theirs sent a letter also to the Patriarch of Constantinople, Proclus. Proclus wrote that letter to the Armenians in reply which is well known to all, in which he says, among other things, that our Lord Jesus Christ must be recognized as the One of the Holy Trinity; which letter was accepted by both the Council of Chalcedon and the great Justinian in his Edict on the Orthodox Faith.

Section 2 - Concerning the Council of the Armenians in Dvin, which anathematized the one in Chalcedon, and to which they succumbed to Heresy and degenerate doctrines, and concerning the list of their bishops after Nersan up to Saint Isaac.

Saint Isaac predicted that the Armenians would fall into heresy. Indeed, soon after this, they first rejected the traditions of Saint Gregory, then refused to accept ordination from the Metropolitan of Caesarea, who taught them Orthodoxy. Since the Catholicoses were also from the Syrians, among whom the heresy of Eutyches and Dioscorus had already spread, and, moreover, since the Syrians did not have a sufficient number of bishops, and they wanted to receive ordination from the Armenians, accusing the Greeks of having fallen into the heresy of Nestorius, then through Bishop Nersan of Tarsus, they persuaded Nerses the Catholicos to convene a council, and Nerses convened a council in the city of Dvin, which lies near Theodosiopolis, in the 24th year of his reign, in the 12th of the reign of Justin the Emperor, and in the 24th of the reign of Khosrow the Persian Shah. Having read at this council the writings of Timothy the Cat and the Syrians, directed against the Council of Chalcedon, the Armenians anathematized this Council and accepted Monophysitism, as well as the expression (in the Thrice-Holy) “Who was Crucified for us.” They decided to celebrate the feast of the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany on the 6th of January and accepted unleavened bread. In short, having anathematized the Council of Chalcedon, 103 years after this Council, the Armenians decided to break communion with Jerusalem and with the Greeks, as well as the Nestorians and decided to have eternal communion with the Syrians.

After Nerses, the Catholicoses were: Evanes [Hovhannes or John] for 17 years; Moses for 30, Abraham for 23, John for 26, Comitus for eight, Christopher for three, Ezra for ten, Nerses [the Builder] for 20, Anastasius for six, Israel for 10, and then Isaac….

Section 3 - Concerning the union of the Armenians with the Catholic Church under the great Justinian, Maurice, Heraclius, and Justin, son of Pogonatus, and their subsequent separation after each union, and what happened during their union and separation.

One indignant Armenian nobleman named Vretan [Vardan II Mamikonian] killed Surien Ners and fled to Byzantium, where, according to the conviction of the great Justinus, he called on the Armenian bishops to accept the Fifth Ecumenical Council, and the Armenians joined the Orthodox Church²⁸. In memory of this joining, one gate of the Holy Wisdom was called the Armenian Gate. But Catholicos Evanes and other Armenian bishops did not accept this union and wrote to the Iberians and to Abas, Catholicos of Caucasian Albania, so that they would join their heresy. But these strongly opposed them and did not accept their heresy. Abas, in particular, said: “As Peter and Gregory, my predecessors, have wisely done, so also I wisely do.” During the reign of Evanes and his successor, Moses, there were also disputes concerning the doctrine of the faith of the Greeks and the Armenians. When Khosrow, whom Maurice [Emperor of Rome] had raised to the Persian throne, ceded Armenia to Maurice, and the Armenian King, Musicles [Mushegh II Mamikonian], having arrived in Constantinople on the feast of the Holy Cross, did not want to enter into communion with the Greeks with his retinue, and when Maurice asked him why he rejected communion with them when his predecessor Vretan had accepted this communion, Musicles answered him that Vretan had accepted communion with them out of fear; but let him only convene a council, and the Armenians would be able to prove the truth. As a result of this, Maurice ordered the Catholicos Moses and the bishops subject to him to come to Byzantium. But Moses and those bishops who were subject to Persian rule did not come, and only the bishops of Tarsus and other Armenians who were under the rule of the Roman Emperor came there and, with their own signature, anathematized the heresy of the Armenians. When Moses did not want to accept these bishops, they did not submit to him either and ordained John as Catholicos [Hovhannes Bagarants]²⁹. When, during the reign of Phocas, Khosrow again took Armenia for himself, Abraham, who was Catholicos at that time, forced everyone to anathematize the Council of Chalcedon. John and the Bishops of Tarsus, who did not agree to pronounce the anathema, dispersed: one to Thais and another to the Roman Land. During the Persian War, Catholicos Colten further intensified the schism, increasing the insults against the Orthodox, and wrote a book about heresies under the name of Saint Isaac and called it Amartanak. Heraclius, having defeated Khosrow, convened a great council of Armenian bishops and teachers in Harnez (Theodosiopolis) (although the Armenians say that Heraclius convened the Armenian Council in the year 622, one Greek record states that it was in the 23rd year of the reign of Heraclius, and the 4th after the death of Khosrow, which would have been the year 632), and here, after deliberations that lasted a whole month, they rejected the decrees made at their Dvin Council, accepted the union of water with wine in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, confirmed the Council of Chalcedon, and, rejecting every disagreement they had with the Orthodox Church, gave a written oath and signed with their own hands that they would not make any innovations in the future. The Armenian Catholicos Yezer, or Ezra, presided over this council. When they returned to their places, and a certain John began to accuse the Catholicos and the Bishops of Armenia, as if they had acted unjustly, then Ezra answered: “What we heard from the Greeks about the two natures of the Savior, we recognized as true and confirmed, following the Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers, whom we read there, and read now.” John began to slander that the Greeks had corrupted the Holy Scripture; but no one would listen to him, but on the contrary, as a crafty man, they cast him out. However, the disciples of John, after the death of Ezra, stirred up the Armenians, and heresy again increased among the Armenians. Justinian, son of Pogonatus, in the 5th year of his reign, summoned Catholicos Isaac and a large number of Armenian bishops to Byzantium and joined them to the Orthodox Church, and they again swore an oath and certified it with their own signature; but when Isaac and the bishops returned to their places, the Armenians anathematized them. The Armenians even began to help the Arabs, who at that time had become strong, and, following the example of the Copts in Egypt, became traitors to the Greeks. Therefore, the Caliph Omar allowed them to hold a council in Harneza, at which they confirmed the rules of their Dvin council, anathematized the Sixth Ecumenical Council, and added Monothelitism to Monophysitism. The Council of Chalcedon anathematized the leaders of the Monophysite heresy, and they had also been anathematized by Patriarch Gennadius of Constantinople; the Bishops of Rome Felix, Anastasius, Symmachus, and Hormisdas; the Patriarchs of Constantinople John the Cappadocian and Menas; Agapitus, Bishop of Rome; the Patriarchs of Jerusalem Elijah and John; and the Patriarchs of Antioch Flavian and Theodotus, and along with them, the Armenians, as followers of these heretics, were anathematized by all the aforementioned fathers; but at the present time they are completely alienated from unity with the Orthodox Church.

Section 4 - Against the Armenians: Proving that the Annunciation of the Birthgiver of God occurred on the 25th of March, and the Nativity of Christ occurred on the 25th of December.

Archbishop John of Nicaea, in a letter to one of the Catholicos of Armenia, says that James, the Brother of the Lord, did not disparage the custom that the feast of the Nativity of Christ was celebrated in Bethlehem on the 25th of December, and that when some began to celebrate two feasts on one day (Nativity and Epiphany) then Cyril of Jerusalem wrote about this incident to Bishop Julius of Rome, and Julius inquired in the State archives where he found the story of Josephus who writes that in the 7th month, on the feast of Tabernacles, on the day of purification, which was the 23d of September, Zacharias saw an angel, and became mute, and six months after this (on March 25th), then occurred the Annunciation of the Mother of God about the birth of the Lord from Her. Cnsequently She gave birth to Him on the 25th of December. Julius also made this known to the Eastern Christians. For this reason, Basil the Great delivered a homily on the Nativity of Christ on the 25th of December, and Gregory the Theologian delivered the same homily at the Second Council of Constantinople. Honorius, the Roman Emperor, told his brother Arcadius, the Emperor of Constantinople, that in Rome they celebrate the Nativity of Christ with special solemnity on the 25th of December. During the reign of Anastasius, Theophilus of Alexandria, Flavian of Antioch, and John of Jerusalem celebrated the same homily together with [John] the Goldenmouth. It is also worthy of note that the Goldenmouth, while still a priest, wrote a homily on the Nativity of Christ, and that at the Council in Cilicia, under the Emperor Manuel Comnenus, the Armenians said of themselves to the Theodorian that although they had neither heard nor seen this homily of the Goldenmouth, they had indeed heard, however, that Epiphanius of Cyprus (who was of Jewish descent) found in the written Jewish monuments and in the chronicle of Josephus that Christ was born on the 25th of December. With Epiphanius and with the written monuments that Titus brought from Jerusalem to Rome, they said, “we agree,” as well as with Eusebius Pamphilus, who says that God created heaven and earth on the 25th day of March, and that on this same day the Angel said to the Mother of God: “Rejoice.” Moreover, the Archbishop of Nicaea notes that the Goldenmouth wrote to Saint Isaac, the Catholicos of Armenia, about the day of the Nativity of Christ, but that while Isaac was traveling to the Persian Shah, a certain Surmak, having forcibly seized the dignity of Catholicos, and having found the Goldenmouth’s letter, sent it to the Persian Shah with a report that Catholicos Isaac and the Armenian King Artasyros were in alliance with the Roman Emperor, and that Isaac, who had been exiled by the Persian Shah, did not respond to this report.

Section 5 - Regarding the Synod of the Armenians with the collaboration of Manuel Comnenus in which they completely rejected their heresies and united with the Catholic Church, then apostatized, then they were united to the Latin Synods, and finally returned to their own heresy; when they came to Jerusalem, their crimes in the appropriation of Saint James, and many other things.

During the rule of the Turks in the East, the Armenians grew strong under the Comneni and formed a separate state in the country of Cicilia, which lies at the foot of the Taurus Mountains to the east of the river Sarros and above the city of Anazarbus. They took possession of Cilicia and some parts of Second Armenia and Syria and made the Bishop of Cicilia their Catholicos. The Emperor Manuel Comnenus entered their residence, and with his assistance, in the year 6678, in Tarsus of Cilicia, a Council of Armenians was held under the presidency of Leo, ruler of Armenia. At this Council, the heretics Eutychius and Severus were condemned, the words “crucified for us” were excluded from the Thrice-Holy, two natures and two wills were accepted, the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Ecumenical Councils were acknowledged, the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany were approved to be celebrated as the Orthodox Church celebrates, and the combination of water and wine in the Sacrament of Holy Communion was accepted. This Council was in the year 1145, when Noser was the Catholicos of Armenia, and Theodore was the Patriarch of the Greeks. Apparently, the Armenians agreed here to all the decrees approved under Justin, Justinian, Heraclius, Justian the Slit-Nosed, and Manuel and joined the Orthodox Church, but only for political reasons. Later, they again rejected what they had accepted. When the Roman Empire began to decline, and the Latins took possession of Syria, the Armenians, in order to have helpers among them, themselves assembled several councils, and at these councils, they entered into union with the Latins. The first of these councils was in Cilicia in the year 1307, and another in Adana in 1314, the third in Harnez in 1330. When the Armenians were in union with the Latins, they wore, in imitation of them, pointed caps, epanchas, and other of their clothes. When, at last, they completely deviated from the customs of our Orthodox Church, they invented a way of life in accordance with their heresy. They appeared in Jerusalem after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks and seized the Monastery of Saint James, son of Zebedee, from the then Patriarch by deception. They first rented the Monastery on the condition of paying 50 florins a year. The Patriarch also gave them a place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where the catechumens stand, but after a little while, having grown stronger, they began to say that they owned the Monastery of Saint James as a gift from Constantine the Great and refused to pay the agreed price for the rent. The Armenians also deceived the Syrians, as was said above, having seized the places that belonged to the Syrians in Bethlehem and converted them into their Monastery. They also deceived the Copts and served on their throne in Bethlehem. But how they took possession of the Chapel of Constantine the Great at the Holy Sepulchre, I cannot say. What quarrels they had with Theophanes and Paisius was said above.

Chapter 8

Section 1 - About how Eleazar the Vartopedes deceived Catholicos Siskagos, his hostile actions with the Catholicos of Great Armenia, how he fraudulently obtained a firman for the Armenians to serve the Liturgy in the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre, and how they were driven out of there. About the beginning of the feud between the Romans and the Latins because the Latins had submitted a false report to the Turkish Government.

Vartopedes Eleazar, who had a struggle with Paisius, won over the Catholicos of Cicilia to his side and, in the year 1665, appointed him the Catholicos of Jerusalem. Then, not having the strength to fight the Greeks, he left them alone and began a strong struggle with the Catholicos of Great Armenia, Jacob. The reason for this was this: the Catholicos of Great Armenia alone brewed myrrh and collected quite a large income sending it to all the Armenians, wherever they were. Eleazar, having given an obligation to pay 15,000 pieces of silver to the treasury every year, issued a firman, brewed myrrh in Jerusalem, and began to brew it consistently. But Jacob, in the year 1667, returning from Persia to Adrianople, gave the Government 20,000 florins and took away the right from Eleazar by the Royal Golden Bull, and thus they again began to brew myrrh in Reva alone, according to the ancient custom of the Armenians. Put to shame, Eleazar, in the year 1671, gave the Government, which was then in Adrianople, 45 portions of grosias and received the title of “Armenian Patriarch in Jerusalem.” This happened by God’s Providence, with the purpose that the dignity of the patriarch would arouse envy in the Armenians, that their patriarchs would constantly change, and thus the affairs of the Orthodox with the Armenians in Jerusalem would end sooner. However, the papists, perhaps to our disparagement, often like to call this pseudo-bishop “Patriarch,” just as they call the Bishop of Old Rome “the Vicar of Christ” (because most of their plans are very similar to theatrical performances and have no truth in them). In the year 1671, the aforementioned Eleazar, having won over the Turkish nobles and corrected the Royal Firman, appears before the Jerusalem judge and receives from him permission to celebrate the liturgy for the Armenians inside the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre. The papists, unable to resist the Armenians, flee to the patriarchal vicar, and he, taking the Royal Golden Bull, goes to the judge, proves to him that the Greeks have full power at the Holy Sepulchre, and expels the Armenians. When the judge asked him, “Why do the Franks serve there inside?” — He answered that the Patriarch had given them permission to do so. The papists, meanwhile, wishing to receive from the judge a report to the Turkish Government, which would provide for them in the future, did not write, as they should have written in the report, that the Greeks were serving in the Edicule and with their consent the Franks, and not the Armenians; but they wrote as if it had been decreed by law that only the Franks were to serve there and that the Armenians, or any other people, had never been allowed. When this report arrived in Constantinople, the papists who were there with one Greek-Collatine, Thomas, a native of Tarsus, sent it to Mysia to the Vizier, and the Vizier, having read the report, said: “The judge speaks empty words, and it is unjust that he expels the Greeks. They have long been the lawful rulers there.”

Section 2 - About when the above-mentioned report, which was sent by the Franks to the Vizier in Mysia, reached us in Belgrade. Having passed through some cities and having heard the rumor of the flight of the fathers in Jerusalem, we returned to Constantinople and Adrianople, where the Vizier had come from Mysia.

The news of the report sent to the Vizier reached us while we were in Belgrade. We wrote what was needed in Mysia to the Administrator of the Vizier’s affairs, and sent him 500 Hungarian florins. The Frankish interpreter Joannicius also assisted there in our favor. Then, having celebrated Easter in Belgrade in the month of May, we went to Philippopolis, and from there in June to Melenik, then to Serres. From Serres we went to Kirseovasi in order to go from there to Athos. But since Nectarius, fearing the threats of the French ambassador, withdrew to Egypt, and on this occasion, a false rumor spread that Nectarius and the fathers had fled from Jerusalem; then, on account of this false rumor, we thought it best to return to Serres, and from there, through Melenik, Philippopolis, and Adrianople, we arrived in Constantinople. When the Vizier and the Sultan returned from Mysia to Adrianople, we too, in November of the year 1674, set out for Adrianople.

Section 3 - Our entreaty to the Vizier, how his decree to us was issued with the deceit of the Vizier Kehagias, which God used for the benefit of the Orthodox, for we appeared before the Vizier, present and of the Kazaskerids, to be judged along with the Franks

Having written an Arzuhal (request) and having come to the Vizier, we presented him with the request about what had happened in Jerusalem and asked for a firman that we should have primacy at the Holy Sepulchre. The Vizier was a good man, but the Administrator of Affairs with him had an evil character. After many promises, he deceived us. He took 31 portions from us and gave a firman to have the case brought to the Jerusalem judge. Meanwhile, the Arzuhal itself, or our request, showed that there were only 36 papists in Jerusalem and that after every three years, they were replaced, as was stated in one Khatreshi, or ancient letter of approval of the judge, found in a Jerusalem Saracen. When such a trick of the firman was revealed, we were horrified and did not know what to do. It was impossible to ask for another firman because the Vizier did not change his decisions, and the Sultan? He trusted the Vizier, but we were not allowed to appear before him. In these circumstances, God, the Defender of Truth, did not abandon us with His Providence, and the cunning of the Ruler turned to the benefit of the Orthodox. The Ruler thought of taking a bribe, and having summoned Thomas, he treacherously says to him: “The case is in favor of the Franks. Only tell them to take their papers and go to the Divan for trial.” When we learned of this, we were frightened, and many times asked the German ambassador for the papists to calm down, and to behave as before, but nothing helped. And so the papists came to Adrianople. Foreseeing what the matter was, on the 5th of February, we also appeared in the Vizier’s palace, where the Kazaskerids, that is, the supreme judges of all the judges of the Sultanate, had gathered. When the hearing of the Divan, which is to say, when the State Council was finished, we and the papists went to where the Vizier and the judges were assembled. With me were the aforementioned Philotheus and a certain Constantius, a native, as was said before, of Trebizond, the same who had been very useful in the time of Paisius in matters of the Holy Sepulchre and especially in matters with the Armenians, of which we have already spoken. With the papists, of whom there were two, were the aforementioned Thomas and several children of German nobles. The papists occupied the left side, and we Greeks stood on the right side.

Section 4 - Regarding our prologue before the Vizier, our four requests, what the Vizier said, our Achtinamedes having been read, and the letters of the Franks having been nullified.

In the year 1675, on the 5th day of February, having appeared for trial, we were the first to speak thus in defense of our cause: “God is righteous that he has deigned to deign to appear before you, the wronged, for trial now, venerable Grand Vizier. We hope that by standing before such a wise and just judge, we will receive a just judgment. So, there is in Jerusalem the Temple of the Resurrection, famous throughout the world. In this temple, there is the Cubiculum, which in the royal charters that are in our possession is usually called the Sepulchre and the sanctuary of light. When Omar and Patriarch Sophronius took Jerusalem by treaty, this Cubiculum was given to the Greeks together with other shrines, and Omar ordered that all Christians, from wherever they came to Jerusalem to worship, should give the Patriarch one and a half portions of silver, and be subject to him. Then, when the Latins took Jerusalem, and afterwards King Saladin drove them out, he also gave the Greeks the same firman as Omar. Finally, when Sultan Selim took Jerusalem from the Egyptians, he also made a similar treaty with the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and we lived in peace. But since we were poor and still in debt, and therefore undertook journeys to other countries to collect alms, then in our absence, the German ambassador decided with the papists, in their folly, to take possession of the Holy Sepulchre. When the fathers began to resist them, they maimed two of them and killed one. Then they covered the Holy Sepulchre as you cover Kiamne, which is not permissible for us, and took possession by force of our paternal and ancestral heritage. So we ask your Excellency for four things: first, that we have full power in the Holy Edicule; second, to perform our divine service therein; third, that no other religion should enter there except with our consent; and fourth, that whatever has been newly done there by the Latins should be destroyed.” To this, the Vizier said: “Listen! First of all, I tell you that although you have two protections — the charters of the ancient Sultans and Sovereigns of the Arabs, and also the Khatreshi (approving charters) of the Jerusalem judges, however we have no need of the privileges granted to you by the ancient Sovereigns, nor of the Khatreshi, because royal gifts are not subject to the judgment of judges; and whatever charters you have from the Turkish Sultans, just show them.” “Indeed, this is true,” I answered, “and here is the Achtinamedes of Sultan Suleiman because the other Achtinamedes of his father, Sultan Selim, is now in Jerusalem.” The Vizier ordered the clerk who was there to read it, and he read it, and then the Vizier took it into his hands. I gave him another similar Achtinamedes, which had been given by the last Sultan Murad. When the clerk began to read the Vizier’s report on the Armenians, which had been compiled in Adrianople and placed in front of the firman, the Vizier said to me: “Man! Do you hear that the report speaks of the Armenians and not of the Franks? I answered him that what that Vizier reported was of no importance to us now, but what was important was what the Sultan had ordered, and immediately the following definition of the firman was read: “I order the Patriarchs and Romans to have primacy over the Franks and Armenians, over the Iberians, the Ethiopians, the Copts, the Syrians and over all peoples at the Sepulchre and in every Church and Monastery, and they shall be first in every order and activity, and that the other tribes shall worship only with their permission.” The Vizier said: “Enough!, and then the Franks also presented their charters. When their charters, which they had from the Arabs and the Kadis, that is, the judges, were considered empty, then they also presented the firman, which was given to them by Mnair Pasha. When this firman began to be read, the Vizier asked me at each article: “Who owns this”?” When I said to him: “The Romans,” he smiled, and when I said: “The Franks,” he wrinkled his face. Then I said to him quietly: “Sire! It is known by what means this firman was obtained. Since the words “means” and “year” (Ταρὴχ καὶ Ταρὴκ) have a similar sound, the Vizier thought that I was speaking to him about the year, and turning to the reader, asked: “In what year was this?” He answered: “In 1405.” Then I told him in Turkish, and not in Arabic, that I had spoken not of the year, but of the means, that is, by what cunning the Franks obtained the firman. The Vizier to me: “I know well, but be silent.”

Section 5 - About how the Vizier asked us if we had a firman after the firman of the Franks, how we gave the decree of Sultan Murad, about the excuses of the Franks, about the judgement of those who were presented as justification, about how we proved them false, and about how the Franks obeyed the Tzik.

When the firman presented by the Franks was read, the Vizier asked me: “Do you have another firman of a later time that would annul the force of the firman now read?” I answered: “Yes, and gave him the firman of Sultan Murad, by virtue of which Theophanes received the shrines.” When it was read, the Vizier, turning to the Latins, asked them: “Do you have another firman that would annul the force of this firman?” They answered: “No; and besides, it is written in the Achtinamedes that the charters given to us should have force and validity.” The Vizier answered them: “We know our language much better than you, and the Achtinamedes contains only this: ‘If you are to sue anyone living in the Sultanate, whether a Turk or a man of another nation, you are not to prefer that man to you in court, but must judge him equally with you, and to observe justice.’ There is nothing in it at all that every firman has the force and indisputable importance by which you perhaps cunningly deceive many.” Thomas then said: “The charter of Sultan Murad, which the Patriarch has now submitted for reading, has not been confirmed in the supreme court.” The Kazaskeris, that is, the supreme judge of all the judges of the Sultanate, said to him: “Liar! The case was first heard by the Mufti, that is, by the guardian of the rules of law, and then in the supreme court.” Thomas said in response to this: “The firman does not mention the Sepulchre, but only Golgotha, Apocaphilosis, and Bethlehem.” The Vizier to him: “We do not need what the firman contains in each line, but we look at what the Royal decree prescribes in them. Indeed, the Greeks of that time asked for the cave of Bethlehem and the Church of the Resurrection of Golgotha and Apocaphilosis, but the Sultan gave them the great Church of the Resurrection and the Church of Bethlehem, with all that is in them and that belongs to them. Where have you been until now, and if justice is on your side, why have you not sought?” Thomas answered: “The war with Crete was an obstacle to that.” “But so much time has passed since peace was concluded; where have you been?” said the Vizier. Thomas began to speak also about the fact that the Iberians are ancient in Jerusalem, and not the Romans. I answered him: “Indeed, the Iberians are the first and ancient compared to the Franks, as the Achtinamedes show, and they alone testify to this, and not only that they were the first of the Romans, moreover, it is not out of place to say that the Romans, of whom so many thousand who were in Palestine, were later, and the Franks, coming from Spain with guerrilla weapons, were the first and ancient.”

Finally, the Vizier said to Thomas: “Listen! If you have a firman stating that you have been to court and justice has been found on your side, and if this firman is later than the Khatreshi, that is, the sacred charter of Sultan Murad, then submit it, but if not TZIK (which is a word meaning BEGONE)! It had already been adopted as a law that if the Vizier said to someone TZIK, then those present were not allowed to stand or speak with that person. So the Franks were gone.

Section 6 - The Letter of the Gallic one, the anxiety of the German ambassador, and the mediation of the English ambassador to the Vizier on our behalf, through which we received an appointment. Having come to Jerusalem, we expelled the Franks from the Holy Sepulchre. Concerning the money we spent for this, the conspiracy of the Bethlehemites through the Franks against our lives, and the envy and wiles of the Armenians.

Then we also came out and offered peace to the Franks on our part, but they rejected us with pride. Then the Gallic one wrote from Constantinople to the Vizier, and the German ambassador, who was then in Adrianople, also interceded much for the papists; but the Vizier’s answer was the same. Thus, waiting for the papists to present firmans for a later time, we remained until August. In the meantime, a great famine occurred, and we went day and night to the Administrator of Affairs himself under the Vizier (for we had no other helpers except the poor Romans who lived there and shared the same need with us) until August. At that time, the English ambassador arrived. Since he also began to intercede for the Latins, the Vizier finally ordered on the day of the Dormition of the Mother of God to give us a firman, but it was barely written for the day of Saint Demetrius, that is, in time, as we gave only 70 portions. In November, taking Aga, that is, the Sultan’s official, we set out for Jerusalem alone and reached there in 37 days. In January, I instigated the Kadius, that is, the local judge, and the whole city, and went to the Holy Sepulchre, which the papists had removed in their own way. When the firman was read, the judge threw out from there all the renovations and other things, which were brought in again by the Latins, and gave the Holy Sepulchre to us. This was in January 1676. In the morning, the Romans celebrated the Liturgy in the Holy Sepulchre. I also ordered the three lamps of the Latins, which were in the section, to be taken out, and I left those inside the Holy Sepulchre, thinking through this to strengthen love with them. I allowed the Latins to celebrate the Liturgy behind in the Edicule, but they demanded that they also be served before the gates, and so they lost both. 40,000 grosias were spent in Adrianople and Jerusalem, the sum that the papists had promised to give us so that they could remain in their former rights. I also expelled some of the Bethlehemites because they wanted to kill us in Bethlehem when we took possession of their tombs, although they could do nothing because we rode away on horses and hid. The Armenians were also envious and used many intrigues, but all this, by the grace of God, remained in vain. Inside the Holy Edicule, I hung ten more lamps. And then this happened…

Section 7 - About our construction of the arch from the Patriarchate to Saint Thecla, our return to Constantinople, the conduct of the Gallic ambassador, the Ambassadors of Germany and Genoa, the expenses and victory granted to us by God, about the death of the Vizier, the Vizier Mustafa Pasha, and the death of our predecessor, Nectarius.

The Monastery of Saint Thecla belonged to the Iberians, and under Theophanes, the Iberians donated it to the Patriarch. The other half and the southern part of this monastery belonged to the Copts, and under Paisius, the Romans bought it. But this part was in extreme dilapidation and served almost exclusively as a dwelling for snakes and scorpions. The Church of this Monastery itself had fallen into disrepair and was inclined to collapse, and it was then extremely difficult to obtain a firman for its restoration. God Himself softened the hearts of the rulers so that we received a firman. Then, when we again returned the Holy Sepulchre to ourselves, we made buildings in the area from the Patriarchal house to Saint Thecla, and we spent very large expenses on this construction in order to bring it to the form in which it is now, that is, to arrange a narthex, living rooms, and a garden. The buildings lying above, where the garden is, belonged to Patriarch Attalah³³, which his descendants also owned, and Nectarius bought these buildings from them for a rather large sum and then connected them with the monastery. Having finished the construction, after Holy Easter, we went through Phoenicia on horseback to Issicus, and from there to Constantinople. Because the Sultan and the Vizier were there then, here, again, there were great requests from the ambassadors, Frankish, German, and Genoese, and various defenses, expenses, and labors from our side. But “the gifts and calling of God,” says the Divine Apostle, “are without repentance!” (Rom. 11:29) God gave us victory and gave money for expenses in good time. In the year 1676, on the 24th day of October, the Vizier also died in a suburb of Tyrol, while he was traveling to Adrianople. Mustafa Pasha, known for his unsuccessful affairs in Vienna, was made Vizier. In the same year, on the 14th day of July, Nectarius also died, and on the 6th day, he was buried under the bell tower of the Theologian. He lived 74 years. When we were setting out from Jerusalem for Constantinople, the Latins persuaded some people to kill us on the road, and so we set out without any preparation for the journey, and with the help of some Orthodox, we arrived in Phoenicia. Here, when we wanted to go from Virit to Tripoli, the Latins again ordered the Maronite Abunoufel to kill us, but we, without the slightest delay, left Virit in Turkish clothing and thus escaped danger.

Section 8 - Regarding our migrations to various places, the efforts of the ambassador of Poland both in favor and against the Romans, in favor of peace with the Ottomans, the words that the Vizier spoke to him in favor of the Poles and in favor of the pilgrimages of Jerusalem, and where we received a decree against the Litany of the Franks in Jerusalem, to which, having returned, we renovated the Monastery of the Prophet Elijah.

First we went to Adrianople, then to Wallachia in the year 1677, on the 29th day of December, and from there in the same year in the month of April to Iași, and again to Wallachia, then to Constantinople, because there was a Polish ambassador there to negotiate peace between the Turks and the Poles. The ambassador was furious against us and against the Romans, and there were many requests and efforts on his part, but nothing helped. The vizier finally, on Thursday of Holy Week, when the army was camped outside Constantinople, in the suburb of Ntaut Pasha, said to him: “You see, our camps are open and facing Poland, our horses are dressed, and therefore the war with the Poles can continue for another 20, but you will not receive Jerusalem” (by this he meant the shrines in Jerusalem). At that time, we received a firman with an outlay of thirty portions. By virtue of this firman, we stopped the litany of the Franks, which they alone celebrated every evening, and we began to celebrate it first, and then the Franks. From Constantinople in the year 1678, in the month of May, we went to Nicomedia, and in June to Prusa, then in the same year, in September, from Constantinople, through Damascus, to Jerusalem. At this time we also restored the Monastery of Saint Elijah, inside and out, built supports near the walls and painted the Church. We knocked out an even larger door and built a horse stable, Narphicus. We also knocked out windows and made many other improvements.

Section 9 - After what the Frankobishop of Galata said after mediating for peace, and after sending us to Jerusalem, and returning to Constantinople without being finished, the Franciscans seemed extremely scandalous.

The Latin bishop, who lived in Galata in Constantinople, made us an offer of peace through the physician Timon. We readily accepted his offer, and had already agreed among ourselves in many things. The Latin bishop wrote about this to Rome, and received in reply that another Vardian had been sent to Jerusalem, to whom the Romans had allegedly instructed him to accept the articles to which mutual consent had been given. But the Vardian, having arrived in Jerusalem, forgot about the agreement, and began to demand too much, and therefore could do nothing. When we were about to go to Issicus by sea through Joppa, and from thence to Constantinople by land, the Latin bishop himself said to us: “The Latins will then make peace with you when you give them the shrines and Churches, and you yourselves become papists, and call yourselves not Romans, but Iasans. Unless you give them the Holy Sepulchre now, they will not agree to peace.” The reason for our quick return to Constantinople was the following.

Section 10 - About how the Armenian Vartopedes Eleazar joined the Franks with an oath, the Frankish Iasans went to Constantinople, Eleazar reported to the Vizier with the promise of a large sum of money, the Litany of the Armenians and the Ethopian settlements, both of the requests failed, about our travels to Wallachia and Moldavia, our return to Constantinople, the money we sent to Jerusalem, and the beginning of our travels to Iberia.

The Armenians brought trouble upon themselves because of the dwellings of the Ethiopians, which had fallen into the possession of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem. They rose up against us also, but God allowed great discord to arise among them, and they occupied themselves only with their own affairs. During these discords, Eleazar pretended to show the greatest affection for Nectarius and the Romans; but having gained a little freedom, he began what was said before, that is, to strive to have the Liturgy celebrated for them in the Holy Sepulchre. When we, out of emulation, opposed this, and recalling the insolence at the Holy Sepulchre on the feasts that year, namely, on the week of Orthodoxy and the Veneration of the Cross, and especially recalling the dishonorable act during the Litany on Palm Sunday, we celebrated the Litany after the Liturgy alone, because the tribes of other confessions serve afterwards all together. Then the Armenian, possessed by envy, in the great week, when we were on the Jordan, united with the Latins, and all of them, having gathered in the Monastery of Saint James, swore an oath to be in unity with each other, and to the Latin Iasan, who, in order to receive this empty name, became the cause of all evils, had to go to Constantinople. The Armenian, having invited Mutebelius (the caretaker of the Holy Sepulchre), won him over to his side, and wrote to the Government that Vartopedes would give him 10,000 grosias if it would do him a favor, would give a firman to serve Matins, though not before, but after, however, so that they would all be together at the same time with the Patriarch and the Romans (because when the Romans served Matins alone before, the sun would arise at its conclusion, and they would then be left alone with other non-believing peoples), and that the Government would also give the Armenians the buildings belonging to the Ethiopians, for which they bow to it with 50,000 grosias. The Latin envoy, having received the letter from the Turks, went to Halsna, and from there to Constantinople. We, having reached him in Iași, came with him to Constantinople. He immediately went to the Vizier. He promised, but did nothing. When the Vizier read the case of the Armenians, and learned that the dwellings of the Ethiopians had been given by the government to the Patriarch of Jerusalem by virtue of the Khatreshi, that is, the sacred charter, and that Paisius of Jerusalem had given the government at that time 20 portions of silver, and we gave 15 portions, he abandoned the request of the Armenians, and the heretics were left in shame. We arrived in Constantinople in the year 1679, on the 4th day of June. In the year, 1680, in December, we went to Wallachia, when Șerban, the commander of the Cantacuzenes, ruled there. On the 15th of May, we moved to Iași, and in November we returned through Wallachia to Constantinople. From there, on a favorable occasion, we sent to Jerusalem with four brothers who went by land 2,000 grosias, in addition to the 30,000, and the debt was reduced. In February, they themselves boarded a ship heading to Iberia.

Chapter 9

Section 1 - About the debt of the Iberian Monasteries in Jerusalem, the cause of which was their own abbots, and about the money sent from Iberia to discharge their debt, the money lost along the way, many other incidental damages, the money we gave to discharge the debt of these Monasteries, and about our emigration to Iberia.

How long ago the Iberians settled in Jerusalem, and about their actions there we have said a little above. Now, we will say that under Paisius, a certain Nicholas was the Abbot of the Iberian Monasteries in Jerusalem who traveled to the West in the hope of learning something there. Afterwards, leaving Jerusalem, he went to Iberia and lived a joyful life there. In the Monastery of the Cross, which belonged to the Iberians in Jerusalem, he left a certain Gabriel as governor. This man, by his disorderly life, involved the monastery in large debt, which Nicholas, however, sent a payment to relieve with a certain Mark. Gabriel, in the year 1678, having come to Joppa to meet Mark, prepares for his death, and a Nestorian throws Mark from the ship into the sea. Mark perished, and Gabriel, having taken the money and having given part of it to the creditors, although he changed the condition of the debt, did not manage to return them the former conditions. The creditors, when he was in Rempli, sent him the original cost of the debt, but on the road, people incited by them (of course, robbers) robbed the man who was carrying the invoice and took it from him. Gabriel thought that the debt was annulled, but they were with the Turkish creditors. After the death of Nicholas, the Iberians, taking the money he had collected and adding to it another 100,000 grosias, in the year 1659, sent money with Bishop Jesse of Tbilisi and some officials to Jerusalem to pay off the monastery’s debt to the creditors. But some of the Turks of Asia Minor, having learned of the money that was with the Iberians, attacked them near Mytilene and robbed them. This happened at the very time when Paisius was returning from Iberia. The Iberians went to Adrianople to the Vizier but received nothing. So, the bishop returned to Iberia, and the Monastery remained in debt. In the time of Nectarius, in the year 1661, there came an Iberian to Jerusalem, a native of the Jews, whose name was Hilarion of Kialingila (because he was Abbot of the Monastery of Kialingila in Colchis), but, having been tempted by some faintheartedness in relation to the Patriarch, he went again to Iberia, taking with him all that he had. Then, in the year 1663, there came Hieromonk Joseph, Brata Siul, who was sent from Kartli. Through inexperience, he repaid the debt to the Turkish creditors according to the conditions given to him, whatever kind they were. But they, having calculated the time of these conditions, added the interest to the principal capital for all this time and gave him new conditions to pay the debt with interest. Having assumed the invoice from the creditors, he returned to Iberia. After this, in the year 1666, a certain Meletius Halepl was sent with 10,000 grosias. This man, being self-willed, and without asking the Patriarch, like his predecessors, having paid the creditors the debt, and having changed the conditions, put a capital interest in them, and the debt of the Monastery of the Cross increased to 94,000 grosias. After this, he also leaves. Then, having collected 40,000 grosias, 50 gold chains, and many other utensils, the aforementioned Joseph, having with him another precious Icon, of course for safety, having decided to go by sea, boarded a Lazic ship in Trebizond. But when they were sailing near Kitor, the wind seemed very favorable (because it blew from the East), but it was uncomfortably strong. Then, in order to enter a small harbor, they took down the sails, and all perished together with the ship. Finally, Catholicos Dometius³⁴ of Kartli, brother of one of the Mepes³⁵ of Tbilisi, struggled successfully to collect 100,000 grosias throughout Iberia and wanted to go to Jerusalem alone. But at that time, the Mep³⁶ wanted to enthrone his son, Archil, in Imeretia, and the Persian Archon, thinking the matter a plot against him (because the Imeretia was subordinate to Constantinople and Kartli to Persia), gave orders to the Mep to go to Isfahan. The Catholicos, hearing at one point that Mep had died on the way, himself died of grief, and what was with him was plundered and lost. The Iberian monasteries alone were in debt to the Saracens, and the Monastery of the Cross was sealed and oppressed. Afterwards, the two wings of Satan: the pope-worshippers and the monophysites, decided to buy the false debt from the creditors and take the monasteries that rightfully belonged to the Orthodox. The Franks were to obtain Saint Nicholas, and Armenians were to obtain the others.³⁷ There was no hope left for Iberia at all. Therefore, calling upon God for help, we decided to pay the debt of the Iberian monasteries and often wrote to Iberia on this occasion. When we were in Jerusalem, precisely at the time when the Monastery of Saint Elijah was being restored, letters came to us from Iberia with the news that we should send people to Iberia with whom it would be possible to send us 40,000 grosias to pay the debt of the Iberian Monasteries in Jerusalem. In the year 1678, we sent from Jerusalem to receive the money, and we ourselves went to Byzantium and then to Wallachia. By God’s mercy, we received great help from the Christians of Carthage, but those sent from us to Iberia, it is unknown for what sin God allowed this, were given no money. Therefore, having returned from Wallachia to Byzantium and having learned of these circumstances, we sent 32,000 grosias to Jerusalem to pay the debt to the creditors of the Iberian Monasteries, and we ourselves went to Iberia.

Section 2 - About the memory of certain places, villages, cities, Churches, and monasteries, which we make when departing for Iberia from the Eastern Lighthouse to Tbilisi.

We left Byzantium on the ship Lazica on the 11th day of February, 1681. Things worthy of attention on our way: The Phanar, where the Eastern Christians live. It was built by the Vizier Kioproulus in 1675. In Chilis are the relics of Euthymius, the Confessor of Sardis, completely unharmed. In Coma Stavria, 72 miles from the temple, there is an island on which there was a Monastery in the name of the Mother of God. But since they received Russian robbers there in about 1600, Piali Pasha, passing with a Turkish detachment, destroyed the monastery and dispersed the fathers. The same thing happened for the same reason to the Monastery of Saint Gregory on the island of Finis and also to the Monastery of the Forerunner in Sozopol because when the Turks came to seize the Russians who had fled there, the Russians, having fortified themselves in the Monastery, began to resist them strongly, and therefore the Turks sent another detachment there and destroyed the Monastery to the ground. In the year 1660, a priest secretly set fire to a Church in Pontyraclia, and therefore the Christians fled from there. In Amastris, there are many Churches and bell towers, but not a single Christian. In Ionopolis, which Lucian considers to be the fortress of Athos, there are five villages inhabited by the Orthodox, and in them there are about 80 houses. There, we found the Pentecostarion, which, besides the service for all the days of the week, also contains the Sunday triodes, and in the service for Pentecost it is clearly theologized that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father alone. Stephania is devastated by the Russians. On the 11th of March, we arrived in Sinope, and on the 20th, we left. The Alis [river] flows turbulently. Here we remembered Croesus, the Sovereign of the peoples who lived beyond the Alis, who was deceived by the prophecy of the oracle that, having crossed the Alis, you will destroy the great Monarchy. He had the understanding that Apollo spoke to him about the destruction of the Monarchy of Cyrus when, in reality, his own Monarchy was destroyed. In Amynsus, the first village of Miletus and the last of Athens, there is not a single Christian, and the nearest village to it is only one Christian. On the river Iris, Charsamna, and in Neocaesarea itself, there is not a single Christian, but in Amasia, there are a few. Between the rivers Iris and Thermodon is the famous Gadilonite, where, according to legend, the Amazons lived in ancient times. About Ineos, Polemonius, although he is not known today, says they write and speak differently, and the Neocaesarean disputes about him with the Amasians, but it is indisputable that the truth is on the side of the Neocaesarean. One height near Ineos, which is called Jason’s, confirms the History of Argos and justifies Jason’s voyage. In Kerasun, there are some Christians, as well as in Tripoli. But in the fortress of Tripoli, there is not a single Christian, only one glorious temple in the name of the Mother of God. When the Turks wanted to convert it into a mosque, they were prevented from doing so by obvious signs, and, therefore, every Sunday to this day, Christians come here and solemnly celebrate the Liturgy there. On the 6th of April, we arrived at Trebizond. Trebizond, in its present form, was built by the great Justinian, as was also the Church of Saint Basil, as is shown by the inscriptions over its gates. After the conquest of Trebizond by the Turks, the Church of Saint Philip, which is outside the city, became the Metropolis of Trebizond, but in the year 1674, the Turks converted it into a mosque. In the area from Surmen to Guria and the river Chorokhi, 70 years before this, the Lazes began to accept Mohammedanism, and in this entire diocese, there remained neither a single Church nor a single priest, there were only a few Christian women. On the 5th of May, we left Trebizond, and through Sumela and Kanis, on the 21st of May, we arrived in Theodosiopolis. In the Sumela Monastery, there is an Icon of the Mother of God, the size of a cubit. According to tradition, it was painted by the Evangelist Luke, just as the Mingrelia also believe about the Icon of the Birthgiver of God in the Gelati Monastery. Between the two hills, where the river flows, flowing from Sumela, all the villages, through the prayers of the Birthgiver of God, are Christian, as are the places from Mount Sumela to Kanis. Beyond Theodosiopolis, on a mountain, there was an old chapel. When we stopped at the edge of the village, in the new and spacious Asit, we converted the chapel into a Church and left our hieromonk, and he served the liturgy in it. Then we strengthened this matter by the Sultan’s decrees to the present time. In the city and in other places, there are enough Orthodox, but in the city itself, the Latins have converted several Armenians to their faith, and allow them to serve in Armenian and Latin. They attract them to themselves mainly by allowing them to break the fasts and the like. We left Theodosiopolis on the 1st of June and went to Karisa, a city of Persian Armenia, which lies to the East of the Turkish Empire. Here, through the intrigues of an Armenian, we were forced to give the Pasha 250 grosias. Under Leo the Wise, two Sovereigns reigned in Armenia. One, named Cricoricius, lived in Vaasparkan (Vaasparkan is the same region where the fortress of Vani is) and was called the King of Tars. The other, Symbatius, was in today’s Karis and was called the Archon of Archons.Both of them were subordinate to Leo, although they behaved ambiguously because they secretly served the leader of the Arabs, Omer Mumni. Cricoricius brought two cousins ​​of Symbatius to Constantinople as prisoners, but Leo ordered their release. Meanwhile, the Archon of Archons raised a rebellion but was pacified by Magister Apocisius and was forced to cede to the Roman Emperor the fortified cities of Perkrisi, Haliat, Tivi, Khert, and Salam. The King of Iberia under Leo was Adarnase [IV], who also had the dignity of Kuropalates. We arrived in Tbilisi on June 15th and were met outside the city by the children of the king, nobles, the Catholicos, the bishops, and all the people, both Orthodox and Armenians, with crosses and holy icons. We were in danger three times on the Black Sea. From Theodosiopolis to the borders of Iberia, we traveled with the king’s travel document and with the king’s escorts, and in Tbilisi, we settled matters concerning the debt of the Iberian Monasteries in Jerusalem, as is recorded in the records of the Holy Sepulcher.

Section 3 - About the memory of Tbilisi and its province, the rivers Cyrus and Araxes, where they join, what border is formed by Araxes, the location of two Nails of the Cross, about what the Iberians were, about who were subject to the Persarch, about the war of the real Teimuraz of Albania with the Persarch because of a certain daughter, where he went, where he ended up, about the falsehood of the papists about this, the decree of the Persarch that there is a real Ottoman in Tbilisi, the reason for the settlement of the Jesuits in Iberia, and about those who moved from the Spanish Iberia.

Tbilisi and its region constitute Iberia proper (we do not say this for certain, however). The rivers Araxes and Gura join above Tbilisi, at a distance of about six hours’ journey, where is the cathedral Church of Iberia. They also mention here Mtskheta, which lies in Gonia, formed from the junction of two rivers. At each of these rivers are two empty fortresses, about which the Iberians have many stories, but we believe Strabo more, according to whom the fortress on the Gura is called Armoziki, and the fortress on the Araxes is Seimara. They stand 16 stadia from each other, and from these fortresses, Pompey, coming from Armenia, attacked Iberia and then Canodie. The border between Albania and Iberia is the Araxes, which, having merged with the Kur, is already called by this name. In Tbilisi, in the Church of the Catholicos, in a gilded and precious-stoned reliquary, is kept the Nail of the Holy Cross. In a similar reliquary, in the Monastery of Gelati, is kept another Nail. Who brought them there is unknown. However, if, as Saint Ambrose relates, Saint Helena, caught in a storm, threw one Nail into the Adriatic Gulf, and Constantine the Great, out of reverence, put the other in the bridle of his horse, then, behold, the other two are in Iberia. The Iberians trade with strangers, although not all, and the Albanians do not do this at all. Tiflis [sic] is so called by changing the letters b to f, because it is actually called Tbilisi, from the famous hot waters found there. The two regions, Iberia and Albania (Kartvelia and Kakheti), were dependent on the Persian Shah in only two cases. In the first, their king, who came not from another family but from the family of Pancratius, was confirmed as Shah of Persia. In the second, they sent the Shah of Persia several youths and maidens every year as a gift. The Shah of Persia, having expelled the Turks of Constantinople, who had once taken Tbilisi, again gave this city to the Iberians. In about the year 1630, in the year of our Lord, the Emperor of Albania was Teimuraz [I of Kakheti]. The Latins say of him that he was a papist, and in 1650, having printed a book, they noted in it a letter from the Pope of Rome, Urban VIII, to this supposed Teimuraz, as well as from Teimuraz to the Pope. They obviously lie (the papists are notorious liars) because Teimuraz was truly Orthodox. At the time of Teimuraz, there was a noble maiden in Albania to whom the Persian Shah, having become engaged, had already sent her rich prenuptial gifts. But Teimuraz, with the permission of a monk, married this maiden himself. For this act, the Shah invaded Albania, besieged it, subdued it, and drove out Teimuraz. He arrived in Byzantium in the year 1639 to Sultan Murad with a request for help, but he did not help him and gave only one Mneiliki, or power for subsistence, in Anatolia. Afterwards, Teimuraz, leaving Anatolia, entered into war with the Shah, but having been defeated by him, he left his wife in Imereti with his brother-in-law Alexander, and he himself with his children (Nicholas and Heraclius) withdrew to Russia, and here, leaving his children, he returned later to Ekatompil (Isfahan) to the Persian Shah, and died there in Orthodoxy. This was at the time when Nectarius was the Patriarch in Jerusalem. Nicholas, having come there from Russia, became a Turk. So, the Shah, having defeated Teimuraz, left Kakheti without a ruler, and in Tbilisi, he appointed Rostom as ruler, who, although descended from the Pancratian family, was a Mohammedan, and yet, was very favorable to the local Church. He adopted a son for himself named Vakhtang. At the same time, a Chios doctor named Andrew came to Iberia and asked him for permission for the Jesuits to come to Iberia. Not only that, Vakhtang took two Churches from the Armenians, one in the fortress of Cori and the other in Tbilisi. He gave them to the Jesuits, who, leading a rather strict life, to this day lure the local Armenians into papism, that is, transfer them from blindness into darkness. In the year 1688, I came across letters from these Jesuits. In them, they write to the Pope of Rome claiming that the King of Tbilisi and some bishops had become papists, although secretly. However, they are completely lying. It is worthy of note that Megasthenes in the book … tells how Nebuchadnezzar resettled the Spanish Iberians. They also honor the names of Hercules and Jason, who traveled there. They also have legends about the old man Patrone and the image of Petzetan, and also about their kinship with the Latins.

Section 4 - A letter to the papist kingdom by a certain Alepplis concerning the pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and an accompanying letter to us from Constantinople to come in apology, and concerning our return as far as Kutaisi.

In March 1681, the papists who lived in Byzantium sent a haleplū to the Sultan with a request that he give them the Holy Sepulchre, Golgotha, Apocaphilosis, and the Holy Cave of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and they would give him for this a large 3,000 florins, as well as the 1050 grosias that the Romans gave to those who were in the palace of Sultan Ahmed. The Sultan sent the request to the Vizier, and the Vizier decisively rejected their request. But Satan, whose judgment is unjust before God, induced us to return to Byzantium, from where the then Patriarch of Constantinople, James, at the instigation of certain people, wrote a synodal charter to us (to which not only the bishops but also the nobles signed), so that we would return to Byzantium, and urged us to do so by the fact that the government was demanding an answer from us. We received the charter in Theodosiopolis and, at first, pretended that we did not understand it, but in order not to appear disobedient to the will of the Government, then, because of the debt that was on the Iberians, having set out for Tbilisi, we tried to return from there before the onset of winter. Having stayed in Tbilisi for 42 days, we went through Colchis to Constantinople. We stayed in the house of Tzitzi. In the month of August, we crossed the Gura River on horse, because it has little water, and Strabo unfairly called it a navigable river. We arrived in Kutaisi on the 20th of August, 1681.

Section 5 - The illegality of Mep Pancratius the Blind of Kutaisi to the True Father of Mingrelia, the trick of Mep Archil of Tbilisi to become Mep of Imereti, the Blind’s flight to Mtskheta, through which the Ottomans raided from the borders of Mtskheta and Kartvelia to Imereti, the raid of the Avasgians from Dioscorides to Hippopotamus and Phasis, about our return from Kutaisi to Constantinople, about the decrees we received against the Franks, and the fees, about the arrival of the ambassador of the Mochis to Byzantium, and the construction of the Elpidus.

Alexander, who was Mep of Kutaisi during the time of Patriarch Paisius, had a son by his first wife named Pancratius, whom his other wife, the daughter of Teimuraz, Mep of Albania, treacherously blinded. When Alexander died, some killed his wife also, and the blind Pancratius became Mep. But, the offspring of vipers, he disgraced the honor of Dadian of Mingrelia, taking his wife from him. Archil, the son of Vakhtang, Mep of Tbilisi, having gone to the Shah and accepted Mohammedanism, became the ruler of Albania, but when he was setting out from Ekatompilus for his own region, the Shah demanded that he send him his wife. Archil, meanwhile, because Pancratius was blind, decided to become Mep of Imeretia as well and immediately gathered an army and went to Kutaisi. Blind Pancratius fled to the Pasha of Mtskheta. But in the year 1678, the Sultan gave orders to the Pasha of Theodosiopolis, and he, having gathered an army in Lazika, Halyva, and the surrounding areas, attacked Imeretia, devastated it, conquered, burned Churches, monasteries, and villages, from Mtskheta and Kartvelia to Imeretia, overthrew Archil, and raised a blind man in his place. In the fortress of Kutaisi, he placed the Turks, who are there to this day. Dadian, disgraced by the blind man, lost heart, and in the meantime, the Avasgi attacked and ravaged Churches and monasteries: Mokfi, Hopi, Kiani, Sugdita, and others, from Dioscoriada to Hippo and Phasis, except for Lumpardia. When the misfortune befell the blind man, Dadian, although he managed to get his wife back, could not overcome the Avasgi. In the year 1681, he died in the fortress of Ruhi, where he was imprisoned, and his wife again went to Kutaisi to the Blind Man. At that time, we were there too. With her was also the robe of the Mother of God, about which we said above that it was kept in Hopi. The monastery of Gelati suffered no trouble from the attacks of the Turks, but what happened to the Relics of Saint Cyriacus, we could not find out about this. On August 24, we left Kutaisi and, in two days, reached the crossing of the Phasis to a place called …, here the Phasis is navigable, and we crossed it in boats. Afterwards we were in Ozurgeta, the cathedral chamber of Guria, then in Kumpuleta, the Gurian square, from which to the East, about six hours’ journey away, lies the fortress of Petra, for which Justinian and Khosrow waged war. Here, we were greeted by the nobles of Imereti and Guria, the Catholicos, the bishops, and the governor of Guria. We left Petra on the 15th of September. Through Lazica, Sinope, Ionopolis, and Pontoiraklia, we arrived on the 20th of November in Constantinople, appeared before the Vizier, gave him 10 portions, two of his Kekhasia, one Reisa, and one Mneiliktza, and received a firman in opposition to the Franks’ demands, as well as a firman on duties. At that time (in the year 1682), the Moscow ambassador Procopius arrived, and the Church of Elpida was built in Kontoskalia.

Section 6 - About the damage done to the Holy Sepulchre by a certain renovation of a local Church, the injustice done to the Holy Sepulchre by a certain beast-seeking Eparch of Jerusalem, and the Aga sent against him by us by appointment, through whom many evils of the judges were averted, and about our strong actions with the Franks on the royal step regarding the pilgrimages, and our victory over them, and against Vartopedes Eleazar, and those who were betrayed by our collaboration, and where he fled, and where he ended up.

At that time the following unpleasant events took place in Jerusalem. In the village of Shepherds, located near Bethlehem, there is a half-ruined monastery in which the Church had fallen into disrepair. Our local Viceroy, in his inexperience, renewed this Church without the permission of the judge. The Franks reported this. All the officials and judges gathered for an investigation, and the monastery lost 5,000 grosias. The Mufti, that is, the guardian of the rules of law, the judge who took a bribe, contrary to the royal decrees and contrary to justice, although he replaced him and put another in his place, the loss remained unrequited. In the year 1682, when the Sultan was in Adrianople, a man of a brutal character was made Pasha in Jerusalem. In seven years, he took 70,000 grosias from us. As a result of such actions of his, we went to Adrianople, and from there, a royal official was sent to Jerusalem with a decree concerning the aforementioned man, but the fathers forgave him the unjust bribes when he promised not to take any more. By this decree, many innovations made in the monastery were cancelled, many other arbitrary actions of the judges were limited, and everyone received security for themselves. But the base and ungrateful Armenians, who had been benefited by us during their previous impotence, joined the side of the papists at that time, and when we were in Adrianople and knew nothing, letters from the papists accidentally reached Father Justin, from which we learned that the papists and the Armenian Vartopedes had come to Adrianople. And so, in the year 1683, during the rebellion that occurred during the Great Forty Days (when the Sultan was not in the city on account of the war against Vienna), we immediately went to complain to the Vizier about them. When the Armenians came to us and began to ask for reconciliation, we entered into a struggle with the papists. At first, a heated debate began with Kekhaziy, or the Governor of Affairs under the Vizier. Then the matter was transferred to the Vizier himself. The papists began to present empty evidence, especially trying to prove their case that at the time when, under Nectarius, we were celebrating the Liturgy on the feast of Palm Sunday, they, having presented witnesses to the court, secretly received from the judge the right of primacy, and during the Vizier’s stay in Crete, from his governor in Adrianople, they received in their favor a firman, which, having been found in the collection of State laws, they now wanted to bring into force. The Vizier at first agreed to their requests due to the bribe promised to him by the papists. He thought that they were looking for something small, but when he learned that the papists had done us much harm with such cunningly obtained firmans and that the court in the State Council had conscientiously decided the just case of the Romans, he rejected all the cunningly compiled evidence and the papists themselves, who left at night for Constantinople. Vartopedes, on the way to Jerusalem, died in Pelusium but did not abandon his malice, and the madman gave a written testament to his co-religionists living in Jerusalem that they should stubbornly stand against us. Indeed, soon after, on the feast of Easter, the Armenians decided to introduce news in the Holy Sepulchre, but being driven out of there by us, they fled to the court, and the judge, Pasha, who was favorable to us, drove them out. However, this unpleasant incident was the reason why the monastery suffered a loss of seven portions from our carelessness, from their disagreements, envy, and strife among themselves. It should be noted that the Armenian Eleazar, whom we have mentioned more than once, took the side of the papists. Having left Joppa, he appeared with importance in Constantinople and, having gone around to the rulers here, promised them a large number of portions for the houses of the Ethiopians. We began to help his rival, Martyrius, and he received his appointment to the Armenian leadership in Jerusalem. Eleazar withdrew in shame to Persia, and here he became Catholicos of Great Armenia. He died in the year 1692, mourning to his death the humiliation he suffered from the Romans.

Chapter 10

Section 1 - About the messianic pretender, the Jew of Constantinople, and where he lived, and which places he visited, and about the gathering of Jews to him from all sides, and his false miracles, and the corruption of Jewish virgins, and the false enthusiasms of Jewish women, and many other ridiculous things, and about his confinement, and then his abduction to the Sultan, and his conversion to the Saracens, and exile, and the last.

There was a Jew named Shabbethai Sevi, educated in his own way and descended from a famous family in Constantinople. After part of Constantinople had burned down, the dwellings of the Jews, especially those in Pandocia (Hani) of Valetta (Mother of the Sultan), and other houses, beginning from the prison to the wall of the Palace, also called Byzantine, also burned down. When the Government drove the Jews out of there, then the aforementioned Jew withdrew to Smyrna and settled there. From there, reflecting on how God permitted the mockery of the murderers of Christ, as had once happened in Crete, he went to Gaza and began to pass himself off as the Messiah. Then he lived for some time in a cave in Palestine together with those he had deceived. From there, he made himself known to the Jews of Jerusalem, but they did not believe him. At last, he came to Jerusalem, but again, the Jews of Jerusalem did not receive him, in which a certain physician, James, who had fled from Spain, was especially instrumental. After this, he again appeared in Smyrna, and already won many people over to his side. He wrote to the Jews of Constantinople, and they received him. Then he wrote to the Jews living everywhere, and Jews gathered from Poland, the West, Africa, and Turkish-owned parts of the West. Many Jews came to Smyrna from Constantinople. The rumor spread that he worked many miracles, but it is enough to mention only one of his miracles. He blew on some of his confidants, and they pretended to be dead, then struck them with a whip, and they rose up as if resurrected. From Smyrna, he went to Calliopolis, and rude crowds of Jews ran to meet him. The news of him reached the Vizier, and in the year 1666, the Vizier ordered him to be brought from Calliopolis to Byzantium. The Jews said that the Sultan would meet him with special honor, and when he was brought to him, having honored him with his friendship, he would seat him on his throne, and then the Kingdom of the Messiah would begin. However, the public executioners took him from the ship and led him to the Vizier. The Vizier asked him whether what was said about him was true, and he answered only that he was wise and spoke the words of God. However, despite this answer, the Vizier locked him in prison. Yet even there, both educated and simple Jews came together to honor him. From prison, he sent out new laws and especially ordered that the sad ceremonies be turned into joy and to dress up, which they did. The Vizier, seeing that the Jews were not calming down, sent the impostor under guard to the fortress of Abydos. Yet even there, from everywhere, and especially from Constantinople, Jews flocked to worship him. Jewish scholars wrote letters to him in golden words. In opposition to our Lord and God Jesus Christ, they called him the Son of God. Then this is what happened: The Jews living in Belgrade, Adrianople, Poland, Africa, Greece, and other places, looking at the clouds at night, cried out: “Look, look, the clouds are carrying the Jews to Jerusalem! It is true that they will carry us too soon!” Preparing for this, they converted their property into money in order to reign with wealth, in accordance with their passions, because the Jews, with their vanity and inclination to sensual pleasures, are also money-lovers. Thus, it was very natural for the Jews in Turkey especially to become poor, who accepted a complete lie for the truth and thought that the time had come for the prophecy of Joel, uttered by blessed Peter on the day of the Fifty-Feast: “Your daughters shall prophesy.” Some, out of love of glory, even forced their wives to learn several sayings in the Chaldean language, which in meaning and in the very letter referred to the True Messiah. These women fell on their beds, pretending to be inspired, and uttered words from memory as if they were prophecies. Quick scribes wrote down these words, and the Jewish sages affirmed that they were prophecies, both because they were uttered in the Chaldean language, which these women had not learned at all, and also because the chachamim (sages) found the sayings that they uttered about the Messiah appropriate for this vagabond and attributed them to him. This became known also in Adrianople. Behold, the wife of a certain Jewish nobleman said to her husband: “I have been told by an angel that I should prophesy; now make me clothes, and then let the noblemen’s wives come and look at me” — and so it was done. Then she said, “I will prophesy in the evening,” and the husband called together the wise men and nobles of the Jews and prepared various expensive foods and amusements for their amusement and pleasure. The wife sat at first with importance, then suddenly threw herself on her bed, began to chatter in Spanish, and said a great deal without any connection about the Messiah. The Jews immediately dispersed, ashamed of such obvious absurdities. When the Sultan was in Adrianople, the Vizier was in Crete, and the Jews were not at peace, then the Vizier who was in office transported the false Messiah from Abydos in chains to Adrianople and presented him to the Sultan. The interpreter was the Royal Chief Physician Hermeneus, an Ottoman Jew. The Sultan asked the false Messiah, “Is it true what they say about you?” He answered, “No.” Then the Sultan asked him: “Is Mohammed the Prophet?” The Chief Physician told him in Spanish at this question that if he did not become a Turk, the Sultan would immediately order his death. Fearing this, he answered, “Certainly, Mohammed is the last prophet foretold by Scripture,” and thus he became a Mohammedan. Afterwards, he again began to go to the Jewish synagogues, and on this occasion, he told the Turks that he was going to the Jews in order to teach them piety. Before the Jews, under the pretext that the appointed time had not yet come, he hid himself, and they believed in him as though he were the Messiah. The nobles of Judea, desiring to have a holy race from him, gave him their daughters, and he corrupted them. He did the same in Constantinople until finally, the Government exiled him to Corinna for this, where he died.

Section 2 - About the Jewish man who pretended to be the Messiah in Thessalonica, and was believed by the Jews, and was taken to Belgrade to the Sultan, and was converted into a Saracen, and was accepted as the Messiah by the Jews, and what he told them to do, for which he was mocked with the words, “Geltimis?”

In the year 1683, in Thessalonica, again, a Jew began to claim to be the Messiah, and the Jews began to believe him. The Sultan demanded him to Belgrade. This deceiver, too, having accepted Mohammedanism, returned to Thessalonica, and the Jews accepted him again as the Messiah. He began to instill in them that for this reason all the misfortunes befall the Jews, and the Messiah does not appear to them, that they did not do as he did, and that they must do this now. In Thessalonica and Serres, even the 80-year-old chachamim accepted Mohammedanism. The Christians, mocking the Jews for accepting deceivers instead of the true Messiah, said to them: “Geltimis?” which means “Has He come?” This has remained a saying about the Jews to this day. In the year 1688, the Jews said that in one book, it was written that the Messiah would appear in Constantinople when there would be a war between the Turkish and Christian rulers, but since peace has been maintained between the Turks, Germans, and Muscovites to this day, this hope of theirs has remained empty.

Chapter 11

Section 1 - About how, having dismissed the Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha, the Pasha of Jerusalem did great injustice to the Holy Sepulchre, and regarding the expense that we painfully incurred due to the renovated wall of the Metochion in Constantinople, and regarding our return to Jerusalem.

When we arrived in Constantinople, the Sultan was in Belgrade at the time, and his Vizier was in Vienna. The Vizier was executed for the many battles he had lost, and the Pasha of Jerusalem, having learned of this, took an incalculable amount of money from the monastery. At that time, a ship also sailed to Jerusalem with materials for the construction of Turlai, which will be spoken of. It happened that at the Constantinople metochion, one wall fell, and the abbot rebuilt it, but the then Viceroy of the Pasha destroyed the wall and, in his cruelty, imprisoned some of the fathers. On this occasion, we again went to Adrianople and, with great reluctance, with great sorrow, we had to spend 32 portions. At that time, Patriarch Parthenius was in Adrianople for the 5th time, and we arrived in Constantinople with him in the month of July. Having drawn up here the royal charter of approval, we set off for Jerusalem. In Iconium, I became ill with my stomach and was in great danger. I barely made it in a carriage, that is, in a carriage to Alexandria, which is near Issicus. Having found an English ship here, we arrived on it to Haiphan. Here, having found a doctor, with the help of Christ, I recovered and arrived in Jerusalem, and we were at rest until April of the year 1685.

Section 2 - About how we repaid the entire debt of the Iberian Monasteries to the lenders and about the renovations and constructions we made in the Lavra of Saint Sabbas.

So, all our cares were directed towards paying the debts of the Iberian Monasteries, but without the Pasha, it was impossible to do this because all ranks had to receive the debt, and they demanded everything that was written in the conditions. So, on the 3rd day of the New Year, we gave the cruel Pasha 3,000 florins and immediately set to work. The Kadius at that time happened to be an incompetent man, who, having taken his fee, kept silent, although not of his own free will. Therefore, when the Kadius’ official came to the Patriarchal Chamber, and some Saracen nobles took our side, then we were able to pay off the debt owed by the Iberian Monasteries in one week, which was 94,000 grosias, giving the creditors less than 50,000 because some of them received the entire debt in full, others more than half. Others agreed to take half, and some less than half. The Kadius was replaced, and another came in his place, who, however, had no power, and the matter remained in good shape and finished. But the unjust Pasha used various tricks to take other money from us and finally showed us a paper written in Turkish, in which those who sent it allegedly gave him an order to put us to death, and thus he took from us another 3,000 florins. However, he gave us a letter confirming what had been done and secured the restoration of the Lavra of Saint Sabbas, which was completely destroyed on the southern side so that only the Church remained and the walls were no longer there. As a result, the sheep and goats of the Arabs wandered there, and in the Church itself, the Arabs kept vegetables and their bulls, and their wives entered the monastery and trampled it. With the official of the Kadius and the Pasha, and with some of the elders, we came to the Lavra of Saint Sabbas, and the official of the Kadius made a plan.

1. From the altar of the Church to the cell of Saint Sabbas, a large wall was built.
2. The place where Saint Sabbas labored.
3. The Cubiculim.
4. The courtyard near the Church where the Arabs’ donkeys used to sleep was paved with boards.
5. A wall was built anew from the outer gates to the rock and the outer tower.
6. Two Churches standing lower than the Cathedral Church were restored, as well as five houses on the southern side.
7. A stone staircase and a new house for pilgrims were built behind the gates.
8. The Damascus Tower was restored.
9. The large wall from the upper tower to the Tower of the Goldenmouth was raised by three cubits.
10. The Cathedral Church, due to the dilapidation of the roof and damage to the books from dampness, was covered, renovated, and painted.
11. The other walls and fences, except for the cells, were also restored.

All this was done according to the plan of Kadius. The construction began in the month of July and ended in November of the year 1686 and became, as we see, by the will of God, the last glory of the temple more than the first. But it is not the time to speak of this now, lest in speaking of what belongs to God, we should seem to speak as if it were our own: this is impious. For we do not act by ourselves, but God helps us. The whole construction cost more than 12,000 grosias.

Section 3 - About our return to Constantinople from Holy Salem when, at our request, all the Iberian monasteries were renovated, and about our long illness.

In the month of August, we went to Constantinople, and the fathers were charged with restoring the Iberian Monasteries if the Kadius would agree to a smaller sum, for they were all dilapidated and close to ruin, especially three: the Monastery of the Cross, the Monastery of Saint Nicholas, and the Monastery of Saint Basil. The fathers, finding an opportunity, obtained the Khatreshi, or letter of approval, from the Kadius. In one year, they restored the following Iberian Monasteries: the Cross, Saint Nicholas, Saint Basil, Saint Theodore, Saint Anna, and Saint George in Euraida. Of what troubles occurred at that time, now is not the time to speak. 20,000 grosias were spent on all the repairs of the said monasteries. We traveled to Constantinople by land with great difficulties, and when we were preparing to leave Adrianople for Wallachia, the Vizier was dismissed, and Suleiman Pasha, a Serb by birth, a cunning man but known to us, was appointed Vizier in his place. We went to him in Adrianople to congratulate him. Going to him at night, I tripped on a stone, and my leg became ill from this. The Vizier received us kindly, but I became so ill with a fever as I had never been ill before, God knows from what. For this reason, we had to stay from December to March.

Chapter 12

Section 1 - A review of the typography found in Byzantium, and the one thrown into the sea, and about the Greek typography established in Iași, and the printed books, and the attempts made by the ambassadors of Gaul and the papists to obtain the Holy Sepulchre, and the letter of the Gallic one to the Vizier.

We return to the previous narrative, namely, that under Patriarch Cyril Lucaris, productions of the Greek printing house were brought to Constantinople, by whom it is not known, and in them were published the works of Scholarius, the polemical work of Palamas against the Pope, the conversation of Marguniusm and some others. The Turkish rulers, having been bribed by the papists, threw the typography into the sea. Our hearts boiled when in the year 1680, being in Iași, we learned that the Moldavians had typography, but the Greeks did not. God, Who both begins and completes every good work, sent us one Wallachian hieromonk by the name of Metrophanes. We gave him 600 grosias, and he set up a printing house. We gave him some money for his expenses and sent him papers and a book by Nectarius against the supposed power of the Pope, which met our expectations and was printed, and we distributed it to everyone free of charge. This pleased us, and when we were in Adrianople in the year 1683, we sent more papers to Iași and printed the works of Symeon of Thessalonica. We also wrote about this to the commander Duca. But while we were in Jerusalem, a French ambassador arrived in Adrianople, and with him, the papists. They used various means to seize the shrines and even issued announcements that the Krakus of Poland was prompted to war by the fact that the Patriarch of Jerusalem was composing and printing such books. There were many disputes about this matter, but the clever Vizier refuted them all. After the death of this ambassador, another arrived in Adrianople while I was there ill. This one, like the former, began to arm himself against us and make claims to the shrines and showed the charter of the King of France about this matter. He then asserted: “The Rex of Sicily owned Jerusalem, and we are his relatives. As such, the inheritance should be ours by right.” The Turks were torn by these words, but the war with the Germans forced them to remain silent. However, they answered the Celt with charters that did not at all correspond to his demands.

Section 2 - The Vizier’s technical response to the Gallic one, requesting to sit as Consul himself in the Suez, as well as about the Holy Sepulchre, to which the future visitor would be brought, entering the Vizier’s, we talked a lot, and about our emigration to Wallachia.

The Frenchman also sought to have a Consul in the Suez (which in ancient times was called the city of heroes and lies on the Western Gulf of the Red Sea) and for his ships to come there with goods from India and Yemen of Arabia, so that all those products that come on port ships from India to the West, also to Persian Benteri, to Bashra, to Mecca, and, above all, everything that the Arabs bring from Gemeni and the Suez, all this should be sent to the French to all these trading places and to the Suez itself. The Turks, supposing that the Gallicians had become experienced in sailing the Red Sea, would rob those passing from India and Yemen of Arabia to Mecca and Egypt, and would build a fortress on some island to hinder their trade, rejected their request, prompted to do so not by the rules of justice, but by political views, since they were afraid that they would act in concert with the Venetians and Germans. Thus, they said in response to the Gallic one that they would send to ask the Sharif (this is the Head of Mecca, Emir by birth, but receives power from the Sultan) and the Government of Egypt about this because without their consent they cannot do this. Regarding the affairs of Jerusalem, the Turks said to them: “You and the Romans, it seems, speak fairly, but we will send the Aga of Jerusalem, that is, the Sultan’s official, with an order to investigate on whose side justice is.” I, although still sick and weak, went to the Vizier with the great interpreter and Exaporriton of the Empire, Lord Alexander Mavrocordatos, and the nobleman Manolachus Castoriano. The Vizier seated me next to him and began to ask about our affairs.

The following excerpt is an annotation by Patriarch Chrysanthus of Jerusalem.
How forgetful you have become, Most Holy Master! You have not explained here about the sable coat that you presented to him as a gift, that I carried in my hands, and also about the 500 Venetian gold coins! I was here from the very beginning to the end, and I, crying out, said thus: “Man! It will cause two disasters if you open an investigation in Jerusalem. Firstly, the judges will force money from the fathers with fear. Secondly, the Franks do not have the proper firman from you, and you know that they are always looking to seize the shrines in Jerusalem. Behold, when the Aga goes there, then upon his return, having been bribed by the Franks, will testify in their favor. Then they, that is, the Franks, will have reason to disturb you. May this consequence not happen, and especially during your reign, righteous and good man!” He answered me: “Be good-natured and do not tell me this. Steel yourself; it seems you do not know my disposition, which I had and have toward your co-religionists and to you yourself when you doubt me and present such empty pretexts. Let these Franks, who do not respect justice and are shameless, seek gains and impossible advantages. Let them support their requests by the fact that they want to fight against the enemies of the Sultan. We will find reasons to refuse them these two demands. To fulfill these demands of theirs, how is this possible? Therefore, we only gain time by telling them that we will open an investigation, and meanwhile, time flies. So, when we learn that they will arm themselves against the enemies of the Sultan, then it will be another matter, and if not, then all their searches are in vain. You write to the monks so that they do not fear, for you will not give anything and will be at peace.” So, after this, in the month of April 1686, we went to Wallachia, and the Aga went to Jerusalem with a French translator and with the papists.

Section 3 - About how the investigation of the pilgrimages of Jerusalem, and the petitions appeared to favor the Franks, and how the Vizier dismissed Franz’s letter about this, and about the mutiny of the army, and the enthronement of Sultan Mehmet, and the dismissal of the Vizier, and the help we received from Prince Șerban Cantacuzenus, and our passage from Wallachia to Iași, and our flight from there to Wallachia due to the raids of the Krakus of Poland, and our return to Byzantium, and about where we received the Golden Bull against the injustices at the Holy Sepulchre.

The royal official and the papists with him set out by sea, and they announced the purpose of their visit to the Kadius, the Pasha’s official, and the Saracen rulers after having arrived in Jerusalem. Having inspected everything that was inside the Cathedral Church and in Bethlehem, they wrote a paper that Golgotha, the Apocaphilosis, the Holy Cubicle, and the Church of the Ascension opposite it belonged to the Franks, and they say the same of the places in Bethlehem, the Holy Cave, the Cathedral Church, the southern courtyard and gardens. When the fathers began to tell the Aga that he was doing unjustly, he began to beat them and drive them out with a bare sword in his hand. The papists wanted to hang three lamps in the larger section, but the fathers opposed this and did not allow them to hang them. After this, the great Sanhedrin assembled in the present place, and all who were on the side of the Latins came here and wrote a report that everything that was listed in Bethlehem, including Apocaphilosis and Golgotha, belonged to the Franks, but Patriarch Theophanes had seized all of it 50 years before that. They also said the Cubiculum supposedly belonged to the Franks, but Patriarch Dositheus had seized it 11 years ago. Then, they treacherously wrote a report about how many monasteries and Churches the Franks and the Romans had in order to show that the Romans owned much while the Franks were wronged. But the Aga, returning with the interpreter to the Vizier, who was then in Sirmium, did not succeed in doing anything. The so-called Christian King of France himself, although he wrote to the Vizier, reproaching him, did nothing either. Two years later, on the 21st of October in the year 1687, when the Germans took Pudi and Varantini during the rebellion of the army against Murza in Sirmium, and upon the return of the army to Constantinople, on Saturday, the Sultan was replaced, the Vizier was killed, and the actions of the ambassador completely ceased. When we were in Wallachia, the Lord of Wallachia, Șerban Cantacuzenus, through a letter to the Vizier, did much good for the Holy Sepulchre; may the Lord reward him in the heavenly Jerusalem. From Wallachia on July 18th, 1686, we moved to Iași. When the King of Poland attacked Moldavia, then we again came to Wallachia from Iași on the 23rd of July. The evil that the King and the Poles did to the Monasteries, Churches, and Christians in general in Moldavia exceeds any sad story. They left without any revenge against them. In the year 1688, in the month of April, we arrived in Constantinople, and having received the Golden Bull from the Government concerning the insults done to us, we sent it to Jerusalem. Our affairs would have been in a good state if the Sultan had not been changed and the Vizier had not been killed. The change of the Sultan happened in this way:

Section 4 - About the change of Sultan Mehmet, the restoration of Sultan Suleiman, the evils of the apostates in Byzantium, and their immediate refutation. About the request for the Holy Sepulchre to the Vizier by the ambassador of France, and his expulsion. The sacking of Belgrade by the Germans and the expulsion of the then Vizier. The capture of Serbia and Dardania and the inaction of the Muscovite army. About how we received the hatisherif, about the victory of the Germans, the capture of the shrines of Serbia and Dardania, and about the Vizier Mustafa Pasha, son of Kioproulus.

In the Church of the Holy Wisdom, the Proconsul (for the Vizier had not yet returned from the war with his army), the Mufti or guardian of the law, and other judges and scholars were assembled. They announced the purpose of their meeting to the chief of the eunuchs, and he, taking Sultan Suleiman, the brother of Sultan Mehmet, from the palace in which he lived, brought him out before the assembly, and he was proclaimed Sultan. Then Sultan Suleiman sent his brother Sultan Mehmet an order to go into exile. Those sent with this order entered his very bedroom, gave him the paper, and he, saying: “This is God’s decree!” — went into exile after 40 years of his reign. This change happened so quickly that the city learned of it through a messenger. The troops came running in fury, caused many disasters in the city, and cut each other down. One poor, offended Turk, hanging his handkerchief on a pole, began to shout: “Flock to the banner of the Prophet.” Those living in the city and in Galata, thinking that this sign was deposing the Sultan, ran to the Palace to pay him the customary homage. When many people had flocked, the Sultan put up a banner, and since anyone who did not want to go under this banner would be considered an infidel, the rebels came, whom the people who had come running immediately put to death. Whoever here did not believe that the rebellion would somehow end was immediately killed.

A certain Ismail Pasha was then made Vizier. The French ambassador, seeking Jerusalem, was also with him. The Vizier told him outright that this would not happen and thus rejected him. After three months, the Vizier was replaced, and another came in his place who went with the Sultan to Adrianople. The Germans then took Belgrade and reached Nisa and Scopius. The Turks and the Tatar Khan, fighting with each other, destroyed most of Serbia and Dardania. At that time, a large Muscovite army came to the Tauride Peninsula but returned without success. We also went to Adrianople and received the hatisherif from the Government concerning the shrines because the French again began to stir up troubles both at the Royal Court and in Jerusalem.

At the onset of 1689, the Vizier fought with the Germans for Sofia, but the Turks were completely defeated by the Germans. Serbia and Dardania were again devastated by the war between the Turks and the Tatars. That is why the Sultan replaced the Vizier and made Mustafa Pasha, the son of Kioproulus, who seemed to be intelligent, fair, and capable of everything, the Vizier in his place.

Chapter 13

About the terrible actions committed by the Franks who came after the royal governor that took place in Jerusalem and throughout the entire Orthodox race subject to the nations, how the Franks lied by saying that they owned the shrines, the way they seized some authority for themselves, and about how the Orthodox have more shrines in Jerusalem than all the heretics.

Sozomen, in Book 6, Chapter 5 of his Chronicle, writes that under Emperor Constantine, Anthony the Great saw in a dream that horses were running on the altar and overturned the holy throne. From this, he directly concluded that many false and impure dogmas would arise in the Church and that heretics would appear. Indeed, under this same Constantine, and then under Julian and Valens, the heresies were revealed: the Arian, Anomean, and Pneumatomachian, as well as those disasters that occurred from these heresies. Gregory, in Book 8 of his History, relates that in the year 6836 [1328], on the 1st day of September, when, according to the custom, the Emperor and the Patriarch came with the Holy Icons to the purple pillar where the Divine Cross was erected during the singing of psalms, a pig, wallowing in the mud, suddenly ran there, began to run here and there, and suddenly disappeared. This was soon followed by the heresy of Barlaam and those cruel calamities which the Romans suffered from the Turks. So in our time, in the year 1688, in the Church of Saint George, in the Metochion of the Holy Sepulchre in Constantinople, on a feast day with a fairly large gathering of people, and during the sacred rite, a large wild dog suddenly ran into the Church, ran up to the very place of the bishop, circled around here for a long time like a wolf, barked wildly and suddenly disappeared. After this, there followed confusion from the Franciscans, attacks on the shrines, and the most onerous tax of the Jizya on Christians and on the monks themselves. This, and especially how many and how cruel the disasters the papists caused to Jerusalem when they came there with a firman and, with the Sultan’s official, stole the primacy at the shrines with treachery and violence, requires a special narration. Here, we will briefly mention only those of their actions.

1. Firstly, the Latins, in order to show themselves as inveterate and irreconcilable enemies of the Orthodox, destroyed the Temple in the Church of Bethlehem, which the Chian artists had built for us over the course of four years. They ridiculed and despised the Honorable Cross and the Holy Icons of Greek painting. They dug up the holy altar in the section of the Holy Sepulchre where the Patriarchs distributed the Holy Fire, and finding in its foundations the ark with the holy relics, they took it for themselves. Then they spread a false rumor that the Government had hanged the Patriarch, and they brought the Orthodox into great sorrow and confusion through this so that when news came there from us, the Christians joyfully made illumination in their houses that night. They slandered our Viceroy before the Government, saying that he had wronged the Sultan’s official, and they devised other schemes to do evil to the fathers. As a result, they were forced to withdraw to Damascus and remained there until we sent a firman from Adrianople that provided safety for them, and then they returned to Jerusalem.
2. Secondly: In vain and falsely, they proclaim everywhere that the shrines are under their control. Although in some of these places, they have received primacy, they have not received complete authority. We also brightly, solemnly, and as before with incomparably greater freedom than the papists, perform all the Church services in them, not fearing any obstacle from their power. Even when they say that the Holy Sepulchre and the Holy Cave are in their power, they seem to mean that they have the sole right to serve there while they bestow upon us the privilege of serving in what is officially their inheritance if we desire so, but if their claims were true, we would not serve there for many and various reasons, especially so that the people do not think that we are the same faith as them. Moreover, take the number of shrines, monasteries, and Churches we have in the very Catholic Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the holy city itself, and outside it both near and far, and you will note that the papists and the whole assembly of heretics do not have even half of what, by the grace of God, we possess and dispose of with full authority and discretion. The papists appropriated to themselves the aforementioned shrines in the 1689th year from the Nativity of Christ, in the month of April.

Thus, now bringing this book to a close, the Twelve-Books are finished. Glory to God the Three-Sun Light.

A Portion from the Epilogue Concerning the Heresy of the Logothete and the Orthodox Dogma of Transubstantiation

It³⁹ is said of Coridaleus in the above book that when he died, his heresy also died with him. However, one of his disciples remained, named John [Cariophilus], who came from a village located east of the city of Metres and called Karyas. The family descended from the Athiganians, about whom Theophanes says in the life of Michael the Kuropalates that they lived in Lycaonia and even fought against the mystery of the Eucharist. The present John descended from them and, having been a disciple of the atheist Coridaleus, obtained from him, according to his ancestors, the blasphemy against the sacred mysteries. As for him, he was a goldsmith by trade, in which he later became a master, when he drew up a pamphlet that he secretly showed to some, which was vehemently against divine communion and fought against transubstantiation. Learning of this, the then Most Holy Patriarch of Constantinople, Parthenius the Elder, who was the first among us to speak above, wanted to excommunicate him (for he was a cleric) and to anathematize him, but his father-in-law, the great oecomenus, begged the Patriarch to forgive him, promising that he would not to repeat the matter.

In 1664, Radul became the Prince of Wallachia, with whom the present John the Cartographer was friends, and he went with him and became a vestryman. Archbishop Ananias of Mount Sinai from Muscovy also came there, and he [Ananias] assured him [John] that he was a wise man and followed him into apostasy. Finally, John also became a great orator, and he secretly told some people blasphemous things about the mystery. They came to us and told of what they heard, and they wanted to anonymously deliver a homily in the Church to contradict his words. Following this, he was afraid to say more, respecting this lawful authority. But when the Sinaites came to us (in 1689), he advised them and taught them to do whatever they wanted to do, that they should kill the Jerusalemites, saying they should do so without seeking forgiveness, as they would have a great reward for such and such a reason. This John feared to sow his heresy around the double-edged sword of the Holy Ghost, Meletius Syrigos. Since Meletius had died, John now feared Nectarius of Jerusalem and Panagiotis, the great dragoman of the kingdom and disciple of Syrigus. When they, too, had fallen asleep, he feared us, but thinking that the Sinaites were killing us, in the questioning and answering of certain matters he also put a question about transubstantiation and answered that it was a blasphemous word. Having received his devisings of lawlessness in Adrianople, we sarcastically wrote to him that “we learned how you write about transubstantiation and let us finish it so that we can print it.” He, having received the letter, wrote to the Sinaites to have the heretic of Jerusalem killed. Then, having become disillusioned, he wrote the entire heresy of Calvin against the mystery in a few notebooks, and the notebooks amounted to almost twenty-five volumes. Just as Eusebius of Pamphilus wrote many praises of Christ (and his meaning was that He was the most sublime in all creation) so, too, the theologian in his notebooks wrote many praises of the Body and Blood of Christ in the mystery. However, his intention was to say that Christ is only in heaven and He is not really in the mystery, but the bread and wine are Body and Blood by grace to those who believe, and it is simply common bread and wine to unbelievers.

The Logothete was deluded and did not write anything against it openly in the notebooks regarding the mystery, but he continued with what was commonly said about the mystery, and he manipulated to text to convince readers that the mystery was oriented to the spirit, but he does not distinguish how he means to say something is spiritual is or how it can be so. He fought all the time with the word “transubstantiation” alone. Many obtained the notebooks about the miracle, and some of these had copied them. To stand against this, when the vizier returned from Belgrade, we came to Byzantium and revealed to the brothers the secret virus in the notebooks, everyone anathematized them. When a council was held and a letter of the synod was drawn up regarding the mystery of piety, even the very Logothete signed the anathema out of fear that he would anathematized. Then, after the liturgy in the Patriarchate on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, we spoke and anathematized the notebooks and tore them up openly, and everyone, bishops and clergy, rulers and all the people of the Lord, anathematized them as well. Let the scholar see the acts we have drawn up regarding this case.

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Troparion - Repeated Hymn - Tone 1
When thou didst inherit the Throne of the Mother Church, / the Holy Apostle James didst thou imitate / in calling the Church to one accord / to expel the errors arising from Calvin the Most Wicked one, / and protecting the Orthodox from across the whole world, / thy divine illumination saw them set free from the enemy. / Wherefore, O Blessed Dositheus, // We entreat thee to pray that our souls be saved.

Kontakion - Hymn of the Scroll - Tone 8
Let us hymn the luminary of the Man-Befriending God, / the pious protector of the faith, / who didst follow the footsteps of the Holy Hesychasts, / who art honored as the Guardian of the Lord’s Sepulchre, / who fought the darkness of error. / His wisdom spread to men as fire through leaves. / Therefore seeing him adorn the Heavens as he adorned the Church, / we keep his holy memory. / Him do we beseech to intercede for us, // that our souls find mercy!

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1. The “addition” to the Creed was the filioque clause
2. The Cluniac Reforms were initiated by Berno of Baume, the first abbot of Cluny Abbey, and his successor: Saint Odo of Cluny. Cluny Abbey was established by William I, Duke of Aquitaine
3. Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer
4. Pope Sergius sent a letter to the Patriarch of Constantinople containing the Creed with the filioque, but the first Pope to sing the filioque in the Creed in Mass was Pope Benedict VIII in 1014 at the instigation of Henry II, the Holy Roman Emperor
5. The Sacred Hermitage of Camaldoli was established by Saint Romuald in 1012, bringing along with him his own monastic pattern. It became its own unique monastic order in 1025, shortly before Saint Romuald’s death in 1027. It is unknown what Blessed Dositheus means by “re-established.”
6. 1043 AD
7. Marcus Antonius Coccius Sabellicus
8. De inventoribus rerum
9. Henri Spondanus
10. Revelation 9:11
11. A Mountain in Crete where Greek gods were said to live
12. Georgian Monks in the Holy Land
13. The Grotto of the Nativity
14. The “Golden Bull,” or Chrysobull, was a decree issued by Byzantine Emperors. It appears this custom, or one similar to it, was picked up by the Ottomans
15. 1 Venetian Florin = 140 to 1,000 US Dollars
    
    1 Grosi (in Turkish: Kuruş) = 4 Venetian Florins
16. 1632 AD
17. 1634 AD
18. Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha (1592 - 1644)
19. “Economos” (Οικονόμος), meaning Housekeeper or Steward, is a title of honor in the Orthodox Church. In the past, it was the title of the person in charge of Diocesan financial management.
20. Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha
21. The Iberia in the Caucasus, which is the ancient name of Georgia or Sakartvelo
22. “Albania” is the exonym for the Georgian state of the Eastern Caucasus. It has no etymological, historical, or cultural connection to Albania of Illyria.
23. Also called the Patericon
24. Patriarch Gerasimus I Spartaliotes
25. July 20th on the Old Calendar, which in the the mid 1600s was July 30th on the Gregorian Calendar. Today, July 20th on the Old Calendar is August 2nd.
26. Lines 1–24 in the Greek version of Chapter 2, Section 10 are not translated to Russian. They describe the geography of Alania and the history of a few of the cities. They were likely not translated because they were viewed as superfluous information.
27. By Romans, he means the Greeks. As successors of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Greeks called themselves Roman.
28. This happened in 571-2. https://web.archive.org/web/20120221074207/http://historyarmenia.org/8448.html
29. This happened in 591.
30. Blessed Dositheus interestingly says the Franciscans were established in 1170 when, in fact, they were founded in 1209. Francis of Assisi was born in 1181, and Dominic of Guzman, another founder of a papal monastic order, was born in 1170. Nevertheless, it is no mistake that he refers to the Franciscans as the origin of many evils which afflicted the Orthodox Church in the Holy Land.
31. Blessed Dositheus uses the word “fraron” (Φράρων), which translates to “friar.” In many places, this word is translated differently for contextual reasons. It may be translated to Franks, papists, or Franciscans.
32. The word used by Blessed Dositheus is Hampesians (Χαμπεσίων) and refers to the Ethiopians. Every instance of this word, except the first, will be translated to say Ethiopians.
33. It’s unclear who is being referred to here. Atallah is Arabic for Theodosius, which could mean Patriarch Theodosius (862–878). If that is so, it’s unclear what he means by “descendants.” It is possible he means patriarchal successors and not genetic descendants. It is also possible he means nephews and distant family when he says “descendants.”
34. Catholicos-Patriarch Domentius III (Kaikhosro Mukhran Batonisdze) (1660–1675)
35. +Dometius III was the brother of Prince Kaikhosro of Mukhrani. The region of Mukhrani encompasses modern-day Mtskehta-Tblisi. This is why Blessed Dositheus refers to him as the brother of the Mep of Tbilisi.
36. The Mep being referred to here is King Vakhtang V of Kartli and not Prince Kaikhosro.
37. The preceding two sentences are intentionally translated differently from what is written in Greek. The reason for this was so that it might not be misconstrued to think Blessed Dositheus believes the races of Franks and Armenians are servants of satan. The following is this section properly translated:
    
    “Then the two wings of Satan, the Franks and the Armenians, intended to give the debt to the lenders, and the Franks to take Saint Nicholas, and the Armenians to take other things.”
38. The word used here is Celt (Κελτόν). Historically, France was called Gaul, and this region was populated almost entirely with the Celtic Galatian peoples until their expulsion and replacement by the mixing of the Germanics and Romans. Yet the region kept the name “Gaul,” and it seems to me that Blessed Dositheus is referring to the French as Gallic when he calls them Celts.
39. The epilogue will be published in its entirety at a later date. This portion is Chapter 5: About the Heresy of the Logothete.