Makarios III Ibn al Zaʻīm and the Council of Florence

Makarios III Ibn al-Zaʿīm, the Greek (Rūm) Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch (1647-1672), was one of the most important Patriarchs and scholars of Antioch during the 17th century, some years before the split of 1724. It is known that he maintained good relations with the Church of Rome, and that he continued his predecessors’ policy concerning the missionaries in Syria and Lebanon allowing them to preach among the Orthodox. This paper aims to present the opinion of Ibn al-Zaʿīm concerning the council of Florence and its doctrines as it is expressed in his unedited historical work al-Durr al-manẓūm fī aḫbār mulūk al-rūm where in his narration on John VIII Palaiologos he dedicates a section entitled Ḫabar al-mağmaʿ al-ṯāmin allaḏī ṣār fī Flūranṣā. This Ḫabar, and for its importance, was extracted by Ibn al-Zaʿīm himself and included in his Mağmūʿ latīf, a catchall collection, where history, ecclesiastical practices, spirituality, dogma intertwine without an organizing principle. In the only known to us manuscript that witnesses the Mağmūʿ latīf, namely Ms al-Balamand, University of Balamand, Institute of History, Archaeology & Near Eastern Studies (IOHANES) – 39, to this Ḫabar is annexed an untitled section on the Council of Florence. This section, however, which I call ḏayl, is wittnessed separatley in other manuscripts, like MS Ṣarbā, Dayr al-Muḫallis – Dayr al-Šīr 372, p. 265-268 and MS Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library, Special Collections – Mingana Ar. Ch. 59, f. 41v-43v. This contribution then will take into analysis also the content of the ḏayl camparing it with that of the Ḫabar and trying to understand the relationship between the two texts and offering an edition for both of them according to their transmission in the various manuscripts.