Severus II bar Masqeh

Severus was a monk at the monastery of Asphulos near Reshʿayna, and later became the archbishop of Amida.{{sfnp|Van Rompay|2011}} He succeeded Theodore as patriarch of Antioch in 667/668 (AG 979),{{sfnp|Van Rompay|2011}} and was consecrated by John Bar ‘Ebrayta, archbishop of Tarsus.{{sfnp|Mazzola|2018|pp=249-250}} 667/668 (AG 979) is given as the year of Severus' consecration by Bar Hebraeus in his Ecclesiastical History,{{sfnp|Mazzola|2018|pp=249-250}} whilst Michael the Syrian gives 666/667 (AG 978), and the Chronicle of 819, the Chronicle of 846, and the Zuqnin Chronicle place it in 664/665 (AG 976).{{sfnp|Harrack|1999|p=146}}{{sfnp|Palmer|1993|p=xlix}}

In Severus' tenure as patriarch, he attempted to centralise authority in the church by removing the right of the archbishops to ordain suffragan bishops.{{sfnp|Mazzola|2019|pp=399-413}} A number of bishops opposed Severus' challenge to the archbishops' rights, and united under the leadership of Sergius Zkhunoyo, bishop of Germanicia, Ananias of Qartmin, archbishop of Damascus, and Gabriel, bishop of Reshʿayna,{{sfnp|Moosa|2014|pp=477-480}}{{sfnp|Palmer|1990|p=155}} and asserted that this right had been established by the fourth canon of the Council of Nicaea in 325, whereas Severus argued this right had been abolished by the Council of Chalcedon in 451.{{sfnp|Mazzola|2019|pp=399-413}} Severus convened a synod at Beth Tellat to settle the dispute in 679/680, but was preempted by his opponents, who declared his deposition as patriarch of Antioch and excommunicated him, to which he responded by excommunicating them also.{{sfnp|Van Rompay|2011}}{{sfnp|Mazzola|2018|pp=249-250}}

The schism endured for four years until Severus, on his deathbed, wrote to John, archbishop of the monastery of Saint Matthew, to authorise him and the bishops Joseph and Sergius to restore communion to his opponents on the condition that they repented and renounced their actions against him.{{sfnp|Van Rompay|2011}}{{sfnp|Barsoum|2003|pp=330-331}} Severus subsequently died in 684 (AG 995),{{sfnp|Van Rompay|2011}} according to Michael the Syrian.{{sfnp|Moosa|2014|pp=477-480}} Other sources date Severus' death differently, as the Chronicle of 846 and the Zuqnin Chronicle place Severus' death in 682/683 (AG 994),{{sfnp|Harrack|1999|p=147}} and Bar Hebraeus gives 679/680 (AG 991).{{sfnp|Mazzola|2018|pp=249-250}}

Severus is known to have written a number of propitiatory prayers (pl. {{langx|syr|ḥusoye}}).{{sfnp|Barsoum|2003|pp=330-331}}

{{Reflist|3}}

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• {{cite book | last1 =Barsoum| first=Ephrem |date=2003|title=The Scattered Pearls: A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences|edition=2nd|publisher=Gorgias Press|translator=Matti Moosa|author-link=Ignatius Aphrem I Barsoum|url=https://archive.org/details/EphremBarsoumMattiMoosaTheScatteredPearlsAHistoryOfSyriacLiteratureAndSciences|accessdate=14 July 2020}}
• {{cite book | last1 =Fiey| first=Jean Maurice |date=2004|title=Saints Syriaques|publisher=The Darwin Press|author-link=Jean Maurice Fiey|editor1=Lawrence Conrad|editor-link=Lawrence Conrad|language=fr}}
• {{cite book |last1=Harrack |first1=Amir |title=The Chronicle of Zuqnin, Parts III and IV A.D. 488–775 |date=1999 |publisher=Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies |location=Toronto |isbn=9780888442864 }}
• {{cite book |editor-first=Marianna |editor-last=Mazzola|title=Bar 'Ebroyo's Ecclesiastical History : writing Church History in the 13th century Middle East|publisher=PSL Research University|url=https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-02142443/document|access-date=31 May 2020|year=2018}}
• {{cite journal|title=Centralism and Local Tradition : A Reappraisal of the Sources on the Metropolis of Tagrit and Mor Matay|first1=Marianna|last1=Mazzola|journal=Le Muséon|volume=132|issue=3–4|year=2019|pages=399–413|url=https://www.academia.edu/41866978|access-date=12 July 2020}}
• {{cite book |editor-first=Matti |editor-last=Moosa|title=The Syriac Chronicle of Michael Rabo (the Great): A Universal History from the Creation|publisher=Beth Antioch Press|url=https://archive.org/details/MichaelRaboExtract7th9th/page/n39/mode/2up|access-date=12 July 2020|year=2014}}
• {{cite book | last1 =Palmer|first1 =Andrew|date=1990|title=Monk and Mason on the Tigris Frontier: The Early History of Tur Abdin|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://archive.org/details/PalmerMonkAndMasonOnTheTigrisFrontier|accessdate=15 July 2020}}
• {{cite book | editor-last1 =Palmer|editor-first1 =Andrew|date=1993|title=The Seventh Century in the West Syrian Chronicles|publisher=Liverpool University Press}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |first1=Lucas|last1=Van Rompay|title=Severos bar Mashqo|encyclopedia=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition |editor1=Sebastian P. Brock |editor2=Aaron M. Butts |editor3=George A. Kiraz |editor3-link=George A. Kiraz |editor4=Lucas Van Rompay |url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Severos-bar-Mashqo|year=2011|access-date=11 July 2020}}

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{{succession box|

before=Theodore|

title=Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch|

years=667/668–684|

after=Athanasius II Baldoyo}}

{{s-end}}

{{Patriarchs of the Syriac Orthodox Church}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch

Category:Year of birth unknown

Category:684 deaths

Category:7th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops

Category:7th-century births

Category:7th-century Syrian people

Category:Christians from the Umayyad Caliphate

Category:Syriac Orthodox Church saints

Category:7th-century Christian saints

Category:7th-century writers

Category:Syriac writers