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John VII was Patriarch of Jerusalem from 964 to 966. He was among the bishops of Jerusalem who suffered a martyr's death at the hands of Muslim mobs. He was elected patriarch after the death of his predecessor Agathon in 964.

Two versions of his martyrdom have come down to us. The first involved revenge by the ruling governor. John became patriarch during the rule of the Ikhshidid governor Muhammad Ismail ibn al-Sanaji in Jerusalem. Muhammad demanded gifts be made to him on every occasion, that were a major expense on the patriarchate. Patriarch John complained to El Hasan, governor of Ramleh about these demands. In 966, after having complained several times, Muhammad took revenge on John by stirring up the Muslim mobs against the patriarch. The mob descended on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, set it on fire, and caused its cupola to collapse. Then the mob turned to the church on Mount Zion, which they also burned. The next day the mob continued its reign of destruction during which they found John hiding in the oil cistern of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and murdered him. The mob then took his corpse to the yard of the Church where they burned it.

A second version of his martyrdom maintains John was burned at the stake by a Muslim mob after writing to the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, pleading with him to hasten to Palestine and retake it from the Fatimid caliphs; however, Nikephoros did not take control of Palestine until the 970s.

References

1. Jerusalem Patriarchate website, Apostolic Succession section
2. Reynolds, Daniel, 'Death of a Patriarch: The Murder of Yūḥannā ibn Jamī (d. 966) and the Question of “Melkite” Identity in Early Islamic Palestine', in Rutger Kramer, and Walter Pohl (eds.), Empires and Communities in the Post-Roman and Islamic World, C. 400-1000 CE (New York, 2021; online edn, Oxford Academic, 20 Jan. 2022), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190067946.003.0008
3. Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. 1 The First Crusade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), p. 30.

Sources

• The History of the Church of Jerusalem

This article incorporates text from John VII of Jerusalem at OrthodoxWiki which is licensed under the CC-BY-SA and GFDL.

v t e Bishops and Patriarchs of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem
Bishops of Jerusalem (until 451)	James, brother of Jesus Simeon of Jerusalem Justus Zacchaeus Tobias Benjamin John I Matthias Philip Senecas Justus II Levis Ephram Joseph I Judas Marcus Cassianus Poplius Maximus I Julian I Gaius I Symmachus Gaius II Julian II Capion Maximus II Antoninus Valens Dolichianus Narcissus Dius Germanion Gordius Alexander Mazabanis Imeneus Zamudas Ermon Macarius Maximus III Cyril I John II Praulius Juvenal
Patriarchs of Jerusalem (from 451)	Juvenal Anastasius I Martyrius Sallustius Elias I John III Peter Macarius II Eustochius John IV Amos Isaac Zacharias Modestus Sophronius Anastasius II John V Theodore Elias II George Thomas I Basileus John VI Sergius I Solomon Theodosius Elias III Sergius II Leontius I Athanasius I Christodulus I Agathon John VII Christodulus II Thomas II Joseph II Orestes Theophilus I Nicephorus I Joannichius Sophronius II Euthemius Simeon II Savvas John VIII Nicolas John IX Nicephorus II Leontius II Dositheos I Marcus II Euthemius II Athanasius II Sophronius III Gregory I Thaddaeus Athanasius III Gregory II Lazarus Dorotheus I Theophilus II Theophanes I Joachim Theophanes II Athanasius IV Jacob II Abraham I Gregory III Marcus III Dorotheus II Germanus Sophronius IV Theophanes III Paiseus Nectarius I Dositheos II Chrysanthus Meletius Parthenius Ephram II Sophronius V Abraham II Procopius I Anthemus Polycarpus Athanasius V Cyril II Procopius II Hierotheus Nicodemus I Gerasimus I Damian I Timotheus I Benedict I Diodoros I Irenaios I Theophilus III
: in exile at Constantinople due to the Latin rule over Jerusalem

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