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"In Volume 1 of this series, Stephen Davis contended that the themes of "apostolicity, martyrdom, monastic patronage, and theological resistance" were determinative for the cultural construction of Egyptian church leadership in late antiquity. Volume 2, The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt, shows that the medieval Coptic popes (641-1517 CE) were regularly portrayed as standing in continuity with their saintly predecessors; however, at the same time, they were active in creating something new, the Coptic Orthodox Church, a community that struggled to preserve a distinctive life and witness within the new Islamic world order. Building on recent advances in the study of sources for Coptic church history, the present volume aims to show how portrayals of the medieval popes provide a window into the religious and social life of their community"--
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Editors’ Preface
Technical Notes
Part One The Coptic Papacy under Ottoman Rule (1517–1798)
Magdi Guirguis
Introduction
1. Exercising Authority: Patriarchs and Public Policy (Pope John XIII to Pope Matthew III, 1484–1646)
2. Contesting Authority: Patriarchs and Coptic Notables (Pope Mark VI to Pope Mark VIII, 1646–1798)
Part Two The Modern Coptic Papacy (1798–2011)
Nelly van Doorn-Harder
Introduction
3. Preparing for Reformation (Pope Mark VIII, 1797–1809; Pope Peter VII, 1809–52)
4. Educating Egypt (Pope Cyril (Kyrillos) IV, 1854–61; Pope Demetrius II, 1862–70)
5. Redefining Authority (Pope Cyril (Kyrillos) V, 1874–1927)
6. Leading in the Midst of Political Change (Pope John XIX, 1928–42; Pope Macarius III, 1944–45; Pope Yusab II, 1946–56)
7. Reviving Tradition, Reviving the Church (Pope Cyril (Kyrillos) VI, 1959–71)
8. Negotiating Political Landscapes (Pope Shenouda III, 1971–)
9. Reforming the Church for the Twenty-first Century (Pope Shenouda III, 1971–)
Works Cited: Primary Sources
Works Cited: Secondary Sources
Notes
Index
About the author
Magdi Guirguis is a professor at Kafrelsheikh University, Egypt, and scientific collaborator at the Institut français d'archéologie orientale (IFAO). He is the author of: An Armenian Artist in Ottoman Egypt: Yuhanna al-Armani and His Coptic Icons (AUC Press, 2008).
Nelly van Doorn-Harder is professor of religious studies at Wake Forest University, North Carolina. She is the author of Contemporary Coptic Nuns (1995), editor of Copts in Context: Negotiating Tradition, Transition and Modernity (2017), and co-editor of Between Desert and City: The Coptic Orthodox Church Today (1997, 2012), and Copts in Modernity (2021).
Summary
An authoritative history of the Coptic Papacy from the Ottoman era to the present day, new in paperback
This third and final volume of The Popes of Egypt series spans the five centuries from the arrival of the Ottomans in 1517 to the present era. Hardly any scholarly work has been written about the Copts during the Ottoman period. Using court, financial, and building records, as well as archives from the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate and monasteries, Magdi Guirguis has reconstructed the authority of the popes and the organization of the Coptic community during this time. He reveals that the popes held complete authority over their flock at the beginning of the Ottoman rule, deciding over questions ranging from marriage and concubines to civil disputes. As the fortunes of Coptic notables rose, they gradually took over the pope’s role and it was not until the time of Muhammad Ali that the popes regained their former authority.
In the second part of the book, Nelly van Doorn-Harder analyzes how with the dawning of the modern era in the nineteenth century, the leadership style of the Coptic popes necessarily changed drastically. As Egypt’s social, political, and religious landscape underwent dramatic changes, the Coptic Church experienced a virtual renaissance, and expanded from a local to a global institution. Furthermore she addresses the political, religious, and cultural issues faced by the patriarchs while leading the Coptic community into the twenty-first century.
Foreword
An authoritative history of the Coptic Papacy from the Ottoman era to the present day, new in paperback
