title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Saint Thomas Christians believe that Thomas the Apostle arrived in the Malabar Coast around AD 52. He landed at Muziris (now estimated as Pattanam, near Kochi on the Malabar Coast), after his first mission in the Parthian empire, during the era of King Gondophares It is believed that St. Thomas itinerated for 30 years in Kerala and proceeded to the East coast of India from Malankara and died a martyrs' death at a place called Mylapore-Chinnamalai in Tamil Nadu.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Nazarenes in Malabar were either proselytized from mainstream Judaism by 'Mar Thomas' or 'Mar Bartholomeu'. Pantaneius's reference to the gift of 'Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew' by Bartholomeu to the Nazereans in Malabar is a clear pointer to the fact that Mar Thomas did evangelize Malabar, It could be further stated that either Mar Nathanael () aided in Mar Thomas' mission in India for a brief time before heading to Armenia or bar-Tau'ma, Son of Thomas assisted in his father's missionary activities per norms in , this could also explain why most of the priests in the order of St. Thomas were later allowed to be married, which led to the prerogative of sacerdotalism to certain groups/families and to people supported by them.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: In early Christian times, 'Nazranis' was not a separate religion, but a sect in the Jewish community. The term was used to denote followers of Jesus of Nazareth. (Acts. 24:5; 28:22). 'Khristianos' (or Christians) was initially used largely to refer non-Jewish people who followed Christ (Acts 11:26). In Kerala, the sect was known as 'Nazraani Margam'. Margam in Malayalam means, 'The Way'. (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:22). Thus, the word Nazraani clearly shows that many who joined them were Jews. But in Kerala, this name was replaced by the word 'Christians' in the 20th century.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The earliest families within the Jewish community to accept the path of Christianity through St. Thomas, later intermarried with the ethnic local community and Brahmins of the 6th century. This led to the upbringing of marginal class or 'sambandham' brahminic family clans like Pakalomattom, Sankarapuri and Kalli to a different socioeconomic status, they are now widely accepted as the first families who adopted an emigre way of life or 'Christianity' in Kerala. According to recent DNA research by Dr. Mini Kariappa, a significant number of Knanaya's share their ancestral roots with the West Eurasian gene pool of Jews.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Saint Thomas Christians were administratively under the single native dynastic leadership of Arkadyaqon (East Syrian term for an ecclesiastical head with extensive administrative powers, deriving from Greek αρχιδιάκονος = archdeacon) commonly referred as "Jathikku Karthavyan" ( Malayalam term meaning "Leader of The Community"). The Malankara Church believes that St. Thomas appointed elders at every place he preached to lead the believers. He prayed and laid his hands upon them, in the same way as the other disciples did (Book of Acts 6:1–6; 8:14–17; 13: 1–3). This was the system used until the arrival of Portuguese. By 1500, Malankara Church had Parish elders and a Church leader. Before the arrival of Portuguese, Latin was unknown to Malankara people. In the ‘'Decrees of The Synod of Udayamperoor'’ presented to the St. Thomas Christians in their mother tongue Malayalam, Malankara Mooppen was the name used to refer the Church leader, except on three occasions. During the period of Colonialism, (i.e., from the 16th century), the Portuguese Jesuits began deliberate attempts to annex the community into the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in 1599 AD, they succeeded in their attempt through the infamous Synod of Diamper. Resentment against these forceful measures led the majority of the community under their Arkadyaqon Thomas to swear an oath never to submit to the Portuguese, known as the Coonan Cross Oath in 1653. For the first time in 1653, the Church leader was given the title Mar Thoma when Thomas Arkadyaqon was consecrated as Mar Thoma I. The present head of the Mar Thoma Church is the twenty-first Mar Thoma.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: In the 2nd century (189-190 AD) AD, Pantaenus, the Philosopher and Missionary sent by Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria to India, found that there were many Christians in India with a Persian Bishop and that they had a copy of the Gospel according to Matthew in Aramaic. These Christians were the early evangelists of Malankara Church.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: During the time of King Shapur II (310–379) of Persia, a group of 400 immigrants (72 families) from Persia arrived in Malabar under the leadership of merchant Knai Thomman. They were engaged in trade and settled down in Kodungallur. Another immigration from Persia occurred around 825 under the leadership of Persian merchant Marwan Sabriso, with two Bishops, Sapro and Prodh. Together they were known as Knanaya/Kanai people. They continued to remain partially in an endogamous group within the Nasrani community. They cooperated with the Malankara Church, attended worship services together but remained a separate identity. By the 10th century, in Malabar there were two Nazrani groups, the Saint Thomas Christians and Knanaya community.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Following the arrival of Christians from Persia, their bishops, priests or laymen began visiting them. Most of them were not able to return due to financial difficulties and travelling long distances. The Knanaya people were worshipping together with the St. Thomas Christians. So these visitors also attended these services. It was a matter of ongoing dispute between different churches in Kerala whether the Syrian bishops had any administrative responsibility or jurisdiction over the St. Thomas Nazrani Christians.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Persian crosses were in churches once attended by Nasranis. Out of five Persian crosses, two are in Kottayam Knanaya Valia Palli. According to the archaeologists, the earliest one was made in the 7th century. The cross became a symbol of Christianity in the west, during the time of Constantine (272–337). Saint Thomas Christians of Malabar had hardly any contact with other Christians before the arrival of Knanaya people from Persia. Moreover, two of the oldest church buildings that still exist in South India do not have any marking of a Cross on their original structure. So most probably it was during the 7th century that the cross became a symbol of St. Thomas Christians.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The rulers of Kerala, in appreciation of their assistance, had given to the Malankara Nazranis, three deeds on copper plates. These are known as Cheppeds, Royal Grants, Sasanam etc. Five sheets of them are now in the custody of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church Headquarters at Thiruvalla.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Portuguese started settling in India with the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498. For the next 200 years, they took control over the sea routes and were powerful in the western parts of India. By 1500, Malankara Church was spread from Kannur in the North to Kollam in the South. It included the Saint Thomas Christians and the endogamous group, Knanaya Christians. The Saint Thomas Christians went through changes with the encounter of Portuguese in 1599. In the 16th century the overtures of the Portuguese "padroado" to initiate the Saint Thomas Christians into the Catholic Church led to the first of several rifts in the community and the establishment of Pazhayakoor and Puthenkoor factions. Since that time further splits have occurred.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Malankara Church had hardly any contact with the Western Church. The Portuguese used their power to bring the Malankara Church under Latin jurisdiction. A powerful Archbishop Aleixo de Menezes arrived in Goa in 1595. He then convened a Synod at Udayamperoor, south of Ernakulam, from 20 to 26 June 1599, known as the Synod of Diamper. Here the Archbishop demanded complete submission to the Latin jurisdiction. The representatives sent from various parishes in and around Cochin were forced to accept the decrees read out by the Archbishop.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: A protest took place in 1653 with the Coonan Cross Oath. Under the leadership of Archdeacon Thomas (Mar Thoma I), the Thomas Christians publicly took an oath that they wouldn't obey the Jesuit bishops.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Rome sent Carmelites in two groups from the Propagation of the Faith to Malabar headed by Fr. Sebastiani and Fr. Hyacinth. Fr. Sebastiani arrived first in 1655. He began to deal directly with the Archdeacon Thomas (Mar Thoma I). Fr. Sebastiani gained the support of many, especially with the support of Palliveettil Chandy, Alexandar Kadavil and the Vicar of Muttam. These were the three councilors of Mar Thoma I, who was reconciled with Gracia (SJ) before the arrival of Sebastaini, according to Jesuit reports.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Pazhayakūr Catholic faction persistently challenged the validity of the ordination of Mar Thoma I by laying hands of 12 priests. It led many people to believe what they said and chose to rejoin with the catholic faction.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Between 1661 and 1662, out of the 116 churches, the Carmelites reclaimed eighty-four churches, leaving Archdeacon Mar Thomas I with thirty-two churches. The eighty-four churches and their congregations were the body from which the Syro Malabar Church and the Chaldean Syrian Church have descended. The other thirty-two churches and their congregations represented the nucleus from which the Syriac Orthodox (Jacobites & Orthodox), Thozhiyur, Mar Thoma (Reformed Syrians), Syro Malankara Catholics have originated.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: In 1665 with the request of the Archdeacon, Gregorios Abdul Jaleel a Bishop sent by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, arrived in India. A faithful group under the leadership of the Archdeacon welcomed him. The arrival of the Bishop Gregory of the Syriac Orthodox Church in 1665 marked the beginning of a formal schism among the St. Thomas Christians. Those who accepted the West Syrian theological and liturgical tradition of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch of Gregory became known as the Jacobite, while the Syrian Catholics remained in communion with Rome and later came to be known as the Syro Malabar Church.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Under the leadership of their elder Thomas, Nazranis around Cochin gathered at Mattancherry church on Friday, 24 January 1653 (M.E. 828 Makaram 3) and made an oath that is known as the Great Oath of Bent Cross.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: ""These Portuguese having murdered Mar Ignatius, we will no longer join them. We renounce them, and do not want either their love or their favour. The present Francis, bishop, shall not be our governor. We are not his children or followers. We will not again acknowledge Portuguese bishops.""


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Those who were not able to touch the cross-tied ropes on the cross held the rope in their hands and made the oath. Because of the weight it is believed by the followers that the cross bent a little and so it is known as "Oath of the bent cross" ("Coonen Kurisu Sathyam").


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Four months after this event, according to the beliefs, 12 elders of the church ordained the elder Thomas as their prelate with the ecclesiastical title Mar Thoma I.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Their beliefs and practices before the arrival of the Portuguese as evident in the canons of the Synod of Diamper.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Dutch East India Company defeated Portuguese for the supremacy of spice trade in Malabar in the year CE 1663. Malankara Nazranis used this opportunity to escape from Latin persecution with the help of the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch brought Bishop Gregorios Abdul Jaleel of Jerusalem of the Syrian Orthodox Church in their trading vessel in CE 1665. Thomas Arkadyaqon who was consecrated as Mar Thoma I entered into a relationship with the West Syriac Orthodox Church and gradually adopted West Syriac liturgy and practices. The Dutch were on the Malabar Coast from 11 November 1604 - 1795. Mar Thoma I to Mar Thoma VI were the prelates during this period.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The English defeated the Dutch in 1795 and took over Cochin during the time of Mar Thoma VI. In 1806, Rev. Dr. Claudius Buchanan, an Anglican missionary visited Malankara and met Mar Thoma VI. The Bible that was translated from the original Aramaic into Malayalam by two Malpans (Syriac Professors) was printed with the help of Buchanan.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The early British Residents happened to be people of evangelical persuasions and were curious about the native church. In 1808, a bond for the sum of 3000 Star Pagoda (Rs. 10,500) was handed over by General Colin Macaulay, the British Resident in Travancore to the Govt. for Mar Thoma VII with the condition that the interest (known as Vattipanam) be paid to the Metropolitan of the Syrian Church of Malabar.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The next Resident Colonel John Munro was approached by a monk (Ramban) Pulikkottil Joseph Ittoop, with the idea of setting up a seminary for the Malankara church. The idea appealed to Munro and under his patronage, the Ramban got the construction completed by 1815. At the resident's behest, the Anglican Church Mission Society sent its missionaries on a "Mission of Help", to educate the seminarians. In 1815, Joseph Ramban was consecrated by Philexenos of the Thozhyoor Church and was given the ecclesiastical title Dionysius II. To make the Malankara Church accept him as their head, Col. Munro had to get the rulers of Travancore and Cochin issue Royal proclamations ordering Christians to render obedience to Dionysius II. The next two prelates were also selected by Col. Munro and Royal proclamations were issued to them also.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The British missionaries believed that a reformation of the Malankara Church was imperative (since, for instance, they found in the Indian church "those doctrines which we threw off at the Reformation: "Purgatory ... worshipping and adoration of images and relics, and also invocation of saints'") whose presence made reform imperative, and ventured to bring it about through a process of theological instruction and subtle persuasion. By and by, they prodded Metropolitan Punnathra Dionysius III into convening an assembly of his leading kathanars and missionaries at Mavelikkara to discuss the matter. This meeting which took place on 3 December 1818, appointed a committee of six elder kathanars to come up with scheme for reformation, in consultation with the metropolitan and missionaries. Some priests like Abraham Malpan, Kaithayil Gheevarghese Malpan etc., who worked along with the missionaries at the Kottayam seminary were part of this committee. They were especially receptive to Anglican ideas. Before the committee brought their findings Punnathra Dionosyus died and Cheppad Dionosyus became the Malankara Metropolitan. Cheppad Dionosyus rejected the committee findings and went on with actions that was against the reforms made by his predecessors. Later, as Anglicans such as Joseph Peet tried to dominate the Pazhaya Seminary and started to create other issue in the Church, Malankara metropolitan Dionysius IV convened a synod at Mavelikkara on 16 January 1836, where-in the participants resolved not to deviate from their Oriental Orthodox faith or traditions and to remain faithful to the Patriarch of Antioch. This ended the official partnership between the missionaries and the Malankara Syrian Church.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The British Anglicans had many well-wishers in the Malankara Church. Priests like Abraham Malpan and others continued to collaborate with the missionaries to reform the church from within. In 1836, Abraham Malpan, Kaithayil Gheevarghese malpan and other reformist kathanars submitted a memorandum to Resident Col. Fraser, levelling charges of abuse against metropolitan Dionysius IV and a 23-point stratagem for the reformation of the church. But as the metropolitan was against all reforms, nothing came of it. Regardless, Abraham Malpan produced a reformed revision of the West Syriac Rite and used it in the seminary and his parishes. Consequently, Abraham Malpan was excommunicated. Malankara metropolitan Dionysius IV refused to ordain anyone trained by reformist malpans.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Though Maramon Palakunnathu Abraham Malpan was bounteous in his temperament, he never hesitated to introduce reforms in both teaching and practice. He also insisted on a high moral standard of conduct for laity and clergy alike. All this created a ferment in the Malankara Church and its effects are still discernible in the Church as a whole.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The first printed Malayalam Bible, translated from Syriac was published in 1811. Known as Ramban Bible it contained only the four Gospels. By 1841, the whole Bible was translated, printed and released. Counselled by Anglican missionaries who taught at the Orthodox Theological Seminary, Mar Thoma XI convened a meeting of representatives of the Malankara Church with the missionaries at Mavelikkara in 1818. In that meeting, a review committee was appointed to recommend reforms, in consultation with the metropolitan and the missionaries. Abraham Malpan, Kaithayil Geevarghese Malpan, Eruthikkal Markose Kathanar, Adangapurathu Joseph Kathanar were members of this committee. This was the first step in carrying out Reformation in Malankara Church.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: On 5 September 1836, the reformation was planned. The strategy was determined by a group of 12 clergymen under the leadership of Abraham Malpan. They issued an encyclical describing what they believed were the wrong teachings, a statement listing twenty-four practices of the Church which they believed were "evil" and had crept in by its association with other Churches and religions and the same as a petition to a British Resident.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: On 27 August 1837 (Sunday), then suspended Abraham Malpan conducted the Holy Communion service in mother tongue Malayalam at his home parish at Maramon. Clergymen, who supported him also did the same thing in various other parishes on the same day.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Connected with a saint (Baselios Yeldo), every year in the first week of October, there was a church festival at Maramon. During that time a wooden statue of that saint, they called "Muthappen" (Meaning:- Elder father) was taken around in procession, and people used to venerate the saint by offering prayers and ask for intercession. In 1837, Abraham Malpan from deeper biblical understandings and of the spiritual scruples surrounding it, took the statue and threw it into a well saying, "Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah 8:19). So when the festival came there was no statue to be taken out for the procession.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The use of the revised liturgy and the changes he brought about in practices disgruntled Mar Thoma XII. So Abraham Malpan was excommunicated. Deacons trained by him were refused priesthood. But Abraham Malpan was not disheartened. He continued with his spirited reforms. He returned to Maramon. Many of his students joined him to continue their studies. All those who believed that "The Church" needed a revitalization also joined him. Members of parishes in Kozhencherry, Kumbanad, Eraviperoor, Thumpamon, Elanthoor, Kundara, Kottarakara, Mavelikkara, Mallapally, and many other places made trips to Maramon to attend the service in Malayalam and listen to his sermons. Doors were also opened for reformation in other places by ministers who supported him.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: At this stage, he had three choices in front of him. Repent and go to the beliefs under Antioch; join the Anglican Church with western aid; or go forward with the Cleansing and restoring "The Church" to what he thought would bring it to a pristine position, A church uncontaminated by avarice, venality, licentiousness, and rapacity. He selected the third one. Abraham Malpan died in 1845.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Realising the need for a bishop to lead the reformists, Abraham malpan sent his nephew Deacon Matthews to the patriarch in Antioch. The patriarch, unaware of Mathew's reformation leanings, ordained him as bishop Mathews Athanasius in 1842 and he returned to Travancore in 1843. Metropolitan Dionysius IV sent word to the patriarch that he has been deceived and called for prompt corrective action. Mathews Athanasius did not have the approval of the majority of Malankara Christians who were opposed to reforms. In spite of that, the initial patriarchate delegations failed in their mission to help their loyalists. More than anything else, this was due to the British support for the Reformist bishop and Mathews Athanasius ultimately became Malankara Metropolitan in 1852. Mathews Athanasius published the liturgy without the prayer to St. Mary. He consecrated Ouseph Koorilos, as Metropolitan/Bishop for Malabar Independent Church. The entirety of strong-arm actions incited many clergymen and Pulikkottil Ouseph Kathanar went to Antioch in 1864. He returned as Dionysious V in 1865.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Orthodox conservatives led by Dionysious V repeatedly sought intervention from the See of Antioch. Discerning the source of the reformists' strength, Patriarch Ignatius Peter IV travelled to London. Whilst being there, he made many supplications to several high ecclesiastical and governmental authorities, pleading to end the partisan British support for Mathews Athanasius in India. Eventually, the British government and churchmen came to accept a position of neutrality with respect to the affairs of the Malankara Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury Archibald Campbell Tait apprised the patriarch of this change in British stance. Armed with significant success, the patriarch sailed for India.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: After reaching India, the Antiochian patriarch did everything within his power to aid the traditionalist Orthodox faithful. In 1875, Patriarch Ignatius Peter IV excommunicated Mathews Athanasius, Thomas Athanasius (ordained by Mathews Athanasius as his successor) and their Reformist followers from the Malankara Syrian Church. The Reformists desperately besought the Archbishop of Canterbury as well as British authorities, to intervene on their behalf, but to no avail. The British colonial administration abstained from extending their crucial endorsement to any one faction, thereby disengaging themselves from local church matters. Thus, the rival parties had to settle their disputes, entirely by means of court litigations.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Dionysious V and his supporters filed a case on 4 March 1879. (Case O.S. No. 439 of 1054) demanding the possession of the seminary and the control of assets of the Church. Thomas Athanasius was then the Metropolitan.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: During the course of this litigation (1879–1889), answering a question Thomas Athanasius Metropolitan said,


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: A meeting was convened by the Maharaja of Travancore, before the final verdict was given, Athanasius testified that,


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The final verdict which came on 12 July 1889, upheld the conservative position on the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, as being the only competent ecclesiastical authority historically authorized to ordain and appoint bishops to the Malankara Metropolitanate. The ruling declared Dionysious V the rightful Malankara Metropolitan owing to his loyalty to the Antiochian patriarchate known as Jacobite Syrian Christian Church wherefrom he received direct consecration and his acceptance by the majority of Malankara Christians. The judgement also dismissed all claims of the reformists and their leader Thomas Athanasius to the Metropolitanate or its assets. The Metran Kakshi decided to remain as an independent Malankara Church, and to give primary authority to the Holy Bible and continue as the successors of St. Thomas throne. They separated and established the Reformed Mar Thoma Syrian Church.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Many in the Church were fascinated by Gandhian philosophy and particularly its Primates Abraham Thoma, Yuhanon Mar Thoma, and Alexander Mar Thoma were strong Advocates of Gandhian methods. They wore Ecclesiastical robes stitched from Khadi. The church actively worked in areas of education, empowerment of women, eradication of social evils, and self-reliance. Mar Thoma Sabha councils and Maramon Convention became a platform for disseminating Nationalist ideas. Many nationalist leaders like K. Keshavan, C. V. Kunjiraman, T. M. Varghese, Pattam Thanupillai had used Maramon Convention to mobilize people against Divan Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer's move to form an Independent Travancore separate from India. In 1936 Kunjiraman through his speech at Maramon gave an ultimatum to Travancore Royalty to give freedom of worship in temples for all Hindus immediately or see mass conversions to Christianity. The practice of political leaders attending with the Christian gathering at Maramon has its origin from that period.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Ramaswami Iyer liquidated the Quilon bank and sealed off Malayala Manorama, the leading newspaper, for criticizing the divan. Abraham Mar Thoma spoke about these notorious acts and visited those who were jailed by him. He further visited the Maharaja of Travancore and complaint about Divans tyrannical rule. Mar Thoma church at this point passed a church resolution against Divan and independent Travancore which infuriated the divan and ordered for the Metropolitans arrest and imprisonment. However, the arrest order was not executed. It was all done at a point of time when other churches and communities of Travancore praised divan or feared to utter a word against the divan. Later the Mar Thoma church had to pay the price for that social action. The land allotted in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram to construct a church by Maharaja Sree Moolam Thirunal was taken back. Mar Thoma church was selectively targeted by Divan, by not giving permissions for the construction of cemeteries and new church buildings.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Thevarthundiyil Titus popularly known as Titusji was the only Christian in the band of 78 inmates selected by Gandhiji from Sabarmati Ashram for breaking the salt law at Dandi in 1930 (Popularly known as Salt March). In 1937 when Mahatma Gandhiji was touring Kottayam, Mar Thoma Seminary School opened its doors to Gandhiji. He stayed a night there with K. K. Kuruvila is popularly known as Kerala Deenabandhu (because of his close association with C. F. Andrews Deenabandhu), then principal of the school, he was an MA graduate from Trinity College (Connecticut). Kuruvila was the founder of newspaper "Kerala Bhooshanam" which was active during the movement for responsible government in Travancore during the 1940s. K. C. Thomas (1901-1976) another noted freedom fighter of the era and once President of "Nivarthana Prasthanam" was in the thick of the agitations against Sir C.P.'s rule in Travancore. He was the secretary of the Jilla Committee of the State Congress was arrested along with Kannara Gopala Panikkar and jailed on 21 September 1938. Their Arrests led to widespread protests in Chengannur and finally led to the infamous 'Mills Maidhan Event' on 28 September 1938 where Divans police used brutal force to dismiss the protesting crowd which resulted in bloodshed. Cherian Thomas son of K.C. Thomas was actively involved with the Bhoodan Movement of Acharya Vinoba Bhave. N.G. Chacko, the freedom fighter plunged into freedom struggle during 1920. He was arrested and jailed for anti-British protests and waving black flag in protest against the visit of the Prince of Wales Lord Wellington, then Governor-General in 1921. P.T. Punnoose is another leader of the era, he started his political activities through Congress party in 1938 however later he became a Communist leader. He was the Secretary of Travancore Communist Party and one of the organisers of the Punnapra Vayalar Revolt. He laid strong foundations for the Communist party in Ambalappuzha, Cherthala, and Alappuzha. He was later elected from Ambalapuzha Constituency to the Indian Parliament.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: T. M. Varghese was a Christian among the trio who formed the Joint Political Party and spearheaded for the formation of a responsible Government. Another Mar Thoma Syrian and Gandhian of that era K.A. Mathew started his activities by writing articles in the magazine "The Christian Patriot" which articulated the dissemination of nationalist feelings among Indian Christians. In 1939 at Amsterdam when the union jack was raised in "International Christian Youth Assembly" for Indian delegates, K.A. Mathew raised the Indian flag in solidarity and carried along with him. Back in Travancore he was active in the movement against Divan Sir C.P. and his independent Travancore. He opposed a move among the Syrian Christians of Tiruvalla to erect a statue of Divan at the center of the town. He was implicated in many false allegations and cases by the divan and jailed him many times. He was elected to legislative assembly in 1948. Barrister George Joseph a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and a Home Rule proponent mobilized the people in the Vaikom Satyagraha in early stages but later handed over the leadership to K. Kelappan as per the wishes of Gandhiji. During his stay in Madurai he was closely associated with labour union movement and worked in changing the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA), which targeted specifically Kallar and Mukkulathor community. They affectionately called him Rosappu Durai (Master with a rose flower). He was a close friend of K. Kamaraj and Tamil Poet Subramanya Bharathi. Subramanya Bharathi Penned the patriotic song "Viduthalai Viduthalai" when he was staying at George's home. Seven years prior to his death George Joseph joined the Catholic church. Many young Syrian Christians who were staying in Malaya during the 1940s was attracted to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and joined the INA. O.C. Chacko a Marthomite from Kuriannoor, joined the Indian National Army in 1943 when he was in Singapore. A Mar Thoma priest, Rev. C.V. George from Ranny in his youth as an advocate was an active member in the freedom struggle and was jailed for his involvement in activities against British Raj. He is the only Mar Thoma Priest who is recognized and awarded as a freedom fighter by the Government.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: After India attained its freedom in 1947, the Government of India lowered to the level of a despotic rule during the time of Emergency of 1975. The Emergency was followed after election malpractice allegation and following the verdict against Indira Gandhi. All leaders who spoke against the Emergency rule were jailed or kept in house arrest. It was at this time Yuhanon Mar Thoma wrote a letter to Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India criticizing emergency and requesting to follow ideals of constitution. There were strong rumors about the anticipatory arrest of Yuhanon Mar Thoma. M.M.Thomas another Mar Thoma Syrian and theologian advocating Ecumenism of Churches had written many articles on the emergency situation. In spite of criticism from many Christian groups, M.M. Thomas made his point in depicting the basic fact of violation of human rights and stressed the need of the democratic organization of the people for the realization of social justice in India. Mar Thoma Church also passed a resolution against Emergency and for the restoration of democracy privately. Mar Thoma church was also closely associated with the land for the landless and home for the homeless movement much before Acharya Vinoba Bhave initiated Bhoodan movement.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The word "liturgy" is derived from the Greek word "leitourgia" ("leitos"/"loas": people +"ergos": work) which means a service rendered to God and people. When the Bible was not available, the liturgy took the role of the Bible, much of the scripture is formed in the liturgical context. The original liturgical language used by the Malankara Church was Aramaic and Hebrew. The Bible that was in use also was in Hebrew. Later when Syriac replaced Aramaic in eastern countries, and the arrival of Knanaya people from Persia in AD 345, the Malankara Church began using Syriac. The Bible used in the Malankara Church is called the "Peshitta" and was in Estrangelo Syriac. This was the Bible that was in use till Malayalam (the language of Kerala) translation was available. The first printed Malayalam Bible, translated from Syriac was published in 1811 by Philipose Ramban with the provision of Claudius Buchanan, known as Ramban Bible it contained the four Gospels. (A copy of this Bible was later presented to Buchanan and is kept at Cambridge University Library.) By 1841, the whole Bible was translated, printed and released by missionary-scholar Benjamin Bailey with the help of Chandu Menon, a tahsildar in the Madras State service. Even though bishops from Syrian churches visited Kerala, they did not attempt to change the Bible into the newer forms of Syriac or to the native language. In June 1876, Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Pathrose IV visited Kerala and a majority of the Malankara Church accepted him as the head of their church. But those who did not join them continued to follow their own leaders and kept their peculiar identity garnered from reformation. After Mar Thoma Church had begun to use the liturgy in mother tongue Malayalam, other churches continued to follow the same for a deeper engagement with the laity. A revised version of the ancient and apostolic liturgy known as People's liturgy, the Liturgy of St James (Gal.1:18-19), was adopted in the church, later the liturgy has been translated into various languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. The Mar Thoma church follows the West Syrian liturgical tradition and is Eastern in the nature of its worship and ethos.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: There are six liturgies other than Saint James liturgy (Mar Yakub liturgy) used in the church and a priest can exercise freedom in using them but should satisfy the requirement of "joint congregation act/involvement" and permission from the respective diocese head. The six other liturgies are:


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Marthomites pray the canonical hours as contained in the Shehimo at seven fixed prayer times while facing the eastward direction.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Those who were converted by St. Thomas in the 1st century continued worshiping in synagogues. Then they moved to their homes and by the 2nd century, they began to build their own churches (called ‘'Palli'’) in various places. It is believed that there were such small gatherings at Maliankara, Piravom, Niranam (Nelcynda) and Nilakkal. St. Thomas Christians in Kerala, still construct their churches combining the design of Solomon's temple at Jerusalem, and Indian Vastu Shastra. So from outside it looks like a Hindu temple but inside it is like a Jewish temple. It is divided into Sanctuary (Madbaha) and Nave (Haickala). Mar Thoma Churches are built east–west with the Sanctuary (Madbaha) to the east. East is the place of the rising suns that is the symbol of the Risen Christ and His Second coming. East also symbolizes the Garden of Eden that was situated in the east. The Sanctuary is separated from the rest of the place by a veil with the sign of a cross. The worship of the Eastern churches symbolizes heavenly worship. Madbaha symbolically represents Heaven and Haickala, the earth, and veil the sky. The Madbaha is demarcated from the bema with an open arch and a veil. At the beginning of Holy Qurbana Service, the veil is drawn from the right side to left. Mar Thoma Syrians have abandoned the West syriac tradition of erecting more than one Altar and Madhbaha in Church and also forbade dedication of Altar/Thronos in name of a Saint or a Holy church father and conducting Holy Qurbana at Altar simultaneously or separate. The pulpit and lectern are also usually found at the extension of the bema. Bema is demarcated from the nave and transept (widely uses a vestibule space before the nave) with altar rails. The Choir is seated at one end of the transepts in the same level of the nave. Now there is a tendency to follow western architectural designs and introducing ciboriums, semi-domes, etc.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Cross used in Mar Thoma Church Chancel particularly at the center of the Altar is the Easter Cross. In Mar Thoma worship practice the visual Sign of the Cross is used many times. When the Priest gives the blessing he performs the sign of the cross; the worshipers, as a sign of accepting the blessing also reciprocates blessing oneself. The same is done at the time of the declaration of the Trinity and also at the time of indication of the Cross. Generally iconostases, pictures or statues of saints are not kept in Mar Thoma churches. Until the middle of the 20th century, all worshipers were seated on a mat spread on the floor. Children occupy the first rows and behind them on right side females and towards left males are seated. A narrow space between left and right is demarcated with a red carpet starting from the main door signifying that the church is sharing the worship space of heaven and joining the communion. Now many churches provide chairs or benches. During the Passion week services, chairs are removed, to facilitate worshiping according to their ancient custom, which includes prostrating a number of times. Everyone including clergy and the laity, who take part in the worship, faces east for the service.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Mar Thoma Church's evolution from a reformation base only strengthened it to follow best practices of its Syriac traditions. Lents ("Nombu") and other church festivals are church's structural and liturgical base. Feasts and fasts are an integral part of the traditions of a Christian community. However, the way believers follow these fasts and feasts differ from church to church. Mar Thoma church being a part of Antiochian tradition churches, follows all the canonical feasts and fasts which are related to important events in the life of Jesus Christ. The constitution of the church states that the feasts, fasts or lents are not to be removed or altered from the church at any time. It Includes Observance of the Sunday as the day of the lord and other fast and feast days in the church calendar. Each Sunday is dedicated to meditating on subjects prescribed in church lectionary.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The church mainly observes the fifty days before the period of Easter and twenty-five days before Christmas as fast days. Mar Thoma church doesn't have a canonical instruction on how a believer should follow the Lents. However, as a matter of practice believers follow certain dietary restrictions with the right spiritual diet as followed over generations. A person committed to lent, is in a spiritual training with introspection and renewal of their commitment to be an imitation of set principles by Jesus Christ. With the will for fellowship, each person anchors bio-psycho-spiritually with Jesus Christ through prayer. Lent is often considered as a refreshful practice for thoughts and soul for cultivating seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Book of Isaiah ). An amount of money that is saved by giving up certain types of luxuries during the lent period is typically deposited in the offertory on Good Friday for Church's social services for the afflicted and hungry (Book of Isaiah ). Post-modernistic view about lent is as an empowering practice that transforms a person for making social and interpersonal impact. Every weekday in Great Lent there are specific liturgical services which include prostration or profound bows a number of times. The lents of the church are:


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The main feast or festival days of the church are Feast of Nativity, Baptism of Jesus, Feast of Annunciation, Palm Sunday, Easter, Feast of the Ascension, Day of Pentecost, and Feast of the Transfiguration. The most important festivals of the church are that of in Holy Week ("Hasha") and Christmas. The festivals of Mar Thoma Church can be divided into 4 categories, they are:


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Ethanaya Feasts Kudos Etho and Hudos Etho is in the second and third Sundays of November, it is also considered as the beginning of a liturgical year. The Holy week or passion week ("Hasha") is the week before Easter and the last week of Great Lent, this includes Palm Sunday (Hosanna- Commemorating princely entry of Christ into Jerusalem), Maundy Thursday (Pesach- Commemorating last meal or passover of Jesus Christ with his disciples and the Holy Communion was instituted on this day), Good Friday (Holy Friday - Commemorating crucifixion of Christ at Golgotha), Joyous Saturday, and Easter (Resurrection Sunday - Commemorating Resurrection of Christ).


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Christmas is celebrated by all members of the Church, to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. During this time, parishes will be involved in Christmas carols and the celebration of Christmas Day church services with Christmas cakes. Before the 1850s, Mar Thoma church celebrated Christmas on 6 January, the day of Epiphany. By the end of last century, Christmas trees, Christmas Stars-an illuminative paper decoration made in the form of star or sunburst, Christmas lights, Sky lanterns, Nativity crib, Santa Claus' and other related festive traditions have appeared in the church.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: There are no theological impediments to the ordination of women, in the Mar Thoma Syrian Church. Being theologically Reformed, this church endorses the Priesthood of all believers. However the church hasn't ordained women yet, as it is not in accordance with Eastern Christian traditions. Female Archbishop Kay Goldsworthy of the Anglican Church of Australia, was one of the main speakers at the 2020 Maramon Convention, organized by the Mar Thoma Church. On the question of women's ordination, the Mar Thoma church's official response to the Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry document of the World Council of Churches reads,


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Howsoever it is to be noted that the Mar Thoma Church has provided caution that the BEM Document should not be considered as a confession of faith and order, rather it should be seen as a document that closes that gap between Churches across the world.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Mar Thoma Church is involved with several movements and projects, aiming at the upliftment and empowerment of the Transgender community. In 2018, two transgender speakers were given the stage, to address the Maramon convention of the Mar Thoma Church.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Joseph Mar Thoma, a former head of the Mar Thoma Church, made it clear that there are no biblical grounds to deny priesthood and baptism for transgender individuals. It is also noteworthy that Joseph Mar Thoma, the former head of the Mar Thoma Church took the example of "Philip and the Eunuch", and how the Eunuch played an important role in development of Ethiopian Christianity.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Theodosius Mar Thoma the current head of the Mar Thoma Church, has said that the time will come, when transgender people would be ordained as priests in the church. He said,


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Development Department; Christian Agency for Rural Development (CARD); Mar Thoma Medical Mission; Mar Thoma Sabha Mandiram Fellowship; Social Welfare Institutions; Theological Institutions; Educational Institutions; Technical Institutions; Study Centres; Church Animation Centre; and Camp Centres are other empowerment organizations of the church.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Nine colleges, six higher secondary schools, one vocational higher secondary school, eight high schools, one training school, five technical institutions plus other educational institutions owned and managed by individuals and by parishes.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: There are 38 social welfare institutions, 14 destitute homes, and ten hospitals. The Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam (established 1926) & Karukachal (Annex), Dharmajyoti Vidyapeedom, Haryana, E.J. Institute of Evangelism, and 4 other institutes cater to the theological education of both the clergy and the laity. Three study centres at Managanam, Kottayam and Trivandrum for arranging regular study programs and to provide opportunities for creative dialogue between Church and society on various ethical, moral, social and religious issues. The religious education of children is looked after by the Sunday School Samajam (organized in 1905) and the work among youth is carried on by the Youth Department, (the Yuvajana Sakhyam organized in 1933). The Church has a Women's Department (the Mar Thoma Suvisesha Sevika Sanghom organized in 1919).


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association, the missionary wing of the Mar Thoma Church, is in charge of organising the Maramon Convention, One of the largest annual Christian gathering in Asia. It takes place in Maramon, near Kozhencherry, during February on the vast sand-bed of the Pampa River next to the Kozhencherry Bridge. The first convention was held in March 1895 for 10 days.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Maramon Convention is principally an assembly of Christians who go there once a year to listen to the gospel as read and expounded by Christian leaders from all over India as well as abroad. This provides a revived ideological and experiential faith in accordance to the need of the laity and period of time. It is in tune with Mathew 6:5. Attendees sit on the sand bed, Old and invalid people are given chairs with separate sponsored or paid seating arrangements. Generally, one session is for ecumenical messages by invited leaders of other churches.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The church actively participates in the programs of the World Council of Churches, the Christian Conference of Asia, the National Council of Churches and the Kerala Christian Council. Mar Thoma Church was attending meetings of World Council of Churches from its first meeting in 1948 at Amsterdam. At the WCC meetings held in Evanston, Juhanon Mar Thoma Metropolitan was elected as one of its presidents. Since then the Church representatives attended all the General meetings.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Due to the historic links of the Malankara reformation to the Anglican missionary enterprise in colonial India and the resultant formative influence, the Mar Thoma Church maintain close relations with the Anglican Church. The Church's theology and doctrines are closest to that of Anglicans; hence Mar Thoma as well as some Anglican Churches commemorate each other's bishops, in their respective Eucharists. The Mar Thoma church is in full communion with all the churches of the Anglican Communion. The two denominations fully accept each other's ministry and Mar Thoma bishops have participated in the consecration of Anglican bishops. Mar Thoma bishops also take part in the Lambeth Conferences. Pastoral care and episcopal oversight for Mar Thoma congregations and dioceses in the Western world, comes from territorial Anglican provinces, on an as-needed basis. In the UK, such a partnership exists with the Church of England, in Ireland with the Church of Ireland, in the US with the Episcopal Church, in Canada with the Anglican Church of Canada and in Australia with the Anglican Church of Australia. In India, their communion partners are the Church of South India and the Church of North India. These three churches work together on various issues as the Communion of Churches in India. One such issue is focusing on transgender rights.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: There is a historic relationship between Mar Thoma Syrian Church and Malabar Independent Syrian Church, although the doctrinal positions are not mutually accepted in full. Church of Thozhiyoor (Anjoor) and its primates have come in rescue of Malankara church many times. After the demise of Pulikkottil Joseph Dionysious (Mar Thoma X) and Punnathra Geevarghese Dionysious, Kidangan Geevarghese Philoxinos of Thozhiyoor Church reigned as Malankara Metropolitan as per the Royal Proclamation and returned the title back to Malankara Church without any claim after consecrating Punnathra Geevarghese Dionysious and Cheppad Geevarghese mar Dionysious for Malankara church. Similarly in 1863 Malankara Metropolitan Mathews Athanasious defended Thozhiyoor Church as an Independent Syrian Church in Madras High Court against Euyakim Koorilos Design to subordinate the Thozhiyoor Church under Antioch. From that verdict onwards Church of Thozhiyoor came to be known as Malabar Independent Syrian Church. When the Metropolitan Thomas Athanasius died without consecrating a successor in 1893, it was the Metropolitan of the Thozhiyoor Church who consecrated Metropolitan Titus I Mar Thoma, and helped the Mar Thoma Church in a serious crisis. Mar Thoma Metropolitans have since then helped in consecrating the Metropolitans of Thozhiyoor Church and vice versa. According to the constitution of the Thozhiyoor Church, when difficulties arise the Thozhiyoor Church should seek the advice and guidance of the Mar Thoma Metropolitan despite the fact that either Church has no authority over the other. Thus the relation between the Thozhiyoor Church and Mar Thoma Church is unique. The centenary of the fraternal relationship between the two Churches was celebrated in the Sabha Mandalam on 14 September 1994.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Mar Thoma Church has special regards and respect to Syriac Orthodox Church. The Apostolic succession of Mar Thoma Episcopacy, St James liturgy, Ecclesiastical tradition, and order are all from West Syriac Tradition of Antioch. The First Reforming Metropolitan of Malankara Mathews Athanasious was ordained to ecclesiastical orders by Patriarch Elias of Antioch in 1842. After Demise of Mathews Athanasious, the ecclesiastical robe and other insignia were sent to the Patriarch of Antioch as per tradition. It was later returned to Mar Thoma Church during the time of Patriarch Zakka I. Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I and Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II have visited Maraman Convention and blessed its faithful. Mar Thoma Church has made a convention or practice that it will never consecrate a bishop with the name "Ignatius" the Ecclesiastical Title of Patriarch. Other Malankara churches started consecrating their own Holy Muron, Mar Thoma church still have not done that. Mar Thoma church hitherto has been increasing and using the holy muron Consecrated by Patriarch Elias and brought to Malankara by Mathews Athanasious in 1842. Mar Thoma church maintains good relations with Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. There is an active ecumenical dialogue between the Syrian orthodox church and Mar Thoma Church for mutual acceptance and wider communion.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church and Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church have the same Malankara antiquity and heritage that dates back to Saint Thomas' mission in Kerala, as well as West Syriac St James liturgical traditions dating back to the Puthenkoor faction.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: These churches are often referred as "Swadeshi" Churches as both have their spiritual and temporal leaders based within Kerala, India unlike many other Christian Churches of Kerala. However, there is no official Holy communion relationship between both the churches.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Ecumenical worship services during Christmas season is common outside Kerala among the diaspora, and also at many places within Kerala.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Marriages between the members of the two Churches are very common given the mutual historical privileged caste status of Kerala Syrian Christian community, although ecclesiastical authorities like to discourage such alliances and may not grant proper documents.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Leaders of both churches have held ecumenical dialogues to discuss their differences in theology, traditions or practices that still remain pending clarification for mutual recognition, joint theological education and research, and communion; such efforts remain ongoing.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: There are many church leaders in both the churches who are widely respected across the larger Syrian Christian community, irrespective of their individual affiliation.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Mar Thoma church has established an internal tradition that it will never consecrate an Episcopal or Metropolitan with the Greek name "Baselios" The ecclesiastical title of Catholicos of Edessa, which is now being used for primates of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church( holding the ecclesiastical title of Catholicos of the East) and Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (holding ecclesiastical title of Catholicos of India).


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Both Mar Thoma Church and Malankara Orthodox Church believes that their Primates are occupying the Ecclesiastical Throne of St Thomas.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Both churches share church buildings to conduct their worship services at several places such as Chengannur, Koorthamala, Bahrain, Hyderabad etc. with peace and mutual love. These serve as examples of Christian Unity and brotherhood that many other churches can learn from and replicate.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Mar Thoma Church has concluded its ecumenical dialogue with the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht in 2014. This dialogue is in the process of reception. There is an ecumenical dialogue of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church with the Lutheran churches.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The church maintains friendly relations with the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church; but the Catholic doctrines are not accepted by Mar Thoma church in their fullness. The Mar Thoma Church keeps a multifaceted approach in these relationships by adapting to the spiritual and cultural environment of the communions yet strongly abiding with the Mar Thoma Syrian identity. The Mar Thoma Church also keeps good ecumenical relations with other Christian churches around the world.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Mar Thoma Syrian Church is an autonomous Reformed Oriental Church which is based in the state of Kerala in India is spread all across the world. The Mar Thoma Syrian Church has the Liturgical Orders of Deacons or Shemshono's, Priests or Kasheesho's, Monastics and Bishops.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The first order of priesthood in the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar is the Order of Diaconate. In most of the other Syrian Churches, there are six official orders of the diaconate, however, in the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, there is only one orders of Diaconate. Deacons are given the mission of assisting the priest or bishop during the Holy Qurbana and is allowed to give the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ from the Casa.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Mar Thoma Syrian Church is a democratic Church and being a Church that upholds the royal priesthood of all believers. Laymen are designated to assist the priest in worship. These laymen belong to the order of Kuroyo's or reader who has the duty of reading from the Holy Scriptures. These laymen wear a Kutino which is also known as the Shishroosha Kuppayam to symbolise the sanctity of worship. This dress code was a lost practice in the Mar thoma Church which is gaining popularity over the past few years. However, this is not an official order.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Full deacons in the Mar Thoma Church are permitted to officially serve in liturgical ceremonies. They assist the priest with the needs of the priest and have the privilege to read the Holy Evengelion, give Qurbana to the faithful, and lead in the Kukyilions. In the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, there are no official liturgical vestments, instead, they wear a white cassock or a Kammees (traditional dress of Malankara Priests).


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Mar Thoma priests are allowed to wear two kinds of casual dress after their ordination. The first one is called a 'Kammees' which is the traditional attire worn by priests of Kerala. The 'Kammes' is a white robe and its length stops above the feet. The Kammees also has a small cape-like cloth which emerges from the back of the Kammees and stops right above the Chest. The Kammees is shaped similar to a cross symbolising that the person wearing the Kammees are Cross bearers for Christ. The second kind of dress which is a long white cassock which was introduced in the Mar Thoma Church in the late 1930s. A black Girdle (a narrow belt) is tied in the middle after wearing cassock symbolizing the steadfastness of their servanthood. There are Mar Thoma Priest who live as monastics called the Dayaraya Samooham. They wear a Khadi colored cassock which shows the Indian roots and also has a cross around their neck.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Liturgical vestments of the priests in the Mar Thoma Syrian Church are very similar to that of the Church in Antioch. These Liturgical vestments are only worn during the performance of a sacrament and is worn after praying different prayers during the Preparatory Service (Thooyaba). The Liturgical Vestments of the Celebrant priest are as follows.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The priests who act as the co celebrants in the Holy Qurbana or any other sacramental function wears a loose black cassock over his casual cassock symbolizing the purity of the sacramental function he is a part of.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Bishops of the Mar Syrian Church belongs to the Monastic Order. They take a particular pledge or an oath before being consecrated as a monk in the Church. The vestments of the Prelate/Episcopa's are very similar to that of priests along with a few additions,


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The bishops have long colored cassocks for their daily matters of the Church, Bishops of the Mar Thoma Church wear an 'Eskimo' or a Hood which symbolizes that they are monks. The color of the Cassocks should be either a light Yellow color which is similar to what monks wear in the Indian subcontinent or should be a dark red which upholds the Syrian Tradition.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: The Episocpa's of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church has very similar vestments to that of the priest along with a few additional vestments. The bishops who are the co-celebrants of the Holy Qurbana or celebrants of all other Sacraments wear a loose black cassock over their casual cassock to symbolise the sanctity of the sacrament being performed.


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: If the Bishops are the celebrants of the Holy Qurbana Service, they wear the following vestments along with that of a priest:


title: Mar Thoma Syrian Church

text: Mar Thoma Syrian Church is among the couple Churches in Malankara which also upholds the ancient Malankara Tradition of the Church. These vestments are mostly worn during the consecration of a new Church or during an Ordination service. These vestments appear very similar to Roman Catholic vestments probably for the reason that the Malankara Church was under Rome for over 150 years from the 1500s to 1653. The vestments include Mitre, Surplice, and Amice


title: Be (Common album)

text: Be is the sixth studio album by American rapper Common. It was released on May 24, 2005, by Geffen Records and GOOD Music. The album was primarily produced by rapper Kanye West, with additional production from frequent collaborator J Dilla. It debuted at number two on the US "Billboard" 200, with first-week sales of 185,000 copies in the United States. The album is Common's second album to sell over 500,000 copies (over 800,000 copies sold), becoming a certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).


title: Be (Common album)

text: "Be" was also a critical success, receiving acclaim and accolades from several critics and music publications. The album received a perfect "XXL" rating from hip hop publication "XXL" and was deemed Common's magnum opus by "HipHopGoldenAge".


title: Be (Common album)

text: "Be" was touted as Common's comeback album after the commercially disastrous "Electric Circus". His previous album lacked promotion following MCA Records's absorption under Geffen. His new alliance with Kanye West helped to spark public interest in the project, as the album was produced by West and released by his own label GOOD Music. "I met Kanye in '96…" he said. "He was still in high school. He used to come around No I.D.'s house, a guy that used to produce for me. The thing I noticed about Kanye was that he could really rap! He had some kind of hunger that I hadn't really seen before."


title: Be (Common album)

text: "He's today's Marvin Gaye of rap," West enthused on a DVD accompanying a deluxe edition of "Be". "Buy the album. If you in a situation where you can barely buy groceries, "burn" the album."


title: Be (Common album)

text: The results show that Common was clearly aware, and perhaps agreeing, with the negative criticisms about "Electric Circus". In comparison to that album, "Be" is lean, immediate, and commanding, yet also restrained in its musical ambitions. Many believe it to be his safest album. Of the reaction to the album, the rapper said: "I don't think Electric Circus was as focused. Though I'd done some progressive hip-hop, people know me as the b-boy. When I showed them something different, a different style of b-boy, there were like, "Hold up. You can be Afrocentric, but what's this rock shit that you're doing?" Many of the beats created by West, and which Common rejected for the project, later appeared on West's studio album "Late Registration"."


title: Be (Common album)

text: In an interview with AllHipHop, Common denied that the album title stood for "Before Erykah." Common explained the concept and the album title in a 2005 interview for SixShot.com:


title: Be (Common album)

text: Common gave his reasons for featuring controversial spoken word recording artists, the Last Poets, on the album's first official single, "The Corner": "They gifted at writing. They voices is incredible. They took my song to a higher level. And that's what hip-hop was about to me. It would have a message. It would take you to the next place. It was fresh as people say -- something new. They brought newness to what "The Corner" was and they also brought some nostalgia, too. Just them being from the '70s and being used in hip-hop and their spirit brought something pure to it. They gave me a better understanding of the corner after that. I knew those who had been listening to hip-hop would know who the Last Poets were and if they didn't they would feel it in their souls sooner or later. And I also felt good about introducing some of the youth to the Last Poets."


title: Be (Common album)

text: "Go" was the album's second, and highest charting single. The song featured Kanye West and John Mayer, however all the verses are performed by Common with West and Mayer ad-libbing in the chorus. The video for the song included shots of Common surrounded by numerous models.


title: Be (Common album)

text: The album's third single, "Testify" received a type of promotional video known as a "mini-movie"; a term coined by Michael Jackson to describe a music video with a complex plot and a suitably long running time, often with intermissions between the song's parts. The video featured acting parts from Taraji P. Henson, Bill Duke, Steve Harris and Wood Harris, and received notable spins on specialist channels such as MTV2. The song samples "Innocent Til Proven Guilty" by Honey Cone.


title: Be (Common album)

text: "Be" received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 83, based on 26 reviews. Andy Kellman of AllMusic said, ""Be" isn't likely to be referred to by anyone as groundbreaking, but it's one of Common's best, and it's also one of the most tightly constructed albums of any form within recent memory." Andy Greenwald of "Blender" said, ""Be" picks up where West's "The College Dropout" left off." Raymond Fiore of "Entertainment Weekly" said, ""Be"s leanness signals awesome growth even without pushing sonic boundaries." Dorian Lynskey of "The Guardian" said, "Though not quite 2005's best hip-hop album - Kanye West retains that honour for himself - "Be" is a lean and vibrant masterclass in hip-hop fundamentals." "NME" said, "Gives hope to a hip-hop stuck in a mire of mediocrity."


title: Be (Common album)

text: Ryan Dombal of "Pitchfork" said, "The lack of instant-gratification couplets may disappoint at first, but each verse's rewarding intricacies become more evident with multiple listens." "Q" said, "Common's best album so far, one that proves hip hop can be both smart and mainstream." Nathan Brackett of "Rolling Stone" said, "West is the producer Common has been waiting for all of his career: He makes Common both catchier and edgier at the same time." Will Hermes of "Spin" said, "Even when the music flags, Common's remarkably hungry raps push it along." "XXL" gave the album its highest rating of XXL, writing, "While label support and the times heavily influence whether great music can be crowned a classic, if nothing else Common has created a flawless album. By giving us himself completely and speaking to and for us as complete people, he's birthed the total package. Common has raised the bar. Hopefully, a year from now we'll look back and see that MCs have been rhyming like Common since.


title: Be (Common album)

text: Andrew Simon of "Vibe" wrote that the album "gets to the root of human experience—all the while staying beautifully soulful and funky." "The New York Times"' Kelefa Sanneh felt that "Be" was "certainly a triumph, but if it isn't quite the all-time classic Common was hoping for, that's because it sounds a bit too straightforward." Assigning the album a rating, Robert Christgau of "The Village Voice" wrote that "few of the best moments belong to the main attraction, who's not as wise as they tell him he is."


title: Be (Common album)

text: Common's lyrics on "Be" earned him the Lyricist of the Year award at the 2006 BET Hip Hop Awards. In 2012 "Complex" called the album one of the classics of the last decade. The album was also included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".


title: Be (Common album)

text: "Be" was nominated in four categories at the 48th Grammy Awards: Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "The Corner" featuring the Last Poets, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "They Say" featuring Kanye West and John Legend, and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Testify".


title: Danny Elfman discography

text: Select commercially released recordings of Danny Elfman's music for film, television, stage and the concert hall. For a full list of Elfman's compositions, see List of compositions by Danny Elfman. For Elfman's recordings as lead singer/songwriter for Oingo Boingo, see the Oingo Boingo discography page.


title: Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

text: Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia (Louise Margaret Alexandra Victoria Agnes; 25 July 1860 – 14 March 1917), later Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn, was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and of the British royal family. She served as the viceregal consort of Canada while her husband, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, served as the governor general, from 1911 to 1916.


title: Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

text: Princess Louise Margaret was born at Marmorpalais (Marble Palace) near Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia. Her father was Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828–1885), the son of Karl of Prussia (1801–1883) and his wife Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1808–1877). Her mother was Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt (1837–1906), daughter of Leopold IV of Anhalt-Dessau. Her father, a nephew of the German Emperor Wilhelm I, distinguished himself as a field commander during the Battle of Metz and the campaigns west of Paris in the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War. Her father was a double cousin of the German Emperor Friedrich III, the husband of her sister-in-law, Victoria, Princess Royal.


title: Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

text: On 13 March 1879, Princess Louise Margaret married Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn at St. George's Chapel Windsor. Prince Arthur was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. An account cited that it was a love match, with the princess also keen to get away from royal residence in Berlin and from her father's bullying.


title: Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

text: The wedding was described as grand and the couple received a great number of expensive gifts; the Queen's gift consisted of a diamond tiara, a pearl and diamond pendant. Many members of England and Germany's royal families attended; these included the Prince and Princess of Wales. Queen Victoria herself was wearing the Koh-i-Noor diamond and a long white veil. After her marriage, Princess Louise was styled "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn" and her name was Anglicised as Louise Margaret.


title: Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

text: The couple had three children: Princess Margaret (1882–1920), Prince Arthur (1883–1938), and Princess Patricia (1886–1974). Princess Margaret married Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and was the grandmother of King Carl XVI of Sweden, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Prince Arthur served as the governor-general of South Africa.


title: Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

text: The Duchess of Connaught spent the first twenty years of her marriage accompanying her husband on his various deployments throughout the British Empire. The Duke and Duchess of Connaught acquired Bagshot Park in Surrey as their country home and after 1900 used Clarence House as their London residence. She accompanied her husband to Canada in 1911, when he began his term as governor-general. In 1916, she became colonel-in-chief of the 199th Canadian (Overseas) Infantry Battalion (The Duchess of Connaught's Own Irish-Canadian Rangers), CEF after Harry Trihey, the regiment's principal organizer and first commanding officer during World War I, secured her as patron. In 1885, she became chief of the 64th (8th Brandenburg) Regiment of Infantry "Field Marshal General Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia", Prussian Army.


title: Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

text: The Duchess of Connaught died of influenza and bronchitis at Clarence House. She became the first member of the British royal family to be cremated. This was done at Golders Green Crematorium. The procedure of burying ashes in an urn was still unfamiliar at the time, and her urn was transported in an ordinary coffin during the funeral ceremonies. King George V still ordered four weeks of mourning dress and a military guard of honor during the funeral. Her ashes were eventually buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore. The Duke of Connaught survived her by almost twenty-five years.


title: Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

text: The maternity hospital adjacent to the Cambridge Military Hospital at Aldershot was named in her honor as the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital. She laid the foundation stone of this hospital, which was constructed for the wives and children of the Aldershot Garrison.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Seljuk Empire, lasted from 20 October 1097 to 3 June 1098. The second siege, of the crusader-held city by a Seljuk relieving army, lasted three weeks in June 1098, leading to the Battle of Antioch in which the crusaders defeated the relieving army led by Kerbogha. The crusaders then established the Principality of Antioch, ruled by Bohemond of Taranto.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: Antioch (modern Antakya) lay in a strategic location on the crusaders' route to Palestine through the Syrian Coastal mountain range. Supplies, reinforcements and retreat could all be controlled by the city. Anticipating that it would be attacked, the Seljuk governor of the city, Yağısıyan, began stockpiling food and sending requests for help. The Byzantine walls surrounding the city presented a formidable obstacle to its capture, but the leaders of the crusade felt compelled to besiege Antioch anyway.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: The crusaders arrived outside the city on 21 October and began the siege. The garrison sortied unsuccessfully on 29 December. After stripping the surrounding area of food, the crusaders were forced to look farther afield for supplies, opening themselves to ambush. On 31 December, a force of 20,000 crusaders encountered a relief army led by Duqaq, ruler of Damascus, heading to Antioch and defeated them. As the siege went on, supplies dwindled and in early 1098 one in seven of the crusaders was dying from starvation, and people began deserting.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: A second relief force, this time under the command of Duqaq's brother Ridwan, emir of Aleppo, advanced towards Antioch, arriving on 9 February. Like the army of Duqaq before, it was defeated. Antioch was captured on 3 June, although the citadel remained in the hands of the Muslim defenders. Kerbogha, atabeg of Mosul, began the second siege, against the crusaders who had occupied Antioch, which lasted from 7 to 28 June 1098. The second siege ended when the crusaders exited the city to engage Kerbogha's army in battle and succeeded in defeating them. On seeing the Muslim army routed, the defenders remaining in the citadel surrendered.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: There are a number of contemporaneous sources relating to the siege of Antioch and the First Crusade. There are four narrative accounts: those of Fulcher of Chartres, Peter Tudebode, and Raymond of Aguilers, and the anonymous "Gesta Francorum". Nine letters survive relating to or from the crusading army; five of them were written while the siege was underway and another in September, not long after the city had been taken.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: While there are many sources the number of people on crusade is unclear because they fluctuated regularly and many non-combatants on pilgrimage accompanied the soldiers. Historian Jonathan Riley-Smith offers a rough guide, suggesting that perhaps 43,000 people (including soldiers, armed poor, and non-combatants) were involved in the siege of Nicaea in June 1097, while as few as 15,000 may have taken part in the siege of Jerusalem in July 1099.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: Lying on the slopes of the Orontes Valley, in 1097 Antioch covered more than and was encircled by walls studded by 400 towers. The river ran along the city's northern wall before entering Antioch from the northwest and exiting east through the northern half of the city. Mount Silpius, crested by a citadel, was Antioch's highest point and rose some above the valley floor. There were six gates through which the city could be entered: three along the northern wall, and one on each of the south, east, and west sides.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: The valley slopes made approaching from the south, east, or west difficult, so the most practical access route for a large number of people was from the north across flatter ground. The city's defences dated from the reign of the Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century. Though Antioch changed hands twice between then and the arrival of the crusaders in 1097, each time it was the result of betrayal rather than inadequacy of the defences.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: After the Byzantine Empire reconquered Antioch in 969 a programme of fortification building was undertaken in the surrounding area to secure the gains. As part of this, a citadel was built on Mount Silpius in Antioch. High enough to be separate from the city below, historian Hugh Kennedy opined that it "[relied] on inaccessibility as its main defence". At its fall to Seljuk dynasty in 1085, Antioch was the last Byzantine fortification in Syria. Yaghi-Siyan was made Governor of Antioch in 1087 and held the position when the crusaders arrived in 1097.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: Yaghi-Siyan was aware of the approaching crusader army as it marched through Anatolia in 1097; the city stood between the crusaders and Palestine. Though under Muslim control, the majority of Antioch's inhabitants were Christians. Yaghi-Siyan had previously been tolerant of the Christian populace, however that changed as the crusaders approached. To prepare for their arrival he imprisoned the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, John the Oxite, turned St Paul's Cathedral into a stable and expelled many leading Christians from the city. Yaghi-Siyan then sent out appeals for help: his request was turned down by Ridwan of Aleppo because of personal animosity, however Yaghi-Siyan was more successful in his approaches to other nobles in the region and Duqaq of Damascus, Toghtekin, Kerbogha, the sultans of Baghdad and Persia, and the emir of Homs all agreed to send reinforcements. Meanwhile, back in Antioch Yaghi-Siyan began stockpiling supplies in anticipation of a siege.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: Knowing they had to capture Antioch, the crusaders considered how best to go about the task. Attrition suffered during the army's long journey across Anatolia meant the leaders considered leaving an assault until reinforcements arrived in spring. Tatikios, the Byzantine advisor to the crusade, suggested adopting tactics similar to those used by the Byzantines themselves when they moved to capture Antioch in 968. They had installed themselves at Baghras some away and from there conducted a blockade of the city by cutting off its lines of communication. Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, was alone in advocating assaulting the city. In the end, the crusaders chose to advance on Antioch and establish a siege close to Antioch.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: On 20 October 1097 the crusaders reached a fortified crossing, known as Iron Bridge, on the Orontes River outside Antioch. Robert II, Count of Flanders and Adhemar of Le Puy, the Catholic Bishop of Puy-en-Velay, led the charge across the bridge, opening the way for the advancing army. Bohemond of Taranto took a vanguard along the river's south bank and headed towards Antioch on 21 October and the crusaders established themselves outside the city's north wall. The crusaders divided into several groups. Bohemond camped outside Saint Paul's Gate near the northernmost corner of the city walls and immediately to the west were Hugh I, Count of Vermandois; Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy; Robert II, Count of Flanders; and Stephen II, Count of Blois. Adhemar of Le Puy and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, took up positions outside the Dog Gate either side of where the Orontes penetrated Antioch's defences. Godfrey of Bouillon was stationed west of the Duke's Gate in the northwest of the city walls. The bridge across the Orontes outside Antioch's west walls remained under Yaghi-Siyan's control at this point. The ensuing nine-month siege has been described as "one of the great sieges of the age".


title: Siege of Antioch

text: The sources emphasise that a direct assault would have failed. For instance, Raymond of Aguilers noted that the chaplain of Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, said "[Antioch] is so well fortified that it need not fear attack by machinery nor the assault of man, even if all mankind came together against it". According to Fulcher of Chartres the leaders resolved to maintain the siege until the city was forced into submission. Though his figures may not be accurate, Raymond of Aguilers gave an account of the army defending the city: "There were, furthermore, in the city two thousand of the best knights, and four or five thousand common knights and ten thousand more footmen".


title: Siege of Antioch

text: One of the problems of camping so close to the city was that it left the besiegers vulnerable to sorties from the garrison and even missiles. For the first fortnight of the siege, the crusaders were able to forage in the surrounding area as the defenders chose not to leave the safety of the city walls. However, in November Yaghi-Siyan learned that the crusaders felt the city would not fall to an assault so was able to turn his attentions from the defensive to harrying the besiegers. He mobilised his cavalry and began harassing the besiegers. With the immediate area stripped clean, the crusaders' foraging parties had to search further afield for supplies leaving them more vulnerable and on several occasions were attacked by the garrisons of nearby fortifications. Yaghi-Siyan's men also used the Dog Bridge, outside the Dog Gate to harass the crusaders. Adhemar of Le Puy and Raymond IV's men, who were camped closest to the bridge, attempted to destroy it using picks and hammers, but made little impact on the strong structure while under missile fire from Antioch's defenders. Another attempt was made to render the bridge unusable, this time with a mobile shelter to protect the crusaders, but the garrison sortied and successfully drove them away. Soon after, three siege engines were built opposite the Dog Gate. In the end, the crusaders erected a blockade on the bridge to obstruct potential sorties.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: The port of St Symeon on the Mediterranean coast, west of Antioch would allow the crusaders to bring reinforcements. Raymond of Aguilers mentions that the English landed at the port before the crusade reached Antioch, but did not record whether a battle for control of St Symeon took place. Reinforcements in the form of thirteen Genoese ships reached St Symeon on 17 November, and though the route from Antioch to St Symeon ran close to the city walls, meaning the garrison could impede travel, joined up with the rest of the crusaders. According to the Genoese chronicler Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone, the Genoese suffered heavy casualties en route from St Symeon to Antioch. Bohemond's troops built a counterfort outside Saint Paul's Gate in Antioch's northeast wall to protect themselves against missiles from Antioch's defenders. Known as Malregard, the fort was built on a hill and probably consisted of earthen ramparts. The construction has been dated to around the time the Genoese arrived. The crusaders were further bolstered by the arrival of Tancred, who set up camp to the west of his uncle, Bohemond.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: As the crusaders' food supply reached critical levels in December, Godfrey fell ill. On 28 December, Bohemond and Robert of Flanders took about 20,000 men and went foraging for food and plunder upstream of the Orontes. Knowing the crusaders' force had been divided, Yaghi-Siyan waited until the night of 29 December before making a sortie. He attacked Count Raymond's encampment across the river, and though caught by surprise, Count Raymond was able to recover and turn Yaghi-Siyan's men back. He almost succeeded in reversing the attack entirely, forcing a way across the bridge and establishing a foothold on the other side and holding open the city gates. As the crusaders threatened to take the city, a horse lost its rider and, in the ensuing confusion in the dark, the crusaders panicked and withdrew across the bridge with the Seljuks in pursuit. The stalemate was restored, and both sides had suffered losses.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: While Count Raymond was repulsing a sally from Antioch's garrison, an army under the leadership of Duqaq of Damascus was en route to relieve Antioch. Bohemond and Robert of Flanders were unaware that their foraging party was heading towards Duqaq's men. On 30 December news reached Duqaq while his army was at Shaizar that the crusaders were nearby. On the morning of 31 December Duqaq marched towards Bohemond and Robert's army and the two met at the village of Albara. Robert was the first to encounter Duqaq's men as he was marching ahead of Bohemond. Bohemond joined the battle and with Robert fought back Duqaq's army and inflicted heavy casualties. Though they fought off Duqaq's army, which retreated to Hama, the crusaders suffered too many casualties to keep foraging and returned to Antioch. As a result of the fight the crusaders lost the flock they had gathered for food and returned with less food than they needed. The month ended inauspiciously for both sides: there was an earthquake on 30 December, and the following weeks saw such unseasonably bad rain and cold weather that Duqaq had to return home without further engaging the crusaders. The crusaders feared the rain and earthquake were signs they had lost God's favour, and to atone for their sins such as pillaging, Adhemar of Le Puy ordered that a three-day fast should be observed. In any case at this time supplies were running dangerously low, and soon after one in seven men was dying of starvation.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: Though local Christians brought food to the crusaders they charged extortionate prices. The famine also affected the horses, and soon only 700 remained. The extent to which the crusader army was affected is difficult to gauge, but according to Matthew of Edessa one in five crusaders died from starvation during the siege and the poorer members were probably worse off. The famine damaged morale and some knights and soldiers began to desert in January 1098, including Peter the Hermit and William the Carpenter. On hearing of the desertion of such prominent figures, Bohemond despatched a force to bring them back. Peter was pardoned while William was berated and made to swear he would remain with the crusade.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: The arrival of spring in February saw the food situation improve for the crusaders. That month Tatikios repeated his earlier advice to resort to a long-distance blockade but his suggestion was ignored; he then left the army and returned home. Tatikios explained to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos that Bohemond had informed him that there was a plan to kill him, as they believed Alexios was secretly encouraging the Seljuks. Those close to Bohemond claimed that this was treachery or cowardice, reason enough to break any obligations to return Antioch to the Byzantines. News arrived that a Seljuk army was approaching and Bohemond used the situation to his advantage. He declared that he would leave unless he was allowed to keep Antioch for himself when it was captured. Knowing fully that Bohemond had designs on taking the city for himself, and that he had probably engineered Tatikios' departure in order to facilitate this, Godfrey and Raymond did not give in to his demands, but Bohemond gained the sympathies and cooperation of the minor knights and soldiers.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: Yaghi-Siyan had reconciled with Ridwan of Aleppo and the advancing army was under his command. In early February news reached the besiegers that Ridwan had taken nearby Harim where he was preparing to advance on Antioch. At Bohemond's suggestion, the crusaders sent all their cavalry (numbering about 700 knights) to meet the advancing army while the infantry remained behind in case Antioch's defenders decided to attack. On the morning of 9 February, Ridwan moved towards the Iron Bridge. The crusaders had moved into position the previous night and charged the advancing army before it reached the bridge. The first charge caused few casualties, but Ridwan's army followed the crusaders to a narrow battlefield. With the river on one side and the Lake of Antioch on the other, Ridwan was unable to outflank the crusaders and exploit his superior numbers. A second charge had more impact and the Seljuk army withdrew in disorder. At the same time, Yaghi-Siyan had led his garrison out of Antioch and attacked the crusader infantry. His offensive was forcing the besiegers back until the knights returned. Realising Ridwan had been defeated, Yaghi-Siyan retreated inside the city. As Ridwan's army passed through Harim panic spread to the garrison he had installed there and they abandoned the town, which was retaken by the Christians.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: According to Orderic Vitalis an English fleet led by Edgar Ætheling, the exiled Saxon claimant to the throne of England, arrived at St Symeon on 4 March carrying supplies from the Byzantines. Historian Steven Runciman repeated the assertion, however it is unknown where the fleet originated and would not have been under Edgar's command. Regardless, the fleet brought raw materials for constructing siege engines, but these were almost lost on the journey from the port to Antioch when part of the garrison sallied out. Bohemond and Raymond escorted the material, and after losing some of the materials and 100 people, they fell back to the crusader camp outside Antioch. Before Bohemond and Raymond, rumours that they had been killed reached Godfrey who readied his men to rescue the survivors of the escort. However, his attention was diverted when another force sallied from the city to provide cover for the men returning from the ambush. Godfrey was able to hold off the attack until Bohemond and Raymond came to his aid. The reorganised army then caught up with the garrison before it had reached the safety of Antioch's walls. The counter-attack was a success for the crusaders and resulted in the deaths of between 1,200 and 1,500 of Antioch's defenders. The crusaders set to work building siege engines, as well as a fort, called La Mahomerie, to block the Bridge Gate and prevent Yaghi-Siyan attacking the crusader supply line from the ports of Saint Simon and Alexandretta, whilst also repairing the abandoned monastery to the west of the Gate of Saint George, which was still being used to deliver food to the city. Tancred garrisoned the monastery, referred to in the chronicles as Tancred's Fort, for 400 silver marks, whilst Count Raymond of Toulouse took control of La Mahomerie. Finally the crusader siege was able to have some effect on the well-defended city. Food conditions improved for the crusaders as spring approached and the city was sealed off from raiders.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: In April a Fatimid embassy from Egypt arrived at the crusader camp, hoping to establish a peace with the Christians, who were, after all, the enemy of their own enemies, the Seljuks. Peter the Hermit was sent to negotiate. These negotiations came to nothing. The Fatimids, assuming the crusaders were simply mercenary representatives of the Byzantines, were prepared to let the crusaders keep Syria if they agreed not to attack Fatimid Palestine, a state of affairs perfectly acceptable between Egypt and Byzantium before the Muslim invasions. But the crusaders could not accept any settlement that did not give them Jerusalem. Nevertheless, the Fatimids were treated hospitably and were given many gifts, plundered from the Seljuks who had been defeated in March, and no definitive agreement was reached.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: The siege continued, and at the end of May 1098 a Muslim army from Mosul under the command of Kerbogha approached Antioch. This army was much larger than the previous attempts to relieve the siege. Kerbogha had joined with Ridwan and Duqaq and his army also included troops from Persia and from the Ortuqids of Mesopotamia. The crusaders were luckily granted time to prepare for their arrival, as Kerbogha had first made a three-week-long excursion to Edessa, which he was unable to recapture from Baldwin of Boulogne, who had taken it earlier in 1098.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: The crusaders concluded that they would have to take the city before Kerbogha arrived if they had any chance of survival. Weeks earlier, Bohemond had secretly established contact with someone inside the city named Firouz, an Armenian guard who controlled the Tower of the Two Sisters. Firouz's motivation was unclear even to Bohemond, perhaps avarice or revenge, but he offered to let Bohemond into the city in exchange for money and a title. Bohemond then approached the other crusaders and offered access to the city, through Firouz, if they would agree to make Bohemond the Prince of Antioch. Raymond was furious and argued that the city should be handed over to Alexios, as they had agreed when they left Constantinople in 1097, but Godfrey, Tancred, Robert, and the other leaders, faced with a desperate situation, gave in to Bohemond's demand.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: Despite this, on 2 June, Stephen of Blois and some of the other crusaders deserted the army. Later on the same day, Firouz instructed Bohemond to feign a march south over the mountains to ostensibly confront Kerbogha, but then to double-back at night and scale the walls at the Tower of the Two Sisters where Firouz held watch. This was done. Firouz allowed a small contingent of crusaders to scale the tower (including Bohemond), who then opened a nearby postern gate allowing a larger contingent of soldiers hiding in the nearby rocks to enter the city and overwhelm the alerted garrison. The crusaders subsequently massacred thousands of Christian civilians along with Muslims, unable to tell them apart, including Firouz's own brother. Yaghi-Siyan fled but was captured by Armenian and Syrian Christians some distance outside the city. His severed head was brought to Bohemond.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: By the end of the day on 3 June, the crusaders controlled most of the city, except for the citadel, which remained in the hands of Yaghi-Siyan's son Shams ad-Daulah. John the Oxite was reinstated as patriarch by Adhemar of Le Puy, the papal legate, who wished to keep good relations with the Byzantines, especially as Bohemond was clearly planning to claim the city for himself. However, the city was now short on food, and Kerbogha's army was still on its way. Kerbogha arrived only two days later, on 5 June. He tried, and failed, to storm the city on 7 June, and by 9 June he had established his own siege around the city.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: More crusaders had deserted before Kerbogha arrived, and they joined Stephen of Blois in Tarsus. Stephen had seen Kerbogha's army encamped near Antioch and assumed all hope was lost; the deserters confirmed his fears. On the way back to Constantinople, Stephen and the other deserters met Alexios, who was on his way to assist the crusaders, and did not know they had taken the city and were now under siege themselves. Stephen convinced him that the rest of the crusaders were as good as dead, and Alexios heard from his reconnaissance that there was another Seljuk army nearby in Anatolia. He therefore decided to return to Constantinople rather than risking battle.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: Meanwhile, in Antioch, on 10 June an otherwise insignificant priest from southern France by the name of Peter Bartholomew came forward claiming to have had visions of St. Andrew, who told him that the Holy Lance was inside the city. The starving crusaders were prone to visions and hallucinations, and another monk named Stephen of Valence reported visions of Christ and the Virgin Mary. On 14 June a meteor was seen landing in the enemy camp, interpreted as a good omen. Although Adhemar was suspicious, as he had seen a relic of the Holy Lance in Constantinople, Raymond believed Peter. Raymond, Raymond of Aguilers, William, Bishop of Orange, and others began to dig in the cathedral of Saint Peter on 15 June, and when they came up empty, Peter went into the pit, reached down, and produced a spear point. Raymond took this as a divine sign that they would survive and thus prepared for a final fight rather than surrender. Peter then reported another vision, in which St. Andrew instructed the crusader army to fast for five days (although they were already starving), after which they would be victorious.


title: Siege of Antioch

text: Bohemond was sceptical of the Holy Lance as well, but there is no question that its discovery increased the morale of the crusaders. It is also possible that Peter was reporting what Bohemond wanted (rather than what St. Andrew wanted) as Bohemond knew, from spies in Kerbogha's camp, that the various factions frequently argued with each other. Kerbogha of Mosul was indeed suspected by most emirs to yearn for sovereignty in Syria and often considered as a bigger threat to their interests than the Christian invaders. On 27 June, Peter the Hermit was sent by Bohemond to negotiate with Kerbogha, but this proved futile and battle with the Seljuks was thus unavoidable. Bohemond drew up six divisions: he commanded one himself, and the other five were led by Hugh of Vermandois and Robert of Flanders, Godfrey, Robert of Normandy, Adhemar, and Tancred and Gaston IV of Béarn. Raymond, who had fallen ill, remained inside to guard the citadel with 200 men, now held by Ahmed Ibn Merwan an agent of Kerbogha.