Bishops of the Patriarchate of Alexandria travelling to meet their Patriarch in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages: A study of the motives and duration of their journeys

Abstract

The article considers the theme stated in the title in three separate sections focusing on three regions that were ecclesiastically subordinate to the patriarchate of Alexandria, that is Egypt, Libya Inferior and Pentapolis, and Nubia and Ethiopia. Bishops in the first area, strictly controlled by the patriarch, travelled to Alexandria first to be ordained and later to attend synods called by the patriarch and to conduct routine business, for example requesting financial assistance, waiting for a dispute between hierarchs to be solved, or in the case of breaking the discipline by the bishops or members of the clergy subordinate to them. Churches of Nubia and Ethiopia, located farther afar, sought the patriarch’s attention almost exclusively in order to ordain bishops of the political centres of their states. The patriarch’s ability to directly interfere with the internal matters of these distant Churches was very limited. For each of the examined regions, the author seeks to establish the approximate time required to travel to Alexandria. This section of the paper is based on antique and early medieval sources as well as post-medieval and nineteenth-century travel records.