Ignatius John XIV bar Shay Allah was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1483 until his death in 1493.
Biography
Early life
John was the son of Shay Allah, who was the son of Sad al-Din, also known as Ibn al-Asfar, and his family was originally from Bartulli. He was born in the city of Mardin in 1442, and became a monk at the Monastery of Mor Hananyo. Whilst at the monastery, John received a special education equal to that of Aziz, the nephew of Ignatius Chaleph of Maʿdan, Patriarch of Antioch, and was educated in Syriac literature by the priests Simon of Amid and John of Mardin, as well as the monks Joshua of Basibrina and David bar Qashafo of Qalat al-Imra'a.
Simon of Amid was a priest at the Church of the Forty Martyrs in Mardin, but died during his education of John and was succeeded by John of Mardin who educated him until he was eighteen. David bar Qashafo taught John astronomy and an anonymous tutor from Constantinople educated him in the use of the use of the astrolabe. John also received an education in dialectics, philosophy, and theology in Mardin, Syria and Egypt.
In 1471, according to official church documents, John was ordained Bishop of Amid, however, it has been argued that the ordination took place in 1474. After his ordination as bishop, John became Ignatius Chaleph's companion and adviser, and was put in charge of his financial affairs. John extended his title to Bishop of Amid and Sawro, so named after the village of Sawro near the Monastery of Mor Abay, where he resided. As bishop, John immediately began to restore dilapidated churches and monasteries throughout his diocese, including the Monastery of Mor Abay.
He also restored the monasteries near the village of Qellet and bought and returned land formerly belonging to the monasteries that had been seized by Muslims. As well as this, John built an extension to the Church of the Forty Martyrs in Mardin, and ransomed eight Georgian captives enslaved by Turkish raids. John gifted the Georgians with horses and supplies to help them to return to Georgia. As a result of his building activities, John accumulated large debts to Ibrahim Beg, Emir of Mardin.
Patriarchate
Following the death of Ignatius Chaleph in 1483, the Syriac Orthodox population of Mardin was divided over who would succeed Chaleph, and John and Baselius Aziz, Maphrian of the East, Chaleph's nephew, and heir presumptive, were the two most popular contenders for the patriarchal throne. Certain bishops subsequently attempted to bribe Ibrahim Beg to usurp the patriarchal throne for themselves. John travelled to meet with Ibrahim Beg alongside the priest John bar Badre and Isa, chief layman of Mardin, and secured his aid so that he may secure the patriarchal throne. John's debts apparently influenced Ibrahim Beg to support John and the emir granted him an official seal of approval and a fine garment.
As patriarch, John continued to build and restore churches and monasteries in the regions of Harput, Se'ert, Mardin, Amid, Nisibis and Mosul, such as the Church of Yoldath Aloho (Mother of God) in Harzam. The patriarch set out to restore a Syriac Orthodox church in the town of Nisibis, which had only three or four Syriac Orthodox households and was largely populated by Nestorians, adherents of a rival church known as the Church of the East. He initially excavated the Church of Mor Jacob with the intention of rebuilding it, but abandoned this effort, and rejected a suggestion to restore the Church of Mor Dimet in the outskirts of Nisibis, as it was too far from the centre. John was shown where the Church of Mor Batlo once stood in the town, and, satisfied by its location, had it excavated. Under Islamic rule, Christians were permitted to only rebuild churches, not build new ones, and thus John, having excavated the ruins of the church, gained official permission from the qadis and faqihs (Islamic jurists) to rebuild the church.