Michael of Damietta

Overview

Michael of Damietta is remembered in the Coptic Encyclopedia as a medieval Christian martyr and a monk of Scetis. Its brief notice calls him a “new martyr” and places him in the period 1167–1200. The account centers on his departure from Christianity, his conversion to Islam, and his subsequent return to Christianity, for which he was killed.¹

The encyclopedia’s index independently identifies him as “Michael of Damietta (twelfth-century ‘new’ martyr).” This designation distinguishes the subject of the martyr notice from the bishop and canonical author also known as Michael of Damietta.²³

History and origins

Monastic life and religious conversion

Michael’s recorded monastic affiliation was with Scetis. The notice describes him as a monk who “apostatized to Islam and then returned to Christianity.” Its narrative therefore presents his Christian monastic life, conversion to Islam, and return to Christianity as successive stages in his religious history.¹

The decisive connection in the account is between his return to Christianity and his death: the encyclopedia explicitly states that he was killed for that return. The source thus identifies his renewed Christian allegiance, rather than simply his monastic status, as the reason for his killing.¹

Chronological setting

The biographical notice supplies the broad period 1167–1200, while the index characterizes Michael as a twelfth-century martyr. Read together, these references provide a medieval chronological setting rather than a precise date for his death.¹²

Theology, meaning, and terminology

Michael’s designation as a martyr is tied directly to the religious cause of his death. The notice does not present an uninterrupted history of Christian adherence: it explicitly includes his conversion to Islam before describing his return and killing. His classification as a martyr therefore accompanies an account of restored Christian allegiance after an earlier departure.¹

The expression “new martyr” is the encyclopedia’s own designation, repeated in its index with “new” in quotation marks. In these references, the expression accompanies his placement in the twelfth century and the period 1167–1200.¹²

Distinction from Michael, bishop of Damietta

The encyclopedia provides separate index entries for the martyr and for Michael, bishop of Damietta. The latter entry directs readers to “Mikha’il, Bishop of Damietta” and to the Nomocanon attributed to Michael of Damietta, whereas the martyr has his own reference under the designation “twelfth-century ‘new’ martyr.” The two entries should therefore not be combined into a single biography.²³

The bishop’s biographical article concerns a Coptic prelate and author who lived under Patriarchs Mark III and John VI. It states that he completed the first version of his Nomocanon in Luxor in 1188 and was still alive when his adversary Murqus ibn Qanbar died in 1208. These details belong to the bishop’s account, not to the brief notice identifying the monk of Scetis as a martyr.⁴¹