GABRIEL IV

The eighty-sixth patriarch of the See of Saint Mark (1370-1378). Gabriel’s biography appears in the HISTORY OF THE PATRIARCHS in a matter of a few lines. He was a monk of the Monastery of Our Lady known as DAYR AL-MUHARRAQ in Middle Egypt. There is no information about his secular or monastic life beyond the usual statement that he was a learned man, virtuous, and a strict ascetic.

He was a contemporary of the Mamluk sultan, al-Ashraf Sha‘ban (1363-1377), and he died in the early years of the reign of his successor ‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Ali (1377-1381). His tenure lasted eight years and four months, and we must assume it was uneventful.

SUBHY Y. LABIB