Shemon VII Ishoyahb

Mar Shemʿon VII Ishoʿyahb (Classical Syriac: ܫܡܥܘܢ ܫܒܝܥܝܐ ܝܫܘܥܝܗܒ), born Īshōʿyahb bar Māmā,[1] was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1539 to 1558, with residence in Rabban Hormizd Monastery.

[2] His reign was widely unpopular, and discontent with his leadership led to the schism of 1552, in which his opponents rebelled and appointed the monk Shimun Yohannan Sulaqa as a rival patriarch.

This practice, which had been introduced in the middle of the fifteenth century by the patriarch Shemʿon IV Basidi (died 1497), eventually resulted in a shortage of eligible heirs and in 1552 provoked a schism in the Church.

The prime movers in the rebellion were unnamed bishops of Erbil, Salmas and Adarbaigan, and they were supported by 'many' priests and monks from Baghdad, Kirkuk, Gazarta, Nisibis, Mardin, Amid, Hesna d'Kifa and Seert.

[5] The rebels elected Shimun Yohannan Sulaqa, the superior of the monastery of Rabban Hormizd near Alqosh, in opposition to Shemʿon VII Ishoʿyahb, but were unable to consecrate him as no bishop of metropolitan rank was available, as canonically required.

12 January 1555, shortly after Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa's murder, the Franciscan friar Ambrose Buttigeg wrote to Pope Julius III with the news that 'Shemʿon Bar Mama' was still alive: Shemʿon VII Ishoʿyahb died on Wednesday, 1 November 1558, and was succeeded as patriarch by his nephew and natar kursya (designated successor) Eliya VI (1558–1591).