ordain a bishop for India. Simon did not dare do so for fear of the Moslem governor. But Theodore, Patriarch of the Gainite party (p. 220), ordained a man from Maryuṭ bishop, and two priests, and sent them on their way to India. But the Khalif's soldiers caught them and sent them back to Egypt. Here the governor cut off their hands and feet and made a great trouble with both Simon and Theodore.[1] We notice already that these negotiations with Monophysites show that the Nestorian theology was not considered a very vital issue in Malabar, if indeed the native Church understood the particular doctrine of its Katholikos at all.
The next incident is interesting to us. Our King Alfred, of all people, had relations with Malabar. When the Danes were besieging London, Alfred (871-901) made a vow, if they were driven back, to send gifts to Rome, and also to India in honour of St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew. In 883 he sent Sighelm or Suithelm, Bishop of Shireburn, with the gifts. Sighelm came to Rome and then went on to the Malabar coast. He made his offerings here, and brought back from his long journey jewels and spices.[2] Strange to see an English bishop in India in 883. Marco Polo (c. 1254-1324) describes the "pepper-coast of Malabar,"[3] tells stories about its trade and customs, but says nothing about Christians there.[4] However, he knows that there are Christians in India; he describes St. Thomas' tomb at Mailapur and tells the story of his mission and death.[5]
Two relics of the time before the Portuguese conquest throw further light on the early history of this Church. The first is the Mailapur Cross. In 1547, as the Portuguese were digging the foundations for a church at Mailapur, they found a stone carved with a cross. Various miracles are told of this cross. It bled, and
- ↑ Simon I was Isaac's successor. Hist. Patriarch. Alex. ed. Evetts, pp. [290-296].
- ↑ The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (ed. by B. Thorpe), vol. ii. 1861, p. 66. William of Malmesbury: de Gestis regum Anglorum, ii. § 122 (ed. W. Stubbs), London, 1887, vol. i. 130.
- ↑ Everyone notices pepper as the chief export of the Malabar coast; so Kosmas Indikopleustes: "the so-called Male where pepper grows," loc. cit. (see p. 104, n. 2).
- ↑ Chap. xxviii. ed. Wright (cit.), pp. 362-363.
- ↑ Chap. xx.; ib. 348-349.
