The first volume of an ambitious project to document the history of the early church, The Patriarchate of Alexandria is one of John Mason Neale’s crowning achievements. Meticulously researched, Neale’s treatment of the early church in Egypt is among the required reading of any student of oriental Christianity still today. Beginning with the traditions of St. Mark’s foundation of the Egyptian church, the developments of Christianity are traced up through the controversies associated with Nestorius and the Council of Chalcedon. In Neale’s characteristically readable style, the early stages of Eastern Christianity and its noteworthy figures are presented here with historical accuracy and authority. The origins of monasticism, the troubles and triumphs of St. Athanasius, the Arian heresy, and the ecumenical councils are all treated in this important study of the church in Egypt. This weighty volume will appeal to a wide range of readers: those interested in Eastern Christianity, Orthodoxy, the early Christian period in Egypt, monasticism, and the ecumenical councils, as well as those who are investigating the early development of the Coptic Church.

John Mason Neale (1818-1866) was an English priest and scholar, as well as a writer of hymns. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and helped found several charitable societies. He received a doctorate from Trinity College, Connecticut. Part of the high church movement, Neale wrote broadly in the areas of Eastern Christianity.