Tags: Christian Bishop.
Mar Nicholas I Zaya (or Zayʿa or Eshaʿya) was the patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1839 to 1847. He succeeded Yohannan VIII Hormizd the last of the Mosul patriarchs who traced their descent from Eliya VII (1558–91) and his elevation ended four centuries of hereditary succession in the Eliya line. After Zayʿa’s accession the Vatican attempted to reform abuses within the Chaldean Church but its interference was strenuously resisted by several Chaldean bishops.