Editing Fatimid Caliphate (section)

==== Christians ====
[[File:Cairo, chiesa sospesa, interno, iconostasi.JPG|thumb|Side chapel in the [[Hanging Church]] in [[Old Cairo]], including [[fresco]]es (partly visible behind the screen here) dating from the late 12th or 13th century, before the church's later renovation<ref name=":33">{{Cite book |last1=Gabra |first1=Gawdat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UOxcBgAAQBAJ |title=The History and Religious Heritage of Old Cairo: Its Fortress, Churches, Synagogue, and Mosque |last2=van Loon |first2=Gertrud J.M. |last3=Reif |first3=Stefan |last4=Swelim |first4=Tarek |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-9774167690 |editor-last=Ludwig |editor-first=Carolyn |pages=80–93 |editor-last2=Jackson |editor-first2=Morris |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-date=16 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916021908/https://books.google.com/books?id=UOxcBgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
Christians may have still constituted a majority of the population in Egypt during the Fatimid period, although scholarly estimates on this issue are tentative and vary between authors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brett |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sk6tAUL5ZWYC |title=Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Eras IV: Proceedings of the 9th and 10th International Colloquium Organized at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in May 2000 and May 2001 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |year=2005 |isbn=978-90-429-1524-4 |editor-last=Vermeulen |editor-first=Urbain |pages=1–32 |language=en |chapter=Population and Conversion to Islam in Egypt in the Mediaeval Period |editor-last2=Steenbergen |editor-first2=J. Van}}</ref><ref name=":452" />{{Rp|page=194}} The proportion of Christians would have likely been greater in the rural population than in the main cities.<ref name=":452" /> Among Christians, the largest community were [[Copts]], followed by Melkite Christians.<ref name=":452" /> A large number of Armenian immigrants also arrived in Egypt during the late 11th and early 12th centuries when Armenian viziers like Badr al-Jamali dominated the state, which led to the Armenian church establishing a foothold in the country as well.<ref name=":452" />{{Sfn|Halm|2014}} In addition to churches in towns and cities, Christian [[Monastery|monasteries]] also dotted the countryside. Some regions, like [[Wadi El Natrun|Wadi al-Natrun]], were ancient centres of [[Coptic monasticism]].<ref name=":452" /> Italian traders, led by [[Amalfi]]tans, were also present in Fustat and Alexandria, moving goods between Egypt and the rest of the Mediterranean world.{{Sfn|Brett|2017|pp=93, 123–24}}

Within the Christian communities, and especially among Copts, there emerged a relatively affluent class of notables who served as scribes or administrators in the Fatimid regime. These [[Laity|laymen]] used their wealth to patronize, and in turn influence, their churches.<ref name=":452" />{{Rp|pages=198}} The state also had influence on the church, as demonstrated by the transfer of the Coptic Patriarchate from [[Alexandria]] to Fustat (specifically what is now [[Old Cairo]]) during the patriarchate of Cyril II (1078–1092), due to the demands of Badr al-Jamali, who wished for the Coptic pope to stay close to the capital.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":452" />{{Rp|page=202}} The Church of the Virgin, now known as the [[Hanging Church]], became the new seat of the Patriarchate, along with an alternative church compound built on the upper floor of the [[Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo|St. Mercurius Church]]. Until the 14th century (when the seat was moved to the [[Church of the Virgin Mary (Haret Zuweila)|Church of the Virgin Mary in Harat Zuwayla]]), both churches were residences of the Coptic pope and served as venues for the consecrations of new popes and other important religious events.<ref name=":452" />{{Rp|page=202}}<ref name=":33" />