From Venice Simeon probably went to Rome, where a general synod was convened by Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) in 1211. Its purpose was to discuss the state of the Holy Land, “where the son of the bondswoman (_i.e._ Hagar), the most detestable Agarenes, hold our Mother of all the faithful in bondage.”[254] A sermon in Arabic, written by Simeon, “bishop of Sinai,” is among the MSS. of the Vatican.[255] In the _Regesta_ of Pope Honorius III (1216-27) we come across repeated mention of Simeon, bishop of Sinai. A grant of 1217 gave the protection of St. Peter to the Monastery of the Virgin at the foot of the mountain and to its possessions; another confirmed the bishop of Sinai and his chapter in those possessions which they held at the time of the great synod (of 1211) or had acquired since; others advised the bishop of Crete to respect the monks and hold them exempt from paying tithes on the property which they held in Crete.[256] In the year 1226 Pope Honorius granted a bull to Simeon and the monks of Sinai, “of the order of St. Basil.” It is difficult to procure the text; its wording was probably much the same as that of a bull granted in confirmation of it by Pope Gregory IX (1221-41), of which a copy was preserved at the convent. This bull enumerated the possessions which the convent held in those countries over which the Pope claimed authority by virtue of the conquests made by the Crusaders. [Illustration: [_Photo: Exclusive News Agency._ Fig. 19.—Zigiret el Faraun.] The bull[257] first named Roboe, Fucra, Luach, places that have not been identified. Mention was then made of Rayton (_i.e._ Raithou), with its palm groves and property; of houses and property near the city of Egypt (_i.e._ Cairo); land on the Red Sea; property and palm groves in Faran; rights (_obedientia_) in the church of St. Michael in Alexandria, and liberty of transit by land and water; vineyards and olive groves in the valley of Moses (_i.e._ near Petra); in Monreale, houses, a mill, vineyards and olive groves; property in Croce (not identified); in Jerusalem, rights in the church of St. Michael, houses and a bakehouse; in Jaffa, houses and land; near Acre, houses and the church of St. Katherine; in Laodichea (near the sources of the Orontes), the hospital of St. Demetrios and a house; in Damascus, the church of St. George, houses and property; at Odaverosa (not identified), houses, land and vineyards; near Antioch, a house and a bakehouse; near Constantinople, rights in the church of St. George of Mangana; in Crete, extensive property, including several churches with land pertaining thereto, several mills, vineyards, etc.; in the island of Cyprus, houses, vineyards, woods, rights of pasture and of trading.