There is evidence that he sent a circular letter to European rulers asking for financial help in restoring the churches in his diocese. One of them was received by the Carolingian EmperorCharles the Fat in 881, and another was probably sent to king Alfred the Great. According to Asser, Elias corresponded with Alfred and sent him gifts, and a medical text in Old English contains information about remedies for Alfred's ailments sent to him by Elias.[3]
According to Eutychius, he was appointed in the tenth regnal year of the Abbasid caliphal-Mu'tamid (r. 870–892), and remained in office until his death, a period of 22 years.[2]
^ abGriffith, Sidney H. (2016). "The Manṣūr Family and Saint John of Damascus: Christians and Muslims in Umayyad Times". In Antoine Borrut; Fred M. Donner (eds.). Christians and Others in the Umayyad State. Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. pp. 29–51. ISBN978-1-614910-31-2.
^Keynes, Simon; Lapidge, Michael, eds. (1983). Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred & Other Contemporary Sources. Penguin Classics. pp. 101, 256. ISBN9780140444094.
