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TheMonastery of Stoudios, more fullyMonastery of Saint John the Forerunner "at Stoudios" (Ancient Greek:Μονή του Αγίου Ιωάννη του Προδρόμου εν τοις Στουδίου,romanized: Monē tou Hagiou Iōannē tou Prodromou en tois Stoudiou), often shortened toStoudios,Studion orStoudion (Latin:Studium), was aGreek Orthodoxmonastery inConstantinople (modern-dayIstanbul), the capital of theByzantine Empire. The residents of the monastery were referred to asStoudites orStudites. Although the monastery has been derelict for half a millennium, the laws and customs of the Stoudion were taken as models by themonks ofMount Athos and of many other monasteries of theOrthodox world; even today they have influence.
The ruins of the monastery are situated not far from thePropontis (Sea of Marmara) in the section of Istanbul calledPsamathia, today'sKoca Mustafa Paşa. It was founded in 462 by theconsulFlavius Studius, a Romanpatrician who had settled in Constantinople, and wasconsecrated toSaint John the Baptist. Its first monks came from the monastery of theAcoemetae. Today it is converted into theImrahor Mosque (orMosque of the Equerry), named after Ottoman sultanBayezid II's equerry,Mirahor Ilias Bey.
The Stoudites gave the first proof of their devotion to the Orthodox Faith during theschism ofAcacius (484–519); they also remained loyal during the storms oficonoclastic dispute in the eighth and ninth centuries. They were driven from the monastery and the city by EmperorConstantine V (r. 741–775); after his death however, some of them returned.
Hegumenos (abbot)Sabas of Stoudios zealously defended the Orthodoxdoctrines against the Iconoclasts at theSecond Ecumenical Council inNicaea (787). His successor wasTheodore the Studite to whom the monastery owes most of its fame, and who especially fostered academic and spiritual study. He reformed the monastery based not only on the ideas ofBasil the Great, but also ofPachomios, the ascetics of the Gazan deserts (e.g.Barsanuphius,John,Dorotheus) andJohn Sinaites.[1] During St. Theodore's administration also the monks were harassed and driven away several times, some of them being put to death.
Theodore's pupil, Naukratios, re-established discipline after the Iconoclastic dispute had come to an end. Hegumenos Nicholas (848-845 and 855-858) refused to recognize thePatriarch St. Photios and was on this account imprisoned in his own monastery. He was succeeded by five abbots who recognized the patriarch. The brilliant period of the Stoudios came to an end at this time.
In the middle of the eleventh century, during the administration of Abbot Simeon, a monk namedNiketas Stethatos, a disciple ofSymeon the New Theologian, criticized some customs of theLatin Church in two books which he wrote on the use ofunleavened bread, theSabbath, and themarriage of priests.
As regards the intellectual life of the monastery in other directions, it is especially celebrated for its famous school ofcalligraphy which was established by Theodore. The art ofmanuscript illumination was cultivated, with many brilliant products of the monastic scriptorium now residing inVenice,Vatican City, andMoscow (e.g.,Chludov Psalter). TheTheodore Psalter, created at the monastery in the twelfth century is in the collection of theBritish Library.[2]
In the eighth and eleventh centuries, the monastery was the centre of Byzantine religious poetry; a number of thehymns are still used in the Orthodox Church. Besides Theodore and Niketas, a number of other theological writers are known. Three of the Stoudite monks rose to become theecumenical patriarchs; and three emperors—Michael V (r. 1041–1042),Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1078), andIsaac I Komnenos (r. 1057–1059)—tookmonastic vows in the Stoudion.
In 1204, the monastery was destroyed by theCrusaders and was not fully restored until 1290, byConstantine Palaiologos. The Russian pilgrims Anthony (c. 1200) and Stephen (c. 1350) were amazed by the size of the monastic grounds. It is thought that thecloister sheltered as many as 700 monks at the time. The greater part of the monastery was again destroyed when theTurks conquered Constantinople in 1453.
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The 5th-century monastery's church, which has the plan of a basilica, was converted byBayezid II's Albanian equerry,Ilias Bey, into the mosqueİmrahor Camii (literally,Mosque of the Equerry). The ancient structure sustained grave damage from the great fire of 1782; the1894 Istanbul earthquake also contributed to its ruin.[3]
Following the 1894 earthquake, a group of Russian Byzantinist scholars led byFyodor Uspensky opened the Russian Archaeological Institute on the monastery grounds, but its activity was suppressed in the wake of theRussian Revolution of 1917. During the subsequent decades the ruins of the monastery complex were looted by local inhabitants to repair their houses, while the magnificent 13th century pavement still lies open to elements "and disappears slowly but steadily".In 2013 plans were announced that the church, currently a museum, was to be converted into a mosque after a restoration.[4] It was announced in 2023 that restoration of the edifice was due to start later that year.[5] and which has been ongoing as of January 2024[6]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Studion".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Media related toMonastery of Stoudios at Wikimedia Commons
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