Theophanes the Confessor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Confessor of the Faith | |
| Born | c. 759 Constantinople,Byzantine Empire |
| Died | 817 or 818 (aged c. 58) Samothrace,Thrace, Byzantine Empire |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Feast | 12 March |
Theophanes the Confessor (Greek:Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής) orTheophanes of the Great Field (Greek:Θεοφάνης τοῦ Μεγάλου Ἄγρου;c. 759 – 817 or 818) was a member of theByzantine aristocracy who became amonk andchronicler. He served in the court of EmperorLeo IV the Khazar before taking up the religious life. Theophanes attended theSecond Council of Nicaea in 787 and resisted the iconoclasm ofLeo V the Armenian, for which he was imprisoned. He died shortly after his release.
Theophanes the Confessor,venerated on 12 March in both theCatholic Church and theEastern Orthodox Church, should not be confused withTheophanes of Nicaea, whosefeast is commemorated on 11 October.
Theophanes was born inConstantinople of wealthy and nobleiconodule parents: Isaac, governor of theislands of theAegean Sea, and Theodora, of whose family nothing is known.[1] His father died when Theophanes was three years old, and theByzantine EmperorConstantine V (740–775) subsequently saw to the boy's education and upbringing at the imperial court. Theophanes would hold several offices under Leo IV the Khazar.[2]
He was married at the age of eighteen, but convinced his wife to lead a life of virginity. In 779, after the death of his father-in-law, they separated with mutual consent to embrace the religious life. She chose a convent on an island near Constantinople, while he entered the Polychronius Monastery, located in the district of Sigiane (Sigriano), nearCyzicus on the Asian side of theSea of Marmara.[1] Later, he built a monastery on his own lands on the island of Calonymus (nowCalomio),[3] where he acquired a high degree of skill in transcribing manuscripts.
After six years he returned to Sigriano, where he founded an abbey known by the name "of the big settlement" and governed it asabbot. In this position of leadership, he was present at theSecond Council of Nicaea in 787, and signed its decrees in defense of theveneration oficons.[1]
When EmperorLeo V the Armenian (813–820) resumed hisiconoclastic warfare, he ordered Theophanes brought to Constantinople. The Emperor tried in vain to induce him to condemn the same veneration of icons that had been sanctioned by the council. Theophanes was cast into prison and for two years suffered cruel treatment. After his release, he was banished toSamothrace in 817, where overwhelmed with afflictions, he lived only seventeen days. He is credited with many miracles that occurred after his death,[1] which most likely took place on 12 March, the day he is commemorated in theRoman Martyrology.[1]
At the urgent request of his friendGeorge Syncellus, Theophanes undertook the continuation of Syncellus'Chronicle (Χρονογραφία, Chronographia), during the years 810 to 815.[4] The language used occupies a place midway between the stiff ecclesiastical and the vernacular Greek.[5] He made use of three main sources: first, material already prepared by Syncellus; second, he probably made the use of a set of extracts made byTheodore Lector from the works ofSocrates Scholasticus,Sozomenus, andTheodoret; and third, the city chronicle of Constantinople.[1] Cyril Mango has argued that Theophanes contributed but little to the chronicle that bears his name, and that the vast bulk of its contents are the work of Syncellus; on this model, Theophanes' main contribution was to cast Syncellus' rough materials together in a unified form.[citation needed]
Theophanes' part of the chronicle covered events from the accession ofDiocletian in 284 (which is the point where the chronicle ofGeorge Syncellus ends) to the downfall ofMichael I Rhangabe in 813. This part of the chronicle is valuable for having preserved the accounts of lost authorities on Byzantine history for the seventh and eighth centuries that would be otherwise have been lost.[6]
The work consists of two parts, wherein the first provides a chronological history arranged per annum, and the second contains chronological tables that are regrettably full of inaccuracies. It seems that Theophanes had only prepared the tables, leaving vacant spaces for the proper dates, but that these had been filled out by someone else (Hugo von Hurter,Nomenclator literarius recentioris I, Innsbruck, 1903, 735). In the chronological first part, in addition to reckoning by the years of the world and the Christian era, Theophanes introduces in tabular form the regnal years of the Roman emperors, of the Persian kings and Arab caliphs, and of the five ecumenical patriarchs, a complex system which sometimes leads to considerable confusion.[5]
The first part, though lacking in critical insight and chronological accuracy, greatly surpasses the majority of Byzantine chronicles.[7] Theophanes'sChronicle is particularly valuable beginning with the reign ofJustin II (565), as in his work, he then drew upon sources that have not survived his times[8]
Theophanes'Chronicle was much used by succeeding chroniclers, and in 873–875 aLatin compilation was made[9] by thepapal librarianAnastasius from the chronicles ofNicephorus, George Syncellus, and Theophanes for the use of a deacon named Johannes in the second half of the ninth century and thus was known to Western Europe.[1]
There also survives a further continuation, in six books, of theChronicle down to the year 961 written by a number of mostly anonymous writers (calledTheophanes Continuatus orScriptores post Theophanem), who undertook the work at the instructions ofConstantine Porphyrogenitus.[1]
Theophanes was the first to claim that the Prophet of the Islamic religionMuhammad hadepilepsy.[10]
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Mershman, Francis (1912). "St. Theophanes". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Theophanes".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. Endnotes:
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