Theodore | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Martyr | |
| Born | unknown Euchaita, Roman Empire (modern-dayBeyözü,Turkey) |
| Died | (306-02-17)17 February 306 Amasea, Roman Empire (modern-dayAmasya, Turkey) |
| Feast | Catholic Church: 9 November Eastern Orthodox Church: 17 February and the first Saturday inGreat Lent; Korčula: 27 July |
| Attributes | Dressed as a soldier sometimes in court dress, with emblems such as aspear,temple,[1]torch,[1] crocodile[1] or dragon,pyre,[1]crown of thorns[1] |
| Patronage | soldiers,Venice,[1]Brindisi,[1] against storms,[1] recovery of lost articles[2] |
Saint Theodore (Άγιος Θεοδώρος), distinguished asTheodore of Amasea,Theodore the Recruit (Θεοδώρος ό Τήρων), and byother names, is aChristiansaint andGreat Martyr, particularly revered in theEastern Orthodox Churches but also honored inRoman Catholicism andOriental Orthodoxy. According tolegend, he was alegionary in theRomanarmy who sufferedmartyrdom byimmolation at Amasea inGalatian Pontus (modernAmasya,Turkey) during theGreat Persecution underDiocletian in the early 4th century.Venerated by the late 4th century, he became a prominentwarrior saint during theMiddle Ages, attracted a great deal of additional legends including accounts of battle againstdragons, and was often confused with (or was the original source of) the similarTheodore Stratelates ofHeraclea.
Theodore is theEnglish form of theLatinmasculinegiven nameTheodorus fromAncient GreekTheódōros (Θεόδωρος) fromTheós (Θεός, "God") +dō̂ron (δῶρον, "gift"). In Rome, he was also known to locals as St Toto.[1] He was eventually distinguished from othersaints named Theodore asTheodore the Recruit,[3] Theodore the Tyro,[2] or Theodore the Soldier[4] (Latin:Theodorus Tyro orTiro;Ancient Greek:Θεόδωρος Τήρων orὁ Τήρων,Theódōros Tḗrōn orho Tḗrōn).[a] The same name is variously anglicized asTheodore Tiron,[6]Tiro,[1][7]Tyron,[8]Tyro,[1][9] andTeron.[10] (Nilles argued that this epithet was a later mistake and that, rather than being a recruit, Theodore's name had originally referenced his service in theCohors Tyronum.)[1][11] The saint is also distinguished asTheodore of Amasea,[1][12]Theodore of Euchaita,[1][13] andTheodore Martyr. The epithets are not generally needed, as Theodore Tiron is generally the intendend saint when the name "St Theodore" is used without other clarification.[6][14]
Theodore was aGreek,[15] born inAmasea. The basic legend recounts that Theodore'scohort was sent toPontus for winter quarters.[1]Christianity wasstill illegal andGalerius, prior to his 311Edict of Toleration atSerdica, enforced hisco-emperorDiocletian'sGreat Persecution. When the soldiers of Theodore's cohort were obliged to performpagansacrifice at Amasea inGalatian Pontus (modernAmasya,Turkey, about 30 miles or 48 kilometres south of theBlack Coast atSinop), he refused and recounted aconfession of faith in the divinity ofJesus Christ.[1] Rather than immediately execute him, the judges—taking pity on his youth—delayed their sentence to allow him to change his mind.[1] Theodore thenburned the city'stemple ofMagna Mater (Cybele), whereupon he was againarrested,tortured, andmartyred byimmolation.[1][16][17] The year of his martyrdom is cited as 287 in thelegenda aurea, but later tradition includingButler has the year 306.[1][18] Hisrelics were latercarried toEuchaita, possibly his birthplace, by the ChristianempressEusebia[4] sometime before her death in 360.
Iconography of a horseman with a spear overcoming evil as personified as a dragon was widespread throughout the Christian period.[19] Iconographic representations of St Theodore as dragon-slayer are dated to as early as the 7th century, certainly by the early 10th century (the oldest certain depiction of Theodore killing a dragon is atAghtamar, datedc. 920).[20] Theodore is reported as having destroyed a dragon nearEuchaita in a legend not younger than the late 9th century. The earliest image of St Theodore as a horseman (named in Latin) is fromVinica, North Macedonia and, if genuine, dates to the 6th or 7th century. Here, Theodore is not slaying a dragon, but holding adraco standard.
The "Christianisation" of theThracian horseman iconography can be traced to the Cappadociancave churches of Göreme, where frescoes of the 10th century show military saints on horseback confronting serpents with one, two or three heads. One of the earliest examples is from the church known as Mavrucan 3 (Güzelöz, Yeşilhisar [tr]), generally dated to the 10th century,[21][22] which portrays two "sacred riders" confronting a two serpents twined around a tree, in a striking parallel to the Dioskuroi stela, except that the riders are now attacking the snake in the "tree of life" instead of a boar.In this example, at least, there appear to be two snakes with separate heads, but other examples of 10th-century Cappadocia show polycephalous snakes.[23]A poorly preserved wall-painting at theYılanlı Kilise [tr] ("Snake Church") that depicts the two saints Theodore and George attacking a dragon has been tentatively dated to the 10th century,[24] or alternatively even to the mid-9th.[25] A similar example, but showing three equestrian saints, Demetrius, Theodore and George, is from the "Zoodochos Pigi" chapel in central Macedonia in Greece, in the prefecture ofKilkis, near the modern village of Kolchida, dated to the 9th or 10th century.[26]
A 12th-century depiction of Theodore as equestrian dragon-slayer is found in fourmuqarna panels in the nave of theCappella Palatina inPalermo.[20]
Thedragon motif was transferred to the George legend from that of his fellowsoldier saint, Saint Theodore Tiro.[27]The transfer of the dragon iconography from Theodore, or Theodore and George as "Dioskuroi" to George on his own, first becomes tangible in the early 11th century. The oldest certain images of St. George combatting the serpent date are still found inCappadocia, in particular the image in the church of Saint Barbara,Soganh (dated 1006 or 1021).[28]
The emergence ofTheodore Stratelates as a separate saint is attested from the late 9th century. The two Theodores were frequently depicted alongside one another in the later Byzantine period. Theodore Stratelates had a shrine atEuchaneia, but was said to have originally been from Euchaita.[29] His "lives" are listed in Bibliotecha Hagiographica Graeca 1760–1773.[30]
Numerous conflicting legends grew up about the life and martyrdom of St Theodore so that, in order to bring some consistency into the stories, it seems to have been assumed that there must have been two different saints, St Theodore Tiron of Amasea and StTheodore Stratelates of Heraclea.[31][b]
There is much confusion between these two saints, and each of them is sometimes said to have had a shrine atEuchaita in Pontus. In fact the shrine existed before any distinction was made between these two saints. The separate shrine of Stratelates was atEuchaneia, a different place.[c] They were distinguished at least by the 9th century. However it is now generally accepted, at least in the west, that there was in fact only one St Theodore.[16][32][31]Delehaye wrote in 1909 that the existence of the second Theodore had not been historically established,[35] and Walter in 2003 wrote that "the Stratelates is surely a fiction".[14] Blackburn et al. treat the second figure as a promotion in rank of the former.[36]
There were several churches dedicated to both saints, Theodore Tiron and Theodore Stratelates. For instance atDobarsko and atSerres, at the monastery of Kuprianou at Constantinople and atPergamon.[37]
Theveneration of St Theodore is attested by the late 4th century, whenGregory of Nyssa preached anencomium orhomily[4] in his honor at his sanctuary[17][38][39] in the winter of 381.[4] It is uncertain if this sanctuary was located atAmasea orEuchaita, but a church at Euchaita related to pilgrimage in Theodore's honor is known to have existed from at leastc. 400. His cult spread rapidly and he became highly popular. ThepatriarchNectarius preached a sermon on Theodore atConstantinople before 397.[4] There was a church dedicated to him in Constantinople in 452,[40] a mosaic created of him at Rome'sChurch of SS Cosmas & Damianc. 530, andSan Teodoro al Palatino, a separate circular church in his honor at the foot of thePalatine, was consecrated in the 6th or 7th century.
The initial center of veneration was in the district around Amasea. From at least the 9th century (and possibly much earlier), Euchaita housed therelics of the saint and became an important place of pilgrimage, to the point it was also known as Theodoropolis.[1] In a tradition recorded in the 10th or 11th century, a woman from Euchaita named Eusebia had transferred the saint's relics according to his wishes.[41][42] The same tradition also associates Theodore with thedragon slayer motif. In the late 11th century, the Amasea province was gradually overwhelmed by theTurkish invasion and Euchaita became depopulated.
St Theodore became especially important in theEastern Orthodox Church, where his cult spread widely. Gregory of Nyssa said nothing about St Theodore's life beyond the basic legend as given above, but he told how he could influence the lives of his hearers and specifically mentioned that he could intervene in battles. This became a particularly important attribute of St Theodore.[17] Theodore was one of the important military saints of Byzantium and eventually had 15 churches in his honor in Constantinople. He was also widely venerated in Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine[43] and there are churches dedicated to him inJerusalem andDamascus.[1] The oldest GeorgianBir el Qutt inscriptions mention him twice. After the period oficonoclasm, from the 9th century, he was depicted as a soldier in military dress. A tradition origating inCappadocia from the 9th or 10th century depicted him as dragon-slayer alongside Saints Demetrius and George. He was adopted as a military saint by thecrusaders.
In Western Europe, Theodore was thepatron saint ofVenice during its period under Byzantine hegemony and thedoge's chapel was dedicated to him until the 9th century, when Venice largely replaced him withSt Mark as a sign of its growing independence. His cult spread during theCrusades. His body was said to have been transferred toBrindisi in the 12th century, after which he was honored as that city's patron.[1]Gaeta claimed to have taken his head.[1]Chartres Cathedral inFrance has a 13th-centurystained glass window with 38 panels depicting Theodore's life,[1] but his cult did not become common beyond Italy.[44]
San Teodoro in Rome was made a collegiate church byPope Felix IV[1] and was made available to the Orthodox byPope John Paul II in 2000, with services beginning in 2004.
In mosaics and icons, he is most often shown in military dress from the 6th century,[citation needed] but sometimes in civilian or court dress. When on horseback, he is always in military dress, possibly spearing a dragon, and often accompanied by St George.[45] Both he and St Theodore Stratelates are shown with thick black hair and pointed beards, usually one point for Theodore Tiron and two points for Stratelates.[46]
His encounter with a dragon was increasingly transferred to the more-widely veneratedSaint George beginning in the 13th century.[27]
In the Eastern church, St Theodore of Amasea is celebrated on 8 February in the Slavonic Byzantine calendar[47] or on 17 February[48] or on the 1st Saturday in Lent. In the western church, his date was 9 November but, since 1969 after theSecond Vatican Council, he is no longer liturgically celebrated except in certain local calendars.[49]
TheEastern Orthodox Church and thoseEastern Catholic churches which follow theByzantine Rite, celebrate amiracle attributed to St. Theodore Tyro on the First Saturday ofGreat Lent. At the end of thePresanctified Liturgy on Friday evening (since, liturgically, the day begins at sunset) a specialcanon to St. Theodore, composed by St.John of Damascus, is chanted. Then the priest blesseskolyva (boiled wheat with honey and raisins) which is distributed to the faithful in commemoration of the following miracle worked by St. Theodore on the First Saturday of Great Lent:
Fifty years after the death of St Theodore, the emperorJulian the Apostate (361-363) commanded the governor ofConstantinople during the first week of Great Lent to sprinkle all the food provisions in the marketplace with the blood offered to pagan idols, knowing that the people would be hungry after the strict fasting of the first week. Thus he would force the Christians to unknowingly eat food "polluted" (from the Christian perspective) with the blood ofidolatry. St Theodore appeared in a dream to the Archbishop of Constantinople,Eudoxius, ordering him to inform all the Christians that no one should buy anything at the market, but rather to boil the wheat they had at home and eat it sweetened with honey.
After the service, thekolyva is distributed to all who are present and, afterHoly Communion and theantidoron, is the first food eaten after the strictfasting of the first week.
St Theodore was the patron saint ofVenice before the relics ofSaint Mark were (according to tradition) brought to the city in 828. The original chapel of the Doge was dedicated to St Theodore, though, after the translation of the relics of St Mark, it was superseded by the church of St Mark.
There is some doubt whether this first patron of Venice was Theodore of Amasea or Theodore of Heraclea, althoughDemus opted emphatically for the latter in 1960[50] and was followed in this by Fenlon.[51] However, Demus later noted that none of the 12th-century mosaics which show St Theodore mentions more than his name and that he may have become the patron of the city before the two saints were distinguished.[52] In fact the Venetians never appear to have made any distinction between the different St Theodores. None of the mosaics in Venice'sSt Mark's Basilica show him in military dress.
There were 15 churches in Constantinople dedicated to St Theodore, who was a Greek saint, specially venerated by the Eastern church. Venice had originally been a subject city of theEastern Roman Empire, and the Venetians saw St Theodore as a symbol of their subjection to Constantinople. The adoption of St Mark as their patron helped to establish their independence.
The new church of St Mark was built between the old chapel of St Theodore and theDucal Palace. When this was enlarged and rebuilt in the late 11th century, the chapel of St Theodore disappeared in the rebuilding. There is today a small chapel dedicated to St Theodore, behind St Mark's church, but this was not built until 1486. (It was later occupied by the Inquisition in Venice).
The two Byzantine columns in the Piazzetta in Venice were set up soon after 1172. The eastern column bears a strange animal representing the winged lion of St Mark. A statue representing St Theodore was placed on the western column in 1372, but this was not the statue now to be seen there, which is a composite of several fragments, some antique, including acrocodile to represent a dragon, and was placed there in the second half of the 15th century.[53] The statue on the pillar is now a copy of the original, which is kept elsewhere for its preservation.
Reputed relics of St Theodore were taken fromMesembria by a Venetian admiral in 1257 and, after being first placed in a Venetian church in Constantinople, were brought to Venice in 1267. They were placed in the church of San Salvatore.[54]
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