Theodosius of Villehardouin
Theodosius of Villehardouin[1] or Theodosios Prinkips[2][3] (fl. 1260–1283) was the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Antioch as Theodosius V from 1278 to 1283.[4][5] He amassed a considerable library of manuscripts, several of which are known today dispersed among different collections.[6]
Life
[edit]Theodosius was a member of the Villehardouin family of French origin, which ruled the Principality of Achaia. Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos called him 'uncle', which may indicate that he was an uncle of William of Villehardouin, who stood as godfather to one of Michael's sons. He was a friend of George Pachymeres, whose writings provide important information about his career.[4]
Theodosius may be a religious name.[4] In his youth, he joined an Orthodox monastery on the Black Mountain outside of Antioch, the same monastery where the future Patriarch Germanus III of Constantinople was living. In 1259 or 1260, he joined the court of the Empire of Nicaea, possibly in connection with the imprisonment of William of Villehardouin and Michael's efforts to form an alliance with the Principality of Achaia. In 1260–1261, Michael VIII appointed Theodosius trustee of the dying Patriarch Nicephorus II.[7]
Michael VIII named Theodosius archimandrite of the Pantokrator Monastery, probably shortly after the reconquest of Constantinople in 1261.[2][8] His influence helped secure Germanus' appointment as patriarch in 1265.[9] In that year, he escorted the princess Maria Palaiologina to the court of the Ilkhanate in order to finalize a Byzantine–Mongol alliance.[10][8] Afterwards, he retired to the Hodegon Monastery.[2][8]
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In 1275, Theodosius was passed over for promotion to the patriarchate of Constantinople because his commitment to church union was suspect. After Pachymeres vouched for him, he was named patriarch of Antioch in 1278.[9] In accordance with the Second Council of Lyon, he worked to bring about the union of the churches, which angered Prince Bohemond VII of Antioch, since it caused some of his Orthodox subjects to obey the interdict imposed on Tripoli by its Catholic bishop.[11] Following the accession in December 1282 of Andronikos II Palaiologos, who was opposed to church union, Theodosius left Constantinople for Antioch.[2] He resigned in 1283 and went into voluntary exile in the Crusader states.[1][9] A late notice claims that he became a monk at Mount Sinai.[12]
Library
[edit]There are at least eleven surviving manuscripts that are known to have been owned by Theodosius.[2][13] He bequeathed his library to the unidentified church in which he was buried.[2][6] His books are identified by the presence on the final page of a warning or anathema against those who would remove the books from the church where he, "Theodosius the Prince", is buried.[14] The collection was dispersed against his wishes between the 15th and 17th centuries.[15]
Theodosius's library contained mainly biblical and theological texts, but also a copy of Aristotle.[16] His manuscripts included:
- Laurentianus 87.24 is a copy of books 6–8 of Aristotle's Physics.[16][12] It is much older than the 12th century.[17]
- Parisinus Graecus 159, which contains the Minor Prophets with catena, was probably copied for Theodosius in Constantinople from the exemplar Vaticanus Graecus 1153.[18][15]
- Vindobonensis Historicus Graecus 73, a copy of the Apostolic Constitutions, is a palimpsest containing an erased copy of Dexippus' Scythica as an undertext.[19] It was acquired by Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq in Constantinople.[15]
- Vaticanus Graecus 401 is a 13th-century copy of Saint Athanasius and Gregory of Nyssa. It later belonged to Pope Nicholas V.[15]
- Vaticanus Graecus 1219 is a 13th-century copy of Gregory Nazianzus, acquired by Antonio Carafa in the 16th century.[15]
- Ottoboni Graecus 259 is a 13th-century manuscript containing Epiphanius of Salamis On Weights and Measures and Nicetas David Paphlago's verses on Nazianzus, acquired by Guglielmo Sirleto in the 16th century.[15]
- Ambrosianus A 176 sup. is a 12th-century copy of Chrysostom's homilies on the Psalms.[15]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b Hamilton 1980, p. 328.
- ^ a b c d e f Lowden 1988, p. 34.
- ^ Papavarnavas 2023, p. 200. The name which Pachymeres calls him is derived from the title (Latin princeps) of his relatives, the princes of Achaia. For the Greek spelling, Θεοδόσιος πρίγκιψ, see Galadza 2018, p. 150n, and Mercati 1950, p. 219.
- ^ a b c Angold 1991, p. 61.
- ^ Galadza 2018, p. 150, and Mercati 1950, p. 219, number him Theodosius IV.
- ^ a b Mercati 1950, p. 219.
- ^ Angold 1991, p. 62.
- ^ a b c Kotzabassi 2013, p. 59.
- ^ a b c Angold 1991, p. 63.
- ^ Hamilton 1980, p. 328, citing a letter from Pope Nicholas III dated 1279.
- ^ a b Darrouzès 1977.
- ^ There are 14 listed under Θεοδόσιος πρίγκιψ in Pinakes: Textes et manuscrits grecs.
- ^ Mercati 1950, p. 220. He spells his name Θεοδοσίος ο Πρίγκιπος.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mercati 1950, p. 220.
- ^ a b Lowden 1988, p. 99 n157.
- ^ Mercati 1950, p. 221.
- ^ Lowden 1988, p. 43. Digitizations of the manuscripts are available online: Paris. gr. 159 and Vat. gr. 1153.
- ^ De Gregorio et al. 2020, p. 7.
Bibliography
[edit]- Angold, Michael (1991). "The Latin Empire of Constantinople, 1204–1261: Marriage Strategies". In Judith Herrin; Guillaume Saint-Guillain (eds.). Identities and Allegiances in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1204. Routledge. pp. 65–86.
- Darrouzès, Jean (1977). "Review of Aristoteles graecus: Die griechischen Manuskripte des Aristoteles (Walter de Gruyter, 1976)". Revue des études byzantines. 35: 293–294.
- De Gregorio, Giuseppe; Gamillscheg, Ernst; Grusková, Jana; Kresten, Otto; Martin, Gunther; Mondrain, Brigitte; Wilson, Nigel (2020). "Palaeographical and Codicological Remarks on the Vienna Dexippus Palimpsest". In Fritz Mitthof; Gunther Martin; Jana Grusková (eds.). Empire in Crisis: Gothic Invasions and Roman Historiography (PDF). Holzhausen. pp. 5–13.
- Galadza, Daniel (2018). Liturgy and Byzantinization in Jerusalem. Oxford University Press.
- Hamilton, Bernard (1980). The Latin Church in the Crusader States: The Secular Church. Routledge. ISBN 9780860780724.
- Kotzabassi, Sofia (2013). "The Monastery of Pantokrator between 1204 and 1453". In Sofia Kotzabassi (ed.). The Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople. De Gruyter. pp. 57–69.
- Lowden, John (1988). Illuminated Prophet Books: A Study of Byzantine Manuscripts of the Major and Minor Prophets. Pennsylvania State University Press.
- Mercati, Giovanni (1950). "Origine antiochena di due codici greci del secolo XI". Analecta Bollandiana. 68: 210–222. doi:10.1484/J.ABOL.4.01034.
- Papavarnavas, Christodoulos (2023). "1.10.3 Maria Palaiologina leaves Constantinople and travels to the Mongols, first as a bride-to-be (1265) and then as an ambassador (1307)". In Claudia Rapp; Johannes Preiser-Kapeller (eds.). Mobility and Migration in Byzantium: A Sourcebook. Vienna University Press. pp. 198–202.