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Greek, Modern (1453-) Pages [210] Year 2013
List of Maps 1
The Medieval City Plan
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Thessalonica-Adrianople-Constantinople
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Thessalonica and its Hinterland
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The Byzantine Commonwealth
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The Eastern Mediterranean
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List of Illustrations 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
St Nikolaos Orphanos, outside St Nikolaos Orphanos, inside Arch of Galerius Arch of Galerius and Egnatia The Rotunda, outside St George, Rotunda St Theodores, Dolna Kamenitsa: an example of the depiction of the military saints in the Byzantine Commonwealth
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Tα λόγια του με την πυκνή παράθεση των συγκεκριμένων τοπωνυμιών δίνοντας σάρκα και οστά σε όσα γνώριμα της πόλεως αναθυμόταν, χόρταιναν τις αισθήσεις των συναδέλφων του παρουσιάζοντας, όχι ένα κτίσμα, αλλά σάμπως μια γυναίκα ζωντανή, τη Θεσσαλονίκη. [His words, with the dense listing of the specific toponyms giving flesh and bones to what he remembered of the familiar landmarks of the city satisfied the senses of his colleagues by presenting, not as a building, but as if a woman full of life, the city of Thessalonica.] Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis (1908–93), ‘Symvan’, Poems (Thessalonica: Agrotikes Synetairistikes Ekdoseis, 1988)
* * * Tης Σαλονίκης μοναχά της πρέπει το καράβι. Nα μην τολμήσεις να τη δεις ποτέ από τη στεριά. Kι⬘ αν κάποια στην Kαλαμαριά πουκάμισο μου ράβει, μπορεί να ρθώ απ⬘ τα πέλαγα με τη φυρονεριά. [Thessalonica is only fit for the ship Do not ever dare to see it from the land. And if a woman in Kalamaria is ever sewing me a shirt, I might come from the high seas with the next tide.] Nikos Kavvadias (1910–75), ‘Thessaloniki II’, Traverso (Athens: Ikaros, 1979)
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Prologue: Where is Thessalonica? If this book were to feature Constantinople, Alexandria or Antioch, or any of the Seven Cities claiming to be the homeland of Homer,1 perhaps I would not have needed to open by mentioning the city’s location. These cities already live in the imagination of their readers. Even if their mythos is often more powerful than their geography, an awareness of their physical existence can generally be taken for granted. I could have started with a striking story or a haunting allegory. I have a few that come to mind. Yet, I will save them for later and start from the beginning; with this title’s question: ‘Where is Thessalonica?’ The quickest answer is ‘where St Paul went’ … For those who recall St Paul’s Second Missonary Journey (Acts 15.36–18.22; c. 49–52 ad), the city lies on the route between Philippi and Veroia (Beroea). Indeed, for many people, their first encounter of Thessalonica is through reading or hearing the Two Epistles to the Thessalonians or through reading, drawing or studying a map of the Second Pauline Missionary Journey. St Paul visited Thessalonica on his way from Philippi to Veroia. He sent letters to the churches of two (out of the three) cities I mentioned, with the two Letters to the Thessalonians preceding the Letter to the Philippians by ten years. The former two were composed and sent from Corinth; or, as some scholars maintain, from Athens. They were written with a sense of urgency to resolve difficult ecclesiastical issues soon after the Apostle’s separation from the people of Thessalonica (as he and Silas were pursued there; see below), while the Letter to the Philippians is characterized by a much different mood, and by fondness and reflection. The dating I have just suggested, following accepted scholarship, makes 1 Thessalonians the oldest book of the New Testament. The Letter to the Philippians (c. 62 ad), one that scholars consider not only as undoubtedly authentic but also
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There are more than seven cities involved in such a claim, but generally the ones remembered are these mentioned in the following epigram, well-known to Classicists, attributed to Antipater of Thessalonica (fl. 1st c. ad): ‘Ἑπτὰ πόλεις μάρνανται σοφὴν διὰ ῥίζαν Ὁμήρου· Σμύρνη, Χίος, Κολοφῶν, Ἰθάκη, Πύλος, Ἄργος, Ἀθήνη’ or in another variant: ‘Ἑπτά ἐριδμαινούσι πόλεις διὰ ῥίζαν Ὁμήρου, Kύμη, Σμύρνα, Xίος, Kολοφών, Πύλος, Ἄργος, Ἀθήναι’. For the Greek Anthology (Anthologia Graeca) more generally see Alan Cameron, The Greek Anthology from Meleager to Planudes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993). There are similar passages regarding Homer’s origins in Pseudo-Plutarch and Proclus.
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as intense, profound and moving, was written from captivity (whether in gaol or house arrest in Rome) for the members of the church of Philippi.2 The prison epistles of Paul, composed during his first imprisonment in Rome, are four in number, the other three being written for the Churches of the Colossians and the Ephesians, and his personal friend, Philemon. The colour that captivity gives to his writing in these texts is worthy of more detailed investigation by future scholars. The memorable Pauline expression ‘For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ (Philippians 1.21), an idea frequently encountered in later Christian martyrdom, has to be read in this context. The town of Philippi was visited by Paul before Thessalonica, where he continued his teaching. It seems, what had been established at Philippi was a warm and faithful church, much beloved to Paul. It is in Philippians (see 2.5–11) that Paul speaks of the theological concept of kenosis, that is the emptiness of Christ from vainglory and His humbleness and ultimate sacrifice. The prayers included in Philippians are upheld as some of the most beautiful in the Christian tradition. Striking is also Paul’s description of the glory of Christ: ‘Διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πα̑ν̑ ὄνομα· ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι ἰησου̑̑ πα̑ν̑ γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων, καὶ πα̑σ ̑ α γλω̑ σσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι κύριος ἰησου̑ς̑ χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεου̑̑ πατρός.’ [Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.]3 We might, again, choose to place this description of glory in the context of the captive Apostle. It is in keeping with the theme of this book to introduce Thessalonica as part of a journey, in the case of this Prologue St Paul’s journey from Philippi to Veroia. Other journeys will unravel later. This book strives to be not only a classic, static portrait of Thessalonica, but also, simultaneously, one of the city as an anticipated 2
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Markus Bockmuehl, Epistle to the Philippians, Black’s New Testament Commentaries (London: A. & C. Black, 1997); James Leslie Houlden, Paul’s Letters from Prison: Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians, Westminster Pelican Commentaries (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1977); William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, The New Daily Study Bible (3rd edn, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003). More generally see William A. McDonald, ‘Archaeology and St. Paul’s Journeys in Greek Lands’, The Biblical Archaeologist 3 (1940), 18–24; F. F. Bruce, ‘St Paul in Macedonia: 3. The Philippian Correspondence’, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 63 (1981), 260–84; David E. Garland, ‘The Composition and Unity of Philippians: Some Neglected Literary Factors’, Novum Testamentum 27 (1985), 141–73; John Reumann, ‘Contributions of the Philippian Community to Paul and to Earliest Christianity’, New Testament Studies 39 (1993), 438–57; Richard S. Ascough, Paul’s Macedonian Associations: The Social Context of Philippians and 1 Thessalonians, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 161 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003). Philippians 2.9–11. In this book I use the Authorized Version wherever a biblical translation is given.
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destination and as a wistful location of departures. Fondness, memory, despair and hurt were as central to the Thessalonica of the Palaiologoi (1303–1430) as to the city that St Paul was confronted with in the days of Claudius Caesar (10 bc–54 ad).4 Such emotions are recorded in the literary sources which will be brought to life in the pages of this book. * * * Thessalonica is the second largest city of Greece, with a population of approximately 1,000,000 people (metropolitan area), the capital of the periphery of Central Macedonia and the most important5 commercial and cultural centre of Northern Greece. Since the fifteenth century the region was known as Ρωμυλία or Ρούμελη. Rumeli is a word deriving from the Turkish Rum, meaning the Byzantines or Romans. The term was often used in Ottoman times in juxtaposition to the Morea.6 Although the word is not used very much in our day, it is worth being aware of the terminology as it plays a part in the historiography and history of the scholarship of the region. Thinking of the dynamic of the city, in both historical and modern terms, we could say that Thessalonica is something like a Greek Manchester, except for the role of the sea; or to put it slightly differently, somewhere between a Manchester and a Liverpool. This might sound like a big claim but it is no exaggeration. That is how important, iconic, vital and desirable Thessalonica is and was in the imagination of its citizens and others who have partaken in it. But let us look at the city more closely. An annual commercial (and more recently also cultural) exhibition, ‘Ta Demetria’, taking place every October has medieval roots and is named after the city’s patron saint, the Christian soldier-martyr Demetrius. The festival is very popular with the Greek diaspora the world over. Particularly prominent, may I add, is the Australian Demetria organized annually by The Pan-Macedonian Association of Melbourne and Victoria. 4
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Cf. Acts 17. 6–7, with reference to Thessalonica: ‘And when they found them not (i.e. Paul and Silas), they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus’. Cf. J. Agnew, ‘No Borders, No Nations: Making Greece in Macedonia’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers 97 (2007), 398–422. Cf. Ioannes Romanides, Ρωµηοσύνη, Ρωµανία, Ρούµελη (Thessalonica: Ekdoseis P. Pournaras, 1975). NB. For an alternative spelling of Ρωµηοσύνη see the well-known quatrain by Giannis Ritsos: Τη Ρωμιοσύνη μην την κλαις – εκεί που πάει να σκύψει / με το σουγιά στο κόκαλο, με το λουρί στο σβέρκο, / Να τη, πετιέται αποξαρχής κι αντρειεύει και θεριεύει / και καμακώνει το θεριό με το καμάκι του ήλιου. Giannis Ritsos, ‘Τη Ρωμιοσύνη μην την κλαις’, in Δεκαοχτώ λιανοτράγουδα τής πικρής πατρίδας (Athens: Kedros, 1973).
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The Aristotle University is of course named after the philosopher from Stageira, Chalkidiki,7 founder of the Lyceum in Athens also known as the Peripatetic School, and teacher of the young Alexander the Great, who as king became the patron of the School. Something less known about Aristotle (384–322 bc) is that he was the son of a physician, Nicomachus, doctor to the Macedonian King Amyntas III (reigned c. 393–c. 370 bc). The tradition of Medicine being passed down from father to son was strong in Antiquity and, in this case, broken only by Nicomachus’s early death. Otherwise the divine Stageirite would have been a doctor. Macedonian kings had a tradition of befriending physicians: Perdiccas II (reigned c. 454–c. 413 bc), legend has it, was cured by the great Hippocrates, and a later member of the Argead dynasty (note that the name links the dynasty to Argos), Alexander the Great (356– 323 bc; reigned 336–323 bc), is believed to have had a strong bond of trust with his own personal doctor. The University is the largest in Greece and, according to the Leiden rankings (2008), in the top hundred European Universities. The Via Egnatia, one of the most famous Roman roads, is still remembered in the name of the main commercial road in downtown Thessalonica and forms a major vain of the transport network as it did in Roman times. Running from Dyrrhahium to the City of Byzantium (later Constantinople), the Via Egnatia was connected, through a short sea route from Dyrrhahium to Brindisi, to the Via Appia that led to Rome itself. The Roman city of Dyrrhahium (Δυρράχιον) is the ancient colony of Corinth and Kerkyra (Corfu) called by them Epidamnos and the modern city of Durrës. In the centre of Thessalonica two Roman monuments in particular, the Arch of Galerius and the Rotunda beside Egnatia Street, named after Via Egnatia, are landmarks always noticed by visitors. This is the heart of the city and typifies its dominant flavour. The impressive Rotunda is also known to locals by its Christian name, the Church of St George. Inside, beautiful icons of the youthful saint adorn it. It has been recently argued that the conversion of the Rotunda into a church in the late fourth or early fifth century, with the memories of Christian persecutions still fresh, signified a turn-around in Christian attitudes and the formation of a Roman-Christian identity in the city.8 The Christian identity of early Christian 7
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Chalkidiki, as a colony, takes its name from Chalcis. For the relationship between ancient Chalkidiki and Chalcis (and Euboea in general) see Michalis Tiverios, ‘Greek Colonisation of the Northern Aegean’, in Gocha R. Tsetskhladze (ed.), Greek Colonisation: An Account of Greek Colonies and Other Settlements Overseas, Volume Two, Mnemosyne Supplementa 193 (Leiden: Brill, 2008), pp. 1–154, where also excellent bibliography. For Christian Chalkidiki see Ioakeim A. Papaggelos, H Σιθωνία κατά τους βυζαντινούς χρόνους, Ιστορία – Μνημεία – Τοπογραφία, PhD Thesis (Thessalonica: Aristotle University, 2000); Sophia Akrivopoulou, Παλαιοχριστιανική Χαλκιδική: μνημειακή τοπογραφία, MA Thesis (Thessalonica: Aristotle University, 1999). Laura Salah Nasrallah, ‘Empire and Apocalypse in Thessaloniki: Interpreting the Early Christian Rotunda’, Journal of Early Christian Studies 13 (2005), 465–508.
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Thessalonica has also been expressed in aesthetic terms, most notably by art historian Bente Kiilerich.9 The Early Christian (Palaeochristian) and Byzantine monuments of Thessalonica were declared in 1988 by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. Reflecting its distinctive cultural outlook, in 1997 the city became the Cultural Capital of Europe,10 after a very successful year for Copenhagen (1996). In visual terms, Thessalonica is still predominantly a Roman city. Indelible majesty characterizes its Roman monuments. Yet, I am convinced that in more subtle but also more enduring ways the late Byzantine era is what has shaped the city’s identity – and hence this book.
Therme and Thessalonica The historic seaport of Thessalonica is situated near Therme,11 the ancient city which gives its name to the Thermaikos Gulf, meaning Gulf of Therme. This Therme is not to be confused with Therme in Lesvos, a more well-known location, especially evocative among ancient archaeologists.12 The historical 9
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Bente Kiilerich, ‘Picturing Ideal Beauty: The Saints in the Rotunda at Thessaloniki’, Antiquité Tardive 15 (2007), 321–36. For a somewhat pessimistic appraisal of the year see Lois Lambrianides, ‘Θεσσαλονίκη, πολιτιστική πρωτεύουσα της Ευρώπης ’97: ένα μεγάλο γεγονός αλλά και μια χαμένη ευκαιρία: κάποια συμπεράσματα – οδηγός για το μέλλον’, To Vima ton Koinonikon Epistemon 6.31 (2001), 65–98. Michael Vickers, ‘Therme and Thessaloniki’, in Harry J. Dell (ed.), Ancient Macedonian Studies in Honor of Charles F. Edson, Institute of Balkan Studies 158 (Thessalonica: Idryma Meleton Hersonisou tou Aimou, 1981), 327–33; Θέρµη – Ιστορία και Πολιτισµός (Thessalonica: Ekdosi Dimou Thermis, 1987); Dinos Christianopoulos, Η αρχαία Θέρµη και η ίδρυση της Θεσσαλονίκης, 1000–315 π.Χ. [Ancient Thermi and the Founding of Thessaloniki, 1000–315 BC] (Thessalonica: s.n., 1991); A. G. Woodhead, ‘The Site of Brea: Thucydides I. 61.4’, The Classical Quarterly (New Series) 2 (1952), 57–62; Didier Viviers, ‘Pisistratus’ Settlement on the Thermaic Gulf: A Connection with the Eretrian Colonization’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 107 (1987), 193–5; Julia Vokotopoulou, ‘Cities and Sanctuaries of the Archaic Period in Chalkidike’, The Annual of the British School at Athens 91 (1996), 319–28; Chr. Planeaux, ‘Socrates, Alcibiades, and Plato’s TA ΠΟΤΕΙΔΕΑΤΙΚΑ. Does the “Charmides” Have an Historical Setting?’, Mnemosyne, Fourth Series 52 (1999), 72–7; Christopher J. Tuplin, ‘Xerxes’ March from Doriscus to Therme’, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 52 (2003), 385–409; Manolis Manoledakis, ‘Ancient Sites on Righa’s Charta. Some Remarks Based on the Case of Central Macedonia’, e-Perimetron 3 (2008), 161–72 [www.e-perimetron.org]. For Therme, Lesvos see: W. Lamb and R. W. Hutchinson, ‘Excavations at Thermi in Lesbos’, The Annual of the British School at Athens 30 (1928/9 –1929/30), 1–52; W. Lamb, Excavations at Thermi in Lesbos (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1936); Zofia Stos-Gale, ‘The Origin of Metal Objects from the Early Bronze Age Site of Thermi on the Island of Lesbos’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 11 (1992), 155–77; N. H. Gale, ‘Comments on F. Begemann, E. Pernicka, S. Schmitt-Strecker, “Thermi on Lesbos: A Case Study of Changing Trade Patterns”’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 14 (1995), 123–35, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 15 (1996), 113–20; ‘Concerning the Metal Artefacts from Thermi on Lesbos: A Response’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 16 (1997), 247–51; Kyriacos Lambrianides, ‘Present-Day Chora on Amorgos and Prehistoric Thermi on Lesbos: Alternative Views of Communities in Transition’, in Nigel Spencer (ed.), Time, Tradition and Society in Greek Archaeology. Bridging the ‘Great Divide’, Theoretical Archaeology Group Series (London and New York: Routledge, 1995), pp. 64–88. Also: Jean-Luc Michelot, Elissa vet
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geography13 of the area surrounding Thessalonica is complex and has enjoyed recent attention by scholars. Yet, outside the immediate community of experts, it is often forgotten that nearby Pella was probably situated on a lagoon leading to the sea, and it was greatly valued as a port for timber. When Pella was founded it was itself a port, being built on reclaimed marshland. King Archelaos I (ruled 413 bc to 399 bc) moved his capital from Aigai (Vergina) to Pella for its natural defences.14 Similarly, later, in the first century bc, Pella was superseded by Thessalonica. With regards to ancient Aigai or Vergina, the interested reader will find a great wealth of information in the publications of Manolis Andronikos (1919–92), a Professor of Classical Archaeology in the Aristotle University of Thessalonica, who in excavating the site of Vergina commanded international attention and critical acclaim.15 His most well-known work outside the University community is To Chroniko tis Verginas [The Chronicle of Vergina], which has done much to promote archaeology to generations of classicists in Greece and internationally. The physical advantages of Thessalonica extend beyond the key seafront location. Like its sister city, Constantinople, Thessalonica enjoys in its topography a great combination of beauty and functionality. Four rivers cross the fertile plain of Thessalonica, Haliakmon, Loudias, Axios (Vardar or Βαρδάρης)
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Dotsika and Michalis Fytikas, ‘A Hydrochemical and Isotopic Study of Thermal Waters on Lesbos Island (Greece)’, Geothermics 22 (1993), 91–9. Some observations on changes during the twentieth century can be found in R. Common, ‘Population Changes on the Salonika Campagna’, Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien 4 (1959), 31–40. Matthieu Ghilardi, Abdelsalem Genç, George Syrides, Jan Bloemendal, David Psomiadis, Thodoris Paraschou, Stéphane Kunesch and Eric Fouache, ‘Reconstruction of the Landscape History Around the Remnant Arch of the Klidhi Roman Bridge, Thessaloniki Plain, North Central Greece’, Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010), 178–91; William Greenwalt, ‘Why Pella?’, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 48 (1999), 158–83; Eugene N. Borza, ‘Timber and Politics in the Ancient World: Macedon and the Greeks’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 131 (1987), 32–52; D. Papakonstandinou-Diamandourou, Πέλλα, ιστορική επισκόπησις και μαρτυρίαι (Pella, istoriki episkopisis kai martyriai) (Thessalonica: Vanias, 1971); Manolis Manoledakis, ‘Η θέση των Αιγών στη «Γεωγραφία» του Κλαύδιου Πτολεμαίου’, Archaeologiki Epiterida Makedonias Thrakis 19 (2005), 483–94; Manolis Manoledakis and Evangelos Livieratos, ‘On the Digital Placement of Aegae, the First Capital of Ancient Macedonia, According to Ptolemy’s Geographia’, e-Perimetron [www.e-perimetron.org] 2 (2007), 31–41; T. G. Antikas, ‘The Honor to be Buried with Horses from Mycenaean Nemea to Macedonian Vergina’, in A. Gardeisen (ed.), Les équides dans le monde méditerranéen antique, Monographies d’Archéologie Méditerranéenne (Lattes: Edition de l’Association pour le développement de l’archéologie en Languedoc-Roussillon, 2005), 143–51. Manolis Andronikos, To Chroniko tis Verginas [The Chronicle of Vergina] (Athens: MIET, 1999); ‘Anaskafi sti Megali Toumpa tis Verginas’, Archaiologica Analekta Athinon 9 (1976), 127–9; ‘The Royal Tombs at Vergina and the Problem of the Dead’, Archaeologika Analekta ex Athinon 13 (1980), 168–78; Vergina: the Royal Tombs (Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon, 1984); ‘Some Reflections on the Macedonian Tombs’, The Annual of the British School at Athens 82 (1987), 1–16. The authority of the archaeologist was such that he was repeatedly commissioned to write for the British and American popular press; there has also been a BBC documentary on his excavations. In keeping with the scholarly nature of my bibliography, these items are not included here.
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and Gallikos (Ekhedoros), while the modern city extends up to the beautiful Hortiatis Mountain, the ancient Kissos.16 From the four rivers the most readily mentioned by the Balkan peoples and conspicuous in their imagination is Axios, also a beloved river of the Slavs. By its alternative name Vardaris, it gives its name to the Northwesterly wind of the river’s valley, the Byzantine ‘Αξιώτης άνεμος’ [wind of the Axios]. This strong, cold wind makes the winters of Thessalonica very memorable and also gives its name to a district near the centre of the city. Mark Mazower makes a very striking reference to said district in his book on Thessalonica that will be discussed later. Moreover, lovers of poetry and of the city will be able to recall readily the description of the Vardaris wind by Nikos Kavvadias in his poem Thessaloniki: Ήτανε κείνη τη νυχτιά που φύσαγε ο Βαρδάρης, το κύμα η πλώρη εκέρδιζεν οργιά με την οργιά. Σ, έστειλε ο πρώτος τα νερά να πας για να γραδάρεις, μα εσύ θυμάσαι τη Σμαρώ και την Καλαμαργιά. [It was that night that Vardaris was blowing, the prow was gaining ground over the wave yard by yard. The first mate sent you to check the boiler water but you remember Smaro (short for Smaragda) instead, and the Kalamaria district.]
A relatively unknown but fascinating fact regarding Mount Hortiatis is that it was the location for the first Cistercian monastery in Greece (1205–24), established by the Cistercian and future Latin Archbishop of Thessalonica (1208–39), Peter, Abbot of Locedio, on the site of the existing Greek monastery tou Hortaitou.17 The monastery was connected with a ‘daughter house’, namely another monastery, that of St Archangelus in Negroponte (Euboea). This was in accordance with Cistercian practice and done to manage resources between communities better. It was also in accordance with contemporary monastic enthusiasm regarding the spreading of the faith, which the Cistercians seem to have practised in Greece.18 16
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Manolis Manoledakis, Από τον Κισσό στον Χορτιάτη (Thessalonica: Ekdoseis Sfakianaki Kornelia, 2007); ‘Kισσός. Προσέγγιση της ιστορίας μιας αρχαίας θρακικής πόλης’, in Athena Iakovidou (ed.), Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Thracology ‘Thrace in the Greaeco-Roman World’, Komotini-Alexandroupolis, 18–23 October 2005 (Athens: Institute for Greek and Roman Antiquity, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 2007), pp. 359–70. Nikiphoros I. Tsougarakis, ‘The Western Religious Orders in Medieval Greece’ (Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leeds, Institute for Medieval Studies, 2008), p. 64 onwards. Tsougarakis, ‘The Western Religious Orders in Medieval Greece’, p. 105. Regarding the Cistercian mission also see Brenda Bolton, ‘A Mission to the Orthodox? The Cistercians in Romania’, Studies in Church History 13 (1976), 169–81.
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Thessalonica, ‘city of Philip’ – what is in a name? The Byzantines called Thessalonica ‘city of Philip’ in the same way that they called Constantinople ‘city of Constantine’. This was to underline the fact that Kassandros (c. 350–297 bc), son of Antipater and King of Macedonia, named the newly founded city (316 bc) after his wife, who was Philip II’s daughter and sister of Alexander III, popularly known as Alexander the Great (356–323 bc).19 According to Strabo, Kassandros (also known as Cassander) united 26 townships to create the new city. Among them were the following six: Apollonia, Chalastra, Therme, Gareskos, Aenea and Kissos.20 This was common practice in ancient times, called synoikismos (often rendered as synoikism or synoecism): the most well-known example of this in the Greek world comes from the Theseus legend of the unification of Athens, hence the plural in that city’s name,21 but the same applies in other cases, for example to the plural in the name of Patras. The reader will have noticed that the city of Philippi, 110 miles northeast of Thessalonica, the destination of Paul’s eponymous letter, is in fact named after Philip II of Macedon, who founded it in 356 bc, on the site of the Thasian colony of Krenides. The Byzantines must have been aware of the fact that the city of Philippi, with no less than six early Byzantine basilicas,22 was also named after King Philip23 but that did not seem to bother them. So ‘city of Philip’ it is. As we are talking about names and their derivation (onomatopoieia), how about ‘Macedonia’? The name Macednos means tall, as in the Homeric epic: πεντήκοντα δέ οἱ δμωαὶ κατὰ δω̑ μα γυναι κ̑ ες / αἱ μὲν ἀλετρεύουσι μύλῃς 19
20
21
22
23
For Kassandros and the other diadochoi (successors) of Alexander the Great see for example W. L. Adams, ‘Alexander’s Successors to 221 BC’, in J. Roisman and I. Worthington (eds), A Companion to Ancient Macedonia (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), pp. 208–24; and more generally: Graham Shipley, The Greek World After Alexander, 323–30 BC (London and New York: Routledge, 2000). Manoledakis, ‘Ancient Sites on Righa’s Charta. Some Remarks Based on the Case of Central Macedonia’, at 168. Regarding the synoikismos in ancient Attica see Alföldy Géza, ‘Der attische Synoikismos und die Entstehung des athenischen Adels’, Revue belge de philologie et d’histoire 47 (1969), 5–36; Steven Diamant, ‘Theseus and the Unification of Attica’, Hesperia Supplements 19, Studies in Attic Epigraphy, History and Topography. Presented to Eugene Vanderpool (1982), 38–47; Valerij Goušchin, ‘Athenian Synoikism of the Fifth Century B.C., or Two Stories of Theseus’, Greece & Rome, Second Series 46 (1999), 168–87; Phillip Harding, The Story of Athens: The Fragments of the Local Chronicles of Attika, Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World Series (Abingdon and New York: Taylor & Francis, 2008), especially pp. 52–72, which are dedicated to Theseus. Also see: Eberhard Ruschenbusch, ‘ΠΑΤΡΙΟΣ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑ: Theseus, Drakon, Solon und Kleisthenes in Publizistik und Geschichts-schreibung des 5. und 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr.’, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 7 (1958), 398–424. On the cult of Theseus see Glenn Richard Bugh, ‘The Theseia in Late Hellenistic Athens’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 83 (1990), 20–37. For an interesting take on Theseus in a different context see David H. J. Larmour, ‘Plutarch’s Compositional Methods in the Theseus and Romulus’, Transactions of the American Philological Association 118 (1988), 361–75. Valerie Abrahamsen, ‘Bishop Porphyrios and the City of Philippi in the Early Fourth Century’, Vigiliae Christianae 43 (1989), 80–5, at 85. The name Philip itself means lover of horses, a proud characteristic of Macedonian kings.
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ἔπι μήλοπα καρπόν, / αἱ δ᾽ ἱστοὺς ὑφόωσι καὶ ἠλάκατα στρωφω̑ σιν / ἥμεναι, οι̑ά τε φύλλα μακεδνη̑̑ς αἰγείροιο: / καιρουσσέων δ᾽ ὀθονέων ἀπολείβεται ὑγρὸν ἔλαιον. [Throughout the house he had fifty slave women, / some at the mill, who grind grain of apple color, / others, who weave webs and spin yarn, / sitting, like leaves of a tall poplar, / as liquid olive oil trickles from the close-woven linen (my emphasis)].24 This passage is from the Odyssey, describing the palace of Alcinous, as Odysseus witnessed it on his way to the main throne room. According to tradition, the Macedonians were taller than other Greeks. The name ‘Thessalonike’ is also of interest for an additional reason. Apparently Philip’s daughter, Thessalonike, had been born on the day of a victorious battle for the joined Macedonian and Thessalian armies against the Phoceans during the Third Sacred War, namely the Battle of the Crocus Field (c. 353 bc) also known as the Battle of Volos (although the beautiful port city of Volos near ancient Iolkos in Thessaly is probably Byzantine); therefore, Philip decided to call his daughter after that victory. Her mother, Nicesipolis of Pherae, died 20 days after her birth and the young princess was brought up by Olympias, the mother of Alexander. The princess had a prosperous life and was honoured by those around her but she was murdered by her son, Antipater II, as part of a dynastic battle. The cause for the matricide was this: following the death of Cassander’s first-born son and successor Philip IV, Thessalonike of Macedon, as she is sometimes known, favoured her youngest son, Alexander V for the succession over Antipater. In any case, Elizabeth Donnelly Carney, who incidentally uses the spelling Thessalonice for the name of the princess, points out how it was common for the choice of a female name to reflect ‘the prestige and accomplishments of the males’ and how Philip had made ‘women part of the public presentation of the monarchy’.25 Do we accept this attractive construct of (what can be perceived as) feminist scholarship, a construct, that is, of the Macedonian kings as egotistical despots? It is very tempting but there are other possibilities, one of which I will mention here briefly. An alternative view is presented by James L. O’Neil. O’Neil presents the Aristotelian view of Macedonian kingship, which like Sparta – as Aristotle saw it – promoted the interests of all.26 Aristotle’s admiration for the Spartan constitution 24
25
26
Odyssey 7.103–7. Translated by James Huddleston for the Chicago Homer (2006): http://digital. library.northwestern.edu/homer/. Also cf. Ian Johnston’s ‘Published English Translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey’: http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/homertranslations.htm]. Elizabeth Donnelly Carney, Women and Monarchy in Macedonia, Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2000), p. 77. James L. O’Neil, ‘Royal Authority and City Law under Alexander and His Hellenistic Successors’, The Classical Quarterly (New Series) 50 (2000), 424–31.
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is well attested. The following question, one that stems from the above essay, can well become the title of a fresh PhD thesis: ‘Does the Macedonian form of government fulfill the model of Aristotelian political thought?’ Another would be: ‘To what extent is the Aristotelian six-fold model of government owed to his Macedonian origins?’ Here I am referring to the following construct:
One ruler Few rulers Many rulers
Correct
Deviant
Kingship Aristocracy Polity
Tyranny Oligarchy Democracy
Source: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/
The question can be expanded to consider the following: how does the sixfold political model fit into Aristotle’s theory of the virtuous mean? Vice of deficiency
Virtuous mean
Vice of excess
Cowardice Insensibility Illiberality Pettiness Humble-mindedness Want of Ambition Spiritlessness Surliness Ironical Depreciation Boorishness Shamelessness Callousness
Courage Temperance Liberality Munificence High-mindedness Right Ambition Good Temper Friendly Civility Sincerity Wittiness Modesty Just Resentment
Rashness Intemperance Prodigality Vulgarity Vaingloriness Over-ambition Irascibility Obsequiousness Boastfulness Buffoonery Bashfulness Spitefulness
Source: www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/
Also see what is said in Aristotle, Politics 3.1288a–b, linking virtue with education: And since we pronounce the right constitutions to be three, and of these the one governed by the best men must necessarily be the best, and such is the one in which it has come about either that some one man or a whole family or a group of men is superior in virtue to all the citizens together, the latter being able to be governed and the former to govern on the principles of the most desirable life, and since in the first part of the discourse it was proved that the virtue of a man and that of a citizen in the best state must of necessity be the same, it is evident that a man becomes good in the same way and by
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the same means as one might establish an aristocratically or monarchically governed state, so that it will be almost the same education and habits that make a man good and that make him capable as a citizen or a king. Aristotle in 23 Volumes, vol. 21, trans. H. Rackham (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1944)
How does the above tie in with Aristotle’s view on excellence? See for example the following passage from Nicomachean Ethics, 1102b 14–16, concerning the soul: We need not however pursue this subject further, but may omit from consideration the nutritive part of the soul, since it exhibits no specifically human excellence. But there also appears to be another element in the soul, which, though irrational, yet in a manner participates in rational principle. In self-restrained and unrestrained people we approve their principle, or the rational part of their souls, because it urges them in the right way and exhorts them to the best course; but their nature seems also to contain another element beside that of rational principle, which combats and resists that principle. Exactly the same thing may take place in the soul as occurs with the body in a case of paralysis: when the patient wills to move his limbs to the right they swerve to the left; and similarly in unrestrained persons their impulses run counter to their principle. But whereas in the body we see the erratic member, in the case of the soul we do not see it; nevertheless it cannot be doubted that in the soul also there is an element beside that of principle, which opposes and runs counter to principle (though in what sense the two are distinct does not concern us here). Aristotle in 23 Volumes, vol. 19, trans. H. Rackham (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1944)
I offer more prompts on PhD topics that may be helpful to Byzantinists or other Hellenists in Appendix VI. Whatever the reader’s interpretation of the above debate might be, the murdered princess does not die in the literary imagination. That is because in terms of her notional iconography she is not remembered as the mother of Antipater but as the sister of Alexander. Such dichotomy was familiar to the Byzantines, whose worship of the Virgin Hodegetria, the General and Protectoress of the Queen of Cities, is effortlessly transformed into the worship of the Theotokos Eleousa, the compassionate Bearer of God and Mother of all Christians. Thessalonike, in any case, will remain forever the young and beautiful sister of the romantic hero. There is a legend still very popular in Greece that the
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beautiful princess can be seen as a mermaid in the Aegean asking sailors whether ‘King Alexander lives’. The mermaid’s words are given in the sources as: ‘Ναύτη, καλεναύτη· ζῆ ὁ βασιλιᾶς Ἀλέξανδρος;’ [Sailor, good sailor: Does King Alexander live?].27 The answer to the mermaid’s cry needs be: ‘Ζη και βασιλεύει και τον κόσμο κυριεύει’ [He is alive and he reigns supreme and he conquers the world]. This charming folktale has in fact created something of a stir among literary critics. That is especially the case regarding the rendering of the legend by Andreas Karkavitsas, in his shortstory Η Γοργόνα (The Mermaid), part of the celebrated collection Λόγια της Πλώρης (Words of the Prow).28 For instance, Angie Voela is so fearful of the patriotic outpouring of the folktale that she refuses to speak of it at all.29 On the other hand, Melpomeni Kanatsouli argues that the connection with an oral poetic tradition rich in supernatural elements that an adult readership would have had has been smoothed out of a more recent ‘rational’ version of the short story for children, where the mythological element is eradicated and the intensity of the tale loosened.30 The ideological battleground that plays out in this brief description will be apparent to the reader. I will only add that in my view the greatest asset of literary masterpieces such as Λόγια της Πλώρης is their language and therefore I would very much like to see the words of Karkavitsas preserved in future editions. After all, is not the ‘dreaded’ folkloric realism of Karkavitsas another expression of fantastic realism or magical realism, which has been so ardently celebrated by Hispanic Studies experts in the work of Gabriel García Márquez? Any kind of ideological or linguistic ‘cleaning up’ would have been unthinkable to them. Maybe Hellenists can draw inspiration from the success of other disciplines within Cultural Studies and their methodological outlook and bring back to the field some of the vitality currently enjoyed in other Area Studies. The legend of the beautiful mermaid is derived from a post-Byzantine romance ‘Η Φυλλάδα του Μεγαλέξαντρου’, a well-liked text among Greeks during the Ottoman period. The ‘Φυλλάδα’ was memorably edited and published in the early twentieth century by the great demoticist author, philologist and reformer Alexandros Pallis (Piraeus, 1851 – Liverpool, 1935; translator of the 27
28
29
30
For the cry see Brad L. Cook, ‘A Watery Folktale in the Alexander Romance: Alexander’s Byzantine Neraïda’, Syllecta Classica 20 (2009), 105–34, where also full details of the legend and its presence in Byzantine manuscripts. Cf. Andreas Karkavitsas, Η Γοργόνα (first published as part of Λόγια της Πλώρης· Θαλασσινά διηγήµατα, Athens: Typographeion Estias, 1899; as a separate book, adapted by Konstantinos Poulos, illustrated by Nikolaos Andrikopoulos, Athens: Papadopoulos, 2000). Angie Voela, ‘Death and the Real in Karkavitsas’ Λόγια της Πλώρης’, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora 23 (2003), 35–62, at 58. Melpomeni Kanatsouli, ‘Ideology in Contemporary Greek Picture Books’, Children’s Literature 33 (2005), 209–23. Cf. adapted version by Konstantinos Poulos, as above.
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Iliad and the New Testament into Modern Greek), on the year of his death, from Liverpool, where he had resided since 1894.31 However, the poem of the ‘Φυλλάδα’ must have been known to the pioneer chartographer, humanist and ethnomartyr Rigas Velestinlis (or Rigas Pheraios; born Antonios Kyriazis, 1757– 98; educated in Ambelakia). Rigas was a teacher who served in Kissos, Magnesia in Thessaly, wrote and sung to educate and published on Alexander as part of his pre-revolutionary programme. Rigas produced a famous chalcography (brass engraving) of Alexander with a long dedication in Greek on the left and French on the right. In his dedication Rigas points out that ‘Εξεδόθη παρά του Ρήγα Βελεστινλή Θετταλού, / χάριν των Ελλήνων και φιλελλήνων, 1797’. [[The present work] was edited by Rigas Velestinlis the Thessalian, / for the sake of the Greeks and the Philhellenes, 1797.]32 Demetrius Karamberopoulos says that at a time when many other Greek authors were showing admiration for Napoleon, Rigas did not write one flattering line about him but instead chose to publish the portrait of Alexander the Great as a symbol of bravery and resistance for his brethren. Further, in his Hymnos Patriotikos (1798), Rigas calls the dead king to come out of his grave and witness how his bravery links with that of the author’s contemporaries. It is interesting that from the pantheon of Greek heroes Rigas had chosen King Leonidas of Sparta alongside Alexander the Great to feature in his poem, perhaps in this way paying tribute to the bravery of his compatriots in the South as well as in the North of mainland Greece. The full title that Rigas gave to the Hymnos is: ‘ Ύμνος Πατριωτικός Της Ελλάδος και όλης της Γραικίας. Προς ξαναπόκτησιν της αυτών Ελευθερίας’. [A Patriotic Hymn of Hellas and of all of Greece. For the retrieval of their own Liberty.] The word ‘retrieval’ is key here. In modern times ‘Η Φυλλάδα του Μεγαλέξαντρου’ was commemorated by the Nobel prize-winning poet Giorgos Seferis on the occasion of another honour, that of the award of an Honourary Doctorate by the Aristotle University of Thessalonica: ‘Ἐδω̑ στὶς χω̑ ρες του̑̑ Μεγαλέξαντρου εἴταν ἀναπόφευκτο νὰ θυμηθω̑ τὸ θρυλικὸ βασιλέα καὶ τὸ λόγο του, καθὼς τὸν μνημονεύει ἡ περιώνυμη ‘φυλλάδα’: ‘τῶν βασιλέων τὰ δω̑ ρα πάντοτε πολλὰ πρέπει νὰ 31
32
Alexandros A. Pallis (ed.), Η Φυλλάδα του Μεγαλέξαντρου (1st edn, Athens, 1935; reprinted Athens: Stochastes, 1990); the same work has been published as Alexandros A. Pallis (ed.), Ιστορία Αλεξάνδρου του Μακεδόνος – Βίος, πόλεµοι και θάνατος αυτού ή η φυλλάδα του Μεγαλέξαντρου. Προλεγόµενα και Ιστορική Εισαγωγή (1st edn, Athens, 1935; Athens: Galaxias, 1961). Cf. Demetrius Ap. Karamperopoulos, Ο Μέγας Αλέξανδρος του Ρήγα Βελεστινλή, Βιέννη 1797 (Athens: Ekdosi Epistemonikis Etaireias Meletis Pheron-Velestinou-Rega, 2006). Rigas’s chartographical work on the region is also of interest. See Manoledakis, ‘Ancient Sites on Righas’ Charta. Some Remarks Based on the Case of Central Macedonia’.
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εἶναι’’. [Here, in the lands of Alexander the Great, it was inevitable to remember the legendary king and his word, as is recorded in the famous ‘Phyllada [tou Megalexandrou]’: ‘the gifts of the kings must always be plentiful’.]33 Incidentally, there is evidence of a rich literary reception of the Alexander legend in Byzantium. The earliest known version of the Alexander Romance dates from the eleventh century and is preserved in Par. gr. 1711. The wide reception that the romance had is shown in many instances of ‘creative appropriation’ of the material, including its use in vitae in honour of saints, most notably the Vita of Macarius Romanus. Stephen Gero in his study of the reception of the Alexander Romance makes the connection between Macarius and the quest of Alexander for the hora ton makaron [land of the blessed].34 Corinna Matzukis similarly implies that during his time in Thessalonica, Manuel II Palaiologos displayed his knowledge of the Romance and its appeal by using the Alexander legend to encourage the citizens to bravery.35 It must be underlined that Byzantium was only one of the receptors of the Alexander legend. Versions of the Alexander Romance exist not only in Medieval Greek but in all languages under the sun. Alexander’s place in the medieval literary imagination can be demonstrated by the fact that he was one of the Nine Worthies, the noble historical / mythological persons who embodied all ideals of bravery, gallantry and personal courage. ‘Nine worthies were they called, of different rites— / Three Jews, three pagans, and three Christian knights’, says Dryden in the The Flower and the Leaf, a translation of the anonymous medieval poem ‘The Floure and the Leafe’, which at the time was attributed to Chaucer. The three Jews are: Joshua, David and Judas Maccabaeus; the three pagans are: Hector, Alexander and Julius Caesar; and the three Christian knights are: Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon. Furthermore, the four romance cycles of the Middle Ages were these of the Trojan War, Alexander, Roland and Arthur, with the Arthurian cycle being the strongest and the one that has prevailed, while the other three are almost completely forgotten outside the circle of dedicated, die-hard medievalists. The earliest English version of the Alexander Romance, Kyng Alisaunder (1275), is based on a French, or more precisely Anglo-Norman, 33
34
35
Giorgos Seferis, ‘Ἡ γλω̑ σσα στὴν ποίησή μας’, in Ὁ Γιω̑ ργος Σεφέρης ἐπίτιµος διδάκτωρ τη̑̑ς Φιλοσοφικη̑̑ς Σχολη̑̑ς (Thessalonica: Ekdosi A.P.Th., 1965). Stephen Gero, ‘The Alexander Legend in Byzantium: Some Literary Gleanings’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 46, Homo Byzantinus: Papers in Honor of Alexander Kazhdan (1992), 83–7, at 83 and 85–7. Gero also gives the basic bibliography on the subject which would be useful to those pursuing manuscript studies. Corinna Matzukis, ‘The Alexander Romance in the Codex Marcianus 408. New Perspectives for the Date 1388: Hellenic Consciousness and Imperial Ideology’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 99 (2006), 109–17. This article discusses the Byzantine poem Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Βασιλεύς [Alexander the King] and its dating.
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version, the Roman de toute chevalerie (1175) by Thomas of Kent (also known as Eustace). Apart from the romance settings, Alexander also appeared in numerous medieval florilegia, that is collections of sayings, where his alleged sayings were quoted alongside classical and Hellenistic philosophers. In these texts Alexander appears to be something of a Stoic, a far cry from the impetuous and hot-tempered individual that historically he is thought to have been. * * * The new city36 to which Thessalonice (I am using the spelling of Elizabeth Donnelly Carney for now) gave her name was founded on the site of ancient Therme, called thus for the ecstatic ‘warmth’ of the Dionysian cult which was practised most prominently in the Hellenistic era. There is also the theory that the name Therme is related to ancient hot baths in the area. This certainly is the case with the derivation of the name for Therme in Lesvos.37 During this period Thessalonica prospered under a dual system of government with a democratic parliament alongside the kingship, something usual among Hellenistic cities. Such mixed constitution can be studied alongside the Aristotelian model of government discussed above. The Macedonian kings ruled there up until the defeat of King Perseus (179–167 bc) in the Battle of Pydna (168 bc) against Lucius Aemilius Paullus,38 who was awarded the epithet Macedonicus by the Roman Senate in recognition of his victory. The tradition of adopting the name of one’s conquest, with its memorable commencement in honour of Scipio Africanus, signifies the importance of military expansion for the attainment of personal kudos within Roman society. Veroia and Pella, alongside Thessalonica, surrendered to the victorious Roman general, effectively making Macedonia Roman. The rulers that lead up to these events include famous names such as Demetrius I Poliorcetes (337–283 bc) and his son Antigonus II Gonatas (c. 319–239 bc), Pyrrhus of Epirus (ruled Macedonia 288–285 and 273–272 bc), who has given his name to Pyrrhian victory, and the two last Macedonian kings, the courageous, charismatic and tragic Philip V (221–179 bc) and his son Perseus.
36
37
38
For some observations on Thessalonica’s ancient town planning see Michael Vickers, ‘Hellenistic Thessaloniki’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 92 (1972), 156–70. For more on the etymology of Therme in Macedonia see Pantelis Nigdelis, ‘Η οικογένεια των Ιταλικών Auli Avii στη Θεσσαλονίκη. Με αφορμή μια δίγλωσση αναθηματική επιγραφή’, Tekmiria 1 (1995), 47–66, at 61 onwards. For the admiration towards Aemilius Paullus in the sources see Manuel Tröster, ‘¿Una especie de hagiografía? Plutarco y la tradición histórica en la Vida de Emilio Paulo’, Gerión 28 (2010), 193–206, where also an up-to-date bibliography.
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Philip V was indeed very charismatic and was notably called by Polybius the ̑ ἐρώμενος ἐγένετο τω̑ ν Ἑλλήνων διὰ beloved of Hellas: ‘διότι κοινός τις οἱον τὸ τη̑̑ς αἱρέσεως εὐεργετικόν’ [that he became the beloved of all Hellenes for his charitable inclination].39 The last king, Perseus, died tragically in captivity after losing to the Romans at the Battle of Pydna (168 bc). He was taken prisoner with many other Macedonians, including the historian Polybius, to adorn the Roman triumph. Subsequently he was kept in Alba Fucens, a common destination for political prisoners. It is said that he suffered a cruel death, being kept from sleep by his guards. The reason given for this action is the contempt of the Romans at the fact that he endured captivity and did not prefer the dignity of death by his own hand after his defeat. Thanks to Plutarch, we are also told about the fate of his sons. Two of them died and the third became successful: ‘ἐτελεύτησε δὲ καὶ τω̑ ν παιδίων τὰ δύο. τὸν δὲ τρίτον, Ἀλέξανδρον, εὐφυα̑̑ μὲν ἐν τῳ̑ τορεύειν καὶ λεπτουργει ν̑ γενέσθαι φασίν, ἐκμαθόντα δὲ τὰ Ῥωμαϊκὰ γράμματα καὶ τὴν διάλεκτον ὑπογραμματεύειν τοι ς̑ ἄρχουσιν, ἐπιδέξιον καὶ χαρίεντα περὶ ταύτην τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν ἐξεταζόμενον’ [and so he (Perseus) died and also two of his sons. Yet the third, Alexander, they say that he became skilled as a goldsmith and engraver, and that having learned the Roman tongue and being able to act as a notary for the nobles, he was found to be a talented and gracious officer in their service].40 Macedonian history was so popular among early modern philosophers that individuals of the stature of Blaise Pascal (1623–62) and Michael de Montaigne (1533–92) reflected upon the fate of King Perseus. His death, especially, troubled them. The contemplative Pascal says: ‘For who is unhappy at not being a king, except a deposed king? Was Paulus Aemilius unhappy at being no longer consul? On the contrary, everybody thought him happy in having been consul, because the office could only be held for a time. But men thought Perseus so unhappy in being no longer king, because the condition of kingship implied his being always king, that they thought it strange that he endured life’. And later: ‘Paulus Aemilius reproached Perseus for not killing himself ’.41 Montaigne on the other hand brings up the unfortunate Perseus in his discussion on the nature of sleep: ‘Now, upon what has been said, the physicians may determine whether sleep be so necessary that our lives depend upon it: for we read that King Perseus of Macedon, being prisoner at Rome, was killed by being kept from sleep; but Pliny instances such as have lived long without sleep. Herodotus speaks of nations where the men sleep and wake by half-years, and they who write the life 39 40
41
Polybius, Histories, 7.8. Plutarch, Aemilius Paulus, 37.3. Cf. Livy, The History of Rome, 45.1–8; Polybius, Histories, Book 29. Blaise Pascal, Pascal’s Pensées, Introduction by T. S. Eliot (Boston, MA: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1958), numbers 409–10.
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of the sage Epimenides affirm that he slept seven-and-fifty years together’.42 From the way the two authors refer to Perseus we have to assume that his story was much more broadly disseminated to them than it is in our day. Unfortunately, it is not just Perseus and his personal tragedy but Thessalonica itself that is largely unknown. * * * Despite its captivating and enchanting heritage, Thessalonica is not much known outside Greece, being outside the package-tourist circuit – a great blessing in many respects. Historians of the First World War will recall the Salonica Front (or Macedonian Front) and on a more trivial level there were some sporting successes, especially of the Basketball teams (Aris and PAOK) in the European Leagues during the 1980s and 1990s, which brought the name of the city to the international press. In 2009 the 7th IAAF World Athletics Final was held in the beautiful Kaftanzoglio Stadium of Athletics (Ethniko Stadion ‘Lysimachos Kaftanzoglou’), built after a bequest to the nation in 1960. The Kaftanzoglio Stadium also hosted football matches during the 2004 Athens Olympics. Outside these things, the city’s name appears on airport boards because there are some international flights but otherwise it is generally not in the public eye. Considering that Thessalonica is the second largest and most prominent city of a European country it has a surprisingly unassuming profile. There may be an explanation for this profile. Thessalonica is not in a time warp like many other historic destinations. It is a busy, vibrant, commercially viable modern city, with industry and ambition; it looks to the future. It does not have a singular historical moment of glory that it holds on to. It has sustained its vibe of currency and has not turned itself into a ‘historic destination’ brand. History is hidden in Thessalonica and finding it takes a deeper look. If historians and cultural commentators see one particular epoch in the history of the city as defining (which is, afterall, part of the argument of this book), the notion of such an epoch is not common coinage. In other words, there is no common consensus about a dominant era.
Sister cities? Writing about a city is not unlike writing about a person, and although I am sceptical about the modern use of the term ‘biography’ to refer to books about 42
Michael de Montaigne, The Complete Works of Michael de Montaigne: Comprising the Essays, trans. Charles Cotton (London: J. Templeman, 1842), p. 499.
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cities, such compositions test an author’s abilities in ways that do, perhaps, resemble the challenges of biographical writing. Even more strangely, the term ‘biography’ is now used also for accounts that discuss the reception of literary works. A ‘biography’ of the Epic of Gilgamesh anyone? I guess the idea is that if a book has a life it must also have a ‘biography’ – a marketing gimmick to attract some of the readers who read real biographies. Does the trick really work? Portraits of cities are in some ways collective biographies, often fraught, intense, subjective, complex, conflicting, nostalgic, political, gendered; like all history, they are a slice of human life but their inevitable localization can render their telling more painful, more deeply felt, more intensely debated and perhaps more revealing than other types of history. Hence the difficulty in their composition, the criticism they attract within the historical profession and their popularity with the public. The names of cities are such evocative words that the Byzantines likened them to women. Certainly, both Thessalonica and Constantinople were seen in that way, especially in the context of their loss. In a British framework, on the other hand, the personification of such notions as Liberty or Britannia might be familiar to the reader. There are two ‘Thessalonicas’ written about in this book, but which two it is sometimes difficult to tell. Or, rather, there are several possibilities regarding how to write about a dual Thessalonica. There is the one seen from within and the one seen from without. The contemporary view and the modern. The Byzantine identity and the post-Byzantine. The sister city to Constantinople and that to Athens. The ‘new Athens’ and the ‘new Jerusalem’; the latter is more known as an expression of Constantinopolitan ideology but it applies to Thessalonica too. Thessalonica was also known as the ‘Jerusalem of the Balkans’ in a different context, that of its Jewish culture. This is an aspect of Thessalonian tradition well known within the city but not outside. Devin E. Naar quotes an evocative passage from Marrano historian Samuel Usque (1492–?) regarding the reception of the Jewry in Thessalonica from his relatively unknown masterpiece of Portuguese literature Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel (Consolação às Tribulações de Israel): It is the mother of Israel which has grown stronger on the foundations of the religion, which yields excellent plants and fruit trees, unequalled the world over. Its fruits are delicious, because watered by rivers, Jews of other countries, persecuted and banished, have come to seek refuge there, and this town has received them with love and cordiality, as if it were our revered mother Jerusalem.43 43
Cf. Devin E. Naar, ‘From the “Jerusalem of the Balkans” to the Goldene Medina: Jewish Immigration from Salonika to the United States’, American Jewish History 93 (2007), 435–73, at 439.
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* * * The theme I chose to put forward of a dual perception regarding the city of Thessalonica will be explored under ‘Methodology, Parameters, and Subject Matter’ but it (i.e. the dualism) has to be established at the outset as a pivotal characteristic of the city’s civic identity. Further, the different ways in which the city is perceived within Greece and internationally reveal varying degrees of awareness of Thessalonica’s history and culture as well as different perspectives. Gaps in collective knowledge, local or national rivalries and rapid changes due to world events all contribute to the picture. Like all ‘second cities’, Thessalonica has a strong local identity and a heightened sense of pride, but is not an international player in the way that national capitals can only be. As a result, what the city is known for is often incidental, circumstantial or even random. This fact of course does not make its identity less complex or less intense; nor the city’s untold histories less influential to what it has become. A theme that is not explored in this book but merits attention from scholars is the impact of the Black Death on the literary, physical and religious culture of late Byzantium. This topic would require a great deal of elementary research and perhaps it is most suited to a large collaborative project.
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Methodology, Parameters and Subject Matter
The rules of writing history are very personal but also very public. They become formulated over a long period of time and they can set the tone for how things are done for much longer than it is obvious to a casual observer. They are governed by personal, institutional, national, international and global impulses, interests and ideologies and they are complex and generally unspoken. Yet they define practice, spending budgets and future historians. I have given my thoughts on some of the ideologies that inform historical practice and their implications in my essay ‘Byzantine Studies: A Discussion of Methodologies’.1 For a more general guide to putting together teaching materials on Byzantium, especially for the earlier period, the reader may find much joy in a recent update of Teaching Byzantium by Jonathan Shepard.2 When entering any field of study the new recruit is in reality entering a battlefield. They need to acclimatize to this new intellectual environment before they can make a meaningful contribution, a process that can take several years. At the same time, scholars need to concern themselves not only with ‘how’ (methodology) but also with ‘what’ (choice of subject). Leaving the metaphor of the new recruit to one side, I will now need to be assisted by the reader’s oral memory. That is because this very point regarding methodology and subject matter is made very clearly by musicologists Knud Jeppesen and Glen Haydon, better than I have ever seen in an historical essay: It is recognized that music theory has a retrospective as well as a descriptive character (. . .). Moreover everyone knows, even if he is only superficially acquainted with the music of various epochs, that no one style has ever had a 1
2
Eugenia Russell, ‘Byzantine Studies: A Discussion of Methodologies’, Perspectives on History, American Historical Association, 48.4 (April, 2010), 25–7. Jonathan Shepard, Teaching Byzantium, Historical Insights: Focus on Teaching (2nd edn, Coventry: History Subject Centre at the Higher Education Academy, 2011).
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Literature and Culture in Late Byzantine Thessalonica command of all aspects of musical technique. Usually each historical period or school concentrates upon its own peculiar fundamental problems and more or less neglects the others (. . .). Anyone wishing to acquire compact, forceful voiceleading naturally does not go to Chopin; just as one does not study Obrecht to attain a refined, sensitive use of chromatic harmony.3
We will now take this paragraph as our point of departure for the next section. This will take us to a line of argument that links us to one of the most universally admired scholars within Byzantine Studies, Dimitri Obolensky (1918–2001). Obolensky is to Byzantine Studies what Knud Jeppesen (1892–1974) is to the study of voice-leading (counterpoint): an undisputed authority. And in the same way that the name of the great Danish musicologist is, to the beginner at least, invariably connected with his 1930 masterpiece, Kontrapunkt. Vokalpolyfoni4 and with the music of Palestrina, Obolensky’s name is connected to the idea of Commonwealth. More seasoned researchers will have come across Jeppesen’s studies on Diderik (Dietrich) Buxtehude,5 whose lingering hesitation of style he so admired, and of his friend Carl Nielsen;6 studies on Renaissance Venetian folk song7 and on Claudio Monteverdi;8 and his final and crowning achievement, the three-volume study of the Italian frottola (c. 1470 onwards).9 The frottola is the most significant predecessor to the madrigal, the predominant contrapuntal partsong in Renaissance and Early Baroque music, and Jeppesen’s study brought the fact to the fore. Performances of Italian frottolists are enjoyed all over the world by many as a result. On the other hand, as I said, the name of Obolensky is connected with The Byzantine Commonwealth,10 published in 1971. Jeppesen’s Kontrapunkt, originally published in Danish, was translated into German and English within ten years and many other languages thereafter and is still the standard textbook for those wanting to understand the art of counterpoint. The book is known to many musicologists under its English title, Counterpoint: The Polyphonic Vocal Style of the Sixteenth Century. It is anticipated that The Byzantine Commonwealth will remain influential in a similar way. 3 4 5 6
7
8
9 10
Knud Jeppesen and Glen Haydon, ‘On Counterpoint’, The Musical Quarterly 21 (1935), 401–7, at 401. Knud Jeppesen, Kontrapunkt. Vokalpolyfoni (Copenhagen-Leipzig: Wilhelm Hansen, 1930). Knud Jeppesen, ‘Diderik Buxtehude’, Dansk musik tidsskrift 12.4 (1937), 63–71. Knud Jeppesen, ‘Carl Nielsen paa hundredaarsdagen: nogle erindringer’, Dansk aarbog for musikforskning 4 (1964–5), 137–50. Knud Jeppesen, ‘Venetian Folk-Songs of the Renaissance’, Papers of the American Musicological Society (1939), 62–75. Knud Jeppesen, ‘Monteverdi, Kapellmeister an S. Barbara?’, in Raffaello Monterosso (ed.), Claudio Monteverdi e il suo tempo: congresso internazionale (Venice, Mantua and Cremona: Comitato per le Celebrazioni Nazionali del IV Centenario della Nascita di Claudio Monteverdi, 1968), pp. 313–22. Knud Jeppesen, La frottola, 3 vols (Aarhus: Universitetsforlaget, 1968–70). Dimitri Obolensky, The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe 500–1453 (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971), unnumbered.
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* * * The reason I am thinking about The Byzantine Commonwealth at this point in the book is that Obolensky opens his monograph with two excerpts from modern Greek poetry. The first is by Alexandria-born Konstantinos Kavafis (or Cavafy, as he was known in England during his lifetime; 1863–1933) and the second by the Smyrniot Georgios Seferis (1900–71). I remember my unexpected sense of elation when I first opened Obolensky’s book as a student and saw them. Even more intriguingly, the excerpt from Kavafis is no other than the opening of the poem ‘Thermopylae’ (‘Θερμοπύλες’):11 ‘Τιμή σ⬘ εκείνους όπου στην ζωή των / όρισαν και φυλάγουν Θερμοπύλες’ [‘Honor to those who in the life they lead / define and guard a Thermopylae’, trans. E. Keeley and Ph. Sherrard], a powerful reference to personal duty, leaving it up to the reader to make the relevant connections intended by Obolensky, which are still not absolutely clear to me. On Thermopylae, an English-speaking audience may recall more readily the following Byronic passage, one akin in content with the above but with a different poetic flavour: V. For Greeks a blush – for Greece a tear. Must we but weep o’er days more blest? Must we but blush? – Our fathers bled. Earth! render back from out thy breast A remnant of our Spartan dead! Of the three hundred grant but three, To make a new Thermopylae!
Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto III (‘The Isles of Greece’ section)
Canto III was published in 1821, the year conventionally highlighted as the commencement of the Greek War of Independence. Lord Byron died in Missolonghi on 19 April 1824, a fact that caused deep grief in Greece (a well-known fact) but also back home, as can be epitomized in the example of a distraught 14-year-old Tennyson, who at the news, with a feeling that the world had ended for him, wrote on a rock ‘Byron is dead’. Going back to the comparison between my epigrams and those in Obolensky’s, Byzantine Commonwealth: no doubt, my choice of poetic excerpts by Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis (1908–93) and Nikos Kavvadias (1910–75) that open this book will appear equally curious. What does modern Greek poetry have to do 11
For a recent production of Kavafis’s poems see Konstantinos Kavafis, Τα ποιήµατα (1897–1933) (Thessalonica: Ekdotiki Thessalonikis, 2008).
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with the Byzantine Commonwealth or with Palaiologan Thessalonica? Why such unexpected openings to both books? The answer is to be sought in the complex cultural make-up of Byzantium and in our own complex responses to that civilization. These will unravel in the book. Further, the two excerpts I have selected indicate a dual approach to my writing about Medieval Thessalonica: the view from within, and the view from without. Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis represents the view from within; Nikos Kavvadias the view from without. To the latter, we will return later. Pentzikis was a through-and-through Thessalonian pharmacologist, painter and author, influenced by French and Scandinavian symbolism and, increasingly in his mature work, Byzantine civilization. As a man of letters he had a slow and difficult journey to critical acceptance, and even within the distinctive Thessalonian intellectual culture he was a lone voice. His comment about Thessalonica as a woman (quoted) and the title of one of his more well-known books, Mother Thessalonica (1970), seem to me very Byzantine-influenced. They bring to mind a comment of his fifteenth-century fellow-Thessalonian Andronikos Kallistos (c. 1400–76), who described Constantinople as ‘a common homeland and a nurse’ [κοινὴν πατρίδα τε καὶ τροφὸν].12 Pentzikis, like Kavafis, had a thorough knowledge of Byzantine culture and he may well have known of the ‘Monody for the Fall of Constantinople’ by Kallistos, where the above phrase appears. Further, ‘Symvan’ is a poem of implicit religiosity with direct references to St Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessalonica; for instance: Aπό το κόκκινο τ’ άτι του ευθύς γνώρισαν
τον Άγιο Δημήτριο. [They recognized St Demetrius immediately from his red horse.]
Some observations on the cultural impact of the military saints In the Byzantine tradition St Demetrius has been usually portrayed on a red horse and St George on a white horse. Deviations from this pictorial convention did occur, as in the arresting fourteenth-century icon of St George from the 12
Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία κῦρ ᾽Ανδρονίκου τοῦ Καλλίστου εʼ πὶ τῇ δυστυχεῖ Κωνσταντινουπόλει’, ed. S. Lambros, in ‘Μονῳδίαι καὶ θρῆνοι εʼ πὶ τῇ ἁλώσει τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως’, Neos Ellinomnemon 5 (1908), 109–269, at 217; also edited by Pertusi in part: Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία εʼ πὶ τῇ δυστυχεῖ Κωνσταντινουπόλει’, ed. Agostino Pertusi, La caduta di Constantinopoli l’ eco nel mondo [Caduta, II] (Verona: Mondadori, 1976), pp. 353–63.
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village of Pskov13 in North-Western Russia, now held in the British Museum, where the saint (who is identified by a Greek inscription) in a red cloak rides a beautiful black horse; hence the name given to the icon, ‘The Black George’. In the case of St Demetrius, the customary red pigment of the horse sometimes becomes black due to bituminization (decay). However, the colours of the horses of the main military saints, George, Theodore and Demetrius, have been linked with those of the horsemen of the Apocalypse as described by St John the Evangelist; or in the words of curator Helmut Nickel: ‘The four colors were generally accepted as means of identifying the individual riders, equivalent to the iconographical color scheme that serves for the three knightly saints, George, Theodore, and Demetrius: white horse for St. George, black horse for St. Theodore, and red horse for St. Demetrius.’14 The military saints were also popular in the West, especially in the context of the Crusades, during which they were adored as patrons of the Crusaders, most prominently in connection to the city of Antioch.15 A strong argument for the use of Sts George and Demetrius for the legitimation of Byzantine Imperial policy has been put forward by Robert S. Nelson.16 In his essay ‘Heavenly Allies at the Chora’ it is argued that although there were three saints under the name Andronikos, what is really important in the depiction of St Andronikos with Sts George and Demetrius is the association of the former with Andronikos II. In any case, the first St Andronikos, also found in a fresco of St Nikolaos Orphanos in Thessalonica, is more known due to a controversial passage from Romans 16.7: ‘ἀσπάσασθε Ἀνδϱόνιϰον ϰαὶ Ἰουνίαν τοὺς συγγενεῖς μου ϰαὶ συναιχμαλώτους μου, οἵτινές εἰσιν ἐπίσημοι ἐν τοι̑ς ἀποστόλοις, οἳ ϰαὶ πϱὸ ἐμου̑̑ γεγόνασιν ἐν Χϱιστῳ̑ ’ [Salute Andronicus and Junia(s), my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me]. From this passage it has been suggested that the Greek Ἰουνίαν refers to a female apostle (N.B. It is ‘Junia’ in the Authorised Version). In any case, that is who 13
14
15
16
For the school of painting in Pskov see Lydia Nadejena, ‘The Pskov School of Painting’, The Art Bulletin 21 (1939), 179–91. In Helmut Nickel, ‘And Behold, a White Horse . . . Observations on the Colors of the Horses of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’, Metropolitan Museum Journal 12 (1977), 179–83, at 179. For the military saints in the West, and especially in the context of the Crusades, see James B. MacGregor, ‘The Ministry of Gerold d’Avranches: Warrior-Saints and Knightly Piety on the Eve of the First Crusade’, Journal of Medieval History 29 (2003), 219–37; ‘Negotiating Knightly Piety: The Cult of the Warrior-Saints in the West, c.1070–c.1200’, Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 73 (2004), 317–45; and the very interesting article by Robin Cormack and Stavros Mihalarias, ‘A Crusader Painting of St George: “maniera greca” or “lingua franca”?’, The Burlington Magazine 126 (1984), 132–139+141. See Robert S. Nelson, ‘Heavenly Allies at the Chora’, Gesta 43 (2004), 31–40, especially at 36–8.
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the companion saint of the first St Andronikos is. The second St Andronikos is accompanied by St Athanasia and enjoyed popularity in Cyprus. The third is the St Andronikos of the Chora. He was also depicted in Daphni and in St Virgin Hodegetria at Mistra (contemporary with Chora) with Sts Probos and Tarachos. Robert Nelson also points out that Sts George and Demetrius were important to the Palaiologan family and that both Andronikos II and Theodore Metochites, his First Minister and Founder of the Chora Monastery, had sons named Demetrius. In the Modern Greek tradition St George becomes part of folklore. It is amazing for example how he is grouped in the following folk poem with St Kosmas Aitolos, a revered ethnomartyr and early foreteller of the Greek War of Independence: Βόηθα μας Άγιε Γιώϱγη ϰαι συ Άγιε Κοσμά να πάϱουμε την Πόλι ϰαι την Αγιά Σοϕιά.17 [Help us St George / and you St Kosmas / to take Constantinople / and Aghia Sophia.]
On the other hand, the emotive Sonnet-writer Ioannis Gryparis gives expression to the connection of St George to local pride, here relating to the island of Paros; Aspro Horio or White Village is a location on Paros, near a well-known monastery dedicated to St George: Απρίλης, Κυϱιαϰή· του Αη-Γιωϱγιού μεγάλ’ η χάϱη· γλεντάει απολείτουϱγα ο λαός του Άσπϱου Χωϱιού, λάμπει ο ναός του νιού, του Αη-Γιωϱγιού, του ϰαβαλλάϱη.18 [April, a Sunday; the grace of St George / is great; / after the Liturgy the people / of Aspro Horio (White Village) rejoice, / the temple of St George shines brightly / of St George the Young, of St George the Horseman.] 17 18
In Fanis Michalopoulos, Kosmas o Aitolos (Athens: Estia, 1940), p. 128. Ioannis Gryparis, ‘Satira’, Skaravaioi kai Terrakottes (Athens: Ethnikon Aristeion ton Grammaton kai ton Technon, 1928).
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There are examples of such practice in other literatures. In a recent essay Marion Hollings, for example, presents St George as an English icon and shows how Spenser in The Faerie Queene anglicizes St George.19
Towards a poetics of departures, marginalities and hurt While the resonant references to St Demetrius may not be surprising in Pentzikis, given his deep religiosity, it must be pointed out that such references appear in the most unexpected moments of modern Thessalonian literature. Such an instance is to be found in the writings of philologist, teacher and author Giorgos Ioannou (1927–85), who refers to the holy myrrh of the saint in the most unlikely context, in his work H Σαρκοφάγος [The Sarcophagus], centred around an abandoned Ancient Greek sarcophagus and the neighbourhood in Thessalonica where it was found: ‘Σε λίγο, πήρα των ομματιών μου και ξανάφυγα απ’ την πόλη αυτή, όπου αναβλύζει, για μένα τουλάχιστο, σαν το μύρο η αγωνία’. [In a while, I took my eyes (this is a Greek expression meaning leaving behind bad things) again and left this city (i.e. Thessalonica), from which anxiety flows freely, to my mind at least, like myrrh.]20 The importance of the myrrh in the cult of St Demetrius of Thessalonica is well known within Thessalonica but rarely discussed in international literature. I have discussed the function of the myrrh in my monograph on St Demetrius but before me an excellent study on the subject by Charalambos Bakirtzis has brought the matter to scholarly attention.21 An interesting counterpoint to this study is an anthropological treatment of the myrrh as a sign of purity by Suzanne Evans.22 The sanctity of the myrrh in Medieval culture makes the comment of a learned historian and philologist such as Ioannou all the more striking. Furthermore, the uneasiness with one’s identity expressed by Ioannou can also be seen in the work of Nikos Gatsos, for instance in his celebrated poem ‘Mάνα μου Ελλάς’ [My Mother, Hellas], set to music by Stavros Xarchakos and sung by Giorgos Dalaras (among others): ‘ϰαι δε δαϰϱύζεις ποτέ σου μάνα μου Ελλάς / που 19
20 21
22
See Marion Hollings, ‘Romancing the Turk: Trade, Race, and Nation in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene’, in Debra Johanyak and Walter S. H. Lim (eds), The English Renaissance, Orientalism, and the Idea of Asia (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. 51–76, at p. 68. Giorgos Ioannou, H Σαϱϰοϕάγος (Athens: Kedros, 1972). Charalambos Bakirtzis, ‘Pilgrimage to Thessalonike: The Tomb of St. Demetrios’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 56 (2002), 175–92. Suzanne Evans, ‘The Scent of a Martyr’, Numen 49 (2002), 193–211.
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τα παιδιά σου σϰλάβους ξεπουλάς’ [and you never shed a tear, my Mother, Greece, when you sell your own as slaves]. This intense, singular and agitated literary culture is the backdrop to where my discussion of Kavvadias and Pentzikis takes place. Kavvadias and Pentzikis are both symbolic, the former of his trade as a sailor and the latter of civic loyalty. However, unlike Pentzikis, the sailor and sea-poet Nikos Kavvadias had no great difficulty in achieving critical acclaim. His perspective of Thessalonica, too, could not be more contrasting. How far is his Thessalonica from the ‘Mother Thessalonica’ of Pentzikis! One of the most popular Greek poets worldwide, and especially with the diaspora, Kavvadias spoke of his unfulfilled love of the sea,23 not of his love for any city. I think that only the neo-Romantic Kostas Ouranis (1890–1953), with his sorrowful elegance and his heavy, almost Homeric, nostos [desire of return] can be compared with Kavvadias in his constant quest. Even in his expression of the world of travel, an area he had broad experience in as diplomat and journalist, comparable perhaps in some ways to that of sailor Kavvadias, Ouranis remained mournful. Take the opening of ‘Τὰ ϕοϱτηγὰ ϰαϱάβια συλλογίζομαι’, a masterful example of his approach to the past: Τὰ ϕοϱτηγὰ ϰαϱάβια συλλογίζομαι που̑ γέϱασαν ϰαὶ τώϱα, λαβωμένα, χωϱὶς οὔτε μία βάϱδια στὸ ϰατάστϱωμα, σαπίζουν στ᾽ ἀϰϱολίμανα δεμένα. [I think of the aged cargo ships/ which now as if they are wounded/ without anyone keeping guard/ they rot by the seabank.]
Kavvadias is another poet for whom the past is locked in the intensity of memories. Kavvadias wrote a poetry of departures. Thessalonica to him was a stopping-off point, resonant with fond memories.24 Was it like this, too, for the 23
24
Kavvadias wistfully said of himself: ‘Θα μείνω πάντα ιδανιϰός ϰι ανάξιος εϱαστής / των μαϰϱισμένων ταξιδιών ϰαι των γαλάζιων πόντων / ϰαι θα πεθάνω μια βϱαδιά, σαν όλες τις βϱαδιές / χωϱίς να σχίσω τη θολή γϱαμμή των οϱιζόντων.’ [I will remain an ideal and unworthy suitor / of distant journeys and azure seas / and I shall die one night like every other / without having crossed the hazy line of the horizons.] ‘Mal du Départ’, in Μαραμπού (Athens: Agras, 1933). Note his elegiac poem ‘Θεσσαλονίκη’, where he tells how ‘μα εσύ θυμάσαι τη Σμαϱώ ϰαι την Καλαμαϱγιά’ [but you remember Smaro and Kalamaria (a district of Thessalonica famed for its beauty; the etymology is Kali meria: beautiful part), a comment resonant of the mentality of the sailor who has to hold on to temporary encounters]. The famous line ‘Κάτου από ϕώτα ϰόϰϰινα ϰοιμάται η Σαλονίϰη’ [Thessalonica sleeps under red lights] of course refers to the brothels of the port city of which he must have been aware. Nikos Kavvadias, ‘Θεσσαλονίκη’, Pousi (Athens: Galaxias, 1947).
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Palaiologoi, as it is often assumed among Byzantinists? Was Thessalonica merely the place between Constantinople and their landholdings in the Morea? In this book I will try to dispell this view. Additionally, the way Kavvadias discusses the marginality25 of the Greek experience outside Greece, and, indeed, ‘the introverted experience of travelling’26 connects him to the idea of the Byzantine Commonwealth which is very useful when discussing the fragmented Byzantine Empire of the last centuries. As for the idea of the Byzantine Commonwealth more generally, it was a concept coined by Obolensky in the aforementioned book. It has been well-developed in recent years – most notably by Jonathan Shepard, who echoed the original title in one of his excellent papers27 – and has become a firm orthodoxy. Mark Mazower’s Salonica City of Ghosts,28 with its rich references to a cosmopolitan29 metropolis best captured in the romantically loaded term Salonique, brings the same concept of the Byzantine Commonwealth, of course modified, to the modern era. In the words of Michelangelo Paganopoulos: ‘The term “Salonique” refers to the cosmopolitan city of Thessaloniki before it became officially Greek in 1923 with the Laussane Convention of 1923. It is still used today’.30 Evocative of ‘transregional connections (. . .) in marginal spaces’ is also the essay by Marc Baer, ‘Globalization, Cosmopolitanism, and the Donme in Ottoman Salonica and Turkish Istanbul’,31 a piece which discusses certain aspects
25
26 27
28
29
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For more on Kavvadias, including an in-depth discussion of methodology regarding critical approaches to his work, see Michelangelo Paganopoulos, ‘The Affinity between Anthropology and Literature: Reflections on the Poetics of Ethnography in the Work of Nikos Kavvadias’ (London: LSE, 2007); to place some of these ideas in a wider context, see: Eleni Kefala, ‘Hybrid Modernisms in Greece and Argentina: The Case of Cavafy, Borges, Kalokyris, and Kyriakidis’, Comparative Literature 58 (2006), 113–27. Paganopoulos, ‘The Affinity between Anthropology and Literature’, p. 1. See Jonathan Shepard, ‘The Byzantine Commonwealth’, in M. Angold (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Christianity, V: Eastern Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 3–52; ‘Byzantium’s Overlapping Circles’, in E. Jeffreys (ed.), Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London, 21–26 August, 2006, I: Plenary Papers (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), pp. 15–5. How and where Shepard differs from Obolensky is potentially a topic for a learned paper but outside the scope of this study. Mark Mazower, Salonica City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430–1950 (London: HarperCollins, 2004). For related ideas on cosmopolitanism also see Mark Mazower, ‘Salonica between East and West, 1860–1912’, Dialogos: Hellenic Studies Review 1 (1994): 104–27; ‘An International Civilization? Empire, Internationalism and the Crisis of the Mid-twentieth Century’, International Affairs 82 (2006), 553–66; Robert Escallier and Yvan Gastaut (eds), Du cosmopolitisme en Méditerranée: XVIe-XXe siècles, Cahiers de la Méditerranée 67, Université de Nice. Centre de la Méditerranée moderne et contemporaine (Nice: Association des publications de la faculté des lettres de Nice, 2003). In Michelangelo Paganopoulos, ‘The Affinity between Anthropology and Literature’, 18, n. 14. Cf. Emilie (Aimilia) Themopoulou, ‘Salonique, 1800–1875: Conjoncture économique et mouvement commercial’, Unpublished Doctoral Thesis (University of Paris, 1994); Meropi Anastassiadou, Salonique, 1830–1912: Une ville ottomane à l’âge des Réformes (Leiden: Brill, 1997). Marc Baer, ‘Globalization, Cosmopolitanism, and the Donme in Ottoman Salonica and Turkish Istanbul’, Journal of World History 18 (2007), 141–70.
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of Mazower’s topic in greater detail. The differences of opinion between Baer and Mazower are outside the scope of this work, especially as they are outlined eloquently by Will Hanley as part of ‘Grieving Cosmopolitanism’.32 Further, an essay by Çaǧlar Keyder, Y. Eyüp Özveren, Donald Quataert33 on port cities in the Ottoman Empire discusses cities such as Thessalonica, Patras, Smyrna, Trebizond and Beirut, and especially their merchant communities, in the context of political loyalties and economic fortunes in a changing world. More recently, Iakovos D. Michailidis has spoken indeed of a ‘misleading cosmopolitanism’, in his essay ‘From Christians to Members of an Ethnic Community: Creating Borders in the City of Thessaloniki (1800–1912)’.34 The force and urgency of the scholarly debate evident in these works show the interest of the intellectual community in the issues that surround historical Thessalonica and help explain the infectious popularity Mazower’s attractive monograph has enjoyed. In a literary context, Mazower’s portrayal of the Jewish culture of Thessalonica is foretold by the author of Λόγια της Πλώρης [1899, Words of the Prow],35 and Ο Ζητιάνος [1897, The Beggar],36 one might say by that forgotten Émile Zola of Modern Greek letters,37 Andreas Karkavitsas (1865–1922) – already mentioned a little earlier, in his short travel story Θεσσαλονίκη, where he observes the stillness and absence of activity at the Jewish-dominated city port on a Saturday, during his visit in November 1894.38 In my view, linking historical and literary works in this way pays tribute to both, shows how they can be complementary and makes
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
Will Hanley, ‘Grieving Cosmopolitanism in Middle East Studies’, History Compass (2008), 1346–67, at 1353–4 and notes. Çaǧlar Keyder, Y. Eyüp Özveren and Donald Quataert, ‘Port-Cities in the Ottoman Empire: Some Theoretical and Historical Perspectives’, Review (Fernand Braudel Center) 16.4, Port-Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean 1800–1914 (1993), 519–58. Iakovos D. Michailidis, ‘From Christians to Members of an Ethnic Community: Creating Borders in the City of Thessaloniki (1800–1912)’, in Lud’a Klusáková and Laure Teulières (eds), Frontiers and Identities: Cities in Regions and Nations, Thematic Work Group 5, Frontiers and Identities 3 (Pisa: Edizioni Plus – Pisa University Press, 2008), pp. 169–80, at p. 170. Andreas Karkavitsas, Λόγια της Πλώρης· Θαλασσινά διηγήµατα (Athens: Typographeion Estias, 1899). The full title, which gives a much better idea of the true flavour of the work by reference to Thessaly, is: Andreas Karkavitsas, Θεσσαλιϰές Ειϰόνες· Ο Ζητιάνος (Athens: Typographeion Estias, 1897). However, the full title is very rarely given and the work is known to all as Ο Ζητιάνος. For an initial discussion of realism and naturalism in the work of Karkavitsas and Modern Greek literature in general see Roderick Beaton, ‘Realism and Folklore in Nineteenth-Century Greek Fiction’, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 8 (1982), 103–22; Pieter Borghart, ‘The Late Appearance of Modern Greek Naturalism: An Explanatory Hypothesis’, Journal of Modern Greek Studies 23 (2005), 313–34. Andreas Karkavitsas, Θεσσαλονίϰη ϰαι άλλα επίϰαιϱα ϰείµενα, ed. Thanassis Georgiadis (Thessalonica: Malliaris-Paideia A.E., 1993), pp. 38–9. Θεσσαλονίϰη was originally included in the author’s travel diary ‘Σ’ Ανατολή και Δύση’. Karkavitsas saw much of Greece travelling as a navy and then an army doctor; this mobility informs a large part of his work.
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use of important but often neglected personal witness as historical evidence. A modern appraisal of Thessalonica as a port city is given in an excellent essay by Mark Levene.39 The highly acclaimed recent monograph by Francesca Trivellato, The Familiarity of Strangers: The Sephardic Diaspora, Livorno, and Cross-Cultural Trade in the Early Modern Period40 also mentions Thessalonica. However, she does not mention the famous Allatini family who settled in Thessalonica from Livorno and played a major part in the economic life of the city. The Allatini family features in the intensely told family biography by Edgar Morin, Vidal and His Family: From Salonica to Paris: The Story of a Sephardic Family in the Twentieth Century,41 a work where the neo-Marranism of families of a Livornese origin is argued. A different angle has been explored by Donald Quataert, who placed the Jewish workers in the wider social context,42 and by H. Sükrü Ilicak who, in a more directly political article, argues that the matter of Jewish socialism in the Ottoman city has been exaggerated in previous scholarship.43 A strong counterpoint to Karkavitsas’s admiration is the account of Herman Melville (1819–91), who, as Ekaterini Georgoudaki has observed, in his Journal of 1856 records seeing Thessalonica as a new Tower of Babel, so to speak.44 An international conference in Volos in 1997 examined the impact of travel in the work of Herman Melville.45 It is also worth mentioning that the Journals 39
40
41
42
43
44
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Mark Levene, ‘Port Jewry of Salonika: Between Neo-colonialism and Nation-state’, in David Cesarani (ed.), Port Jews, Jewish Communities in Cosmopolitan Maritime Trading Centres, 1550– 1950, Parkes-Wiener Series on Jewish Studies (London: Frank Cass, 2002), pp. 125–54. Also see in the same volume: Maria Vassilikou, ‘Greeks and Jews in Salonika and Odessa: Inter-ethnic Relations in Cosmopolitan Port Cities’, pp. 155–72. Francesca Trivellato, The Familiarity of Strangers: The Sephardic Diaspora, Livorno, and Cross-Cultural Trade in the Early Modern Period (London: Yale University Press, 2009). Edgar Morin, Vidal and His Family: From Salonica to Paris: The Story of a Sephardic Family in the Twentieth Century (Eastbourne: Sussex Academic Press, 2009). Donald Quataert, ‘The Workers of Salonica, 1850–1912’, in Donald Quataert and Erik Jan Zurcher (eds), Workers and the Working Class in the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, 1839–1950, Library of Modern Middle East Studies (London: I.B. Tauris, 1995), pp. 59–74; ‘The Industrial Working Class of Salonica, 1850–1912’, in Avigdor Levy (ed.), Jews, Turks, Ottomans: A Shared History, Fifteenth through the Twentieth Century (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002), pp. 194–211. H. Sükrü Ilicak, ‘Jewish Socialism in Ottoman Salonica’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 2 (2002), 115–46. Ekaterini Georgoudaki, ‘Herman Melville in Thessaloniki: Following the Steps of European Travelers’, in Sanford E. Marovitz and Athanasios C. Christodoulou (eds), Melville ‘Among the Nations’: Proceedings of an International Conference, Volos, Greece, July 2–6, 1997 (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2001), pp. 85–107, at p. 95; Herman Melville, Journals, The Writings of Herman Melville: The Northwestern – Newberry Edition 15, in Howard C. Horsford and Lynn Horth (eds) (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1989), p. 56. Georgoudaki also gives insights from other contemporary Western travellers. Sanford E. Marovitz and Athanasios C. Christodoulou (eds), Melville ‘Among the Nations’. For further insights on European influences on Herman Melville see Klaus Poenicke, ‘A View from the Piazza: Herman Melville and the Legacy of the European Sublime’, Comparative Literature Studies 4 (1967), 267–81; Beryl Rowland, ‘Melville and the Cock that Crew’, American Literature 52 (1981), 593–606; Shirley M. Dettlaff, ‘Ionian Form and Esau’s Waste: Melville’s View of Art in Clarel’, American Literature 54, (1982), 212–28.
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from Melville’s travels were only published in 1989, and are a significant asset to Herman Melville scholarship46 and to future scholars. As for my argument of Thessalonica and Constantinople as sister cities (or twin cities, as is more usual in literature), they are seen by Melville in the same light: on Constantinople he records that there is ‘no place in the world fuller of knaves’.47
Constructions of the past By the way, as I am using my own translations for most materials (unless otherwise stated), I might add that the translations were created by the author as a historian, striving for closeness to the original meaning and seeking to serve other scholars in their own constructions of the past. They are not presented here as works of literature, although the book as a whole is. I maintain that the historian is a creator, indeed, and a literary critic, and a translator (sometimes) and maybe even a storyteller but does not have to be a poet. I have left the dilemmas of how to render the rhythm of language or the uniqueness of a particular poetic voice in a translation for another time, when myself or another author might work on these literary gems slowly and with full artistic intent and might sculpt the new version to become poetry, fantasy, shortstory, music and not merely a tool of reference. To illustrate my point further I am presenting the opening of the Iliad in seven different English translations in Appendix II. These show how different the end result can be in the hands of different literary masters. The freedom of what I am trying to describe is best expressed by the great Canadian scholar of Classics, Philosophy and Comparative Literature, the late Daryl Hine (1936–2012), whose attractively poignant own poetry starts to gain wider recognition. He says in his poem ‘Truly aesthetic’: Freedom consists in a struggle against the creative constraints that Artists impose on themselves. In Daryl Hine, ‘Epistle to Theocritus’, appended to Hine’s fine translation Theocritus: Idylls and Epigrams.
I also recognize that in the busy, career-driven, pressurized academic environment of our day, young academics often feel the need to skim-read (and many would skim-write and skim-edit if they could). Although this is a saddening reality for
46 47
Herman Melville, Journals. Herman Melville, Journals, p. 153.
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the future of Letters in the country, I did not want to penalize new scholars for finding themselves in this situation. I have endeavoured to make this book as user-friendly as possible while retaining the freedom of expressing my ideas as completely as possible. In this attempt, I have divided the book into four parts, each with a slightly autonomous feel, although for a deeper appreciation of the intellectual and emotional atmosphere of Thessalonica partial reading is not recommended. On a separate note, this initial reference to literary and not to documentary sources may unsettle some readers, who are expecting to be reading a work of ‘political’ history and not ‘cultural’ history. If we believe that the twain must be separated, shall we remember another work that defies classification, the National Book Award-winning literary classic by American historian Lewis Mumford, The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects (1961),48 which still inspires historians, architects, town planners, sociologists, anthropologists and environmental scientists alike. In terms of content, his paradigm for the threatened metropolis refers mainly to a technological argument but the concept of the threatened metropolis more generally can be used as a tool for writing about the late Byzantine city. Mumford himself states that ‘Byzantium, by an immense effort of will, sufficiently modified the contents of Roman life to preserve its institutions in a state of carefully arrested development’ (p. 235). It took more than 40 years for this seed of an idea to bear fruit; the argument eventually found expression in a fully fledged form in the well-known monograph entitled Byzantium and the Crusades by Jonathan Harris.49 In this work the author argues that the exceptional longevity of the Byzantine Empire was due to the ability of the Byzantines to maintain the status quo by using a highly sophisticated and elusive form of diplomacy that was based on ceremony, gift giving and imperial doctrine. The contradiction between papal supremacy and Byzantine imperial ideology is at the heart of Byzantium and the Crusades. The book conveys what must have been the shocking realization among Byzantine Christians at the time that it was the Christian city of Constantinople that was sacked by fellow-Christians and not Jerusalem. This same imperial ideology focusing on Constantinople as the centre of the Oikoumene (i.e. the civilized world or Christendom), first challenged in 1204 with the Fall of Constantinople to the
48
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Lewis Mumford, The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961). The ideas expressed in this work were first tested in his earlier The Story of Utopias (New York: Boni and Liveright, 1922) and The Culture of Cities (New York: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1938). Jonathan Harris, Byzantium and the Crusades (London: Hambledon and London Books, 2003).
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Franks, will be alluded to in this book, with the imminent Fall of Thessalonica (1430) to the Ottoman Turks and then the Fall of Constantinople (1453), which the events of 1430 prefigure. In any case, once it became clear how effective this vocabulary of imperial ideology was in writing about Byzantium, others followed and the possibilities opened up. The celebrated Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium, 1204–1330 by Dimiter Angelov, the first systematic study of the topic, and the latter’s edited volume Church and Society in Late Byzantium, concentrating on the role of the Church in the same context, are only a sampler of what is to come.50 * * * Going back to styles of authorship, it is rather peculiar that in our day using literary monuments for historical purposes is becoming divorced from other aspects of historical discourse. That is more so considering that the original definition of ‘History’ as opposed to ‘Pre-History’ was referring to the existence of surviving written sources. I will make a further point, derived from my practice. In my teaching in recent years I had the opportunity to discuss the boundaries of the historical discipline and the questions it raises with several of my History Undergraduates, especially focusing on the essay by Ian Mabbett, ‘A History Essay is History’.51 This essay is fairly thought-provoking as it treats one given topic, the nature of the political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), from the perspectives of four different disciplines: political philosophy, behavioural science, moral philosophy and history. Subsequently, it invites the historian to reflect upon the boundaries of the discipline and the usefulness of all the above approaches in relation to one’s practice. In forming my own authorial voice as a historian, I allow the wealth of knowledge from other fields of human endeavour to influence my opinions and preferences and, while recognizing freely the subjectivity of historical enquiry, I strive to provide an end result that is coherent, transparent, and readable. 50
51
Dimiter G. Angelov, Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium, 1204–1330 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007); Dimiter G. Angelov (ed.), Church and Society in Late Byzantium, Studies in Medieval Culture, 49 (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2009); cf. Eugenia Russell, Review of Dimiter G. Angelov (ed.), Church and Society in Late Byzantium, Studies in Medieval Culture 49 (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2009), American Historical Review 116 (2011), 1181–2. Cf. Telemachos C. Lounghis, ‘The Adaptability of Byzantine Political Ideology to Western Realities as a Diplomatic Message (476–1096)’, Centro italiano di studi sull’alto Medioevo 52 (2005), 335–62. Also see Robert S. Nelson, ‘Heavenly Allies at the Chora’, Gesta 43 (2004), 31–40 of which more later. Ian Mabbett, ‘A History Essay is History’, in Writing History Essays: A Student’s Guide (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), pp. 1–12.
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While attempting to write stylistically as a historian is hard, acknowledging the fact that history is literature, in the sense that it is constructed, is in my view useful. I say that attempting to write stylistically is hard because of the demands the conventions of modern scholarship place on the author in the interests of accuracy, accountability and ease of use – all of which are very important attributes of historical output. However, it may be possible in the future for historians to capture the imagination of their readers not only with their historical vision but also with their historical expression (without compromise of intellectual intensity). However, it is time now to move from literary intent to methodology. During the pursuit of my doctoral thesis, I have attempted to bridge the gap between documentary and literary sources, a gap that, more often than not, divides late medievalists but one that modern historians find in the least puzzling, if not unacceptable. There are many valid reasons for this dichotomy, including the complexity of the source material and the development of well-identified specialisms within relatively small fields of study. However, the reappraisal of methodological habits and the occasional attempt to re-evaluate accepted practice through one’s own work may well enrich and invigorate the discipline and the way future historians approach their subject. In this hope, I have continued to strive for the same ideal, even though my personal inclination is slightly towards the literary rather than the documentary materials. As for the inclusion of Greek characters in my text, it is becoming trendy to Latinize them. Nevertheless, as they are fairly central to the subject matter, I thought I would go the extra mile and have them included. They will serve Hellenists in their own scholarship, I like to believe, but they are not essential for the understanding of my argument. For those who like to skip those passages, I would be pleased if these are the only passages they might skip. As this book is mainly a study of Greek-Byzantine culture, for ease of use any quotations from other world literatures included in it are given in English. In addition, in the hope that students52 will be using this book as well as advanced scholars, it may be helpful to mention a few recent publications on Thessalonica quite apart from the monograph by Mark Mazower, which
52
As part of my commitment to future scholars I have published a survey-essay on sources stemming from my doctoral research which can serve as a first port of call for others developing new topics in late Byzantine Studies, especially with reference to sanctity and its constructions, devotional practice and the inclusion of other disciplines which can inform the writing of history. See Eugenia Russell, ‘Sources and Themes for the Study of the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages: The Case of St Demetrius’, Peer English: The Journal of New Critical Thinking 6 (2011), 6–17.
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is by now a fairly established classic.53 A very scholarly edited volume on the earlier period entitled From Roman to Early Christian Thessalonike: Studies in Religion and Archaeology came out in 2010.54 There has been the well-known revision of Nevra Necipoglu’s PhD thesis (1990), which was reviewed in the academic press but for the purposes of this survey I do not treat as a new work.55 The rest of recent works included here relate to intellectual history, with special concentration on two of the most significant voices of late Byzantine Thessalonica, Nikolaos Kavasilas and Symeon of Thessalonica, the last metropolitan before Turkish rule. Such attention on those two authors is entirely deserved, as they were both representative of their compatriots and unique in their intellectual outlook. Steven Hawkes–Teeples teamed up with Robert Taft (who wrote the Introduction) in a laudible Brepols production of a bilingual edition of two of Symeon’s works, the ‘Explanation of the Divine Temple’ and ‘On the Sacred Liturgy’.56 Stylianos Mouksouris in Durham and Pekka Metso in Eastern Finland were recently awarded their respective PhDs on aspects of Thessalonian liturgical practice57 and I have explored the impact of
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Mazower, Salonica City of Ghosts, as above. Also see Mark Mazower, ‘Travellers and the Oriental City, c. 1840–1920’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Sixth Series 12 (2002), 59–111. For Turkish-Jewish identity more specifically see Leyla Neyzi, ‘Strong as Steel, Fragile as a Rose: A Turkish Jewish Witness to the Twentieth Century’, Jewish Social Studies 12 (2005), 167–89. Charalambos Bakirtzis, Steven J. Friesen, Laura Salah Nasrallah and Pantelis Nigdelis (eds), From Roman to Early Christian Thessalonike: Studies in Religion and Archaeology (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010); also see the influential earlier collective work I. K. Hassiotis (ed.), Τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς βασιλεύουσα Θεσσαλονίϰη: Ιστοϱία ϰαι Πολιτισµός, in 2 vols; English version as Queen of the Worthy: Thessaloniki, History and Culture, one vol. (Athens: Paratiritis, 1997). Nevra Necipoğlu, Byzantium between the Ottomans and the Latins: Politics and Society in the Late Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009). Cf. Nevra Necipoğlu, ‘The Aristocracy in Late Byzantine Thessalonike: A Case Study of the City’s Archontes (Late 14th and Early 15th Centuries)’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 57, Symposium on Late Byzantine Thessalonike (2003), 133–51. St Symeon of Thessalonica, The Liturgical Commentaries, Steven Hawkes–Teeples (ed. and trans.), with an Introduction by Robert Taft, Studies and Texts 168 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2011) – includes: ‘Explanation of the Divine Temple’ and ‘On the Sacred Liturgy’; also see Nicholas P. Constas, ‘Symeon of Thessalonike and the Theology of the Icon Screen’, in Sharon E. J. Gerstel (ed.), Thresholds of the Sacred: Architectural, Art Historical, Liturgical, and Theological Perspectives on Religious Screens, East and West (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2006), pp. 163–83. Stylianos Mouksouris, ‘Economia and Eschatology: The Mystagogical Significance of the Byzantine Divine Liturgy’s Prothesis Rite in the Commentaries of Sts. Nicholas Cabasilas and Symeon of Thessalonike’ (Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Durham, 2009); Pekka Metso, Divine Presence in the Eucharistic Theology of Nicholas Cabasilas, Publications of the University of Eastern Finland, Dissertations in Education, Humanities, and Theology 2 (Joensuu: University of Eastern Finland, 2010); also see Paul Chr. Mantovanis, ‘The Eucharistic Theology of Nicolas Cabasilas’, University of Oxford, DPhil thesis (1984); Robert F. Slesinski, ‘Christian Initiation According to Nicholas Kabasilas: An Eastern Perspective on the Holy Mysteries of Baptism, Chrismation, and the Eucharist’, Antiphon 9 (2005), 230–44; Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, ‘“Beyond all holiness”: St Nicolas Cabasilas on The Mother of God: To the Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Walsingham, March 2007, Ecumenical Marian Pilgrimage Trust’, 1–10, published online at: http://ecumenicalmarianpilgrimage.faithweb.com/07Kallistos%20Beyond%20All%20 Holiness.pdf
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these personalities in some of my own essays.58 On Byzantine Macedonia more generally, there has been a volume of conference proceedings edited by John Bernard Burke and Roger Scott.59 A forthcoming book authored by Andrew Louth on Thessalonian and Athonite hesychasm, centring on Gregory Palamas, is anticipated with great excitement. On a practical point, although I have read the work of Apostolos E. Vakalopoulos, Istoria tis Thessalonikis (316–1983) (Thessalonica, 1997), and used it as a control for my own researches, as it is not footnoted I did not feel that it would be of benefit to students or other researchers to give references to it; so I acknowledge my debt to this work here. May I also note that while my book is a first treatment of its kind for the English-speaking world, there have been similar efforts in other languages. From these closer in subject matter are: (a) (eds) Helene Kaltsogianne, Sophia Kotzambassi and Iliana Paraskeuopoulou, Η Θεσσαλονίκη στη Βυζαντινή λογοτεχνία: ρητορικά και αγιολογικά κείµενα (Thessalonica: Kentro Vyzantinon Ereunon, 2002); and (b) Daniele Bianconi, Tessalonica nell’età dei Paleologi. Le pratiche intellettuali nel riflesso della cultura scritta, Dossiers Byzantins 5 (Paris: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales – Centre d’Études Byzantines, Néo-Helléniques et Sud-Est Européennes, 2005).60 An exploration of literary texts in the modern era can be found in (ed.) Sakis Serefas, Θεσσαλονίκη: Μια πόλη στη λογοτεχνία (Athens: Metaichmio, 1st edn, 2002; 2nd edn, 2006).
58
59
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Eugenia Russell, ‘Nicholas Kavasilas Chamaëtos (c.1322–c.1390), a Unique Voice amongst His Contemporaries’, Nottingham Medieval Studies 54 (2010), 121–35; ‘Symeon of Thessalonica and His Message of Personal Redemption’, in Eugenia Russell (ed.), Spirituality in Late Byzantium: Essays Presenting New Research by International Scholars (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009), pp. 33–43; ‘Thessalonica’, in David Wallace (ed.), Europe: a Literary History, 1348–1418, 2 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, forthcoming); for related information on the literary culture of the Greek lands also see: Robert Romanchuk, ‘Mount Athos’, in Europe: a Literary History, 1348–1418 (forthcoming); Kevin Brownlee and Marina Skordalis Brownlee, ‘Athens, Thebes, and Mystra’, in Europe: A Literary History, 1348–1418, (forthcoming); Gilles Grivaud and Christopher Schabel, ‘Cyprus’, in Europe: A Literary History, 1348–1418 (forthcoming); Jonathan Harris, ‘Constantinople’, in Europe: A Literary History, 1348–1418 (forthcoming). For the intellectual life of Mount Athos also: John Meyendorff, ‘Mount Athos in the Fourteenth Century: Spiritual and Intellectual Legacy’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 42 (1988), 157–65. Regarding my essay ‘Nicholas Kavasilas Chamaëtos (c.1322–c.1390)’, I must note that I regret not having taken into consideration the study of Ioannis D. Polemis, ‘Notes on a Short Treatise of Nicolas Cabasilas’, Revue des études byzantines 51 (1993), 155–60. Polemis discusses a treatise on secular learning by Kavasilas, which he compares to the views of Gregory Palamas as expressed in the Triads. However, Polemis’s findings are in agreement with my own argument. John Bernard Burke and Roger Scott (eds), Byzantine Macedonia: Identity, Image, and History: Papers from the Melbourne Conference, July 1995 (Melbourne: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, Australian Catholic University, 2000). Also relevant by the same author: Daniele Bianconi, ‘“Gregorio Palamas e oltre”. Qualche riflessione su cultura profana, libri e pratiche intellettuali nella controversia palamitica’, in Medioevo Greco 5 (2005), 93–119.
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The way this book is written, as I said, reflects an awareness of students’ needs, mainly medievalists but maybe also modernists. The post-Byzantine world does not have a fixed institutional or departmental abode in the way that Classical and Medieval scholarship does. Scholars working on these topics have to carve their own corner as best they can and often, by necessity, contribute more to the international community than to their own institution. The debate of what subjects should be prioritized within a subdiscipline and how should scholarly platforms be set up to facilitate the development of particular strands can be owned not only by those assuming institutional leadership but by scholars and students in all positions and stages in their career. From this position I would like to urge students, especially, to own their opinions. It would please me exceedingly if the offering of this book to the academic community strengthens existing initiatives for the teaching of early modern and Modern Greek culture and inspires fresh ones. Not least, as already suggested, the invitation for such initiatives is addressed to students. This author hopes to give them some building blocks that may be helpful in their own scholarship. The rich offerings of bibliographical details and the several sections in this book that are dense in original research are both there for that reason. In this way the book is meant not only as an expression of my historical argument but also as a depository of knowledge that may bear fruit in the more detailed reasoning of future works. This will become much more likely if with this work I have opened up the field to others. Therefore, the footnotes are a part of the book as much as the main text; they have every right to be there and they have nothing to apologize for. They follow sidelines in the argument that cannot be part of the main text but contribute to the cultural commentary I want to create and my view on the subjects I chose to write about. This is an academic work written in an unconventional way but following the formal conventions of academic writing – and may be taking these to the extreme. It is also hoped that this work may stimulate portraits of literary and cultural life linked to other cities, such as Alexandria, a location that has captured the imagination of many writers and scholars due to its faded romance.61 I give a reference at this point in my last note as ‘fairly recent’, which may seem intriguing, 61
For a fairly recent discussion of the subject see John Rodenbeck, ‘Literary Alexandria’, The Massachusetts Review 42, no. 4, Egypt (2001/2), 524–72; also Beatrice Skordili, ‘Destroying Time: Topology and Taxonomy in “The Alexandria Quartet”’, Doctoral Dissertation (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University, 2006); David Dunn, ‘Imagining Alexandria: Sightseeing in a City of the Mind’, Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change 4 (2006), 96–115. For Byzantine Alexandria in particular see P. M. Fraser, ‘Byzantine Alexandria, Decline and Fall’, Bulletin de Société Archéologique d’Alexandrie 45 (1993), 91–105.
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as the publication was out in 2002. Academic publications have a longer shelf life than many other writings. I treat as fairly recent scholarship works roughly published within the last ten years unless special circumstances prevent me from doing so or unless certain unique perspectives make them unsurpassed. This pattern has emerged from classroom practice and has been very useful as part of student development and my own work.
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Thessalonica: Historical and Geographical Background
Salonika, ‘the Athens of Medieval Hellenism’, has been by turns a Macedonian provincial city, a free town under Roman domination, a Greek community second only to Constantinople, the capital of a short-lived Latin kingdom and of a brief Greek empire to which it gave its name, a Venetian colony, and a Turkish town. William Miller, ‘Salonika’, The English Historical Review 32 (1917), 161–74, at 161. The Philhellene,1 journalist, adventurer and historian William Miller (1864– 1945) has captured the identity of Thessalonica well. In the present work, almost one hundred years after the pioneer historian wrote those lines, this author strives to offer a reappraisal of these words and do his vision justice. This part of the book addresses the different historical periods in the history of the city as signifiers of the transitions in its identity. All these pieces together make up the notional mosaic of the city of Thessalonica and I would argue that the central pieces in this image are the Palaiologan pieces. That is why I chose to write this book and that is why I believe that primarily and profoundly, if any city can be defined by one period in its history, Thessalonica is the Palaiologan city. My research chapters later give insights into that Palaiologan city and its legacies. The idea that a city can be defined by one historical period also characterizes Mazower’s book, the difference being that for him Thessalonica comes into its own during the Ottoman years. 1
How should we translate Philhellene? Rigas Velestinlis himself in his bilingual dedication of the portrait of Alexander the Great (Vienna 1797) did so thus: ‘en faveur des Grecs, et des amis de la Grèce’. Cf. George Tolias, ‘Antiquarianism, Patriotism and Empire. Transfer of the Cartography of the Travels of Anacharsis the Younger, 1788–1811’, e-Perimetron 3 (2008), 101–19, at 109.
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For a Selected Bibliography of William Miller’s work see Appendix I. William Miller is not only remembered for the pioneering nature of his work. His essays contain astute observations and are still used by historians today. He was also somebody who saw value in the work of others. Liz Potter asserts that Miller was one of two people who ‘first noticed the importance of Finlay’s archive’.2 Some belated recognition for the pioneer historian has been achieved with his intellectual portrait being given by Paul Hetherington (2009).3
An ancient metropolis: from Macedonia to Rome The prominence of the Macedonian capital outlined previously in this book continued under Roman rule. This was accentuated after the utter destruction of the wealthy city of Corinth4 by the Romans in 146 bc, perhaps the most important commercial centre of Greece at that time, which meant that Thessalonica really started taking the limelight among Greek cities. It is at that time that proconsul (anthypatos) Gnaeus Egnatius commenced the works for the creation of Via Egnatia (Ἐγνατία Ὁδός),5 which was to become perhaps the most famous and strategically important Roman road. The building of the road took place between 146 and 120 bc. Years of prosperity followed, with many public buildings being erected in the city, as well as a magnificent Roman forum, 2
3
4
5
In Liz Potter, ‘British Philhellenism and the Historiography of Greece: A Case Study of George Finlay (1799–1875)’, The Historical Review, Institute for Neohellenic Research 1 (2004), 183–206, at 184. Paul Hetherington,‘William Miller: Medieval Historian and Modern Journalist’, in Michael Llewellyn Smith, Paschalis M. Kitromilides and Eleni Calligas (eds), Scholars, Travels, Archives: Greek History and Culture through the British School at Athens (London: The British School at Athens, 2009), pp. 153–62. For context on Roman Corinth see: John Briscoe, ‘Rome and the Class Struggle in the Greek States 200–146 B.C.’, Past & Present 36 (1967), 3–20; Antony J. S. Spawforth, ‘Roman Corinth: The Formation of a Colonial Elite’, Proceedings of the International Colloquium Organized by the Finnish Institute and the Centre for Greek and Roman Antiquity, Athens 7–9 September 1993 (Athens: Research Centre for Greek and Roman Antiquity National Hellenic Research Foundation, 1996), pp. 167–82; Richard E. DeMaris, ‘Demeter in Roman Corinth: Local Development in a Mediterranean Religion’, Numen 42 (1995), 105–17; Robert S. Dutch, The Educated Elite in 1 Corinthians: Education and Community Conflict in Graeco-Roman Context, Library of New Testament Studies 271 (London and New York: T&T Clark, a Continuum Imprint, 2005); V. Henry T. Nguyen, Christian Identity in Corinth: A Comparative Study of 2 Corinthians, Epictetus and Valerius Maximus, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 243 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008); Eugenia Russell, Book Review: V. Henry T. Nguyen, Christian Identity in Corinth: A Comparative Study of 2 Corinthians, Epictetus and Valerius Maximus (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008) in Journal for Hellenic Religion 3 (2009–10), 69–70. See Michele Fasolo, La via Egnatia I. Da Apollonia e Dyrrachium ad Herakleia Lynkestidos, Viae Publicae Romanae 1 (Rome: Istituto Grafico Editoriale Romano, 2003; 2nd edn, 2005); Yannis Lolos, ‘Via Egnatia after Egnatius: Imperial Policy and Inter-regional Contacts’, Mediterranean Historical Review 22 (2007), 273–93; ed. Elizabeth A. Zachariadou, The Via Egnatia under Ottoman Rule (1380– 1699): Halcyon Days in Crete II: a Symposium Held in Rethymnon 9–11 January 1994 (Rethymnon: Crete University Press, 1996).
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a stadium, a library, an odeum and Roman baths. In 322 Constantine the Great built a second, artificial, harbour in the North-West end of the city (near what is known as the Frankish quarter or frangomahalas) as part of his campaign against Licinius. Odos Frangon (Frankish Street) is still there today marking this part of the city’s history. I accept the assertion of Pantelis Nigdelis that the city was already an established and successful commercial port. Nigdelis uses two lesser known passages from Galen’s travels to support his view.6 In 379 Thessalonica became capital of the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum, after that prefecture was partitioned and the Diocese of Pannonia with its capital, Sirmium, rejoined the praetorian prefecture of Italy. Sirmium had been the capital since 318. The historic city of Sirmium had been honoured by the presence of many Roman emperors, with the philosopher-king Marcus Aurelius among them. Sirmium is probably where the emperor wrote his Meditations (Greek title: Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν) during his residence there between 170 and 180. The Meditations figure among the most significant works on Ethics ever written and have been used to our day as a tool of solace and personal guidance in a way much similar to the Psalter of King David. On the other hand, ‘Sirmium vs Thessalonica’ is a very popular topic among those who dispute the origins of St Demetrius as a Thessalonian saint but the discussion of this topic will not concern us here. The scholarly editions and translations of the work of Marcus Aurelius have been summarized in a very helpful manner by John Sellars.7 The importance of the Meditations as a work of literature and philosophy cannot be overemphasized. To Sirmium the Meditations are perhaps what the Epistles of St Paul are to Thessalonica: ktema es aiei. The history of ancient Thessalonica closes horrifically with the incredible massacre of the 7,000 in 390 in the city’s Hippodrome, following unrest against a Gothic general of Theodosius I. In fact, Michael Vickers gives the number of the dead as 7,000–15,000.8 This terrible deed of blood-thirsty revenge will be familiar to some readers from the memorable description of the historian Edward Gibbon. The deed is all the more horrific because of the existence of a recent law (382), which stipulated the delay of the execution of punishments of extreme 6
7
8
See Pantelis Nigdelis, ‘Η οιϰογένεια των Ιταλιϰών Auli Avii στη Θεσσαλονίϰη. Με αϕοϱμή μια δίγλωσση αναθηματιϰή επιγϱαϕή’, Tekmiria 1 (1995), 47–66, at 47–8, where also relevant bibliographical details. For a list of scholarly editions and translations of the Meditations (Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν) see John Sellars, The Art of Living: The Stoics on the Nature and Function of Philosophy (London: Bristol Classical Press, 2009, 2nd edn), p. 189. John Sellars has also written a very helpful survey essay on Marcus Aurelius. See John Sellars, ‘Marcus Aurelius (121–180 CE)’, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP): A Peer-Reviewed Academic Resource, available at www.iep.utm.edu/marcus/#H5. In Michael Vickers, ‘The Hippodrome at Thessaloniki’, The Journal of Roman Studies 62 (1972), 25–32, at 25.
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severity for 30 days, to give time for due consideration.9 In any case, the situation was not to be tolerated by St Ambrose of Milan, who was not afraid to confront Theodosius for what he had done and humiliate him publicly.10 Theodosius is negatively remembered also for something else, the Edict of Thessalonica, the infamous ‘Cunctos Populos’11 [meaning to every people] already in place in 380, which undoes the promotion of tolerance of the Edict of Milan (313). Instead of toleration, the official and aggressive promotion of Christianity and an active persecution of paganism were now established. The death of this most unpleasant emperor in 395 sees the empire divided in two, and so the end of the ancient era. There are, of course, differences of opinion in all this, and that is exactly what makes history worth writing. With reference to ‘Cunctos Populos’, for instance, which I have just labelled ‘infamous’, I must underline that in a well-respected scholarly essay, N.Q. King calls it nothing less than ‘magnificent’.12
Early Christian Thessalonica (c. 50–395) Teaching therefore, and Preaching is the same thing. For they that Proclaim the comming of a King, must withall make known by what right he commeth, if they mean men shall submit themselves unto him: As St. Paul did to the Jews of Thessalonica, when three Sabbath dayes he reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening, and alledging that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus is Christ.13 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (London: Andrew Crooke, 1651; first edition)
At first sight, Thessalonica today is a Roman city. Yet the very visible Roman structure of Thessalonica does not tell the whole story. It is equally important
9
10
11
12
13
J. F. Matthews, ‘“Codex Theodosianus” 9.40.13 and Nicomachus Flavianus’, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 46 (1997), 196–213; Tony Honoré, Law in the Crisis of Empire, 379–455 AD: The Theodosian Dynasty and its Quaestors with a Palingenesia of Laws of the Dynasty, vol. 1 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), at p. 67. The dating of both events has been questioned by R. Malcolm Errington, ‘The Praetorian Prefectures of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus’, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 41 (1992), 439–61, especially at 450. M. A. Boytsov, ‘Emperor’s Penitence: Theodosius I and Ambrose of Milan’, Vestnik drevnej istorii 2 (2009), 21–48. Cf. Robert L. Wilken, ‘The Jews and Christian Apologetics after Theodosius I Cunctos Populos’, The Harvard Theological Review 73 (1980), 451–71. In N. Q. King, ‘The Theodosian Code as a Source for the Religious Policies of the First Byzantine Emperors’, Nottingham Medieval Studies 6 (1962), 12–17. Acts, 17. 2, 3.
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to look at the ancient history of Thessalonica from a different perspective, that of its Christian heritage. Three main themes emerge, the teaching of St Paul and its reception, including the letters to the Thessalonians (both c. 52 ad);14 the martyrdom of St Demetrius, his cult and its impact, with reference to the vast literary sources, the majestic basilica built in the saint’s honour, the saint’s tomb and miraculous myrrh, and his companion saints Nestor (‘the second David’) and Loupos, admired respectively for their bravery and steadfastness; and the personality and legacy of Caesar and later Emperor Galerius Maximus or Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (c. 250–311), a member of the first Tetrarchy, most probably the persecutor of St Demetrius and an important statesman, whose buildings and memory still survive in Thessalonica. The martyrdom of St Demetrius is therefore placed not long before the legalization of Christianity by the Edict of Milan in 313, signed by Constantine the Great and Licinius. It is often forgotten, however, that Galerius himself issued a similar edict of religious toleration in Serdica (today Sofia) in 311. The dark portrayal of Galerius by later Christian writers has done much to obsure the fact that he was a very capable emperor whose legacy was greatly beneficial to the empire. On the other hand, the open hostility of Theodosius (who was based there at large) towards pagans, as reflected very memorably in his abolition of the ancient Games, completes the picture of early Christian-pagan relations in the city. In my previous monograph, St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010),15 I discuss the religious culture of Thessalonica from the angle of the veneration of St Demetrius in the Palaiologan era, also giving some details on the historical Demetrius. Discussions of the cult 14
15
The main scholarly lines of argument regarding the two Epistles to the Thessalonians are well summarized in: Karl P. Donfried, ‘The Cults of Thessalonica and the Thessalonian Correspondence’, New Testament Studies 31 (1985), 336–56. Also see his monograph Karl P. Donfried, Paul: Thessalonica and Early Christianity (1st edn, Edinburgh and Grand Rapids, MI: T&T Clark (a Continuum imprint), and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2002; reprint London and New York: Continuum, 2003); ed. Karl P. Donfried and Johannes Beutler, The Thessalonians Debate: Methodological Discord or Methodological Synthesis? (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000); Leon Morris, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: An Introduction and Commentary. The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1984, 1st edn, 1956); J. Peter Bercovitz, ‘Paul and Thessalonica’, Proceedings: Eastern Great Lakes and Midwest Biblical Societies 10 (1990) 123–35. For insights on the Greek text see Charles E. Wanamaker, The Epistles to the Thessalonians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC), ed. I. Howard Marshall and W. Ward Gasque (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1990); and the classic John Eadie, A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians (London: Macmillan, 1877). For a review of the book see: Vasilka Tăpkova-Zaimova, ‘Eugenia Russell, St Demetrius of Thessalonica: Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages (Byzantine and Neohellenic Studies 6). Oxford – Bern – Bruxelles – Frankfurt am Main – New York – Wien, Peter Lang 2010, 213 pp., ISBN 978–3– 0343–0181–7.’, Bulgaria Mediaevalis 1 (2010), 456–9.
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of the saint in this work will be much broader as they tend to engage with the portrait of the city outside the strictly hagiographical context within which my other book was set. Despite this shift in the focus of the book, I will take this opportunity to underline that the importance of St Demetrius for the civic life and spiritual health of Medieval (and, to a large extent, modern) Thessalonica cannot be exaggerated.
The second city After an extended period of prosperity that followed the terrible events of 390, the seventh century saw persistent raids from Avars and Slavs, which caused huge destruction in Thessalonica and the whole region. It is in this period that the tradition of the Miracles of St Demetrius develops, with the saint being seen as the leader of the army and the protector of the citizens. This period also gave rise to an intense anchoritism in the Macedonian hinterland, one that precedes the monastic movement of Mount Athos and is largely unexplored by scholars. As prosperity in the city continued, there came the establishment of an important commercial fair called Demetria, tied in with the festival of patron saint Demetrius every October. A pseudoLucianic dialogue under the name Timarion16 brings us a description of the fair and gives a glimpse of the commercial dominance of Thessalonica in the region. In this period Thessalonica was sacked twice, in 904 by Saracen pirates based in Crete, and in 1185 by the Sicilian Normans, while in between these two traumatic events the city saw numerous wars with successive Bulgarian Tsars. The two sacks of the city are described respectively in the eyewitness accounts of John Kaminiates (whose authenticity has been disputed in the past) and the Homeric scholar Eustathius of Thessalonica. In 1204, after the fall of Constantinople to the crusaders, the Frankish Kingdom of Thessalonica is established, taking in most of the lands of Northern and Central Greece up to and excluding Negroponte (Euboia) with its first king being Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat, the leader of the Fourth Crusade. During the Frankish rule (1204–24) the churches of St Demetrius and St Sophia were given to Latin priests for the celebration of Mass. But how did all this affect Byzantine perceptions of self? The interpretation of the events by Victor Roudometof is that prior to the fall of Constantinople in 1204 the Byzantines 16
Pseudo-Lucian, Timarion, ed. R. Romano, Byzantina et neo-hellenica neapolitana 2 (Naples: Università di Napoli. Cattedra di fi lologica Bizantina, 1974).
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believed that ‘there was only one emperor and his empire constituted an earthly manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven’; that in 1204 ‘the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade shook this universalist vision’; and that regaining Constantinople in 1261 nipped at the bud a ‘Greek protonationalist trend’ that was evident between 1204 and 1261.17
Hellenic rulers and Palaiologan heyday The attempts of a Bulgarian-Vlach allegiance to take Thessalonica from the Franks were unsuccessful, but in 1224 it was taken by Theodore I Komnenos Doukas, ruler of the Despotate of Epirus, one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire (alongside the empires of Nicaea and Trebizond). His annointment in the Spring of 1224 by the influential Archbishop of Ochrid Demetrius Chomatianos (served 1216–36) took symbolic dimensions, as it put him level with the claimant from Nicaea, John III Doukas Vatatzes. Theodore saw himself really and truly as the legitimate emperor of the Romans. Not only he adopted the necessary trappings of kingship – royal dress, decrees, coinage – but also displayed inspired leadership. One of the first things Theodore did was to restore in full the authority of the Orthodox church within the city and expel the Latin bishop. He also sought military success and the loyalty of the Byzantines. In 1225 he took Adrianople. Later he planned to march onto Constantinople but hesitated, aware of the ongoing Bulgarian danger. He therefore turned against John (Ivan) Asen II of Bulgaria and lost the Battle of Klokotnitsa (1230), which marked the end of his military career. After many dynastic struggles, the city was taken in 1246 by John III Doukas Vatatzes, the aforementioned Emperor of Nicaea. The role of Ivan in these events as well as his fairness, clemency and magnanimity honour him as a noble ruler. Later, John’s successor, Theodore II Laskaris, an ardent classicist and a student of the famous polymath Nikephoros Blemmydes, reinforced the political power of Thessalonica with a series of victories against the Bulgarians, to which victories, as he related to Blemmydes, he attached a national importance. Yet the height of Thessalonica’s cultural and political life is to be found under the house of the Palaiologoi. In the fourteenth century two empresses took up residence in Thessalonica and accentuated the autonomous outlook that this prominent metropolis always had enjoyed. The 17
In Victor Roudometof, ‘From Rum Millet to Greek Nation: Enlightenment, Secularization and National Identity in Ottoman Balkan Society, 1453–1821’, Journal of Modern Greek Studies 16 (1998), 11–48, at 17 and 35.
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first to arrive in 1303 was Eirene (Yolanda) of Montferrat,18 wife of Andronikos II Palaiologos, while later in 1351 Anna of Savoy (or Anna Palaiologina), widow of Andronikos III Palaiologos ruled in the city. The latter was especially admired by her contemporaries as she brought peace and stability to the city after the brutal events of dynastic civil war and a complex civic unrest, the result of religious and social tensions, known as the Zealot revolt.19 This was a time when letters flourished exceedingly in Thessalonica, a fact that can be partially explained by the imperial patronage but must also have deeper social and psychological roots. The intellectual achievements of this period must also be highlighted, and they include, apart from literary texts, the liturgy, hymnography, iconography and architecture of the era, which continued to develop until the fall of the city in 1430 and beyond.
Downfall and literary response The dramatic presence in Thessalonica of Manuel II Palaiologos20 (1350–1425; in Thessalonica 1382–7; emperor 1391–1425) and later his nephew John VII Palaiologos21 (1370–1408; emperor 1390; in Thessalonica 1403–8) and Manuel’s son Andronikos Palaiologos (1403–29; despot of Thessalonica 1408–23: 1408– 16 with Demetrius Laskaris Leontaris) during the last years of the Byzantine city played a major part in its history. Their different styles of government and their relations with the West, the Church, the army and each other impacted on the way they were perceived by their contemporaries. The last three metropolitans of the Byzantine city are prominent in this respect.22 Symeon’s output, especially, will be featured in this book. At the same time, the advance of the Ottomans and the capture of Thessalonica in 1387, the restoration to Byzantium in 1403 and the controversial and traumatic handing over to the Venetians in 1423 18
19
20
21
22
Some details on the relations between the Montferrat and the Palaiologoi can be found in Roberto Maestri (ed.), L’Arrivo in Monferrato dei Palaeologi di Bisanzio (1306–2006), Studi sui Paleologi di Monferrato (Alessandria: Circolo Culturale ‘I Marchesi del Monferrato’, 2007). See also Steven Runciman, ‘Thessalonica and the Montferrat Inheritance’, Gregorios o Palamas 42 (1959), 27–34. Daphne Papadatou, ‘Political Associations in the Late Byzantine Period: The Zealots and Sailors of Thessalonica’, Balkan Studies 28 (1987), 3–23. See John W. Barker, Manuel II Palaeologus (1391–1425): A Study in Late Byzantine Statesmanship (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1969); and the exemplary George T. Dennis, The Reign of Manuel Palaeologus in Thessalonica, 1382–1387 (Rome: Orientalia Christiana Analecta 159, 1960). George T. Dennis, ‘John VII Palaiologos: “A holy and just man”’, in Anna Avramea, Angeliki E. Laiou and Evangelos Chrysos (eds), Byzantium State and Society: In Memory of Nikos Oikonomides (Athens: Hellenic National Research Foundation, 2003), pp. 205–17. See George T. Dennis, ‘The Late Byzantine Metropolitans of Thessalonike’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 57 (2003), 255–64. For coverage of the earlier period see Marcus L. Rautman ‘Notes on the Metropolitan Succession of Thessaloniki, c. 1300’, Revue des études byzantines 46 (1988), 147–59.
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make for prolonged collective trauma. This move of giving the city to Venice, from a Byzantine point of view, had the aim of stopping the Turkish advance and from a Venetian of augmenting their commercial and financial influence in the Aegean created by the colonization of Negroponte (Euboia) and Crete. The cost of maintaining the defence of Thessalonica had been underestimated, however, and the Venetian Senate found that it could not fulfil the vision of the city as ‘a second Venice’.23 So neither goal was to be successful and in 1430 Sultan Murad II took the coveted city, which he had dreamt that God had given to him in the guise of a beautiful rose. The fall of Thessalonica (1430) spawned its own literature of monodies, the most celebrated and dramatic of those being the one by John Anagnostes, or John the Reader.24 Some of the anonymous monodies for the fall of Thessalonica have been published by Spyridon Lambros,25 and they show the line of progression from late Medieval Greek laments to Modern Greek folk poetry. Monodies for Thessalonica by Mark and John Eugenikos have been published by Marios Pilavakis.26 There is an earlier monody of the Homeric scholar Eustathius of Thessalonica (c. 1110–98)27 written for the fall of the city to the Normans 23
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25
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In return the citizens of Thessalonica had undertaken to be loyal to the Venetians: ‘καὶ αυ̑̑τοὶ ̑ ῎ Θεσσαλονικαῖοι εστερξαν τοῦ εἰναι πιστοὶ ἐν τῃ̑ κοινότητι τω̑ ν Βενετικω̑ ν‚ ὣσπερ αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἐν Βενετίᾳ καὶ γενηθέντας καὶ τραφέντας’ [and the Thessalonians themselves agreed to be loyal to the community of the Venetians, exactly as those who were born and bred in Venice]. In Doukas, Historia Byzantina, ed. I. Bekker, CSHB (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1834), p. 197. John Anagnostes, Pro Viribus Acta Monodia, ed. Barthold Georg Niebuhr, Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae 39 (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1838); cf. John Anagnostes, De Extremo Thessalonicensi Excidio Narratio, ed. Barthold Georg Niebuhr, Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae 39 (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1838). For a detailed discussion of these two works see Eugenia Russell,‘Responses to the Fall of Thessalonica in 1430 by John Anagnostes in His Narration and Monody’, in St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010), pp. 133–45. Spyridon Lambros (ed.), ‘Τϱει ς̑ ἀνέϰδοτοι Μονῳδίαι εἰς τὴν ὑπὸ τω̑ ν Τούϱκων ἅλωσιν τη̑̑ς Θεσσαλονίϰης’, Neos Hellenomnemon 5 (1908), 369–91. Mark Eugenikos, ‘Εάλω Θεσσαλονίϰη. Θϱήνος για την Άλωση του 1430’, ed. Marios Pilavakis, with transl. to Mod. Greek by Demetrius Vamvakas (Athens: Ekdoseis Papadimitriou, 1997). The Monody by John Eugenikos, the lesser-known but theologically important younger brother of Mark, is included in this work as an appendix. For the Homeric work of Eustathios see Marchinus van der Valk (ed.), Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes, vols 1–4 (Leyden: Brill, 1:1971; 2:1976; 3:1979; 4:1987); Helena Maria Keizer, Marchinus van der Valk, Jan Maarten Bremer and C. J. Ruijgh, Indices in Eustathii Archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis Commentarios ad Homeri Iliadem Pertinentes ad fidem codicis Laurentiani editos a Marchino van der Valk (Leiden: Brill, 1995). Andrew Stone has written extensively on the panegyrics of Eustathios. See Andrew F. Stone, ‘The Panegyrical Personae of Eustathios of Thessaloniki’, Scholia: Studies in Classical Antiquity 18 (2009), 107–17; ‘The Moods and Tenses in Eustathian and Late Twelfth-Century High-Style Byzantine Greek’, Byzantina Symmeikta 19 (2009), 99–145; ‘Nautical and Marine Imagery in the Panegyrics of Eustathios of Thessaloniki’, Scholia: Studies in Classical Antiquity 12 (2003), 96–113; ‘Eustathian Panegyric as a Historical Source’, Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 51 (2001), 225–58. There is also an English translation of his monody: Eustathius of Thessalonica, The Capture of Thessaloniki, ed. and trans. John R. Melville-Jones, Byzantina Australiensia 8 (Canberra: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 1988). Also see: Christophoros Kontakes (ed.), Hagios Eustathios: praktika theologikou synedriou, eis timen kai mnemen tou en Hagiois Patros hemon Eustathiou, Archiepiskopou Thessalonikes, 7–9 Noemvriou 1988 (Thessalonica: Hiera
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in 1185, as well as one by John Kaminiates (fl. 10th c.).28 Further, within the tradition of Modern Greek folk poetry, there are well-known monodies for the fall of Adrianople, Thessalonica, Yannena, Berat and of course Constantinople – in fact, the Queen of Cities outnumbers them all.29 A powerful epic narrative emerges through this body of literature. The distinguished and insightful Neo-Hellenist Vrassidas Karalis places great significance on this fact, namely the post-Byzantine construction of Constantinople. He argues that after the Fall of 1453 Constantinople transcended the historical to enter the psychological dimension. Very few cities in the world can make such a claim. He claims that the city became a ‘mythological archetype of the Neo-hellenic worldview’. To illustrate his point further, he enlists Nikos Kazantzakis, who wrote in his Oratorio Konstantinos Palaiologos ‘η αληθινή᾽ναι Πόλη αδέλϕια μου η ψυχή μας’ [the real Polis, my brethren, is our soul].30 However, this is not an expression of Balkan nationalism. Karalis, for one, is based in Australia. He sees the mythos and the paramythitikos logos from the outside. Furthermore, interesting in this respect is the comment of Panagiotis Roilos that ‘Kazantzakis does not employ Byzantium as a source of national pride, but rather as a source of personal intellectual inspiration’. Roilos argues in his essay for a ‘meta-nationalistic’ approach to Byzantium by Kazantzakis. When discussing the Kazantzakian Digenis Akrites, for instance, he remarks that ‘His heroism does not evoke national pride but rather intellectual intensity’; Roilos’s essay title itself, ‘Byzantium and Heroic Pessimism’, is indicative of his perspective.31 The originality of Roilos’s voice must be highlighted. The notion of the figure of Digenis Akrites as a national hero is current coinage in modern scholarship, expressed in essays by Eliso Elizbarashvili, Miguel Castillo Didier and Victoria Casamiquela Gerhold.32
28
29
30 31
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Metropolis Thessalonikes, 1989); Elizabeth Madariaga, ‘Ο Ευστάθιος Θεσσαλονίϰης ϰαι η μονωδία του για τον Νιϰόλαο Αγιοθεοδωϱίτη’, Symmeikta 17 (2005), 223–38, where also relevant references. Further insights on Eustathios are offered by Catherine Holmes in her essay ‘“Shared Worlds”: Religious Identities – A Question of Evidence’, in Jonathan Harris, Catherine Holmes and Eugenia Russell (eds), Byzantines, Latins and Turks in the Eastern Mediterranean World after 1150 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 31–59. John Kaminiates, The Capture of Thessaloniki, ed. and trans. David Frendo and Athanasios Fotiou, Byzantina Australiensia 12 (Perth: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 2000). Details on these and on the tradition of the lament more generally can be found in Margaret Alexiou, The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition (2nd edn, Lanham, Boulder, New York, Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002). Vrassidas Karalis, [Michael] Doukas, Byzantinotourkiki Istoria (Athens: Ekdoseis Kanaki, 1997), p. 42. In Panagiotis Roilos, ‘Byzantium and Heroic Pessimism in Nikos Kazantzakis’, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora 27 (2001), at 227–41, at 228 and 230. See Eliso Elizbarashvili,‘The Formation of a Hero in Digenes Akrites’, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 50 (2010) 437–60, where also the relevant references; Miguel Castillo Didier, ‘El Cid y Diyenís: ¿héroes de novela o de epopeya?’, Byzantion Nea Hellás 28 (2009), 167–83; Victoria Casamiquela Gerhold, ‘The Death of Digenes Akritas: Medieval Tradition and Modern Songs’, Byzantion Nea Hellás 29 (2010), 99–112.
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I have described Konstantinos Palaiologos as an Oratorio to indicate the work’s alignment with sacred drama. The composer of the work, Manolis Kalomoiris (1883–1962) has spoken of it as a ‘musical tragedy’: ‘Tον δούλευα σε μουσική τραγωδία και τριάμιση χρόνια βρισκόμουνα μέσα στην ανέσπερη νυχτιά του Bυζαντινού Θρύλου και την τραγική ατμόσφαιρα των δεινών του Γένους’. [I was working it into a musical tragedy and for three and a half years I was in the unending night of Byzantine Legend and in the tragic atmosphere of the passions of the Greek people.]33 The libretto of the work was given as a gift to Manolis Kalomoiris by Kazantzakis in 1953. The composer set it to music between 1957 and 1961 and the first performance, by the National Opera of Greece, took place in the summer of 1962, a few months after the composer’s death. Konstantinos Palaiologos was regarded by Manolis Kalomoiris as his crowning achievement and it is regrettable that the work is not performed more often in our day. The notion that Constantinople inhabits the souls of the Greeks can be traced in the multi-faceted, pained literary expression of the post-Byzantine world. Its meaning is the subject of many fairy tales and folk songs. I would like to take this idea and Karalis’s argument further and suggest in this book that Thessalonica played a complementary role in the literary mind, with a close mirroring of metaphors, laments and legends, only to be tempered by the Modern Greek identity of the city after 1912. After 1912 we observe a change in mood. Literary, architectural and other cultural records show, however, that the two cities shared a common destiny up until that point.
Thessalonica and Constantinople Salonica is, next to Constantinople, the cheif place of commerce in European Turkey (original spelling preserved). Herman Melville, Journals, The Writings of Herman Melville: The Northwestern – Newberry Edition 15, ed. Howard C. Horsford and Lynn Horth (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1989), p. 153
In my first monograph I was indebted to Herman Melville for his portrayal of Christ-like sacrifice in Billy Budd, a concept that inspired my study of Medieval sanctity. His unfinished novella Billy Budd, Sailor: (An Inside Narrative) also titled in early editions as Billy Budd, Foretopman, haunted my imagination and gave added depth to the final stages of my writing. 33
In Manolis Kalomoiris, Dedication of Konstantinos Palaiologos.
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Here I go to Melville for his insights on matters of political history and for his glimpses of Thessalonica in his travels. His singular, bittersweet expression is again revealing, striking and pertinent. More shocking though in this case is how his perception is diametrically opposed to the testimonies of others who wrote on similar topics. Among them is an author who I have called earlier in the narrative the Émile Zola of Greece. As with the prolonged process of the recognition of merit and eventual publication of Billy Budd, and then republication after intense editorial work, the writings I have discussed in this book have been belatedly studied and appreciated and only slowly are bringing to light more welcome insights to historians. * * * The idea of the twin cities came to me while studying the monodies and laments in Byzantine and post-Byzantine culture. The respective loss of the two cities to the Ottoman Turks can be said to have shaken Christendom, the news leading to a rich literature of poetical works that sought to express the magnitude of those events, while also rendering them legendary. The impact of the lament literature on folk culture and demotic song has not been fully assessed yet. It will take the collaboration of anthropologists, historians, musicologists and ethnographers to do so. Institutional, national and financial interests make such large-scale projects hard to bid for and even harder to complete. My contribution to this field in this book is my discussion of a monody by the Thessalonian Andronikos Kallistos (c. 1400–76), cousin of his celebrated fellow-Thessalonian Theodore Gazes (also known in Italy during his lifetime as Theodorus Gaza Thessalonicensis, c. 1400–75/6). The monody is presented as part of his personal identity as an émigré and a teacher and as a paradigm for émigré perceptions after the end of Byzantium. Of course, there are other parallels that show the closeness between Thessalonica and Constantinople in their cultural make-up. A most dignified expression of this twin identity is the survival of the Constantinopolitan ‘Ασματιϰή Αϰολουθία’ (Sung/Chanted Rite) in Thessalonica. Alexander Lingas has repeatedly stressed the importance of the Constantinopolitan Rite and underlined how it is distinct from the Jerusalemite (or Sabbaitic) Rite.34 The Akolouthia survived in Thessalonica long after its decline and eventual extinction 34
See for instance Alexander Lingas, ‘How Musical was the “Sung Office”? Some Observations on the Ethos of the Byzantine Cathedral Rite’, in Ivan Moody and Maria Takala-Rozsczenko (eds), The Traditions of Orthodox Music. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, University of Joensuu, Finland 13–19 June 2005 (Joensuu: the International Society for Orthodox
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in the capital during the Latin years (1204–61).35 I shall underline again in this book that the Rite found its highest expression under the metropolitan Symeon of Thessalonica (metropolitan of Thessalonica c. 1416–29),36 who originated from Constantinople and saw in the Sung Rite an affirmation of the faith and identity of Byzantine Christians and an act of defiance in the face of military threat. The development of identity through sound in late Byzantium, traditionally seen as being in decline, challenges existing perceptions of this era and offers opportunities for fresh interpretations in cultural history. Coupled with insights from findings in the visual arts and physical culture, the musical expression of the Byzantines, primarily known to us from liturgical sources, can add much colour to our understanding of this highly evocative part of the past. The Thessalonian Rite, which is one of the topics to be explored in the pages of this book, not only became the crowning glory of late Byzantine culture in the city but also defined post-Byzantine religious and personal identity for the Greek populations during the Ottoman years. It is, therefore, a very important, if elusive, part of this culture and one that promises to reward the researchers who engage with it as well as try them. Although it is not essential (for the purposes of our discussion), to put the prosomoia of Symeon discussed in this book in context, I would recommend also reading a more general paper by Vassileios Salteris, discussing all types of Stichera (the prosomoia are one of three types of stichera, the other two being idiomela and automela).37
35
36
37
Church Music, 2007), pp. 217–34; ‘Medieval Byzantine Chant and the Sound of Orthodoxy’, in Andrew Louth and Augustine Casiday (eds), Byzantine Orthodoxies, Papers from the 36th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), pp. 131–50; ‘Tradition and Renewal in Contemporary Greek Orthodox Psalmody’, in H. W. Attridge and M. E. Fassler (eds), The Psalms in Community: Jewish and Christian Textual, Liturgical and Artistic Traditions (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), pp. 341–56; ‘Festal Cathedral Vespers in Late Byzantium’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 63 (1997), 421–59; ‘Hesychasm and Psalmody’, in Anthony Bryer and Mary Cunningham (eds), Mount Athos (Brookfield, VT: Variorum, 1996), pp. 155–68. Arsinoi Ioannidou, ‘The Kalophonic Settings of the Second Psalm in the Byzantine Tradition (Fourteenth-Fifteenth Centuries): A Dissertation In-Progress’, Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of the American Society of Byzantine Music and Hymnology (ASBMH), 2007, pp. 210–23, published online, in collaboration with the Byzantine Studies Initiative of the Russian and East European Studies Program, University of Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies (UCIS): www.asbmh.pitt.edu/page9/page10/page11/page11.html, at 213. For more on Symeon see Eugenia Russell, ‘Symeon of Thessalonica and His Message of Personal Redemption’, in Eugenia Russell (ed.), Spirituality in Late Byzantium: Essays Presenting New Research by International Scholars, (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009), pp. 33–43; ‘Symeon of Thessalonica, Metropolitan, c. 1416–1429’, in International Encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages-Online. A Supplement to LexMAOnline (Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2010, in Brepolis Medieval Encyclopaedias www.brepolis.net). Vassileios Salteris, ‘Towards a New Approach to the Study of ΣΤΙΧΗΡΑΡΙΟΝ’, in Proceedings of Second International Conference for PhD Music Students February 11–13, 2009, Organized by Department of Music Studies, Aristotle University and Music School of Arts, Culture & Environment, University of Edinburgh (2nd revised edn, Thessalonica and Edinburgh: The Aristotle University and the University of Edinburgh, 2010), pp. 20–33, also available at: http://phdmusic09.web.auth. gr/files/First%20Pages%2021_10_09.pdf
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The fact that musical sources are neglected by historians as a source of information, data and cultural testimony has been aptly voiced by Christopher Marsh, who works on Seventeenth Century Popular Song. His Songs of the Seventeenth Century: Integrating Popular Music Into History Teaching38 is the early-modern equivalent of my late Medieval offerings that will follow. * * * Another narrative regarding how Latin Christendom impacted on the Greek Orthodox population of the Byzantine lands can be encountered in the recent monograph of Nikiphoros I. Tsougarakis.39 His story begins after the Fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, concerns the Western Monastic Orders, especially the Cistercians, the Benedictines, the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Crociferi and the Augustinian Friars who made their presence felt in Greece at that time, and is told from their point of view. Yet the issues involved, such as the question of the Union of the Churches, the conflicting merchantile and spiritual interests and the cultural and social conflicts that emerged, transcend our chosen frameworks and standpoints (mainly dictated not by a difference in opinion but by differences in our source materials) and are common in our books. Interestingly, although Tsougarakis is sure to bring out the importance of the Monastic Orders in his study, he concludes that they largely failed to speak to the Byzantine Greeks in the way they did in other frontiers of Christendom. From my perspective of studying the psychological climate and spiritual needs of the citizens of Thessalonica at a later time, I have arrived to similar conclusions. Although my main motivation for investigating the Thessalonian Rite was to determine what it tells us about Byzantine ideology, which will be covered in the relevant chapter, there is another important aspect that needs to be conveyed. The Thessalonian Rite can be taken as the musical expression of the cultural status of Thessalonica as the ‘second city’.40 A parallel to this is the Ambrosian 38
39
40
Christopher Marsh, Songs of the Seventeenth Century: Integrating Popular Music into History Teaching (Coventry: History Subject Centre at the Higher Education Academy, 2010). N. I. Tsougarakis, The Latin Religious Orders in Medieval Greece, 1204–1500, Medieval Church Studies (MCS 18) (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012); cf. Nikiphoros I. Tsougarakis, ‘The Western Religious Orders in Medieval Greece’ (Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leeds, Institute for Medieval Studies, 2008); a similar field of study but with less emphasis on religious culture is covered by Nikolaos Chrissis in his excellent PhD work: Nikolaos G. Chrissis, ‘Crusading in Romania. A Study of Byzantine-Western Relations and Attitudes 1204–1282’ (Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of London, 2008); cf. Nikolaos G. Chrissis, Crusading in Frankish Greece: A Study of Byzantine-Western Relations and Attitudes, 1204–1282, Medieval Church Studies (MCS 22) (Turnhout: Brepols, forthcoming). See John W. Barker, ‘Late Byzantine Thessalonike: A Second City’s Challenges and Responses’, DOP 57 (2003), 5–33; ‘The Problem of Appanages in Byzantium During the Palaiologan Period’, Byzantina 3 (1971), 103–22; Robert Browning, ‘Byzantine Thessalonike: A Unique City?’, Dialogos 2 (1995), 91–104.
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Chant developed in Milan, a form separate to the Old Roman Chant and to the later and more well-known Gregorian Chant. Although attributed to St Ambrose (Bishop of Milan 374–97), we cannot be sure that he was entirely responsible for the Chant (although it is also sometimes called the Milanese Chant); in any case it proved distinct and powerful enough to claim its own regional successes.41 Whether the idea of the ‘second city’ is valid in the case of Byzantium, it has been advanced by John Barker and remains unchallenged.42 The idea of a musical reformation inherent in the Sung Office can also be found in the work of Edward V. Williams, who compares the Byzantine kalophonic (‘beautifully sung’) style to the fourteenth-century musical innovations of Ars Nova in France and the Low Countries. Ars Nova is a music often juxtaposed with the earlier Ars Antiqua of the Notre Dame School of Polyphony.43 From a performative point of view, the matter of the Sung Office is comprehensively discussed by Alexander Lingas in the forthcoming publication of his doctoral thesis.44 Such ideas of reformation, with all the vigour that they entail, contrast sharply with traditional views within Byzantine scholarship that innovation in Byzantium stopped with Justinian, a view that is reflected in the way much of the discipline is written and taught. I mentioned earlier how Thessalonica was called ‘city of Philip’ and Constantinople ‘city of Constantine’. This illustrates how strong the memory of Philip was in Byzantium, as he was not, of course, the founder of the city of Thessalonica and the city was established after his death. Despite the legendary status of Alexander the Great, for instance, Thessalonica was not called ‘city of Alexander’; or ‘city of Cassander’, after the more unknown king who was actually its founder. In any case, the two cities are linked in another powerful way beyond reference to their foundation. There is a close parallel regarding 41
42
43
44
See Terence Bailey, The Ambrosian Cantus (Ottawa: Institute of Mediaeval Music, 1987); ‘Milanese Melodic Tropes’, Journal of the Plainsong & Mediaeval Music Society 11 (1988), 1–12; Antiphon and Psalm in the Ambrosian Office (Ottawa: The Institute of Mediaeval Music, 1994); for the musical reception of the Ambrosian Chant in the late fifteenth century see Thomas L. Noblitt, ‘The Ambrosian Motetti Missales Repertory’, Musica Disciplina 22 (1968), 77–103. For the same notion in the case of Milan see Ross Balzaretti, The Lands of Saint Ambrose: Monks and Society in Early Medieval Milan (Turnhout: Brepols, forthcoming); Neil Brendan McLynn, Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital (Berkeley, CA and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1994). Edward V. Williams, ‘A Byzantine Ars Nova: The 14th-Century Reforms of John Koukouzeles in the Chanting of Great Vespers’, in Henrik Birnbaum and Speros Vryonis Jr (eds), Aspects of the Balkans. Continuity and Change Contributions to the International Balkan Conference Held at UCLA, October 23–28, 1969 (The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1972), pp. 211–29; ‘The Treatment of Text in the Kalophonic Chanting of Psalm 2’, Studies in Eastern Chant, ii, ed. Miloš Velimirović (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 173–93. Alexander Lingas, Sunday Matins in the Byzantine Cathedral Rite: Music and Liturgy, Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Monograph Series (Farnham: Ashgate, forthcoming).
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religious devotion: Thessalonica is the city of Demetrius and Constantinople the city of the Virgin Mary; both have been revered as the protectors of their people. The chapter on the Akathistos Hymn in this book, discussing a variant dedicated to St Demetrius, reflects the mirroring of such reverence in literary culture. The hymn to the martyr shows the same relationship of dependency of his city that the Virgin Mary had enjoyed in Constantinople; the latter instance is of course a mirroring of the devotion to another virgin, the Pallas Athena in the city of pre-Christian Athens. Hence this war-like aspect of Marian devotion dominant in Byzantium, which portrays her as a ‘strategos’ [general]. The use of the Parthenon as a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Medieval Athens also attests to that fact.45 A similar point regarding linked identities is made by R. S. Nelson in his essay ‘Tales of Two Cities: The Patronage of Early Palaeologan Art and Architecture in Constantinople and Thessaloniki’, in this case in the context of the Palaiologan painter Manuel Panselinos.46
Works cited Abrahamsen, Valerie, ‘Bishop Porphyrios and the City of Philippi in the Early Fourth Century’, Vigiliae Christianae 43 (1989), 80–5. Adams, W. L., ‘Alexander’s Successors to 221 BC’, in J. Roisman and I. Worthington (eds), A Companion to Ancient Macedonia (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), pp. 208–24. Agnew, J., ‘No Borders, No Nations: Making Greece in Macedonia’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers 97 (2007), 398–422. Akrivopoulou, Sophia, Παλαιοχϱιστιανιϰή Χαλϰιδιϰή: μνημειαϰή τοπογϱαϕία, MA Thesis (Thessalonica: Aristotle University, 1999). Alexiou, Margaret, The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition (2nd edn, Lanham, Boulder, New York, Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002). Anastassiadou, Meropi, Salonique, 1830–1912: Une ville ottomane à l’âge des Réformes (Leiden: Brill, 1997).
45
46
For more on this topic see Anthony Kaldellis, Hellenism in Byzantium. The Transformations of Greek Identity and the Reception of the Classical Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007); The Christian Parthenon: Classicism and Pilgrimage in Byzantine Athens (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009). Kaldellis has published extensively on the topic of classicism covered up in Christian guise and has assumed the lead in this field. R. S. Nelson, ‘Tales of Two Cities: The Patronage of Early Palaeologan Art and Architecture in Constantinople and Thessaloniki’, in Manuel Panselinos and His Age, The National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute for Byzantine Research; Byzantium Today 3 (Athens: University of Athens, 1999).
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Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία εʼ πὶ τῇ δυστυχεῖ Κωνσταντινουπόλει’, ed. Agostino Pertusi, La caduta di Constantinopoli l’ eco nel mondo [Caduta, II] (Verona: Mondadori, 1976), pp. 353–63. —, ‘Μονῳδία κῦρ ᾽Ανδρονίκου τοῦ Καλλίστου εʼ πὶ τῇ δυστυχεῖ ʿ Κωνσταντινουπόλει’, ed. S. Lambros, in ‘Μονῳδίαι καὶ θρῆνοι εʼ πὶ τῇ αλώσει τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως’, Neos Ellinomnemon 5 (1908), 109–269. Andronikos, Manolis, ‘Anaskafi sti Megali Toumpa tis Verginas’, Archaiologica Analekta Athinon 9 (1976), 127–9. —, ‘The Royal Tombs at Vergina and the Problem of the Dead’, Archaeologika Analekta ex Athinon 13 (1980), 168–78. —, ‘Some Reflections on the Macedonian Tombs’, The Annual of the British School at Athens 82 (1987), 1–16. —, To Chroniko tis Verginas [The Chronicle of Vergina] (Athens: MIET, 1999). —, Vergina: The Royal Tombs (Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon, 1984). Angelov, Dimiter G. (ed.), Church and Society in Late Byzantium, Studies in Medieval Culture, 49 (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2009). —, Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium, 1204–1330 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007). Antikas, T. G., ‘The Honor to be Buried with Horses from Mycenaean Nemea to Macedonian Vergina’, in A. Gardeisen (ed.), Les équides dans le monde méditerranéen antique, Monographies d’Archéologie Méditerranéenne (Lattes: Edition de l’Association pour le développement de l’archéologie en Languedoc-Roussillon, 2005), pp. 143–51. Ascough, Richard S., Paul’s Macedonian Associations: The Social Context of Philippians and 1 Thessalonians, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 161 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003). Baer, Marc, ‘Globalization, Cosmopolitanism, and the Donme in Ottoman Salonica and Turkish Istanbul’, Journal of World History 18 (2007), 141–70. Bailey, Terence, The Ambrosian Cantus (Ottawa: Institute of Mediaeval Music, 1987). —, Antiphon and Psalm in the Ambrosian Office (Ottawa: Institute of Mediaeval Music, 1994). —, ‘Milanese Melodic Tropes’, Journal of the Plainsong & Mediaeval Music Society 11 (1988), 1–12. Bakirtzis, Charalambos, ‘Pilgrimage to Thessalonike: The Tomb of St. Demetrios’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 56 (2002), 175–92. Bakirtzis, Charalambos, Steven J. Friesen, Laura Salah Nasrallah and Pantelis Nigdelis (eds), From Roman to Early Christian Thessalonike: Studies in Religion and Archaeology (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010). Balzaretti, Ross, The Lands of Saint Ambrose: Monks and Society in Early Medieval Milan (Turnhout: Brepols, forthcoming).
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Gero, Stephen, ‘The Alexander Legend in Byzantium: Some Literary Gleanings’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 46, Homo Byzantinus: Papers in Honor of Alexander Kazhdan (1992), 83–7. Géza, Alföldy, ‘Der attische Synoikismos und die Entstehung des athenischen Adels’, Revue belge de philologie et d’histoire 47 (1969), 5–36. Ghilardi, Matthieu, Abdelsalem Genç, George Syrides, Jan Bloemendal, David Psomiadis, Thodoris Paraschou, Stéphane Kunesch and Eric Fouache, ‘Reconstruction of the Landscape History Around the Remnant Arch of the Klidhi Roman Bridge, Thessaloniki Plain, North Central Greece’, Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010), 178–91. Goušchin, Valerij, ‘Athenian Synoikism of the Fifth Century B.C., or Two Stories of Theseus’, Greece & Rome, Second Series 46 (1999), 168–87. Greenwalt, William, ‘Why Pella?’, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 48 (1999), 158–83. Gregory, Timothy E., A History of Byzantium (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005). Grivaud, Gilles and Christopher Schabel, ‘Cyprus’, in David Wallace (ed.), Europe: A Literary History, 1348–1418, 2 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, forthcoming). Gryparis, Ioannis, ‘Satira’, Skaravaioi kai Terrakottes (Athens: Ethnikon Aristeion ton Grammaton kai ton Technon, 1928). Hanley, Will, ‘Grieving Cosmopolitanism in Middle East Studies’, History Compass (2008), 1346–67. Harding, Phillip, The Story of Athens: The Fragments of the Local Chronicles of Attika, Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World Series (Abingdon and New York: Taylor & Francis, 2008). Harris, Jonathan, Byzantium and the Crusades (London: Hambledon and London Books, 2003). —, ‘Constantinople’, in David Wallace (ed.), Europe: A Literary History, 1348–1418, 2 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming). —, The End of Byzantium (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2010). Harris, Jonathan (ed.), Palgrave Advances in Byzantine History (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). —, ‘A Worthless Prince? Andreas Palaeologus in Rome, 1465–1502’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 61 (1995), 537–54. Hassiotis, I. K. (ed.), Τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς βασιλεύουσα Θεσσαλονίϰη: Ιστοϱία ϰαι Πολιτισµός, in 2 vols; English version as Queen of the Worthy: Thessaloniki, History and Culture, one volume (Athens: Paratiritis, 1997). Hetherington, Paul, ‘William Miller: Medieval Historian and Modern Journalist’, in Michael Llewellyn Smith, Paschalis M. Kitromilides and Eleni Calligas (eds), Scholars, Travels, Archives: Greek History and Culture through the British School at Athens (London: The British School at Athens, 2009), pp. 153–62.
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Hollings, Marion, ‘Romancing the Turk: Trade, Race, and Nation in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene’, in Debra Johanyak and Walter S. H. Lim (eds), The English Renaissance, Orientalism, and the Idea of Asia (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. 51–76. Holmes, Catherine, ‘“Shared Worlds”: Religious Identities – A Question of Evidence’, in Jonathan Harris, Catherine Holmes and Eugenia Russell (eds), Byzantines, Latins and Turks in the Eastern Mediterranean World after 1150 (Oxford: Oxford University Press: 2012), pp. 31–59. Houlden, James Leslie, Paul’s Letters from Prison: Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians, Westminster Pelican Commentaries (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1977). Ilicak, H. Sükrü, ‘Jewish Socialism in Ottoman Salonica’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 2 (2002), 115–46. Ioannidou, Arsinoi, ‘The Kalophonic Settings of the Second Psalm in the Byzantine Tradition (Fourteenth-Fifteenth Centuries): A Dissertation In-Progress’, Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of the American Society of Byzantine Music and Hymnology (ASBMH), 2007, pp. 210–23, published online, in collaboration with the Byzantine Studies Initiative of the Russian and East European Studies Program, University of Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies (UCIS): www. asbmh.pitt.edu/page9/page10/page11/page11.html Ioannou, Giorgos, H Σαϱϰοϕάγος (Athens: Kedros, 1972). Jeppesen, Knud, ‘Carl Nielsen paa hundredaarsdagen: nogle erindringer’, Dansk aarbog for musikforskning 4 (1964–5), 137–50. —, ‘Diderik Buxtehude’, Dansk musik tidsskrift 12.4 (1937), 63–71. —, Kontrapunkt. Vokalpolyfoni (Copenhagen-Leipzig: Wilhelm Hansen, 1930). —, La frottola, 3 vols (Aarhus: Universitetsforlaget, 1968–70). —, ‘Monteverdi, Kapellmeister an S. Barbara?’, in Raffaello Monterosso (ed.), Claudio Monteverdi e il suo tempo: congresso internazionale (Venice, Mantua and Cremona: Comitato per le Celebrazioni Nazionali del IV Centenario della Nascita di Claudio Monteverdi, 1968), pp. 313–22. —, ‘Venetian Folk-Songs of the Renaissance’, Papers of the American Musicological Society (1939), 62–75. Jeppesen, Knud and Glen Haydon, ‘On Counterpoint’, The Musical Quarterly 21 (1935), 401–7. John Anagnostes, De Extremo Thessalonicensi Excidio Narratio, ed. Barthold Georg Niebuhr, Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae 39 (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1838). —, Pro Viribus Acta Monodia, ed. Barthold Georg Niebuhr, Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae 39 (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1838). John Kaminiates, The Capture of Thessaloniki, ed. and trans. David Frendo and Athanasios Fotiou, Byzantina Australiensia 12 (Perth: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 2000).
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Kaldellis, Anthony, The Christian Parthenon: Classicism and Pilgrimage in Byzantine Athens (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009). —, Hellenism in Byzantium. The Transformations of Greek Identity and the Reception of the Classical Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007). Kaltsogianne, Helene, Sophia Kotzambassi and Iliana Paraskeuopoulou (eds), Η Θεσσαλονίκη στη Βυζαντινή λογοτεχνία: ρητορικά και αγιολογικά κείμενα (Thessalonica: Kentro Vyzantinon Ereunon, 2002). Kanatsouli, Melpomeni, ‘Ideology in Contemporary Greek Picture Books’, Children’s Literature 33 (2005), 209–23. Karalis, Vrassidas, [Michael] Doukas, Byzantinotourkiki Istoria (Athens: Ekdoseis Kanaki, 1997). Karamperopoulos, Demetrius Ap., Ο Μέγας Αλέξανδϱος του Ρήγα Βελεστινλή, Βιέννη 1797 (Athens: Ekdosi Epistemonikis Etaireias Meletis Pheron-Velestinou-Rega, 2006). Karkavitsas, Andreas, Η Γοργόνα (first published as part of Λόγια της Πλώρης. Θαλασσινά διηγήματα, Athens: Typographeion Estias, 1899; as a separate book, adapted by Konstantinos Poulos, illustrated by Nikolaos Andrikopoulos, Athens: Papadopoulos, 2000). —, Θεσσαλιϰές Ειϰόνες· Ο Ζητιάνος (Athens: Typographeion Estias, 1897). —, Θεσσαλονίϰη ϰαι άλλα επίϰαϱα ϰείμενα, ed. Thanassis Georgiadis (Thessalonica: Malliaris-Paideia A.E., 1993), pp. 38–9. —, Λόγια της Πλώϱης· Θαλασσινά διηγήματα (Athens: Typographeion Estias, 1899). Kavafis, Konstantinos, Τα ποιήµατα (1897–1933) (Thessalonica: Ekdotiki Thessalonikis, 2008). Kavvadias, Nikos, ‘Θεσσαλονίϰη’, Pousi (Athens: Galaxias, 1947). Kefala, Eleni, ‘Hybrid Modernisms in Greece and Argentina: The Case of Cavafy, Borges, Kalokyris, and Kyriakidis’, Comparative Literature 58 (2006), 113–27. Keizer, Helena Maria, Marchinus van der Valk, Jan Maarten Bremer and C. J. Ruijgh, Indices in Eustathii Archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis Commentarios ad Homeri Iliadem Pertinentes ad fidem codicis Laurentiani editos a Marchino van der Valk (Leiden: Brill, 1995). Keyder, Çaǧlar, Y. Eyüp Özveren and Donald Quataert, ‘Port-Cities in the Ottoman Empire: Some Theoretical and Historical Perspectives’, Review (Fernand Braudel Center) 16.4, Port-Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean 1800–1914 (1993), 519–58. Kiilerich, Bente, ‘Picturing Ideal Beauty: The Saints in the Rotunda at Thessaloniki’, Antiquité Tardive 15 (2007), 321–36. King, N. Q., ‘The Theodosian Code as a Source for the Religious Policies of the First Byzantine Emperors’, Nottingham Medieval Studies 6 (1962), 12–17. Kontakes, Christophoros (ed.), Hagios Eustathios: praktika theologikou synedriou, eis timen kai mnemen tou en Hagiois Patros hemon Eustathiou, Archiepiskopou Thessalonikes, 7–9 Noemvriou 1988 (Thessalonica: Hiera Metropolis Thessalonikes, 1989). Lamb, W., Excavations at Thermi in Lesbos (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1936).
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Mabbett, Ian, ‘A History Essay is History’, in Writing History Essays: A Student’s Guide (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), pp. 1–12. MacGregor, James B., ‘The Ministry of Gerold d’Avranches: Warrior-Saints and Knightly Piety on the Eve of the First Crusade’, Journal of Medieval History 29 (2003), 219–37. —, ‘Negotiating Knightly Piety: The Cult of the Warrior-Saints in the West, c.1070– c.1200’, Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 73 (2004), 317–45. Madariaga, Elizabeth, ‘Ο Ευστάθιος Θεσσαλονίϰης ϰαι η μονωδία του για τον Νιϰόλαο Αγιοθεοδωρίτη’, Symmeikta 17 (2005), 223–38. Maestri, Roberto (ed.), L’Arrivo in Monferrato dei Palaeologi di Bisanzio (1306–2006), Studi sui Paleologi di Monferrato (Alessandria: Circolo Culturale ‘I Marchesi del Monferrato’, 2007). Manoledakis, Manolis, ‘Ancient Sites on Righa’s Charta. Some Remarks Based on the Case of Central Macedonia’, e-Perimetron 3 (2008), 161–72 [www.e-perimetron.org]. —, Από τον Κισσό στον Χοϱτιάτη (Thessalonica: Ekdoseis Sfakianaki Kornelia, 2007). —, ‘Η θέση των Αιγών στη «Γεωγϱαϕία» του Κλαύδιου Πτολεμαίου’, Archaeologiki Epiterida Makedonias Thrakis 19 (2005), 483–94. —, ‘Kισσός. Πϱοσέγγιση της ιστοϱίας μιας αϱχαίας θϱαϰιϰής πόλης’, in Athena Iakovidou (ed.), Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Thracology ‘Thrace in the Greaeco-Roman World’, Komotini-Alexandroupolis, 18–23 October 2005 (Athens: Institute for Greek and Roman Antiquity, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 2007), 359–70. Manoledakis, Manolis and Evangelos Livieratos, ‘On the Digital Placement of Aegae, the First Capital of Ancient Macedonia, According to Ptolemy’s Geographia’, e-Perimetron [www.e-perimetron.org] 2 (2007), 31–41. Mantovanis, Paul Chr., ‘The Eucharistic Theology of Nicolas Cabasilas’, University of Oxford, DPhil thesis (1984). Mark Eugenikos, ‘Εάλω Θεσσαλονίϰη. Θϱήνος για την Άλωση του 1430’, ed. Marios Pilavakis, with transl. to Mod. Greek by Demetrius Vamvakas (Athens: Ekdoseis Papadimitriou, 1997). Marovitz, Sanford E. and Athanasios C. Christodoulou (eds), Melville ‘Among the Nations’ (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2001), pp. 85–107. Marsh, Christopher, Songs of the Seventeenth Century: Integrating Popular Music Into History Teaching (Coventry: History Subject Centre at the Higher Education Academy, 2010). Matthews, J. F., ‘“Codex Theodosianus” 9.40.13 and Nicomachus Flavianus’, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 46 (1997), 196–213. Matzukis, Corinna, ‘The Alexander Romance in the Codex Marcianus 408. New Perspectives for the Date 1388: Hellenic Consciousness and Imperial Ideology’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 99 (2006), 109–17. Mazower, Mark, ‘An International Civilization? Empire, Internationalism and the Crisis of the Mid-twentieth Century’, International Affairs 82 (2006), 553–66. —, ‘Salonica between East and West, 1860–1912’, Dialogos: Hellenic Studies Review 1 (1994), 104–27.
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—, Salonica City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430–1950 (London: HarperCollins, 2004). —, ‘Travellers and the Oriental City, c. 1840–1920’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Sixth Series 12 (2002), 59–111. McDonald, William A., ‘Archaeology and St. Paul’s Journeys in Greek Lands’, The Biblical Archaeologist 3 (1940), 18–24. McLynn, Neil Brendan, Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital (Berkeley, CA and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1994). Melville, Herman, Journals, The Writings of Herman Melville: The Northwestern – Newberry Edition 15, ed. Howard C. Horsford and Lynn Horth (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1989). Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, ‘ “Beyond all holiness”: St Nicolas Cabasilas on The Mother of God: To the Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Walsingham, March 2007, Ecumenical Marian Pilgrimage Trust’, 1–10, published online at: http:// ecumenicalmarianpilgrimage.faithweb.com/07Kallistos%20Beyond%20All%20 Holiness.pdf Metso, Pekka, Divine Presence in the Eucharistic Theology of Nicholas Cabasilas, Publications of the University of Eastern Finland, Dissertations in Education, Humanities, and Theology 2 (Joensuu: University of Eastern Finland, 2010). Meyendorff, John, ‘Mount Athos in the Fourteenth Century: Spiritual and Intellectual Legacy’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 42 (1988), 157–65. Michailidis, Iakovos D., ‘From Christians to Members of an Ethnic Community: Creating Borders in the City of Thessaloniki (1800–1912)’, in Lud’a Klusáková and Laure Teulières (eds), Frontiers and Identities: Cities in Regions and Nations, Thematic Work Group 5, Frontiers and Identities 3 (Pisa: Edizioni Plus – Pisa University Press, 2008), pp. 169–80. Michalopoulos, Fanis, Kosmas o Aitolos (Athens: Estia, 1940). Michelot, Jean-Luc, Elissa vet Dotsika and Michalis Fytikas, ‘A Hydrochemical and Isotopic Study of Thermal Waters on Lesbos Island (Greece)’, Geothermics 22 (1993), 91–9. Montaigne, Michael de, The Complete Works of Michael de Montaigne: Comprising the Essays, trans. Charles Cotton (London: J. Templeman, 1842). Morin, Edgar, Vidal and His Family: From Salonica to Paris: The Story of a Sephardic Family in the Twentieth Century (Eastbourne: Sussex Academic Press, 2009). Morris, Leon, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: An Introduction and Commentary. The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1984, first edition 1956). Mouksouris, Stylianos, ‘Economia and Eschatology : The Mystagogical Significance of the Byzantine Divine Liturgy’s Prothesis Rite in the Commentaries of Sts. Nicholas Cabasilas and Symeon of Thessalonike’ (Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Durham, 2009). Mumford, Lewis, The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961). —, The Culture of Cities (New York: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1938).
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Runciman, Steven, ‘Thessalonica and the Montferrat Inheritance’, Gregorios o Palamas 42 (1959), 27–34. Ruschenbusch, Eberhard, ‘ΠΑΤΡΙΟΣ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑ: Theseus, Drakon, Solon und Kleisthenes in Publizistik und Geschichts-schreibung des 5. und 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr.’, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 7 (1958), 398–424. Russell, Eugenia, ‘Byzantine Studies: A Discussion of Methodologies’, Perspectives on History, American Historical Association, 48.4 (April, 2010), 25–7. —, ‘Nicholas Kavasilas Chamaëtos (c.1322–c.1390), a Unique Voice amongst His Contemporaries’, Nottingham Medieval Studies 54 (2010), 121–35. —, ‘Responses to the Fall of Thessalonica in 1430 by John Anagnostes in His Narration and Monody’, in St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010), pp. 133–45. —, ‘Review of Dimiter G. Angelov (ed.), Church and Society in Late Byzantium, Studies in Medieval Culture 49 (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2009)’, American Historical Review 116 (2011), 1181–2. —, ‘Sources and Themes for the Study of the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages: The Case of St Demetrius’, Peer English: The Journal of New Critical Thinking 6 (2011), 6–17. —, ‘Symeon of Thessalonica and His Message of Personal Redemption’, in Eugenia Russell (ed.), Spirituality in Late Byzantium: Essays Presenting New Research by International Scholars (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009), pp. 33–43. —, ‘Symeon of Thessalonica, Metropolitan, c. 1416–1429’, in International Encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages-Online. A Supplement to LexMAOnline (Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2010, in Brepolis Medieval Encyclopaedias www. brepolis.net). —, ‘Thessalonica’, in David Wallace (ed.), Europe: A Literary History, 1348–1418, 2 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming). —, Book Review: Nguyen, V. Henry T., Christian Identity in Corinth: A Comparative Study of 2 Corinthians, Epictetus and Valerius Maximus (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008) in Journal for Hellenic Religion 3 (2009–10), 69–70. Salteris, Vassileios, ‘Towards a New Approach to the Study of ΣΤΙΧΗΡΑΡΙΟΝ’, in Proceedings of Second International Conference for PhD Music Students 11–13 February 2009, Organized by Department of Music Studies, Aristotle University and Music School of Arts, Culture & Environment, University of Edinburgh (2nd revised edn, Thessalonica and Edinburgh: The Aristotle University and the University of Edinburgh, 2010), pp. 20–33, also available at: http://phdmusic09.web.auth.gr/files/ First%20Pages%2021_10_09.pdf Seferis, Giorgos, ‘ Ἡ γλω̑σσα στὴν ποίησή μας’, in Ὁ Γιω̑ϱγος Σεϕέϱης ἐπίτιµος διδάϰτωϱ τῆς Φιλοσοϕιϰῆς Σχολῆς (Thessalonica: Ekdosi A.P.Th., 1965). Sellars, John, ‘Marcus Aurelius (121–180 CE)’, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP): A Peer-Reviewed Academic Resource, available at: www.iep.utm.edu/ marcus/#H5 —, The Art of Living: The Stoics on the Nature and Function of Philosophy (2nd edn, London: Bristol Classical Press, 2009).
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Serefas, Sakis (ed.), Θεσσαλονίκη: Μια πόλη στη λογοτεχνία (Athens: Metaichmio, 1st edn, 2002; 2nd edn, 2006). Shepard, Jonathan, ‘Byzantium’s Overlapping Circles’, in E. Jeffreys (ed.), Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London, 21–26 August, 2006, I: Plenary Papers (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), pp. 15–5. —, ‘The Byzantine Commonwealth’, in M. Angold (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Christianity, V: Eastern Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 3–52. —, Teaching Byzantium, Historical Insights: Focus on Teaching (2nd edn, Coventry: History Subject Centre at the Higher Education Academy, 2011). Shipley, Graham, The Greek World After Alexander, 323–30 BC (London and New York: Routledge, 2000). Skordili, Beatrice, ‘Destroying Time: Topology and Taxonomy in “The Alexandria Quartet”’, Doctoral Dissertation (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University, 2006). Slesinski, Robert F., ‘Christian Initiation According to Nicholas Kabasilas: An Eastern Perspective on the Holy Mysteries of Baptism, Chrismation, and the Eucharist’, Antiphon 9 (2005), 230–44. Spawforth, Antony J. S., ‘Roman Corinth: The Formation of a Colonial Elite’, Proceedings of the International Colloquium Organized by the Finnish Institute and the Centre for Greek and Roman Antiquity, Athens 7–9 September 1993 (Athens: Research Centre for Greek and Roman Antiquity National Hellenic Research Foundation, 1996), pp. 167–82. St Symeon of Thessalonica, The Liturgical Commentaries, Steven Hawkes–Teeples (ed. and trans.), with an Introduction by Robert Taft, Studies and Texts 168 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2011). Stone, Andrew F., ‘Eustathian Panegyric as a Historical Source’, Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 51 (2001), 225–58. —, ‘Nautical and Marine Imagery in the Panegyrics of Eustathios of Thessaloniki’, Scholia: Studies in Classical Antiquity 12 (2003), 96–113. —, ‘The Moods and Tenses in Eustathian and Late Twelfth-Century High-Style Byzantine Greek’, Byzantina Symmeikta 19 (2009), 99–145. —, ‘The Panegyrical Personae of Eustathios of Thessaloniki’, Scholia: Studies in Classical Antiquity 18 (2009), 107–17. Stos-Gale, Zofia, ‘The Origin of Metal Objects from the Early Bronze Age Site of Thermi on the Island of Lesbos’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 11 (1992), 155–77. Tăpkova-Zaimova, Vasilka, ‘Eugenia Russell, St Demetrius of Thessalonica: Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages (Byzantine and Neohellenic Studies 6). Oxford – Bern – Bruxelles – Frankfurt am Main – New York – Wien, Peter Lang 2010, 213 pp., ISBN 978–3–0343–0181–7.’, Bulgaria Mediaevalis 1 (2010), 456–9. Themopoulou, Emilie (Aimilia), ‘Salonique, 1800–1875: Conjoncture économique et mouvement commercial’, Unpublished Doctoral Thesis (University of Paris, 1994). Tiverios, Michalis, ‘Greek Colonisation of the Northern Aegean’, in Gocha R. Tsetskhladze (ed.), Greek Colonisation: An Account of Greek Colonies and Other
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Settlements Overseas, vol. two, Mnemosyne Supplementa 193 (Leiden: Brill, 2008), pp. 1–154. Tolias, George, ‘Antiquarianism, Patriotism and Empire. Transfer of the Cartography of the Travels of Anacharsis the Younger, 1788–1811’, e-Perimetron 3 (2008), 101–19. Tony Honoré, Law in the Crisis of Empire, 379–455 AD: The Theodosian Dynasty and its Quaestors with a Palingenesia of Laws of the Dynasty, vol. 1 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998). Treadgold, Warren, A Concise History of Byzantium (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave, 2001). Trivellato, Francesca, The Familiarity of Strangers: The Sephardic Diaspora, Livorno, and Cross-Cultural Trade in the Early Modern Period (London: Yale University Press, 2009). Tröster, Manuel, ‘¿Una especie de hagiografía? Plutarco y la tradición histórica en la Vida de Emilio Paulo’, Gerión 28 (2010), 193–206. Tsougarakis, Nikiphoros I., ‘The Western Religious Orders in Medieval Greece’ (Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leeds, Institute for Medieval Studies, 2008). —, The Latin Religious Orders in Medieval Greece, 1204–1500, Medieval Church Studies (MCS 18) (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012). Tuplin, Christopher J., ‘Xerxes’ March from Doriscus to Therme’, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 52 (2003), 385–409. Vakalopoulos, Apostolos E., Istoria tis Thessalonikis (316–1983) (Thessalonica: Ekdoseis Kyriakidi, 1997). Valk, Marchinus van der (ed.), Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes, vols 1–4 (Leyden: Brill, 1:1971; 2:1976; 3:1979; 4:1987). Vassilikou, Maria, ‘Greeks and Jews in Salonika and Odessa: Inter-ethnic Relations in Cosmopolitan Port Cities’, in David Cesarani (ed.), Port Jews, Jewish Communities in Cosmopolitan Maritime Trading Centres, 1550–1950, Parkes-Wiener Series on Jewish Studies (London: Frank Cass, 2002), pp. 155–72. Vickers, Michael, ‘Hellenistic Thessaloniki’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 92 (1972), 156–70. —, ‘The Hippodrome at Thessaloniki’, The Journal of Roman Studies 62 (1972), 25–32. —, ‘Therme and Thessaloniki’, in Harry J. Dell (ed.), Ancient Macedonian Studies in Honor of Charles F. Edson, Institute of Balkan Studies 158 (Thessalonica: Idryma Meleton Hersonisou tou Aimou, 1981), 327–33. Voela, Angie, ‘Death and the Real in Karkavitsas’ Λόγια της Πλώϱης’, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora 23 (2003), 35–62. Vokotopoulou, Julia, ‘Cities and Sanctuaries of the Archaic Period in Chalkidike’, The Annual of the British School at Athens 91 (1996), 319–28. Wanamaker, Charles E., The Epistles to the Thessalonians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC), ed. I. Howard Marshall and W. Ward Gasque (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1990). Wilken, Robert L., ‘The Jews and Christian Apologetics after Theodosius I Cunctos Populos’, The Harvard Theological Review 73 (1980), 451–71.
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Williams, Edward V., ‘A Byzantine Ars Nova: The 14th-Century Reforms of John Koukouzeles in the Chanting of Great Vespers’, in Henrik Birnbaum and Speros Vryonis Jr (eds), Aspects of the Balkans. Continuity and Change Contributions to the International Balkan Conference Held at UCLA, October 23–28, 1969 (The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1972), pp. 211–29. —, ‘The Treatment of Text in the Kalophonic Chanting of Psalm 2’, Studies in Eastern Chant, ii, ed. Miloš Velimirović (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 173–93. Woodhead, A. G., ‘The Site of Brea: Thucydides I. 61.4’, The Classical Quarterly (New Series) 2 (1952), 57–62; Didier Viviers, ‘Pisistratus’ Settlement on the Thermaic Gulf: A Connection with the Eretrian Colonization’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 107 (1987), 193–5. Zachariadou, Elizabeth A. (ed.), The Via Egnatia under Ottoman Rule (1380–1699): Halcyon Days in Crete II: A Symposium Held in Rethymnon 9–11 January 1994 (Rethymnon: Crete University Press, 1996). Θέρµη – Ιστορία ϰαι Πολιτισµός (Thessalonica: Ekdosi Dimou Thermis, 1987).
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Symeon of Thessalonica and the Sung Thessalonian Rite
This chapter will focus only on a small but significant part of the authorship of St Symeon, the last Metropolitan of Byzantine Thessalonica. It is a comparative study between two genres of devotional writing, hymns and encomia to saints, using Symeon’s works of praise in honour of St Demetrius as a case study. Through examining the hymns and encomia, the intellectual traits of Symeon, his gifts as an author and spiritual leader, and the liturgical and theological context of his work will be outlined. At the same time, his place in the intellectual life of late Byzantine Thessalonica will be shown. As the city fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1430, these works represent the last great flowering of Byzantine literary culture, one that had an enduring and distinctive post-Byzantine legacy. Hymns are sung, encomia are spoken. Sung encomia exist as well, such as the sung encomia to Christ, taking place on Good Friday, but in the case of Medieval literature the term refers mostly to spoken sermons or orations. In Medieval Thessalonica the praise of its patron saint, Demetrius, coincided with and amplified the praise of the city itself. The two entities are truly interlinked. A glorious saint signifies a glorious civic identity. The works of praise in his honour, whether encomia or hymns, reflect an intent for self-assertion. Engaging studies on the hymns of St Demetrius per se have been conducted by Phokas Angelatos and Sophronios Eustratiades.1 Building on such work, hymns and encomia written in honour of St Demetrius of Thessalonica will be examined in this study side by side. This is a new way of approaching the subject as the link between hymns and encomia has not been given full attention in the past. Scholars have occasionally mentioned in passing the fact that the encomia are rich in 1
Phokas Angelatos, ‘Κανόνες Ανέκδοτοι εις τον ΄Αγιον Δημήτριον’, Byzantina 13 (1985), 1371– 476; Sophronios Eustratiades, ‘Ἁγιολογικά. Ὁ Ἅγιος Δημήτριος ἐν τῇ ˙Ὑμνογραϕίᾳ’, EEBS 11 (1935), 120–50.
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hymnographical characteristics but such characteristics have never been the object of any further observation as they are now. Moreover, such comparative work between hymns and any other literary genre has been rarely carried out. A few notable successful exceptions should be mentioned. To start with, there is the example of John Duffy who draws parallels between The Ladder of John Klimakos and the Byzantine musical form of the Kontakion, as well as showing metrical and rhythmical traits prominent in Klimakos’s writing. To do so, Duffy has conducted some analysis of stressed and unstressed syllables in the Greek. This is presented in his essay ‘Embellishing the Steps: Elements of Presentation and Style in “The Heavenly Ladder” of John Climacus’. By contrast, the work of E. A. Pezopoulos, ‘Ποικίλα προσῳδιακὰ μέτρα ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησιαστικῇ ποιήσει’, consists of linking hymnography to Ancient Greek metre and in doing so employs detailed comparisons. Yet what is all the more remarkable about his engaging study is his argument that ecclesiastical poetry used prosody, in the manner of its ancient Greek counterpart. For example, in the Canon for Christmas he argues that the hymnographer chose the word ‘νεηγενές’ and not the more common ‘νεογενές’ because he wanted the long syllable, which the letter –η– offered him as opposed to the short syllable –ο–. Although of very different subject matter, the study of Kenneth Levy, ‘A Hymn for Thursday in Holy Week’, of one single Byzantine hymn deserves to be mentioned here, because its author succeeds in using his case study as a window to the entirety of Byzantine chant. The hymn in question is the communion hymn ‘Τοῦ Δείπνου Σοῦ τοῦ μυστικοῦ’, which is discussed by Levy in all its variants, contexts and liturgical functions. So although not set against non-liturgical literature, the study on ‘Τοῦ Δείπνου Σοῦ τοῦ μυστικοῦ’ is largely comparative within its genre.2 In this study, elements of style and content will both be discussed, as well as common traits in the two genres. First, the important role hymnography played in the cult of St Demetrius will be touched upon by reference to some specific examples, focusing on the hymnographical output of Symeon of Thessalonica, including some examples of unedited hymnography. To give a simple example from the encomia to St Demetrius: the reference of Symeon’s predecessor, the metropolitan Isidore Glavas to Psalm 42 when he says ‘διψητικῶς ὡς ἔλαφοι πρὸς πηγὰς θέοντες ὧδε εἰς κόρον τῶν μύρων μεταλαμβάνουσι’3 [with 2
3
John Duffy, ‘Embellishing the Steps: Elements of Presentation and Style in “The Heavenly Ladder” of John Climacus’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 53 (1999), 1–17. E. A. Pezopoulos, ‘Ποικίλα προσῳδιακὰ μέτρα ἐν ᾑ ἐκκλησιαστικῇ ποιὴσει’, EEBS 17 (1941), 286–97, at 288. Kenneth Levy, ‘A Hymn for Thursday in Holy Week’, Journal of the American Musicological Society 16 (1963), 127–75. Isidore Glavas, ‘ʾΙσιδώρου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Θεσσαλονίκης ὁμιλίαι εἰς τὰς ἑορτὰς τοῦ ἁγίου Δημητρίου’, ed. Vassileios Laourdas, Hellenika Supplement 5 (1954), 19–65, at 19. I must add that Isidore was not Symeon’s immediate predecessor, Gabriel was, but in modern scholarship the three men tend to be treated as a group.
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great thirst like deer that look towards the sources of water, exactly in that way they commune of the myrrh to satiety] becomes more resonant when we consider its liturgical application. The Psalm is shown to assume an important role in the Akolouthies of Athens, National Library, MS 2061, ff. 62 and 104v. The Sung Thessalonian Rite, which this manuscript features, is currently not practised in the Church. A considerable number of hymns to St Demetrius survive. It is outside the scope of this study to discuss them in their entirety. * * * Symeon of Thessalonica was a prolific and talented hymnographer.4 It is to the loss of the tradition of the Eastern Church and to world culture that his works have been neglected. His modern-day editor, the liturgical scholar Ioannes Phountoules, expressed the wish that Symeon’s hymns may once again be used in the liturgical life of the Eastern Church as they would greatly enrich it.5 He also stressed the originality of Symeon’s hymnographical work.6 I make the distinction between a modern-day editor and potential contemporary counterparts because it seems that Symeon worked with a team of authors at his see. Hymns to St Demetrius are particularly prominent in Symeon’s work and he probably expended such great energy and effort on them because of the important role the saint played in the life of the city, the latter’s veneration being all-consuming and dominant. Intensity was accentuated with danger: it is indicative how during the last night before the fall of 1430, the citizens prayed to St Demetrius alongside God to deliver them from danger, as the eye-witness John Anagnostes recounts: ‘πάσης τε σχεδὸν ἡλικίας οὔσης ἐν ἐγρηγόρσει‚ δεὴσεις ἐκτενεῖς θεῷ καὶ τῷ μυροβλύτῃ μάρτυρι καθ᾽ ὅλην ἐκείνην προσαγόντων τὴν νύκτα’7 [almost every age was in alert, making extensive entreaties in holy procession to God and to the Myrovlytes martyr throughout that night]. Litanies were part of the ‘normal’ liturgical life of late Byzantine Thessalonica, and they were also employed in the case of emergency.8
4
5 6
7
8
Symeon’s hymns can be found in Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, ed. Ioannis Phountoules (Thessalonica: Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon, 1968). Phountoules, in Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. ζ΄. Ioannes Phountoules, Τὸ Λειτουργικὸ ῎Εργο Συµεὼν τοῦ Θεσσαλονίκης (Συµβολὴ εἰς τὴν ῾Ιστορίαν καὶ Θεωρίαν τῆς Θείας Λατρείας) (Thessalonica: Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon, 1960), pp. 165–7. John Anagnostes, De Extremo Thessalonicensi Excidio Narratio, ed. Barthold Georg Niebuhr, CHSB (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1838), p. 500. Ioannes Phountoules, ‘Ιδιορρυθμίες της Λειτουργικὴς Πράξεως της Θεσσαλονίκης κατά τις Αρχές του ΙΕ΄ αιώνος’, CTPE, pp. 149–63, at 160–2.
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Of Symeon’s hymns to St Demetrius, some were written specifically for the festival, that is the Holy Feast of the saint, a focal point in the city’s life, and some for use throughout the year. A native of Constantinople, the Metropolitan was a preserver of the liturgical tradition, and especially a supporter of the Constantinopolitan or urban rite, which after 1204 was gradually abandoned in the capital for the more subdued and plain monastic rite. The difference between the two rites was immense.9 Contemporary sources make this distinction when giving instructions for the execution of an akolouthia. For example, in the late fourteenth-century liturgical manuscript Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Theol. Gr. 185, f. 105 verso, the distinction of rites is evident by reference to the monastic manner of chanting that is given in relation to the execution of the Lauds.10 A similar indication can be found in Athens National Library 2061: ‘῞Ετερος ἀσματικὸς ψαλλόμενος εἰς τὰς ἐπισήμους (ἑορτὰς)’11 [Another Asmatikos (Canon) chanted at the formal ceremonies]. In the same manuscript indication of an antiphonal is also given: ‘ἀντίφωνον’.12 To stress how different the two rites were, Diane Touliatos-Banker classifies the Asmatikos Orthros as totally separate to the monastic Orthros by virtue of its being entirely sung as well as differing in structure.13 Furthermore, Kenneth Levy and Simon Harris have shown that the Psaltikon and the Asmatikon are probably to be used in parallel rather than as complementary resources.14 The Byzantine Cathedral Service encountered in Thessalonica its last stronghold and in Symeon its last champion. Demetrius Chomatianos, archbishop of Ochrid (1216/17–c.1236) in response to questions by the Archbishop of Dyrrachion Constantine Kavasilas, says that he believed it to be more perfect, ‘τελεωτέρα’, than the monastic service and records his personal knowledge of existence of the rite in Constantinople, Thessalonica and Athens, while recognizing that there may well be other occurances.15 Nowadays only the Monastic Service is in use.16 9
10
11 12 13 14
15
16
This has been generally an accepted view. However, Simon Harris disagrees with this distinction of rites, as he finds it hugely exaggerated. I am grateful to him for allowing me to access his impressive yet to be published study Medieval Greek Psalm-Singing. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Theol. Gr. 185, f. 105v. Cf. Robert F. Taft, ‘Christian Liturgical Psalmody: Origins, Development, Decomposition, Collapse’, in Psalms in Community: Jewish and Christian Textual, Liturgical and Artistic Tradition (New Haven, CT, 2002) (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2004), pp. 7–32, at 10; Levy, ‘A Hymn for Thursday in Holy Week’, 157. Athens, National Library, 2061, f. 49v. Athens, National Library, 2061, f. 74v. Diane Touliatos-Banker, ‘The Byzantine Orthros’, Byzantina 9 (1977), 321–83, at 353. Kenneth Levy, ‘The Byzantine Communion-cycle and its Slavic Counterpart’, Actes du XIIe congrès internationale des études byzantines: Ochride 1961 (Belgrade: Naučno delo, 1964), 571–4; Simon Harris, ‘The Byzantine Responds for the Two Sundays before Christmas’, Music and Letters 74 (1993), 1–15. Joannes Baptista Pitra, Analecta Sacra et Classica, 8 vols (Paris: Roger et Chernowitz; Rome: P. Cuggiani, 1876–91), vi. 619–20. On the liturgical traditions in Thessalonica see Oliver Strunk, ‘The Byzantine Office at Hagia Sophia’, in Oliver Strunk (ed.), Essays on Music in the Byzantine World (New York: W. W. Norton, 1977), pp. 112–50.
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It is worth clarifying here that the Constantinopolitan rite had its local variant in Thessalonica. This, too, can be extracted from the unpublished sources. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Theol. Gr. 185 makes reference to this variant several times, sometimes by remarks in the margins, as in ‘ἀπὸ κοινῶς θεσσαλονικαίον’ [this commonly sung in Thessalonica] f. 121, ‘λαυριότικον’ f. 131, meaning of the Great Lavra on Mount Athos, ‘θετταλία’, f. 212, ‘θεσσαλωνικαίον’ [sic] f. 218, ‘ἁγιοσοφίτην’ f. 223v., meaning Constantinopolitan by reference to the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, ‘θεταλικῆ’ [sic] f. 227v., meaning of Thessalonica by reference to Thessaly, or in the body of the text as in f. 230, ‘θεσσαλωνικαία’ [sic]. A similar observation on specifying locality has been made by Gregorios Stathes, during his study of another liturgical manuscript, Athens, National Library, 2458, where the same hymn is given as sung in Constantinople and then in Thessalonica.17 An exhaustive list of the names given to rites in the Codex and in other sources can be found in a study by Christian Hannick. The findings of his study, too, show the prominence of the late Byzantine rite in Thessalonica.18 Yet from all the sources available to us on the Thessalonian rite, Symeon’s practices are mostly thought to be reflected in two liturgical manuscripts originating from Thessalonica, now to be found in the National Library of Athens under numbers 2061 and 2062.19 From these the latter is earlier but both belong to the late Byzantine era. Oliver Strunk has dated them according to the acclamations to emperors that appear in them, which would make Athens 2062 no later than 1385, as it addresses Andronikos IV, and Athens 2061 between 1391 and 1425, as it mentions Manuel II Palaiologos and his wife, Helena Dragas.20 The dating may in fact be a little more fluid, as the two manuscripts seem to have been written by different people and may have taken some time to complete. In any case, I will give here a transcription of the exclamation to Manuel and Helen for the richness of information that it gives about the rite. Its place in the text is after the akolouthia of the Vespers for the Exaltation of the Cross: ‘ἰδού ἡ ὕψωσις τοῦ τιμίου καὶ ζωοποιοῦ σταυροῦ’.21 The Office of the Exaltation is reproduced from Athens 2061 to a manuscript in the Great Lavra, E. 148.22 17
18
19 20 21 22
Gregorios Stathes, ‘Η ασματική διαφοροποίηση στον κώδικα ΕΒΕ 2548’, CTPE, 167–99, at 168. Christian Hannick, ‘Thessalonique dans l’histoire de la musique écclesiastique byzantine’, in Η Θεσσαλονίκη µεταξύ Ανατολής και Δύσεως (Thessalonica: Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon, 1982), pp. 111–20, at 114–20. Simon Harris, ‘The Byzantine Office of Genuflection’, Music and Letters 77 (1996), 333–47, at 337. Strunk, ‘The Byzantine Office at Hagia Sophia’, pp. 116, 139. Athens, National Library, 2061, f. 73. Strunk, ‘The Byzantine Office at Hagia Sophia’, p. 117.
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The exclamation goes as follows: καὶ εὐθῦς γίνεται εὐχῆ φήμη τῶν βασιλέων˙ ὁ πρωτοψάλτης καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἀποχωροῦν.
73 73v
δ΄΄
πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη τῶν βασιλέων
πλ δ΄΄ πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη τῶν βασιλέων πολλὰ τὰ: + καὶ πλ δ΄΄ ὁ πρωτοψάλτης. δ΄΄
Μανουήλ τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου βασιλέως˙ καὶ αὐτοκράτορος ῥωμαίων τοῦ παλαιολόγου˙ καὶ ἑλένης τῆς εὐσεβεστάτης αὐγούστης πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη: + ἀποχωροῦν.
πλ δ΄΄ Μαυονήλ τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου βασιλέως˙ καὶ αὐτοκράτορος ῥωμαίων τοῦ παλαιολόγου˙ καὶ ἑλένης τῆς εὐσεβεστάτης αὐγούστης πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη: + δ΄΄
πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη τῶν βασιλέων
πλ δ΄΄ πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη τῶν βασιλέων˙ πολλὰ: + τὸ τελευταῖον˙ Πολυχρόνιον ποιῆσαι ὁ θεὸς τὴν ἅπαν βασιλεί74
αν αὐτῷ εἰς πολλὰ ἔτη: + καὶ τὸν ἀρχιερέαν: + Τὸν δεσπότην καὶ ἀρχιερέαν ἡμῶν κύριε φύλαττε: + καὶ εὐλογεῖ αὐτοὺς
[and straight away takes place the prayer, the praise of the emperors; the chief chanter and the others take their leave. Mode IV:
many (be) the years of the emperors
Mode IV, plagal:
many (be) the years of the emperors Many and in Mode IV, plagal, the chief chanter.
Mode IV:
Manuel the most pious emperor and autocrat of the Romans the Palaiologos; and Helen the most pious Augusta, many (be) their years. They leave.
Mode IV, plagal: Manuel the most pious emperor and autocrat of the Romans the Palaiologos; and Helen the most pious Augusta, many (be) their years. Mode IV:
many (be) the years of the emperors
Mode IV, plagal:
many (be) the years of the emperors; many. The last one. May God make His entire kingdom long-lasting. And to the archbishop. Lord, protect our despot and archbishop. And he blesses them].
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The indication δ΄΄ denotes that a passage should be sung in mode IV, while πλ δ΄΄ that a passage should be sung in mode IV plagal. An antiphonal effect is achieved by having the same text being sung in the authentic and plagal modes in turn. The pattern created is as follows: Text A δ΄΄‚ Text A πλ δ΄΄‚ Text B δ΄΄‚ Text B πλ δ΄΄‚ Text A δ΄΄‚ Text A πλ δ΄΄. The indication τὸ τελευταῖον˙ after Text A πλ δ΄΄ guides the performers to the fact that this would be the last time to sing πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη τῶν βασιλέων. There is an elaboration on this relatively simple pattern with the instruction καὶ πλ δ΄΄ ὁ πρωτοψάλτης before Μανουήλ τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου βασιλέως. This may indicate the protopsaltes joining the other chanters at this point. It may also give us a hint to the amount of time the first part of the exclamation would have taken to execute, as the protopsaltes is instructed to leave at the beginning of it: ὁ πρωτοψάλτης καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἀποχωροῦν. The archbishop who is honoured as part of the exclamation above also appears later in the manuscript with a similar function: ‘καὶ οὔτως ἀν εἶ ὁ ἀρχιερεύς εἰς τὴν ἄνω καϑέδραν˙ καὶ εὐλογεῖ τὸν λαὸν’23 [and so the archbishop is in the higher throne; and he blesses the people]. This being a musical manuscript, the spelling reveals musical delivery, as can be seen from a few examples selected here, where I give the actual lettering used. The reader will notice that the long –ω– in both the words τοον and βασιλέοον becomes two –οο–. Different delivery is suggested the second time, with τοον βασιλέων. Also the word πολλα α α α shows a prolonged sung α on the second and third times, as does the double –ε– in βασιλεεως later: πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη τοον βασιλέοον πολλα α α α τὰ ἔτη τοον βασιλέων πολλα α α α τα: + Μανουήλ τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου βασιλεεως
This example underlines the florid musical style of the akolouthies contained in Athens 2061. Similar in style is Athens 2062. Words like πολυέλεεεεεεεε appear in it, for instance.24 Finally the various instructions given alongside the text of the akolouthia in Athens 2061 are similar in flavour to the liturgical explanations found in the writings of Symeon of Thessalonica, some of which we will examine straight away. Yet, it would be an omission not to comment on the contents of Athens 2062, for the following reason: while the contents of Athens 2061 and Athens 2062 overlap 23 24
Athens, National Library, 2061, f. 92v. Athens, National Library, 2062, f. 123v.
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to a degree, Athens 2062 is of particular interest to us for its special hymns for the feast of St Demetrius. Athens 2062 will be discussed towards the end. Symeon did his outmost to preserve and enhance the urban rite in Thessalonica by supporting the existing traditions and by writing new hymns and entire akolouthies. These would demonstrate the civic and theological significance of the occasions he was writing for. He also endeavoured to explain in his theological writings how the akolouthies cemented the faith as handed down by the early Fathers. One of the aspects of this was the ceremony regarding the consecration of a new church that he reintroduced in Thessalonica. He wrote a treatise regarding this ceremony entitled Περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου ναοῦ καὶ τῆς τούτου καθιερώσεως.25 Some of Symeon’s views on matters of ritual will be presented here as they put his hymnographical work in its context. Regarding the consecration of a new church, he remarks how in Thessalonica this was still the case, following the ancient tradition: ῞Οτι τὰ ἐγκαίνια ἐν τῇ Θεσσαλονικέων ἔτι γίνονται ᾽Εκκλησίᾳ. Καὶ ἡ τῶν Θεσσαλονικέων δὲ ἱερὰ ᾽Εκκλησία ἐκ παραδόσεως ἀρχαίας μέχρι τῆς σήμερον τοῦτο ἀεὶ ἐνεργεῖ ἐν ταῖς καθολικαῖς ἐκκλησίαις. Καὶ τελεῖται μὲν ἑσπέρας καὶ ἐν τῷ ὄρθρῳ τὰ τῆς ἀκολουθίας.26 [That the feast of the dedication of the temple still takes place within the Church in Thessalonica. And the sacred Church of the Thessalonians from ancient tradition until our day always does this in the public churches. And the akolouthia takes place in the evening (in the time of vespers) and in the early morning (in the time of matins)].
This was a tradition no more continued in Constantinople. He was very aware of the results of the weakening of the church in Constantinople after the Latin rule: Πλὴν ἐξετάζων ἔγνων‚ ὡς ἐπειδήπερ ἡ Κωνσταντίνου δεδούλωταί ποτε Λατίνοις‚ τῶν τῆς ᾽Εκκλησίας φυγαδευθέντων καὶ ἀποικισθέντων ἀλλαχοῦ‚ ταῦτα ἤργησε˙ καὶ ἐπειδὴ μετὰ πολὺν ἐπανῆλθον χρόνον‚ καθ᾽ ὅν ταῦτα ἠμέληται‚ ὡς ἔθος γεγονὸς μὴ ἐνεργεῖσθαι‚ πέπανται˙ (. . .).27 [Besides, by examining one knows that because from the time when the city of Constantine (Constantinople) was once subjugated to the Latins, those of the church (the clergy) having fled and having taken settlement elsewhere, 25 26 27
Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘De Sacro Templo et ejus Consecratione’, PG 155. 305–62, cols 305–62. Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘De Sacro Templo’, col. 328. Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘De Sacro Templo’, col. 325.
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they have been inactive in this respect (i.e. regarding the commemoration of the encaenia); and when they came back after a long gap in time, during which they neglected these things, as the custom was not acted upon, it ceased (. . .).]
In theological terms, as Symeon explains, the church is both the tomb and the residence of Christ: ‘καὶ ἡ ᾽Εκκλησία τοῦτο μαρτυρεῖ πάλιν τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ ζωοδόχου τάφου Χριστοῦ‚ τὰ ἐγκαίνια τοῦ ναοῦ ἑορτάζουσα’28 [and the Church again testifies this, being the holy and life-possessing tomb of Christ, by celebrating the consecration of the temple]. This is not only true of one or two of the most magnificent churches, he emphasizes, but of all, as they all are tombs and dwellings of Christ, equally. Small or large, he attributes the same sacred characteristics to them: ‘πάντες δὲ ὀμοίως θεῖοι ναοὶ‚ καὶ Χριστοῦ τάφοι τε καὶ κατοικητήρια’29 [and all the temples are equally holy, being tombs and residencies of Christ]. Therefore Symeon argues that all churches deserve to have a commemoration of their consecration. This, he says, can be concluded to have been done previously, from one’s reading of the Synaxaria (i.e. compilation of hagiographies). In his own words: ‘Διὸ καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ναοῖς ἐτελεῖτο‚ καὶ τοῖς συναξαρίοις τοῦτο ἀναγινώσκομεν’30 [And therefore this was performed in all the temples, and we read this in the Synaxaria]. To elucidate in a different way why it is so important to commemorate the consecration of a temple, Symeon also makes a double comparison, first with the ordination of a priest, and then with the body of the Church itself, the true and living body of Christ: ῞Οτι χρὴ ἔκαστον τῶν ἱερωμένων τόν καιρὸν ἑορτάζειν τῆς χειροτονίας αὐτοῦ˙ ἡ κἂν ἰερουργεῖν ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ. (. . .) ἢ κἂν προσέχειν τὴν ἡμέραν‚ καὶ ἰερουργεῖν ἐν αὐτῇ τῷ Κυρίῳ εὐχαριστοῦντα‚ τὴν χὰριν τοῦ Θεοῦ μένειν ἐν αὐτῷ ἐξαιτούμενον. Καὶ ἐκάστου δὲ ναοῦ χρὴ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τελεῖσθαι τῆς καθιερώσεως τὰ ἐγκαίνια. ῝Ο δὴ καὶ ὁ νόμος ἐνήργει πρότερον (. . .). Καὶ ἡ ᾽Εκκλησία δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πολλῷ λαμπρότερον ἐξετέλει‚ ἐπειδὴ καὶ εἰκόνα τὸν ἰερὸν ἔχει ναὸν τοῦ παναγίου καὶ ζῶντος ἐκείνου ναοῦ‚ τοῦ Κυριακοῦ λέγω σώματος‚ ὃ δὴ καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἑαυτῇ ἀληθινὴ καὶ ζῶσα Σοφία‚ ὁ Θεὸς Λόγος ἐνανθρωπήσας‚ οὗ καὶ τὸ μνῆμα φέρει διὰ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου‚ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἐκτυποῖ.31 [That it is necessary for each of the ordained to celebrate the time of his ordination; and if possible to celebrate the mysteries on the day. 28 29 30 31
Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘De Sacro Templo’, col. 325. Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘De Sacro Templo’, col. 325. Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘De Sacro Templo’, col. 325. Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘De Sacro Templo’, col. 325.
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Literature and Culture in Late Byzantine Thessalonica (. . .) and to take notice of that day, and to celebrate the mysteries in it while giving thanks to the Lord, and while asking for the grace of God to remain upon him. And of each temple it is necessary on the appointed day to perform the celebration of its consecration. And so the law also had it beforehand (. . .). And the Church of Christ has achieved much greater splendour, for it has as its symbol that holy temple of the all-holy and living temple, I say of the body that belongs to the Lord, which the true and living Wisdom has built for herself, God the Word made man, the memory of whom is borne by the altar, and the rest it typifies.]
This passage is representative both of Symeon’s desire to explain successfully composite theological concepts to his congregation, and of his ability to convey his faith in metaphorical but clear and unhindered language. Symeon’s concern with the consecration of the temple must be seen as part of his broader perspective. The role of the church in society is at the heart of this perspective, and as part of this, he has to address the role of the emperor within the church. In Byzantine times, as is the case today, the clergy took communion separately from the laity, and Symeon gives some very interesting reasons why the emperor, during his proclamation only, joins the clergy in receiving the sacrament: (. . .) μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ προσελθὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς‚ τὸν ἁγιώτατον ἄρτον τῇ χειρὶ παρὰ τοῦ πατριάρχου λαμβάνει ὡς οἱ διάκονοι˙ καὶ τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ αἵματος παρ α ᾿ ὐτοῦ τοῦ πατριάρχου τοῖς χείλεσιν ὡς οἱ διάκονοι κοινωνεῖ ἐκ τοῦ δι ᾿ αὐτὸν ἡτοιμασμένου ἱεροῦ ποτηρίου. (. . .) Καὶ ταύτην εἴληφε τὴν τιμὴν διὰ τὸ χρίσμα τῆς βασιλείας‚ ὡς καὶ δεσποτάτου τῆς ἱερᾶς ᾽Εκκλησίας τόπον λαβὼν‚ καὶ δεφένσωρ ταύτης ἐπικληθεὶς‚ καὶ ὡς Χριστὸς Κυρίου‚ καὶ τοῦ Χριστωνύμου λαοῦ βασιλεὺς προχειρισθεὶς‚ καὶ πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης. ῾Ως γὰρ εὐσεβὴς‚ καὶ τῷ κλὴρῳ συνηριθμήθη τῆς ᾽Εκκλησίας.32 [(. . .) and after those (events) the emperor having approached, he takes the most holy bread in his hand from the patriarch like the deacons; and the life-giving blood from the same patriarch he communes with his lips like the deacons, from the holy vessel prepared for him (. . .) And he has received this honour through the chrism of kingship, as holding the place of great master of the holy Church, and called its defensor, and the Lord’s annointed,33 he is appointed emperor of the Christ-named people, and of all the oikoumene (world). And as one who is pious he has been counted in with the clergy of the Church.]
32 33
Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘De Sacro Templo’, col. 352. Cf. I Kingdoms 24.7; 1 Samuel 24.6.
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The whole-hearted idealism that Symeon displays here about the role of the emperor in the church is to be found in many of his writings. Such examples are to be contrasted though with some of his more critical moments, where he sees this previously harmonious relationship between church and emperor as less than satisfying in his own times. From the above it is clear that Symeon had very strong ideas about the life of the church and the direction it should take. These ideas expressed themselves in his intensive composition of hymns, that is to say, Symeon acted upon his convictions, as he wanted his ecclesiastical views to be reflected on the liturgical life of the church at his see. He therefore added hymns to the church calendar to complement his reform or, rather, revival of older traditions. His hymns were composed on the blueprint of earlier melodies, therefore called prosomoia (i.e. similar ones; contrafacta). The words that he used were now revised to fit the particular celebration he wanted to refer to, often by way of making a comparison between the old subject of the hymn and its new counterpart. In this way he has given to hymnography many new hymns to saints not written about before, ranging from the apostolic times to his day. He wrote hymns in honour of some of the Church Fathers, which is perhaps to be expected. It is more noticeable that he wrote hymns for Byzantine saints, namely Theophanes Graptos of Nicaea (d. 845), the iconodule Abbot Stephen the Young (d. 765), Symeon Metaphrastes, John Damascene and Gregory Palamas. The other main group of saints he dedicated hymns to are the apostles: John the Evangelist, the apostle Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Luke the Evangelist, James the brother of the Lord, the apostle Philip, Matthew the Evangelist and the apostle Andrew. These hymns fall into a range of genres: Stichera, Doxastika, Kathismata, Kontakia, Oikoi, Canons, Exaposteilaria. Notable are also his Canons for the Virgin Mary jointly with another saint: the archangel Michael, John the Evangelist, all the angels, John Chrysostom and St Nikolaos have been honoured in this way. His hymns were put to use immediately in Thessalonica, under his supervision. He wrote particularly beautiful Theotokia, and by dedicating hymns jointly to the Virgin Mary and various saints, he consequently underlined the purity and worth of the saints praised alongside her. In doing so he is in harmony with the encomium of Constantine Harmenopoulos (fl. 1345–59) dedicated to St Demetrius. Harmenopoulos shows how the joint praise of the Virgin Mary and St Demetrius played a great part in the worship and rituals of the Acheiropoietos Church in Thessalonica, while Symeon expresses the same in a more general context in the composition of his hymns.34 34
Harmenopoulos, ‘Λόγος Ανέκδοτος Κωνσταντίνου Αρμενόπουλου’, 154.
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In the Theotokia written for the hymns to St Demetrius, Symeon as the hymnographer combines theological concepts with his knowledge of local worship. In this he emulates many encomiasts who bring up the myrrh of St Demetrius in their work.35 For instance, when saying: ‘Μυροθήκη πρώτη‚ δέσποινα‚ σὺ γέγονας τοῦ ζῶντος μύρου Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν χαρίτων αὐτοῦ’36 [The first myrrh-chest, Lady, you have become of the living myrrh, (that is of) Christ, and of His graces], he likens Christ to myrrh, therefore exulting the popular cult of the myrrh of St Demetrius. In another Theotokion he prays that the Virgin Mary and St Demetrius jointly guard his city. In the same passage he refers to her as the victory of athletes: Νίκη ἀθλητῶν καὶ βραβεῖον‚ δέσποινα‚ χαῖρε καὶ στέφανος ἡ τὸν Δημήτριον στέψασα δόξῃ‚ μύροις καὶ θαύμασι˙ σὺν τούτῳ περιφύλλατε τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἡμῶν‚ τὴν σὴν πόλιν‚ τὸν λαὸν σον‚ ἄχραντε‚ ἐκ ψυχῆς Θεοτόκον ὑμνοῦντά σε.37 [Rejoice, Lady, who (you are) victory of athletes and prize, and garland, you who has crowned Demetrius with glory, and with myrrh and with miracles; with him do guard our kings, your city, and your people, flawless one; (your people who) from their hearts they laud you as the bearer of God.]
St Demetrius is also linked to the Virgin Mary as regards to his purity and virginity, a favourite way for the hesychasts to portray the martyr: ‘σὺ παντὸς χαρίσματος Δημήτριον ἔπλησας‚ παρθένον καὶ διδάσκαλον‚ προφήτην‚ μάρτυρα‚ θαυμάτων αὐτουργόν‚ μυροβλύτην δείξασα (. . .)’38 [you have made Demetrius complete with every ability, virginal, and teacher, prophet, martyr, responsible for miracles, and myrrh giver you have shown him (. . .)]. Symeon composed hymns to St Demetrius for use throughout the year. However, one of the areas in which he especially excelled was the reformation of the festival of St Demetrius by the composition of a large collection of stunningly lyrical hymns that followed the pattern of the celebrations over the Holy Week. The feast day of the saint’s memory itself was to resemble the Great and Holy Easter. In this way Symeon emphasized the already established parallel in Thessalonica between the passion of Christ and the martyrdom of St Demetrius. There is a definite Christo-centric approach to the devotion of saints, especially in the encomia of Nikolaos Kavasilas (c. 1322–c. 1390). The focus on the person 35
36 37 38
See for example Harmenopoulos, ‘Λόγος Ανέκδοτος Κωνσταντίνου Αρμενόπουλου’, 150; Chrysoloras, ‘Λόγος εἰς τὸν μέγαν Δημήτριον’, 349. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 207. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 208. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 208.
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of Christ is two-fold: first of all, the rituals in honour of the saint resemble those in honour of Christ, and secondly the saint himself is portrayed to focus on the person of Christ as inspiration for his sainthood. The work of Symeon in modelling the festival of St Demetrius to the Holy Week is indeed innovative. From Romanos Melodos we know that at his time the festival of the saint was celebrated over three days only.39 There have been a couple of hymns between Romanos and Symeon (chronologically speaking) working towards the imitation of Easter. John Stavrakios had reworked the celebrated Easter Canon by John Damascene, often called ‘The Golden Canon’ or ‘The Queen of Canons’ into a hymn for St Demetrius. Damascene’s ‘᾽Αναστάσεως ἡμέρα λαμπρυνθῶμεν λαοί’ is made into ‘᾽Αναστάσεως ἡμέρα Δημητρίου σφαγή’. There is another anonymous prosomoion written for the proeortia, the day before the feast day of the saint.40 But it was Symeon who with his extensive hymn-writing made the Holy Week of St Demetrius into a liturgical reality. Well known and evocative hymns of the Easter week would be reworked by Symeon to bring to mind the same intensity of emotion as during the observance of the Holy Passion. In his reworking of one of the most famous Easter hymns, Πάσχα ἱερόν [Holy Easter], he sums up perfectly the concept of the celebration of the saint’s festival as another Easter by the words that he chooses. Not only does he link the festival of St Demetrius to Eastertide in terms of the rituals but there is also reference to a notional spring in October like that which can be found in the encomium of Nikephoros Gregoras.41 Linking the new work to the hymnographical tradition, the well-known hymn by Romanos Melodos ‘ὦ γλυκύ μον ἔαρ’ [O my sweet spring (referring to the season and not to a source of water)] must come to mind. This hymn is part of the group of laments popularly called Encomia of Christ, also known as Epitaphios Threnos (i.e. burial lament), and Epitaphia Megalynaria (burial magnificatory hymns). The encomia of Christ, although believed to be compositions of Romanos, had not been incorporated to the Byzantine rite earlier than the thirteenth century. It is due to Symeon’s talent that he brings out this association while at the same time he is modelling his hymn on this other wellknown hymn, as mentioned above, the celebratory hymn Πάσχα ἱερόν: ῎Εαρ νοητὸν ἡμῖν σὴμερον ἀνατέταλκεν‚ ἔαρ καινὸν ἅγιον‚ ἔαρ παμφαέστατον‚ μάρτυς Χριστοῦ χρυσοειδής‚ μάρτυς πάμφωτος‚ μάρτυς 39 40
41
Phountoules, ‘Ιδιορρυθμίες της Λειτουργικής Πράξεως’, 153–4. Phountoules, ‘Ιδιορρυθμίες της Λειτουργικής Πράξεως’, 154; Egon Wellesz, A History of Byzantine Music and Hymnography (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961), p. 206. Nikephoros Gregoras, ‘Βυζαντινά καὶ Μεταβυζαντινά ᾽Εγκώμια εἰς τὸν ῞Αγιον Δημήτριον’, ed. Vassileios Laourdas, Makedonika 4 (1955–60), 83–96, at 88–9.
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Literature and Culture in Late Byzantine Thessalonica μέγας‚ μάρτυς μυστικός‚ μάρτυς ὁ πνεύσας ὀσμήν τοῦ παραδείσου ἡδίω ἐν τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἑορτῆς.42 [A spring of the mind has dawned upon us today, a new spring, holy, a spring filled with light, a martyr of Christ gold in his countenance, a martyr full of brightness, a great martyr, a mystical martyr, a martyr that has breathed the scent of paradise with gladness into the commemoration of his own feast day.]
Symeon’s prosomoion retains the celebratory tone of the Easter hymn and with its golden hues captures the grand occasion of the festival of the martyr. Here the martyr is called πάμφωτος giving to the congregation a visually stimulating way to imagine their saint. Yet while all of Symeon’s hymns to St Demetrius are stunning, they are not all stunning in the same way. The contrast of gladness and sorrow, death and life, thematic both of Easter and of Thessalonica-in-anguish towards the twilight of the Byzantine Empire, is woven into many of Symeon’s compositions and presented in its Christian sense of the good news, so portraying St Demetrius as a messenger of God. In many other instances Demetrius is called an angel, and perhaps this is also done with the quality of the angel-messenger in mind. Similarly, in the encomia St Demetrius is called an angel by Symeon himself as well as by Nikolaos Kavasilas.43 In his hymn Symeon asks the saint to appear to those who grieve in sorrow: ‘τοῖς ἐν γῇ φάνηθι φέρων ἐκ Θεοῦ χαρᾶς εὐαγγέλια τοῖς λυπουμένοις ἐν δεινοῖς˙ τέρπε‚ φώτιζε καὶ εὐλόγει ἅπαντας ἡμᾶς (. . .)’44 [to those who are on earth, (please) show yourself, bringing from God the glad news towards them who are grieving in calamities; delight, light and bless all of us (. . .)]. The dark colours of the Easter Week are further explored with phrases like ‘λύπης βαθείας ἐπιστάντες’45 [those who stand in deep sorrow] and ‘λύσας κατήφειαν ἐκ προσώπου’46 [relieving the dejected expression of the face]. ‘Another angel’, ‘ἄλλον ἄγγελον’, as on the tomb of the Saviour, appears to be a protagonist in this hymn to St Demetrius, repeating the same message. This angel who stands on Demetrius’s tomb turns out to be Demetrius himself, as it becomes clear from the narrative of the hymn: ‘Τί ζητεῖτε‚ τόν ὄντα ἤδη μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν; τί θρηνεῖτε‚ κατέχοντές με ἤδη τὴν 42 43
44 45 46
Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 96. Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘Homilia Festalis in Sanctum Demetrium’, in David Balfour (ed.), St Symeon Archbishop of Thessalonica, ῎Εργα Θεολογικὰ (Thessalonica: Analekta Vlatadon, 1981), pp. 185–94, at 193; Kavasilas, ‘Προσφώνημα εἰς τὸν ἔνδοξον τοῦ Χριστοῦ μεγαλομάρτυρα Δημήτριον τὸν Μυροβλύτην’, Mnemeia hagiologika, ed. Theophilos Joannou (Venice: Typois Phoinikos, 1884), pp. 67–114, at 113. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 96. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 96. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 97.
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χαράν; ἀπελήλυθε‚ χαίρετε‚ ἀφ ᾿ ὑμῶν τὰ δεινά’.47 [Why are you looking for him who is already with you? Why do you mourn, having already in your possession myself, the gladness? Be released, be glad, the calamities are away from you.] The climate of celebration in the city of Thessalonica is always alive in Symeon’s renderings. The hymn Εὐφράνθητι ῾Ιερουσαλήµ [Be glad, O Jerusalem] becomes: ‘Εὐφράνθητι πόλις Θετταλῶν καὶ πανηγυρίσατε οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες αὐτήν‚ τοῦ στεφανίτου σου καὶ πολιούχου ἔφθασεν ἡ πανένδοξος μνήμη’48 [Be glad, city of the Thessalians, and celebrate those of you who are inhabiting it, the most glorified day of commemoration of your garland-bearer and patron saint has arrived]. But in the many joyful references to Jerusalem, there can be found some chillier notes: ‘Σιὼν καινὴ Θεσσαλονίκη νῦν ὡς ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ κύκλῳ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς σου ἆρον καὶ βλέψον ἀθροισθέντα ἔθνη ἐπὶ σοὶ’49 [A new Sion, Thessalonica (you are); now as Jerusalem raise your eyes around in a circle and stare at the tribes of gentiles that are gathered around you]. In the encomia, it is Symeon’s predecessor, the Metropolitan Gabriel, who talks of Thessalonica as the Higher Jerusalem.50 In the context of the city’s classicist tradition and culture of learning many encomiasts have linked Thessalonica with the city of Athens. It is noticeable that Symeon’s hymns have the same personal tone as his advisory epistles. One of the most striking examples of this is his letter to the young prince (despotes) Andronikos, son of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, in which Symeon reminds the prince of the brightness of the monastic path, by which he can become part of the inheritance of Christ.51 A similar resonance can be found in a prosomoion to St Demetrius corresponding to Holy Monday, where the humility in which Christ ‘was poor’ (ἐπτώχευσε) is exalted. In his martyrdom the saint is said to have become ἀπαθὴς, without passion and pain: ῾Η ἀμέτρητος‚ μάρτυς‚ Θεοῦ ταπείνωσις‚ ἣν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐπτώχευσε καὶ σὲ παρέπεισε δι᾿ αὐτὸν τὴν κοσμικὴν δόξαν ἀποσείσασθαι ἐν τῷ κηρύττειν τοῦτον καὶ πάσχειν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ‚ ἐνδόξως γὰρ δεδόξασται. / Διακονῆσαι Χριστῷ ἐσπούδασας καὶ τὴν μορφὴν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δόξης ἀπείληφας‚ τῷ παθόντι συμπαθὼν καὶ πλουτήσας θέωσιν‚ θείς‚ ἀθλητά‚ δι ᾿ αὐτὸν ψυχὴν 47 48 49 50 51
Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 96. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 185. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 183. Gabriel of Thessalonica, ‘῾Ομιλίαι’, ed. Vassileios Laourdas, Athina 57 (1953), 142–73, at 146, 168. Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘Διδασκαλία πρὸς τὸν εὐσεβῆ δεσπότην κυρὸν ᾽Ανδρόνικον’, in David Balfour (ed.), Politico-Historical Works (Vienna: Verl. d. Osterr. Akad. d. Wiss., 1979), pp. 78–82, at 78.
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Literature and Culture in Late Byzantine Thessalonica εἰς θάνατον καὶ ἀπαθὴς γενόμενος52 [The immeasurable humility of God, O martyr, in which Christ became poor, has also convinced you to shake up for Him the worldly glory in preaching His name and in suffering in His favour, for which you have been glorified splendidly. / You have studied the service of Christ, and you have received the form of your own glory, by suffering together with the Sufferer, and by becoming rich in deification, you have sacrificed, O athlete, your soul for Him into death, becoming thus free of passions].
In a Canon resembling Κύµατι θαλάσσης [Waves of the sea] of the Great and Holy Saturday, Symeon dwells on the theme of life in death, which is after all central to the Easter celebrations: ‘Κάλλιστε μαρτύρων‚ ἐντάφιον μέλος καὶ ἐπικήδειον ᾆσμα νῦν πρόσδεξαι‚ ὁ τῇ σφαγῇ σου τὴν λόγχην τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου μιμησάμενος καὶ θανάτῳ νέκρωσιν ζωοποιόν‚ Δημήτριε’53 [Most beautiful of martyrs, please now accept a funeral melody and a burial song, you who with your slaughter you have imitated the lance that pierced Christ, and with your death the life-giving death, O Demetrius]. Indeed, St Demetrius is shown to desire martyrdom, after the example of his Saviour: ‘Τὴν ἐν σταυρῷ φρικτὴν ἐκκέντησιν σοῦ δεσπότου ζηλῶν διακαῶς (. . .)’54 [Desiring with burning passion the awful piercing of the Lord (. . .)]. Similarly he is said to have found life in his death: ‘σὺ γὰρ θανὼν ταῖς λόγχαις πάλιν ζῇς’55 [you, having died by the lances, you again are alive]. Many elements that we come across in the encomia can be seen in this hymn: the mention of the saint’s beauty, which has been central to his cult, the appeal to the saint to accept the praise offered, a mark of the supplicant’s humility, and the physicality with which the piercing of the side of the martyr is described, offering at the same time a type for the death of Christ. Further on Symeon’s treatment of death in his hymns, one observes a sense of release in some of his turns of phrase. This is especially noticeable when it is regarding the separation of the soul from the body: ‘Λέλυσαι σώματος θνητοῦ‚ τὴν ἐπουράνιον δὲ ἀπείληφας ζωήν’56 [Having been released from the mortal body, you have taken the heavenly life]. Together with this sense of release comes the theme of voluntary sacrifice, in this example enhanced by the biblical reference: ‘Τύπος ʾΙσαὰκ’57 [You are a type of Isaac]. In the encomia similar comparisons between St Demetrius and other saints or prophets are
52 53 54 55 56 57
Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, pp. 186–7. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 199. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 200. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα‚ p. 202. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα‚ p. 203. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα‚ p. 91.
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made, for example in the works of Theodore Metochites, Nikolaos Kavasilas, Gregory Palamas and Philotheos Kokkinos.58 In the assimilation of the rituals of Easter and in rejoicing in the release that comes with death, Symeon gives expression to what characterizes his legacy as a pastoral leader the most: namely his message of personal redemption. This is evident in many of his works, starting from his letter to the Despot Andronikos Palaiologos and can be described as a hallmark of his hymns. This message of personal redemption that comes to the believer in spite of the misfortunes of this world is a message of hope from Symeon, particularly welcome in the difficult time in which it was delivered. St Demetrius was used by him as a vehicle to deliver his distinctive message: ‘Γαλὴνη τῶν ψυχῶν καὶ χαρὰ σὺ ὑπάρχεις‚ Δημήτριε’59 [You are pacification of the souls and joy, O Demetrius]. This is a message that in a dormant state has been present in all of the encomia, as personal redemption and salvation is central to the Christian faith. Yet in Symeon it finds greater clarity. Here it is worth crediting another pastoral leader, Gabriel of Thessalonica, who wrote an entire encomium on the subject of not despairing, an encomium which has a similar flavour to Symeon’s message and is expressed well if not as intensely.60 The discussion of Symeon’s hymns has shown that close links between the encomia and hymnography existed. The links are present not only in the rich thematic connections. The hymns were custom-made for specific circumstances, as the encomia were, and they praise the saint in equal measure. Further, Symeon’s first encomium to St Demetrius is so richly laudatory and poetic in its form and flavour, that it perhaps shares more with his hymns than with the rest of the corpus of 30 encomia for the saint that survive. In this encomium Symeon piles on the epithets of praise as one would in a hymn and the entire text has the atmosphere of a song rather than a speech, save some darker comments about Thessalonica’s troubles. Shorter and rhythmical phrases intensify the climate of praise as Symeon clearly uses his hymnographical skills in the composition of this work. The encomium starts with the parallel between the Resurrection of Christ and the feast of St Demetrius, which we have discussed in relation to Symeon’s 58
59 60
Theodore Metochites, ‘Βυζαντινά καὶ Μεταβυζαντινὰ ᾽Εγκώμια εἰς τὸν ῞Αγιον Δημήτριον’, ed. Vassileios Laourdas, M 4 (1955–60), 56–82, at 76–7; Kavasilas, ‘Προσφώνημα εἰς τὸν ἐνδοξον τοῦ Χριστοῦ μεγαλομάρτυρα’, p. 110; Gregory Palamas, ‘Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὁμιλία εἰς τὸν ἐν ἁγίοις μεγαλομάρτυρα καὶ θαυματουργὸν καὶ μυροβλύτην Δημήτριον’, in Christian Friedrich Matthaei (ed.), Gregorii Thessalonicensis Orationes X (Moscow: Rudiger, 1776), pp. 44–60, at 58. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. 183. Gabriel of Thessalonica, ‘῾Oμιλίαι’, 160–3.
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hymnography above. We have come across the same link more specifically in the examination of his prosomoion ῎Εαρ νοητὸν, in which the feast in the month of October is paralleled to the spring of the Resurrection of the Lord: Τίς ἡ λαμπρὰ αὕτη ἡμέρα‚ τὴν ἀναστάσιμον τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐξεικονίζουσα; Τίς ἡ τηλικαύτη λαμπροφορία‚ τὸ μέγα φῶς καὶ ἄδυτον προσημαίνουσα; Τίς ἡ τοσαύτη τῶν φιλοχρίστων συνάθροισις‚ τὴν ᾳδομένην ᾽ παγκόσμιον ἐκείνην συνέλευσιν ὑπογράφουσα; Τίς ὁ ἦχος τῶν ὕμνων τε καὶ τῶν αἴνων‚ ἐπὶ πολὺ ᾳδομένων ᾽ καὶ ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ κροτουμένων τε καὶ μελπομένων ἐν ἡδονῇ‚ ᾕνπερ ἀκούομεν ἐκείνην ἀσίγητον χορείαν τῶν ἀγγέλων‚ καὶ τὸν ἦχον τῶν ἑορταζόντων ἐν οὐρανοῖς‚ ὡς δύναμις‚ ἐκμιμούμενος; Διατί ταῦτα; Τίς ὁ τούτων κατὰ τὸ παρὸν αἴτιος;61 [What is this brilliant day, which depicts the day of the resurrection of the Saviour? What is this great bearing of splendour, prefiguring the great light and the sanctuary? What is this plentiful gathering of lovers of Christ, underlining that sung-about world-wide assembly? What is this sound of hymns and praises, sung at great length and accompanied by percussive sounds with joy and sung in pleasure, exactly as if we are listening to that immutable chorus of angels, and as if one is imitating to capacity the sound of those who celebrate in heaven? Why are these things? Who is he who is responsible for the present happenings?].
Symeon uses those last questions as a device to help him bring on the subject of his praise. That is a technique that is readily observed in modern Demotic song. Symeon continues: Δημήτριος‚ ὁ κάλλιστος ἀθλητής˙ Δημήτριος‚ ὁ σοφώτατος καὶ παρθένος˙ Δημήτριος‚ ὁ εὐώδης˙ Δημήτριος‚ ὁ ἡδύς‚ ὀ συμπαθής‚ ὁ φιλόπατρις˙ δι᾽ ὃν καὶ τὸ τῆς πατρίδος ἅπαν ἄθροισμα σήμερον‚ μετὰ πάντων τῶν εὐσεβούντων ἐν τῇ γῇ εὐφραίνεται καὶ χορεύει‚ καὶ χαίρει τούτου τῇ μνήμῃ ὡς καὶ τῇ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐγέρσει‚ ὠφελείας ἴσης ἀπολαῦον καὶ χάριτος62 [Demetrius, the most beautiful athlete; 61
62
Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘Homilia Festalis in Sanctum Demetrium’, in David Balfour and Analekta Vlatadon (eds), St Symeon Archbishop of Thessalonica, ῎Εργα Θεολογικὰ (Thessalonica: Patriarchikon Idhrima Paterikon Meleton, 1981), pp. 185–94, at 187. Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘Homilia Festalis in Sanctum Demetrium’, p. 187.
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Demetrius, the wisest and virginal; Demetrius, the fragrant; Demetrius the agreeable, the compassionate, the patriotic; he, for whom the gathered subtotal of his homeland with all the pious people on earth, is glad and dances, and rejoices in his memory as in the resurrection of the Saviour, receiving equal benefit and grace]. Phountoules gives two reasons for the use of the Easter format in the cult of St Demetrius, the first theological and the second liturgical. The first is the encomia to the saint, especially the portrayal of St Demetrius as mirroring Christ in his life and martyrdom. This is a parallel that we are exploring in this study. The second reason is the liturgical work of Symeon Metaphrastes (fl. second half of 10th c.), who drew similar parallels with the Holy Week in his hymnographical work of the festivals of Christmas and Epiphany. Symeon Metaphrastes wrote prosomoia for those festivals like Symeon of Thessalonica later wrote prosomoia for the festival of the saint in October. So from both perspectives, the ground was fertile for St Demetrius’s panegyris to be treated in this way.63 In the same spirit of linking the festival of St Demetrius to Easter, Symeon in his first encomium claims that equal benefit is to be had in honouring the memory of the martyr as there is in celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord: ‘εὐφραίνεται καὶ χορεύει‚ καὶ χαίρει τούτου τῇ μνήμῃ ὡς καὶ τῇ τοῦ Σωτήρος ἐγέρσει‚ ὠφελείας ἴσης ἀπολαῦον καὶ χάριτος‚ ἐπεὶ καὶ μιμητὴς τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους οὗτος‚ ὡς οἴδατε‚ τὴν ἱερὰν πλευρὰν λογχευθείς’64 [(the saint’s homeland) rejoices and dances, and is glad in his memory as in the resurrection of the Lord, enjoying equal benefit and grace, because he is an imitator of the Saviour’s Passion, as you know, having been pierced at the side]. Other late Byzantine hymns, like those found in Athens, National Library, 2062, are also rich with the imagery that we have encountered so far. Before we bring this study to its conclusion we will see how St Demetrius is referred to in the unpublished hymns of this manuscript. To start with a topos in the encomia, the narration of St Demetrius’s childhood and youth, here is an example referring to the birth of the saint: ‘ἐκ σπαργάνων 63
64
Phountoules, ‘Ιδιορρυθμίες της Λειτουργικής Πράξεως της Θεσσαλονίκης κατά τις Αρχές του ΙΕ΄ αιώνος’, CTPE, 149–63, at 154–6. Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘Homilia Festalis in Sanctum Demetrium’, p. 187.
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δῶρον ἰερὸν. ὤφθηκε τῇ πατρίδι σου. Θεοειδὲς κυρίῳ προσφερόμενον. ἐν ῶ φωτιζόμεθα. οἱ τὴν σὴν προστασία αἰτοῦντες πιστῶς˙ σὺ μετὰ θεοῦ γὰρ˙ λύτρωσιν δωρεῖσαι τοῖς οἰκέταις σοῦ’ [from the birth clothes a sacred gift was made to your homeland. Godly in sight, offered to the Lord, by which we are lit, those who ask for your protection with faith; for you are with God. Grant salvations to your supplicants], f. 97v. A metaphor that is most memorable in the encomia, St Demetrius as the athlete, can also be found here: ‘᾽Αθλητῶν τὸν μέγαν ἀθλητὴν σὲ ἐπικαλούμεθα’ [we beseech you, the greatest athlete amongst the athletes], f. 97; ‘ἐλυτρώσω ἀθλητά τοὺς οἰκέταις˙’ [deliver, athlete, your supplicants], f. 98; ‘ἀθλοφόρε’ [prize-bearer], f. 101v; ‘ἀθλητὰ Δημήτριε’ [athlete Demetrius], f. 108. The metaphor of the Higher Jerusalem that exists in the work of the metropolitans Symeon and Gabriel can also be found here: τῇ ἄνω πόλει ἐχρημάτισας κόσμος ὠραΐζων τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν:+ [having negotiated the adornment of the Upper City, you have beautified our eyes], f. 130v. Another example is the metaphor of the sea and harbour.65 This is comparable with this passage: ‘Λιμεῶνὰ τὴν πόλιν πιεζομένη τῷ στεφάνῳ πεφανέρωσας˙ πλέξειν προστάξας ἐν τῇ σῇ εὐκλεεῖ πατρίδι’ [You have revealed to the city which was under pressure a harbour with your own wreath, which you ordered to be made in your own glorious homeland], f. 101v. Agricultural metaphors have also been known in relation to St Demetrius. Symeon has likened him to Joseph when he said ‘Δημήτριος‚ ὐπὲρ τὸν ᾽Ιωσὴφ ἐκεῖνον σιτοδότης’ [Demetrius, a provider of wheat above that Joseph].66 The hymnographer of this example in Athens 2062 also says γεωργέ τῶν καλῶν [husbandman of the good things], f. 98 and νέος σιτοδότης λαμπαδουχεῖς ὡς Χριστοῦ φωσφόρος: [a new giver of wheat, you carry the votive candle as the light-bearer of Christ], 101v. The fact that the saint is called here a ‘new’ wheat-giver may refer again to the story of Joseph in the Old Testament, who fed his brothers in Egypt. Another parallel is this to a passage from Demetrius Chrysoloras. Chrysoloras said in his encomium: (. . .) οὐκ εἴα μειρακιώδη τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἀχαλίνωτον εἶναι‚ ἀλλὰ τῷ μὲν λογιστικῷ τὴν γνῶσιν‚ αὐτῇ δὲ τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἐφαρμόττει καὶ τῷ μὲν θυμῷ τὴν ἀνδρείαν‚ αὐτῇ δὲ συνέπλεξε τὸ μέχρις 65
66
Makarios Choumnos, ‘᾽Εγκώμιον εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Δημήτριον’, ed. Vassileios Laourdas, Gregorios Palamas 38 (1955), 347–9, at 347; Chrysoloras, ‘Λόγος εἰς τὸν μέγαν Δημήτριον’, 350–1; Harmenopoulos, ‘Λόγος Ανέκδοτος Κωνσταντίνου Αρμενόπουλου’, 161. Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘Λόγος ἱστορικός (θαύματα ῾Αγίου Δημητρίου)’, in David Balfour (ed.), Politico-Historical Works (Vienna: Verl. d. Osterr. Akad. d. Wiss., 1979), pp. 39–69, at p. 64; Genesis, 42.19.
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αἵματος ἀγωνίζεσθαι.67 [. . . he did not leave his youthful desire unbridled but he applied knowledge to rationality and to this the faith, and to temperament his bravery, and this latter quality contributed to his fighting to the last drop of blood]. In parallel the hymnographer says: ἐπὶ πέτρα στηριχθεὶς Χριστῷ ἀσείστως‚ βροχαῖς ἠδαίων οὐκ ἐνέδωκας οὐ ποταμοὶ τῶν κολάσεων˙ οὐ τῶν ἀπειλῶν τοῖς ἀνέμοις˙ ἀτρεμῶς δὲ ἀνέμελπες. Χριστοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ζωὴ μάρτυς Δημήτριε:+ [Being secure on the stone of Christ, you did not give in to the rain of pleasures nor to the rivers of sin; nor to the winds of threats; but you were delighting without wavering in Christ our Lord and Life, O martyr Demetrius], f. 128v. Yet the most common way to refer to the saint in hymnography is perhaps as a protector of Thessalonica, something common also in the encomia. For instance in f. 102v, the hymnographer says: Τίς ἐν θλήψεσι (sic ) προσφύγιον κτησάμενος τὴν ἡλιώδη καὶ θείαν χάριν αὐτοῦ‚ τάχιστα τῶν δεινῶν οὐκ ἠλευθέρωτε. Δημήτριε πανάγιε˙ Μέγαν εὔρατο προστάτην καὶ ὑπέρμαχον˙ ἡ πόλις ἡ λαμπρὰ θεσσαλονίκη πιστῶς˙ σὲ τὸ κλέος αὐτῆς˙ ἐγκαυχομένη τερπνῶς˙ εἰς πάσῃ τὴν ὑφὴλιον ὅθεν καὶ ἀνακράζειν πάνταις‚ αἰνεῖται εἰς αἰῶνας τὸν Κύριον:+ [Who among those who have his sun-like and divine grace as their refuge does not free himself from sorrows most swiftly. Demetrius most holy Your city, Thessalonica, the brilliant, has found you a great protector and champion faithfully. You are her glory; she is proud of you pleasingly. So she exclaims to the whole world: Praise the Lord through the ages!]
And similarly in f. 103v: ‘Τίς ἐν δεινοῖς ὑπάρχων οὐ προστρέχει ὑπὸ τὴν σκέπην σου σοφέ˙ σὺ γὰρ προστάτης ἐδείχθης˙ θερμὸς τῇ πόλει σου’ [Who being in difficulties does not come under your shelter, wise one. For you have proved yourself an eager protector for your city]. In conclusion, although encomia and hymns are often seen as separate literary categories, their common ground is greater than what is immediately apparent. They were both composed with the same objectives, the praise of 67
Chrysoloras, ‘Λόγος εἰς τὸν μέγαν Δημὴτριον’, 344.
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the saint, the enhancement of the life of the church and spiritual elation, as the parallels between the hymns and the encomia in this study have shown. Indeed, this was nothing new. The work of the sixth-century hymnographer Romanos Melodos shows similar parallels with the late Byzantine encomia. For example, he wonders for which achievement should he rather praise St Demetrius: ‘Τί τῶν σῶν ὑμνήσω‚ Δημήτριε μάρτυς; τὰ πρὸ τῶν ἀγώνων‚ / τὰ ἐν ἀγώνι‚ τὰ μετὰ τοὺς ἀγῶνας σου; / τρεῖς γὰρ ὀμοῦ ἐπαίνους χρεωστῶ σοι’ [For which of yours shall I praise you, O martyr Demetrius? for those before your contests, / for those during your contest, or for those after your contest? / I owe you at once three praises]. The same remark is made in prose by Nikephoros Gregoras and Demetrius Chrysoloras.68 Another hymnographer, the eleventhcentury John Mauropous, called Demetrius’s martyrdom τέρμα τοῦ δρόμου [the end of the course], just as the encomiasts described Demetrius as an athlete winning a race. Mauropous comments on the fact that St Demetrius was pierced on the side like Christ, which brings their martyrdom at one and the same level: ‘χαρᾶς γὰρ ἄξιον ἴσον / τῷ δεσπότῃ δοῦλον δείκνυσθαι’ [because it is worthy of joy when the slave is proved equal to the master], just as the young Nikolaos Kavasilas paralleled the passion of Demetrius and Christ.69 It is therefore fitting that in my present study the two genres have been brought together by means of comparison.
Bibliography MS Athens, National Library, 2061 Athens, National Library, 2062 Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Theol. Gr. 185
68
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Romanos Melodos, Cantica Dubia, ed. Paul Maas and C. A. Trypanis (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1970), p. 79. Cf. Gregoras, ‘Βυζαντινά καὶ Μεταβυζαντινά ᾽Εγκώμια’, 95; Chrysoloras, ‘Λόγος εἰς τὸν μέγαν Δημήτριον’, 350. John Mauropous, ‘Canones III’, in Francesco d’ Aiuto, ‘Tre canoni di Giovanni Mauropode in onore di santi militari’, Supplement 13 to Bollettino dei Classici (Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1994), pp. 120–37, at 120 and 104–6. Cf. Kavasilas, ‘Προσφώνημα εἰς τὸν ἔνδοξον τοῦ Χριστοῦ μεγαλομάρτυρα’, p. 113.
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Printed Sources Primary Angelatos, Phokas, ‘Κανόνες Ανέκδοτοι εις τον ΄Αγιον Δημήτριον’, Byzantina 13 (1985), 1371–476. Constantine Harmenopoulos, ‘Λόγος Ανέκδοτος Κωνσταντίνου Αρμενόπουλου εις την Πρoεόρτιoν Εoρτήν τoυ Aγίoυ Δημητρίου’, ed. Demetrius Gines, EEBS 21 (1951), 145–62. Demetrius Chrysoloras, ‘Toῦ λoγιωτάτoυ κυρoῦ Δημητρίου τoῦ Xρυσoλωρᾶ Λόγος εἰς τόν μέγαν Δημήτριον καὶ εἰς τά μύρα’, ed. Vassileios Laourdas, Gregorios Palamas 40 (1957), 342–53. Eustratiades, Sophronios, ‘῾Αγιολογικά. ῾Ο ῞Αγιος Δημήτριος ἐν τῇ ῾Υμνογραφίᾳ’, EEBS 11 (1935), 120–50. Gabriel of Thessalonica, ‘῾Ομιλίαι’, ed. Vassileios Laourdas, Athina 57 (1953), 142–73. Gregory Palamas, ‘Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὁμιλία εἰς τὸν ἐν ἁγίοις μεγαλομάρτυρα καὶ θαυματουργὸν καὶ μυροβλύτην Δημήτριον’, in Christian Friedrich Matthaei (ed.), Gregorii Thessalonicensis Orationes X (Moscow: Rudiger, 1776), pp. 44–60. John Anagnostes, De Extremo Thessalonicensi Excidio Narratio, ed. Barthold Georg Niebuhr, CHSB (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1838). John Mauropous, ‘Canones III’, in Francesco d’ Aiuto (ed.), ‘Tre canoni di Giovanni Mauropode in onore di santi militari’, Supplement 13 to Bollettino dei Classici (Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1994), pp. 120–37. Makarios Choumnos, ‘᾽Εγκώμιον εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Δημήτριον’, ed. Vassileios Laourdas, Gregorios Palamas 38 (1955), 347–9. Nikephoros Gregoras, ‘Βυζαντινά καὶ Μεταβυζαντινά ᾽Εγκώμια εἰς τὸν ῞Αγιον Δημήτριον’, ed. Vassileios Laourdas, Makedonika 4 (1955–60), 83–96. Nikolaos Kavasilas, ‘Προσφώνημα εἰς τὸν ἔνδοξον τοῦ Χριστοῦ μεγαλομάρτυρα Δημήτριον τὸν Μυροβλύτην’, in Theophilos Joannou (ed.), Mnemeia hagiologika (Venice: Typois Phoinikos, 1884), pp. 67–114. Pitra, Joannes Baptista, Analecta Sacra et Classica, 8 vols (Paris: Roger et Chernowitz; Rome: P. Cuggiani, 1876–91), p. vi. Romanos Melodos, Cantica Dubia, ed. Paul Maas and C. A. Trypanis (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1970). Symeon of Thessalonica, ‘De Sacro Templo et ejus Consecratione’, PG 155. 305–62. —, ‘Homilia Festalis in Sanctum Demetrium’, in David Balfour and Analekta Vlatadon (eds), St Symeon Archbishop of Thessalonica, ῎Εργα Θεολογικὰ (Thessalonica: Patriarchikon Idhrima Paterikon Meleton, 1981), pp. 185–94. —, ‘Διδασκαλία πρὸς τὸν εὐσεβῆ δεσπότην κυρὸν ᾽Ανδρόνικον’, in David Balfour (ed.), Politico-Historical Works (Vienna: Verl. d. Osterr. Akad. d. Wiss., 1979), pp. 78–82. —, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, ed. Ioannis Phountoules (Thessalonica: Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon, 1968).
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—, ‘Λόγος ἱστορικός (θαύματα ῾Αγίου Δημητρίου)’, in David Balfour (ed.), Politico-Historical Works (Vienna: Verl. d. Osterr. Akad. d. Wiss., 1979), pp. 39–69. Theodore Metochites, ‘Βυζαντινά καὶ Μεταβυζαντινά ᾽Εγκώμια εἰς τὸν ῞Αγιον Δημήτριον’, ed. Vassileios Laourdas, Makedonika 4 (1955–60), 56–82.
Secondary Duffy, John, ‘Embellishing the Steps: Elements of Presentation and Style in “The Heavenly Ladder” of John Climacus’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 53 (1999), 1–17. Hannick, Christian, ‘Thessalonique dans l’histoire de la musique écclesiastique byzantine’, in Η Θεσσαλονίκη µεταξύ Ανατολὴς και Δύσεως (Thessalonica: Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon, 1982), pp. 111–20. Harris, Simon, ‘The Byzantine Office of Genuflection’, Music and Letters 77 (1996), 333–47. —, ‘The Byzantine Responds for the Two Sundays before Christmas’, Music and Letters 74 (1993), 1–15. —, Medieval Greek Psalm-Singing (unpublished). Levy, Kenneth, ‘The Byzantine Communion-cycle and its Slavic Counterpart’, Actes du XIIe congrès internationale desétudes byzantines: Ochride 1961 (Belgrade: Naučno delo, 1964), pp. 571–4. —, ‘A Hymn for Thursday in Holy Week’, Journal of the American Musicological Society 16 (1963), 127–75. Pezopoulos, E. A., ‘Ποικίλα προσῳδιακὰ μέτρα ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησιαστικῇ ποιήσει’, EEBS 17 (1941), 286–97. Phountoules, Ioannes, ‘Ιδιορρυθμίες της Λειτουργικὴς Πράξεως της Θεσσαλονίκης κατά τις Αρχές του ΙΕ΄ αιώνος’, CTPE, 149–63. —, Τὸ Λειτουργικὸ ῎Εργο Συµεὼν τοῦ Θεσσαλονίκης (Συµβολὴ εἰς τὴν ῾Ιστορίαν καὶ Θεωρίαν τῆς Θείας Λατρείας) (Thessalonica: Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon, 1960). Stathes, Gregorios, ‘Η ασματικὴ διαφοροποίηση στον κώδικα ΕΒΕ 2548’, CTPE, 167–99. Strunk, Oliver, ‘The Byzantine Office at Hagia Sophia’, in Oliver Strunk (ed.), Essays on Music in the Byzantine World (New York: W. W. Norton, 1977), pp. 112–50. Taft, Robert F., ‘Christian Liturgical Psalmody: Origins, Development, Decomposition, Collapse’, in Psalms in Community: Jewish and Christian Textual, Liturgical and Artistic Tradition (New Haven, CT, 2002) (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2004), pp. 7–32. Touliatos-Banker, Diane, ‘The Byzantine Orthros’, Byzantina 9 (1977), 321–83. Wellesz, Egon, A History of Byzantine Music and Hymnography (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961).
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A Byzantine Hymn to St Demetrius as an Example of Civic Identity
The present chapter publishes a hymn to St Demetrius written by Philotheos Kokkinos. This is a figure who has not enjoyed a huge coverage in recent scholarship. This has been recognized by other scholars. For example, in his recent study on Philotheos Kokkinos, Norman Russell states that ‘it is surprising that the Patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos has not been the subject of a comprehensive study since the early 1930s’.1 Additionally, in a paper that should be noted for its discussion of hagiography more generally, Stephanos Efthymiadis states that a study on Nikephoros Gregoras, Philotheos of Selymbria and Philotheos Kokkinos by Martin Hinterberger is forthcoming.2 On St Demetrius, on the other hand, there has been more recent literature. An appraisal on recent scholarship is given in an essay concerning the sources and themes for the study of St Demetrius as well as in a new monograph on his late Medieval cult.3 On the developing topic of St Demetrius in the West, there have been three excellent studies, two on the warrior saints in general and one focusing on the impact of St Demetrius.4 Hymnographical studies on St Demetrius are not so recent but the most important have been conducted by 1
2
3
4
Norman Russell, ‘The Patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos and His Defence of Hesychasm’, in Eugenia Russell (ed.), Spirituality in Late Byzantium: Essays Presenting New Research by International Scholars (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009), pp. 21–31, where also bibliographical details. Stephanos Efthymiadis,‘New Developments in Hagiography: The Rediscovery of Byzantine Hagiography’, in Elizabeth Jeffreys (ed.), Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London 21–26 August 2006, vol. i, Plenary Papers, (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), pp. 157–71, at p. 163, note 18. Eugenia Russell, ‘Sources and Themes for the Study of the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages: The Case of St Demetrius’, Peer English: The Journal of New Critical Thinking 6, Department of English at the University of Leicester and the English Association (2011), 6–17; St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010). James B. MacGregor, ‘The Ministry of Gerold d’ Avranches: Warrior-saints and Knightly Piety on the Eve of the First Crusade’, Journal of Medieval History 29 (2003), 219–37; ‘Negotiating Knightly Piety: The Cult of the Warrior-Saints in the West, c.1070-c.1200’, Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 73 (2004), 317–45. For St Demetrius in Antioch see Elizabeth Lapina, ‘Demetrius of Thessaloniki: Patron Saint of Crusaders’, Viator 40.2 (2009), 93–112, where also full details on the early sources of the cult.
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Phokas Angelatos, Sophronios Eustratiades, Ioannis Phountoules and Giuseppe Schirò.5 Also Paul Lemerle’s Miracula, a well-known classic, should be mentioned here for the sake of completeness.6 Lemerle’s work refers to a much earlier period and does not directly impact on what we are discussing in this book.
The hymn Before the presentation of the hymn, the question of authorship should be noted. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, under the entry for Philotheos Kokkinos, takes the view that the hymns usually ascribed to Philotheos Kokkinos may be the work of an earlier and relatively unknown writer, Philotheos Sinaites.7 This should be noted as a possibility. Yet we know that Kokkinos took an active interest in the liturgical life of the church through various original sources. In MS. 2065 of the National Library of Athens 10 εὐχές (euches) of Kokkinos and 15 εὐχές (euches) of Symeon of Thessalonica are found together. They are preceded by the Constantinopolitan Euchologion, because their newly composed εὐχές (euches) were meant to replace more standard ones on special occasions.8 Additionally, we know that Kokkinos composed an entire akolouthia in honour of Gregory Palamas for the Second Sunday of Triodion (Lent).9 In any case, the hymn is a work of exceptional artistic inspiration, theological depth and literary beauty, and the question of its authorship does not diminish its literary value. A few descriptive comments will be offered as well, although they have no impact on the literary interest of the piece. The hymn survives in a unique, fourteenth-century manuscript preserved in the Bibliotheca Marciana in Venice, Cod. Marc. Gr. 582 (Coll. 926), 352v–353. The text is written in two columns in a fluent, confident and fairly regular style. According to Elpidio Mioni it is copied by six different hands.10 The space between the two columns at its narrowest is 5
6
7
8 9
10
Phokas Angelatos, ‘Κανόνες Ανέκδοτοι εις τον ΄Αγιον Δημήτριον’, Vyzantina 13 (1985), 1371– 476; Sophronios Eustratiades, ‘Αγιολογικά. Ο ΄Αγιος Δημήτριος εν τη Υμνογραφία’, EEBS 11 (1935), 120–50; Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, ed. Ioannis Phountoules (Thessalonica: Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon, 1968); Giuseppe Schirò, Analecta Hymnica Graeca e Codicibus Eruta Italiae Inferioris: II. Canones Octobris (Rome: Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon, 1979). Paul Lemerle, Les plus anciens recueils des miracles de Saint Démétrius et de la pénetration des Slaves dans les Balkans, 2 vols (Paris: Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifi que, 1979). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. P. Kazhdan, 3 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), iii. 1662. Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, p. ιδ΄. Philotheos Kokkinos, ᾽Ακολουθία τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις Πατρός ἡµῶν Γρηγορίου‚ ᾽Αρχιεπισκόπου Θεσσαλονίκης τοῦ Παλαµά (Athos and Piraeus: Ekdoseis Athos, 1978). See Elpidio Mioni, Codices Graeci manuscripti bibliothecae divi Marci Venetiarum, vol. 2 (Rome: Istituto poligrafi co dello Stato, 1985), pp. 499–501.
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about 10mm. Extended first letters, in capitals, form part of the acrostic and indicate the beginning of sections. The letter of the first stanza of each Verse does not form part of the acrostic. Thematically the first stanza is normally an introductory one, slightly separated from the rest of the Verse. The writing does not follow the ruling lines. A few endings of words are above the rest of the writing. There is some use of abbreviations and of sacred names, which are usually indicated by a long straight or a wavy line above the abbreviated word. Words in the end of a line are broken up without a hyphen. Some insertions and corrections are introduced by an insertion symbol. Pagination is to be found on the recto at the right side by a later hand. Use of breathings and accents is consistent and there is use of diaeresis over the letters iota and upsilon. Certain letterforms are drawn bigger than others, which helps create a beautiful visual effect. Throughout the text there are no signatures, just crosses in the end of sections. It is written in black ink throughout and there is no ornamentation. There is no colophon at the end. At the beginning of 352v there is the indication τοῦ αυ̑(̑ τοῦ) κανὼν. As far as the structure of the Canon is concerned, this is as follows. The text is divided in nine odes (ᾠδὲς, often called Verses in continental scholarship), each prefaced by ᾠδὴ α΄‚ γ΄‚ etc. For reasons to be explained below, ᾠδὴ β΄ is missing. All nine Verses have four stanzas that contain five lines each, except for the last Verse, which has five stanzas containing five lines. The final stanza of each Verse is a Theotokion, that is to say it is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The letter θ appears for each Theotokion on the margin. It is written on the left of each column of text on the recto and on the right on the verso. Punctuation is suggestive of new Verse. If no other punctuation is used, middle points show where Verses end. This is generally the case except after the penultimate Verse, where the middle point is sometimes left out. A cross marks the end of the first stanza each time. A colon marks the end of each of the remaining stanzas. This hymn displays elegance in form as well as in content. It is composed with musical qualities in mind, as rhythm plays a significant role in the technique employed in its construction. This is sensed in the reading of the hymn throughout, and can be quantified numerically. The numbers of syllables per Verse for each stanza of the individual Verses follow regular patterns: Verse 1: 7–8-7–7-8 throughout Verse 3: 5–11–16–7-6, except for first stanza: 5–11–17–7-6 Verse 4: 7–8-7–7-10 throughout Verse 5: 7–7-8–8-12 throughout Verse 6: 10–7-6–7-13, except the last stanza: 10–8-5–7-13
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Verse 7: 9–8-12–7-8, except first stanza: 9–8-6–12–9 Verse 8: 7–11–7-11–11, except third stanza: 7–10–7-11–11 Verse 9: 9–9-7–12–8 throughout With one exception, each Verse’s first Troparion or stanza refers to God or Jesus, the next two to St Demetrius and the last is a Theotokion which means it is the stanza that refers to the Virgin Mary. The exception is the Ninth Verse, which consists of five stanzas. The first is dedicated to the Virgin, the next three to St Demetrius and the last is the Theotokion. There is a reason for this departure from the pattern set by the other Verses. The Ninth Verse is a response to the Ninth Canticle, The prayer of Mary (Luke 1. 46–55), of which more will be said later in this chapter. The dedication of the first stanza to the Virgin enhances the resemblance to the Canticle. The three stanzas which are dedicated to St Demetrius form an extensive supplication by form of epilogue. In each of them the hymnographer asks the saint to remember those who honour him. Thematically, there are several strands in this hymn, which can be grouped into five general themes. The first group refers to the glory of St Demetrius, the second to his eros of Christ, the third to his teaching of the faith, the fourth to his martyrdom and the fifth to his role as a protector of his people. Additionally I would like to draw attention to the metaphorical sea tempest in the Theotokion of the Ninth verse with which the hymn concludes (Verse 9, Troparion 5). The parallel exploration of these thematic strands can be followed throughout the hymn. The text is given below, preserving the punctuation and diacritics of the original. Although these are often cleaned up, this author has made the editorial decision to bring something of the writing practices of the past to a wider audience and to a new generation of scholars by allowing them to be seen.
The text Marc.gr.582 (olim 926), ff. 352v–353 Canon to St Demetrius Acrostic: τῷ δεσπότῃ Δημητρίῳ θυηπόλος +τοῦ αὐ(τοῦ) κανὼν εἰς τ(ὸν) ἅγιον μεγαλομ(ά)ρ(τυρα) Δημήτριον˙ οὗ ἡ ἀκροστιχ(ὶς) τῷ δεσπότῃ Δημητρίῳ θϋηπόλος: ἦχ(ος) δ΄
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ᾠδ(ὴ) α΄. Οὐκ ἔστι σοι ὅμοιος. Δεδοξασμένε Κ(ύρι)ε. ἐν χειρὶ γὰρ κραταιᾷ.11 ἐλυτρώσω τὸν λαὸν‚ ὃν ἐκτήσω φιλάν(θρωπ)ε+ Τὸν μέγιστον μάρτυρα‚ καὶ μϋροβλύτην ἄπαντες. ὡς μαρτύρων κορυφὴν. ἐν ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ἐπαξίως ὑμνήσωμεν: ῾Ως κρίνον ὡς ῥόδον σε. τῶν ἀκανθῶν ἐδρέψατο. τῆς φατρίας τῶν ἐθν(ῶν). γεωργὸς12 ὁ τοῦ παντὸς ἀθλοφόρε Δημήτριε: Δεσπότην γεννήσασα. ὑπερφυῶς. Τῆς κτίσεως. βασιλὶς ὡς ἀληθῶς. χρηματίζεις καὶ βροτῶν. σωτηρία ὦ Δέσποινα: ᾠδ(ὴ) γ΄. Οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ κ(αὶ) δυνάμει καὶ πλούτῳ13 καυχώμεθα. ἀλλ ᾿ ἐν σοὶ τῇ τοῦ Π(ατ)ρ(ὸ)ς ἐνυποστάτῳ σοφίᾳ Χ(ριστ)έ˙ οὐ γάρ ἔστιν ἅγιος πλήν σου φιλάν(θρωπ)ε+ ᾽Ελύθης μάκαρ. τῆς δουλείας τῆς πρώτης γενέσεως. . τῷ λουτήρι τῷ σεπτῷ τῆς θείας ἀναγεννήσεως 14 11 12 13 14
Exodus 15.16: ‘by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone’. Exodus 15.17: ‘Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance’. I Samuel 2.9, The Prayer of Hannah: ‘for by strength shall no man prevail’. The ceremony of baptism. Cf. Titus 3.5: ‘By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost’.
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λουτρῷ δέ τοῦ αἵματος φίλος γεγένησαι: Σὲ σφοδρὸς ἔρως. τοῦ Χ(ριστο)ῦ πυρπολήσας Δημήτριε. τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ λαμπρὸν ἀνέδειξε κήρυκα. ἐθνῶν τε ἀπόστολον ἄλλον μακάριε: Παραμϋθία. τῶν ἐν λύπαις δειναῖς σὺ εἶ Δέσποινα. δια τοῦτο τὴν πικρὰν‚˙ τῆς ἀμαρτίας διάλυσον. ἐνέργειαν πᾶσαν μου τὴν λύπην λύγουσα: ᾠδ(ὴ) δ΄. Οὗτος ὁ Θ(εό)ς ἡμ(ῶν) ὁ ἐκ Παρθένου σαρκωθεὶς καὶ τὴν φύσιν θεώσας. ὅν ὑμνοῦντες βοῶμεν. δόξα τῇ δυνάμει σου Κ(ύρι)ε+ Οὗτος ὁ Θ(εό)ς ἡμῶν. οὐ λογισθήσεται οὐδείς.15 πρός αὐτὸν ἀνεβόα. τοῖς λαοῖς ἐκδιδάσκων ἕνα θεὸν σέβειν Δημήτριος: Τὴν σὴν πόλιν χαλεπῶν. μάρτυς κινδύνων ἐξελοῦ.16 ἣν ἐξήρπασας πάλαι. τοῦ τῆς πλάνης χειμῶνος.17 καὶ τοῦ κλυδωνίου18 μακάριε: ῏Ηλθεν ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς. 15
16 17
18
Habakkuk 3.6: ‘He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting’. Cf. Habakkuk 3.16: ‘I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble’. Cf. the description of winter in Habakkuk 3.17: ‘the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls’. Cf. the description of tempest in Habakkuk 3.14: ‘Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly’.
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τὸ περιβόλαιον ἐνδὺς. τῆς βροτείας οὐσΐας. ἐκ σαρκός σου οὐ πρέσβις. ἀλλ΄ αὐτὸς ὁ Κ(ύριο)ς Δέσποινα: ᾠδ(ὴ) ε΄. ῾Ο κτησάμενος ἡμᾶς περιούσιον λαόν τῷ αἵματί σου Κ(ύρι)ε. τὴν σὴν εἰρήνην19 δὸς ἡμῖν. ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ. Φυλλάτων τὴν ποίμνην σου+ Δημητρίου διδαχῇ. καὶ ἀφῇ τῇ τῶν χειρῶν τὰ πάθη ἐξηλαύνετο. φῦλον δὲ τὸ δαιμόνιον. τὴν προσβολὴν τῆς φωνῆς ἐδραπέτευεν: ῾Η σφοδρά σου πρὸς Χ(ριστὸ)ν. νεῦσις μάκαρ τῆς ψυχῆς‚ τὸ σχετικὸν διέρρηξε. τὸ πρὸς τὴν ὕλην τάχιστα. καὶ ζηλωτὴν ἀποστόλων εἰργάσατο: Μαρτυρίου ἡ σκηνή. προετύπου σε ποτέ. σκηνὴ τοῦ Λόγου Δέσποινα. ὁ δέ κλεινός Δημήτριος. τοῦ μαρτυρίου σε ἔσχεν ὑπόθεσιν: ᾠδ(ὴ) στ΄. ᾽Εν κήτει Χ(ριστ)ὲ τριημερεύσας.20 ᾽Ιωνᾶς προέγραψε. σὲ τὸν ἀθάνατον. ὡς νεκρὸν ἑκούσιον. ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῆς γῆς τρϊημερεύσαντα+
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Isaiah 26.12: ‘Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us’. Cf. Jonah 2. 3–10: The Prayer of Jonah.
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᾽Ηλλάξω Δημήτριε τὰ ὄντα. τῶν μὴ ὄντων ἄριστος οἷά της ἔμπορος. φθαρτοῦ πλούτου δόξης τε. τὸν μαργαρίτην Χ(ριστὸ)ν ἐμπορευσάμενος: Τῷ ζόφῳ συγκρύπτειν σου τοὺς λόγους. ὁ διώκτης ᾤετο τῷ τῆς καθείρξεως. ἀλλ᾽ ἀφραίνων ἤλεγκται. οὐ γὰρ δεσμεῖσθαι Θ(εο)ῦ ὁ Λόγος πέφυκεν: ῾Ρυσθῆναι θανάτου με Κυρία. ψυχικοῦ δυσώπησόν σου τ(ὸν) ἀθάνατον. καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ Κ(ύριο)ν. ὃν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἰδοῦσα πρώτη ἐκήρυξας: ᾠδ(ὴ) ζ΄. ῾Ο ἐν ἀρχ(ῇ) ἄναρχος Λόγος21 σὺν Π(ατ)ρὶ καὶ τῷ Πν(εύματ)ι Υἱὸς μονογενὴς.22 εὐλογητὸς εἶ καὶ ὑπερυψούμενος‚ ὁ Θ(εὸ)ς τῶν π(ατέ)ρων ἡμῶν+23 ʿΙερουργεῖν σοφὲ τὸ αἷμα.24 σοῦ Χ(ριστ)ῷ ἐπειγόμενος. ὡς προοίμιον λαμπρὸν προϋποβάλλεις. τὸν Νέστορα τρέποντα σαῖς εὐχαῖς τὸν ἀντίπαλον: ῞Ωσπερ ἐν σίμβλῳ τῇ φρουρᾷ σε. τὰ κηρία τοῦ μέλιτος. τὰς εὐχὰς καὶ διδαχὰς φιλοτεχνοῦντα. ταῖς λόγχαις φονεύουσι τῶν καλῶν οἱ ἀνέραστοι: 21 22 23
24
Cf. John 1.1. From the Creed. ‘Blessed art thou, O Lord God of our fathers: thy name is worthy to be praised and glorified for evermore’, in The prayer of Azariah (Apocryphal Daniel 3.28). Cf. Apocryphal Daniel 3.40: ‘burnt offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place to sacrifice before thee’.
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Θ(εὸ)ν τὸν ὅλων ἀμολύντως. Θ(εοτό)κε γεννήσασα˙ μολυσμοὺς τοὺς τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς μου. ὡς οἰκτίρμων κάθαρον καὶ κολάσεως ῥῦσαι με:˙ ᾠδ(ὴ) η΄. ῾Ο τὰ σύμπαντα φέρων. τῇ ἀπορρήτῳ σου δυνάμει Χ(ριστ)έ. τοὺς ὁσίους σου παῖδας‚25 ἐν τῇ φλογὶ ἐδρόσισας κράζοντας. εῦλογεῖτε τὰ ἔργα τὸν Κ(ύριο)ν+26 ῾Υπερσχών σὺ τὴν ὕλην. τῇ ἐκμιμήσει τοῦ Σ(ωτῆ)ρ(ο)ς Χ(ριστο)ῦ. τὴν πλευρὰν μὲν ἐνύγης. τὸ καθαρὸν δὲ σῶμα ἀλάβαστρον. θείων μύρων εἰργάσω Δημήτριε: ῾Η πληθὺς τῶν θαυμάτων. τῶν παλαιῶν καὶ προσφάτων τῶν σῶν. ὑπερβαίνει τοὺς ὕμνους. καὶ λογικοὺς ἀγῶνας Δημήτριε. τῇ δὲ πείρα πιστοῦσαι τὰ φθάσαντα: Προσκυνεῖται τὸ ξένον. τῆς σῆς λοχείας Θ(εοτό)κε ἁγνή. τῶν μαρτύρων τὸ αἷμα. ἐκρυὲν γὰρ τὴν πλάνην ἀπήλειψε. τοὺς χρησμοὺς δὲ τοὺς θείους ὑπέγραψεν: ᾠδ(ὴ) θ΄˙ Σέ τὴν ὑπερένδοξ(ον) νύμφην.: καὶ Παναγίαν Θ(εοτό)κον. τὴν τὸν κτίστην τεκοῦσαν. τῶν ὁρατῶν τε πάντων καὶ ἀοράτων‚ 25 26
The Three Young Men are seen as an allusion to the Holy Trinity. This is a summary of the Eighth Canticle from Daniel 3.52–6, whose usual refrain (second half of each verse) is ‘praise and exalt him above all for ever’.
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ἐν ὕμνοις μεγαλύνομεν+27 Οὗπερ τὸν Στ(αυ)ρὸν καὶ τὸ πάθος. μάκαρ ἀξίως ἐμιμήσω. νῦν τῆς δόξης28 μετέχων. καὶ τοῦ χοροῦ προλάμπων τοῦ τῶν μαρτύρων‚ τῶν σὲ τιμώντων μέμνησο: Λαὸς ὃν σοῖς πόνοις ἐκτήσω. καὶ τῇ σφαγῇ παρεστηκώς σοι. τὰς ἐνέδρας ἐκδύναι. τῶν ὁρατῶν τε μάρτυς καὶ ἀοράτων. ἐχθρῶν καθικετεύει σε: ʿΟ τοῦ θείου μύρου σε κρήνην. καὶ τῶν θαυμάτων ἀναδείξας. ἀθλοφόρε τῷ κόσμῳ. τοῖς σοῖς οἰκέταις ἵλεως καὶ φυλέταις. εὐχαῖς σου πᾶσι γένοιτο: Σὲ τὴν κιβωτὸν τὴν μεγάλην.29 τὴν διασώσασαν κόσμον. νοητοῦ κλυδωνίου˙ Κατακλυσμοῦ ῥυσθῆναι τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Παρθένε ἱκετεύομεν:+
The context To put Philotheos’s hymn into context, some general information on the form of the Byzantine Canon needs to be given. For more detailed information on this subject the reader may refer to standard music histories such as that by Egon Wellesz.30 The Canon is the most important poetical and musical form of the later Byzantine liturgy. Generally speaking the Canon was a hymn of praise that related the elated and jubilant feelings of its creator. Its subject could be that of a Feast of Christ or the Virgin Mary, the life or martyrdom of a Saint, etc. It displaced the earlier two poetical forms of the liturgy, which had flourished in the early centuries, that is the Troparion and the Kontakion. 27 28 29 30
Luke 1.46: ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord’ is the opening line of the Ninth Canticle. Cf. Romans 8.17: ‘if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together’. In Luke 1.72: ‘covenant’. Egon Wellesz, A History of Byzantine Music and Hymnography (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961).
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The Troparion was a short poem, prayerful in its tone, originally inserted after each Verse of a Psalm. The Troparion was introduced in the Offices of the Vespers (Esperinos) and Lauds (Orthros). During the fifth century the Troparia joined the Psalms and Canticles to form the main part of the service. Troparia were said, and sung only after the last three to six Verses of a Psalm. They had been initially ignored by the monastic circles, who stressed the importance of meditation and prayer over chanting. The Kontakion was a longer piece with didactic intent. Confusingly, the stanzas of the Kontakion are called Troparia and are connected by a sequence of the letters of the alphabet or by an acrostic. The date at which the Kontakion entered the Byzantine rite cannot be determined. The beginnings of the development of the Canon can be found towards the end of the seventh century.31 The advance of the Canon coincides with the aftermath of the iconoclastic controversy, an increased mysticism in liturgical practices and more elaborate adornment of the churches after its conclusion, and a subsequent flourishing of a more melismatic musical style. To explain what melismatic style is, it may be necessary to first define its opposite, syllabic, musical style. Before doing so, however, it may be worth clarifying that the word melisma where melismatic is derived from is distinct from the word Melismos, the latter referring to the physical representation of the sacrificial Christ Child in preparation for the Eucharist. When the style of a hymn is syllabic, a musical note is dedicated to each syllable of the text. In the more complex and fluid melismatic style, many notes correspond to every syllable of the text. Discussing the form further from a musical point of view, the one Heirmos (model stanza) followed musically by each Troparion of a Kontakion, becomes eight (or nine) Heirmi (model stanzas) in the Canon, a different one for each of its Odes/Verses, thus making the Canon much more complex melodically than the Kontakion.32 The complexity and variety seen in the music is also expressed by the poetry, as each Verse seeks to capture the same theological truth that unites the Canon thematically, in its own specific way. The ‘angle’ of each Verse is determined by its place in the Canon, that is its number (first, second, third etc.). That is because the content of the Canon follows or alludes to the Nine Canticles. The Canticles are songs or prayers found in the Scriptures that have been appended to the early Byzantine Psalter. As late as the fifth century the Canticles used in the liturgy were 14 in number, to be reduced to 9 soon after. The reason why the Canon consisted of Nine Verses is because it was meant to resemble in number and character each of the Nine Canticles. 31 32
Wellesz, History of Byzantine Music, pp. 171–97. Wellesz, History of Byzantine Music, pp. 198–245.
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Each Verse consisted of three or four Troparia. In form, the Verse resembled a short Kontakion. In content, each Verse resembled a Canticle. The nine Canticles are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
The Song of Moses (Exodus 15.1–19) The Song of Moses before his death (Deuteronomy 32.1–43) The Prayer of Hannah (I Samuel 2.1–10) The prayer of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3.2–19) The prayer of Isaiah (Isaiah 26.9–19) The prayer of Jonah (Jonah 2.3–10) a) The prayer of Azariah (Apocryphal Daniel 3.26–45) b) The Song of the Three Children (Apocryphal Daniel 3.52–6) 8. The Song of the Three Children (ending) (Apocryphal Daniel 3.57–88) 9. a) The prayer of Mary (Luke 1.46–55) b) The prayer of Zacharias (Luke 1.68–79) The items that in the list above are marked a. and b., corresponding to the seventh and Ninth Verse, give to the hymnographer alternative Canticles from which to choose as prototypes for his respective Verses. As mentioned before, the Verses of a Canon were originally nine, after the nine Canticles. No sure explanation can be given of the reason why the second Verse of the Canon has been dropped. The Second Canticle (‘Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth’), uttered by Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy before his death, is a powerful song, and its inclusion may be related to the fact that the Canon was a poetical form first used during Lent. With its raw and gloomy mood the Second Canticle was well suited to the Lenten period. But maybe because of its intense bearing, or perhaps because of its length (it is by far the longest Canticle) it became standard practice to leave the Verse that corresponded to the Second Canticle out of any Canons composed for a festival outside Lent. Though all Verses have a similar length that does not depend on the length of the original Canticles, it probably became poetically difficult to reduce the substance of the Second Canticle to the standard length of three or four or so Verses. The resemblance to the Canticles, though, and the rich references to them demanded that the numbers of the Verses corresponding to each Canticle remained intact, that is to say that the first Verse is linked to the First Canticle, the second to the second and so on. That meant that when the second Verse was missing, the hymnographer would have written a first and then a third Verse, and then carried on with the fourth, etc. Each Verse followed an Heirmos (or Heirmus), that is a musical blueprint taken from another Verse. Heirmoi could
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be found in a large liturgical book called the Heirmologion, something like an index. The Heirmologion contained the first stanza of blueprint Canons. The Heirmi of the Canons must have been different to the ones of the Kontakia, as there are big stylistic differences between the two forms. These differences would have had to be reflected in the musical models (Heirmi) used by the hymnographers. The Heirmi of the Kontakia were mainly syllabic, which means as said above that for each syllable of the lyrics there would be a musical note. The Heirmi of the Canons were melismatic, so a group of two, three, four or more notes would have corresponded to one syllable. According to Wellesz, the development of the music and the intensifying prominence it assumed during the years dominated by the Canon suggests that the stock of Heirmi used for the composition of Canons must have been changed quite early on.33 With its complex references to a specific text (that of the Canticle it resembles), each Verse of a Canon offers scope for poetical and theological analysis. As a form the Canon displays the capacity of the Byzantine hymnographers to be constantly reinventing and redefining their relationship to the text they and their predecessors were referring to. The definition of this relationship has to be understood at many levels, whether doctrinal, aesthetic, emotional etc. It may be a useful tool in our attempt to draw together all the different parameters that inspired and guided the creators of the hymns. The Canon, with its great aptitude for variation, modification and adaptation, is almost like a metaphor for Byzantine devotion. The form offers another example of renewed creativity that was characteristic of the ideological make-up of late Byzantium.
Bibliography MS Venice, Marciana Library, Gr. 582
Printed sources Primary Angelatos, Phokas, ‘Κανόνες Ανέκδοτοι εις τον ΄Αγιον Δημήτριον’, Vyzantina 13 (1985), 1371–476. Eustratiades, Sophronios, ‘Αγιολογικά. Ο ΄Αγιος Δημήτριος εν τη Υμνογραφία’, EEBS 11 (1935), 120–50. 33
Wellesz, History of Byzantine Music, p. 202.
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Giuseppe Schirò, Analecta Hymnica Graeca e Codicibus Eruta Italiae Inferioris: II. Canones Octobris (Rome: Istituto di studi bizantini e neoellenici, Università di Roma, 1979). Lemerle, Paul, Les plus anciens recueils des miracles de Saint Démétrius et de la pénetration des Slaves dans les Balkans, 2 vols (Paris: Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1979 and 1981). Mioni, Elpidio, Codices Graeci manuscripti bibliothecae divi Marci Venetiarum, vol. 2 (Rome: Istituto poligrafico dello Stato, 1985). Philotheos, Kokkinos, ᾽Ακολουθία τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις Πατρός ἡµῶν Γρηγορίου‚ ᾽Αρχιεπισκόπου Θεσσαλονίκης τοῦ Παλαµά (Athos and Piraeus: Ekdoseis Athos, 1978). Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, ed. Ioannis Phountoules (Thessalonica: Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon, 1968).
Secondary Efthymiadis, Stephanos, ‘New Developments in Hagiography: The Rediscovery of Byzantine Hagiography’, Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London 21–26 August 2006, vol. i, Plenary Papers, (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), pp. 157–71. Lapina, Elizabeth, ‘Demetrius of Thessaloniki: Patron Saint of Crusaders’, Viator 40.2 (2009), 93–112. MacGregor, James B., ‘The Ministry of Gerold d’ Avranches: Warrior-Saints and Knightly Piety on the Eve of the First Crusade’, Journal of Medieval History 29 (2003), 219–37. —, ‘Negotiating Knightly Piety: The Cult of the Warrior-Saints in the West, c.1070-c.1200’, Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 73 (2004), 317–45. Russell, Eugenia, ‘Sources and Themes for the Study of the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages: The Case of St Demetrius’, Peer English: The Journal of New Critical Thinking 6, Department of English at the University of Leicester and the English Association (2011), 6–17. —, St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010). Russell, Norman, ‘The Patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos and His Defence of Hesychasm’, in Eugenia Russell (ed.), Spirituality in Late Byzantium: Essays Presenting New Research by International Scholars (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2009), pp. 21–31. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. P. Kazhdan, 3 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), iii. 1662. Wellesz, Egon, A History of Byzantine Music and Hymnography (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961).
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Andronikos Kallistos: An Intellectual Biography of an Émigré from Thessalonica1 The voice of exile: Andronikos Kallistos’s death in London (1476) and his monody ‘φίλων ἔρημος τέθνηκε’ [[Kallistos] died bereft of friends] Constantine Laskaris to Giovanni Pardo, in Giovanni Iriarte, Regiae Bibliothecae Matritensis Codices Graeci Mss (Madrid, 1769), p. 291
Erasmus once said that ‘the fall of Rome was not the fall of the city but of the world’.2 I am going to use this idea to express how Andronikos Kallistos felt about the fall of Constantinople, the so-called New Rome. Yet while Erasmus in his letter was referring to the sack of Rome by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1527, Kallistos’s text, his Monody for the Fall of Constantinople written soon after 1453, is talking of ancient Rome and the sack of 410 ad by Alaric I of the Visigoths. Kallistos saw in the event no hope for recovery [µηδέ ἐλπίζειν ἀναστήσεσθαι πάλιν].3 Like John Anagnostes did in his Monody for the Fall of Thessalonica written soon after 1430,4 Kallistos describes how the stories, the legends and the proverbs of Constantinople would now be silenced by its new reality. He compares Constantinople to the iconic fallen cities of Troy, Jerusalem, Babylon and Rome by way of contrast: he sees failings in them and 1
2
3
4
Paul Botley, Michel De Dobbeleer and Jozef Matula have read an early version of this chapter for which I thank them. A. M. Woodward, ‘Greek History at the Renaissance’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 63 (1943), 1–14, at 12. Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία κῦρ ᾽Ανδρονίκου τοῦ Καλλίστου ἐπὶ τῇ δυστυχεῖ Κωνσταντινουπόλει’, in S. Lambros (ed.), ‘Μονῳδίαι καὶ θρῆνοι ἐπὶ τῇ ἁλώσει τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως’, Neos Ellinomnemon 5 (1908), pp. 109–269, at 217; also edited by Pertusi in part: Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία ἐπὶ τῇ δυστυχεῖ Κωνσταντινουπόλει’, in Agostino Pertusi (ed.), La caduta di Constantinopoli l’ eco nel mondo [Caduta, II] (Verona: Mondadori, 1976), pp. 353– 63; for comments on the Monody see Nicol, The Immortal Emperor, pp. 97–8; Margaret Alexiou, The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition (2nd edn, Lanham, Boulder, New York, Oxford, 2002), p. 86. John Anagnostes, Pro Viribus Acta Monodia, ed. Barthold Georg Niebuhr, CHSB (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1838).
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purity in his city.5 Furthermore, the heritage of Constantinople as New Rome or as the daughter of Rome, to use his expression, is prominent. Yet in Kallistos’s text there is no political agenda, as for example was the case with the Catholic Manuel Chrysoloras, who saw a collaboration of the Old and the New Rome as urgent and expedient, and promoted this view in his writings.6 It is worth mentioning here that although the monodies by Kallistos and Anagnostes are very poetic, they are prose writings, as opposed to works of lament written in Verse, of which examples exist in both Byzantine and post-Byzantine literature. Apart from praising Constantinople as a great centre of prosperity and learning, Kallistos also shows a more intimate relationship with it. He brings into his Monody the metaphor of the city as a woman, calling her both a common homeland and a nurse [κοινὴν πατρίδα τε καί τροφὸν]. This brings to mind the tender relationship between the children of aristocratic families and their carers, a mark of the author’s background. He invites those of his fellow-countrymen who can feel their suffering to come forth. That is because, as he explains elsewhere in his Monody, in times of such pain the soul hides as if in a grave, and the body acts as if it is senseless [οἷον ἀναίσθητον δρᾷ τὸ σῶµα].7 He would like his fellow-countrymen to come together as a chorus [ξυναυλίαν ὀδυρώµεθα – that is ‘to bring our voices together in lamentation’] in order to express the magnitude of the calamity. He invites the whole world, by naming the nations, and including every island, country and continent, to join him in his lament. He also remarks that in observing how the beauty and comeliness of the city had been eroded after the fall, even the enemy, the bitter tyrrant [πικρὸν δυνάστην], as he says, would be saddened. He suggests, that it is because often [in Greek: πολλάκις] the extremity of the misfortune moves to compassion even the most hostile of dispositions [τῆς δυστυχίας ὑπερβολὴ πρὸς οἶκτον …κινεῖν…].8 Like many other Greek émigrés, Andronikos Kallistos chose self-imposed exile after the fall of Byzantium. The decision to leave the conquered city of Constantinople can be seen in his Monody where he likens the city with a human being or a tree. He says that to a city its government [ἀρχή] is like the head of a person or the root of a tree. Once the head or the root is violently removed, the essence of the thing itself fails, so the person or the tree dies, and so does
5 6
7 8
Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία’, p. 217. Robert Henry Robins, The Byzantine Grammarians: Their Place in History (Berlin and New York, 1993), p. 237. Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία’, pp. 217 and 204. Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία’, pp. 217–18.
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the city.9 This view makes it clear to us why he left Byzantium. Put another way, he saw Constantinople as the ‘teacher of every science’ [ἐπιστήµης ἁπάσης διδάσκαλος] and he felt that the fall of Constantinople meant the defeat of reason: [λόγον νικώµενον ἀλογίᾳ καὶ ἰλίγγου πάντα καὶ ζάλης µεστὰ καὶ κατακλυσµὸν ἀληθῶς ἐφιστάµενον ταῖς ψυχαῖς: with reason having been defeated, everything is filled with irrationality and dizziness, and truly there is a flood in the souls].10 His career should be seen in the light of this foundamental loss. His state of mind is this of a man who is bereaved. Andronikos Kallistos is not to be confused with his more obscure contemporary, the scholar Andronikos Kontovlakas, who taught in Basle. The two men reached Italy approximately at the same time, it being the first port of call for Byzantine refugees. The confusion may be partly due to the fact that they both spent some time with Bessarion in Rome and they were both sometimes referred to only by their first name.11 Andronikos Kallistos and Andronikos Kontovlakas had illustrious pupils. Kontovlakas taught a personality no less than the towering radical scholar of Greek and Hebrew, Johannes Reuchlin.12 Among the many impressive aspects of his legacy, Reuchlin was an advocate of the modern Greek pronunciation, due to the influence of his teacher Kontovlakas. He introduced it into Germany at the same time when Erasmus was working on his own theory of pronunciation, outlined in the curious Dialogue between the Lion and the Bear. In the dialogue, the lion comes to the bear looking for a teacher for his cub. A conversation about Greek and Latin develops as it often does between lions and bears. The bear is believed to represent the views of Erasmus. As a result of Reuchlin’s position, even today, the modern Greek pronunciation is sometimes called Reuchlinian, to honour the pioneering scholar. Reuchlin’s level of industry meant that he also produced a Greek grammar of his own, called Mikropaideia, which unfortunately has been lost. Armed with his grammar, he soon embarked on the teaching of the Greek language himself. The Greek teaching of Reuchlin and his method of pronunciation found a follower in his pupil and great nephew Philip Melanchthon, who went on to become a trusted friend and assistant of Martin Luther. These are the results of the teaching of Kontovlakas in Basle. On the other hand Kallistos taught the lavish literary
9 10 11 12
Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία’, p. 217. Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία’, p. 203. Jonathan Harris, Greek Émigrés in the West, 1400–1520 (Camberley: Porphyrogenitus, 1995), p. 128. For the pioneering nature of his Greek and Hebrew scholarship, Reuchlin’s work has been likened to the earlier scholarship of Roger Bacon. See S. A. Hirsch, The Jewish Quarterly Review 12 (1899), pp. 34–88. Reuchlin’s Hebrew teacher was Jacob Ben Jehiel Loans.
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critic, translator and author Angelo Poliziano, who also went on to become an enthusiastic teacher of Greek. Apart from Poliziano, who was probably the most famous of his tutees, Kallistos may have also taught the pioneering English humanist William Tilly or, as he is better known, Sellyng, mostly remembered as the prior of Christchurch, Canterbury. Additionally, Sellyng was taught by Kallistos’s pupil, Poliziano himself.13 Sellyng, one of the translators of the works of Galen into English, was the first to teach Greek publicly in England in that period. Together with the physician and scholar Thomas Linacre and his close friend William Grocyn, Sellyng was pivotal for the establishment of Greek Studies in his homeland. Their work led Erasmus to say that it was no longer necessary to cross the Alps in order to learn Greek.14 As well as Poliziano and Sellyng, Kallistos may also have taught John Free, an older contemporary of Sellyng who acquired his Greek in Italy. Kallistos is said to have been friendly with him. In fact, Ingram Bywater believed that Kallistos was ‘known to most of the travelled English of the time either personally or by reputation’.15 Kallistos also probably taught Antonio de Lebrija, from Spain, who was to become a precursor of Erasmus in his work on the pronunciation of Greek, a credit that he can claim jointly with Cardinal Girolamo Aliandro and the printer of Greek texts Aldus Manutius. It has to be stressed that from the three, Antonio was the earlier exponent. Antonio de Lebrija was known outside Spain mainly by the name of Antonius Nebrissensis. His radical views on education and on the treatment of primary sources led to the loss of his professorship at the University of Salamanca. It took the mediation of religious leadership for him to be offered a job at the University of Alcala instead, where he remained until his death. Antonio advanced the theory of linguistics. He was the first scholar to state explicitly that ‘the rules of syntactic agreement … were common in all languages’.16 Furthermore, his Gramática de la lengua castellana, published in 1492 is the first published Grammar of any Romance language. That is the period when Castilian was emerging as the official language of Spain, replacing Latin.17 13 14
15 16
17
Ingram Bywater, Four Centuries of Greek Learning in England (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1919), p. 7. Bywater, Four Centuries of Greek Learning, p. 10. The more known Greek scholars and associates of Erasmus, John Colet, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, and Sir Thomas More, who collaborated with Erasmus on a Latin translation of the works of Lucian published in Paris in 1506, both benefited from the results of the pioneering work of the three men to establish Greek studies in England. Bywater, Four Centuries of Greek Learning, p. 8. The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100–1600, ed. Norman Kretzmann, Anthony Kenny, Anthony John Patrick Kenny and Jan Pinborg, Eleonore Stump (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), p. 813. Roberto Weiss, Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century (2nd edn, Oxford: Blackwell, 1957), p. 154; Ingram Bywater, The Erasmian Pronunciation of Greek and Its Precursors: Jerome Aleander, Aldus Manutius, Antonio of Lebrixa (London: Henry Frowde, 1908), pp. 13–18; Harris, Greek Émigrés, pp. 134 and 147–9.
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Kallistos may also have taught the Italian philologist Giorgio Valla in Pavia. In addition, Valla had had lessons with Constantine Laskaris in Milan up until 1465, and he translated Archimedes, Euclid and Ptolemy.18 He taught in both Pavia and Milan between 1471–84.19 He is to be distinguished from Laurentius or Lorenzo Valla who most famously, if controversially, translated Thucydides.20 Certain manuscripts which Kallistos copied have Giorgio Valla’s name appear on them, a fact which confirms the link between the two men.21 The Milanese scholar Baltasar Meliavacca had also probably been among the pupils of Kallistos during the brief Milan period. Meliavacca may also have been taught by Kallistos’s friend Francesco Filelfo.22 Such was the calibre of the pupils of Kallistos. It is no wonder then that ‘his contemporaries regarded him as almost equal of Theodore Gazes’, as it has been stressed previously by the classicist Ingram Bywater.23 Even more pronounced is a colourful comment by the Italian humanist Nicolò Sagundino who claimed that if there were ten of Gazes and ten of Kallistos in Troy, the city would not have fallen . . . In his remark he reversed the comment of Agamemnon in the second book of the Iliad, where the chieftain says about Nestor that were he to have ten counsellors like the old king, he would have no difficulty in taking Troy. The praise came in response to Nestor’s suggestion for the rearrangement of the army in clans and tribes.24 Despite the great admiration surrounding his person, while his namesake Kontovlakas managed to settle into a relatively secure and quiet existence, Kallistos’s life was constantly agitated by the lack of prospects and dissatisfaction. In spite of all this though, at least three of the pupils of Andronikos Kallistos, these being Angelo Poliziano, Antonio de Lebrija and William Sellyng, played a major role in proto-humanist movements, and acted as catalysts for the dissemination of culture and the reformation of education in their respective countries. Universities in England, Italy and Spain have enjoyed the fruits of their labour ever since. Any admirer of the scholarship of Andronikos Kallistos will have the words of his friend Constantine Laskaris (Constantinople 1434–Messina 1501) ringing in their ears: ‘the meanness of the rulers (…) forced (…) Andronikos 18
19 20
21
22
23 24
For Giorgio Valla’s Galen see Stefania Fortuna, ‘Galen’s De Constitutione Artis Medicae in the Renaissance’, The Classical Quarterly 43 (1993), 302–19, at 308. Aubrey Diller, ‘Petrarch’s Greek Codex of Plato’, Classical Philology 59 (1964), 270–72, at 271. R. I. Wilfred Westgate, ‘The Text of Valla’s Translation of Thucydides’, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 67 (1936), 240–51; J. U. Powell, ‘The Papyri of Thucydides and the Translation of Laurentius Valla’, The Classical Quarterly 23 (1929), 11–14. Monica Centanni, La biblioteca di Andronico Callisto. Primo inventario di manoscritti greci (Padua: Societa cooperativa tipografi ca, 1986). Robert B. Todd,‘Baltasar Meliavacca, Andronicus Callistus and the Greek Aristotelian Commentators in Fifteenth-Century Italy’, Italia Mediovale E Umanistica 37 (1994), 67–75, at 73. Bywater, Four Centuries of Greek Learning, p. 8. Cammelli, ‘Andronico Callisto’, 20; cf. Iliad 2.372.
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Kallistos into the British Isles, where he died bereft of friends’ [φίλων ἔρηµος τέθνηκε].25 By the rulers Laskaris meant the patrons of Greek letters in Italy, where Kallistos did not manage to carve a satisfactory enough life for himself after the fall of Constantinople. Constantine Laskaris in the same breath makes mention of the sad conclusions of the lives of other fine Byzantine scholars, in death or poverty or unrelenting old age. Alongside Kallistos he reflects on the misfortunes of Theodore Gazes, Franculios Servopoulos, Demetrius Kastrenos and John Argyropoulos. This was written as a letter to his friend Giovanni Pardo, from Messina, where Constantine Laskaris ended his days. A close associate and probably a relative of Andronikos Kallistos, the formidable humanist Theodore Gazes, whom Constantine Laskaris considers to have arrived at the highest level of wisdom, is said in the letter to have been forced to go to Polycastro of Calabria by the severity of circumstances where he died ‘without glory’. Like many scholars of his day, Gazes had a sad death but a lasting legacy. He was the author of the four-volume Greek Grammar, published posthumously in Venice in 1495. This became the standard textbook for Greek and was subsequently praised and partially translated by Erasmus in 1521. The Grammar of Theodore Gazes was more advanced than the one by Manuel Chrysoloras which preceeded it. It did not follow Chrysoloras’s format of Question and Answer but was developed in paragraphs dedicated to thematic sections. Yet all Grammars written in this period are marked by their awareness of having to be applied in the context of non-Greek learners. This meant that they could not be discoursive and theoretical to the extent earlier Byzantine Grammars were, and especially to the extent of that of Maximus Planudes, to which they all owe a debt. Teaching practice and not linguistics was their direct aim. The Grammars of Gazes and Laskaris had the added advantage of being suitable for beginners as well as more advanced learners. Laskaris expressly dedicated his Grammar to his Italian patron’s daughter, while his typesetter Demetrius Damilas dedicated his edition to two students of Greek, while praising them for their desire to learn.26 Going back to the letter of Laskaris, the Phanariot John Argyropoulos whom Laskaris fondly calls his wise professor [τὸν σοφὸν ἐµὸν καθηγητὴν], is 25
26
Giovanni Iriarte, Regiae Bibliothecae Matritensis Codices Graeci Mss (Madrid: E typographia Antonii Perez de Soto, 1769), p. 291. R. H. Robins, The Byzantine Grammarians, Their Place in History (Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1993), p. 254; Harris, Greek Émigrés, p. 123; Constantine Laskaris, Greek Grammar (Amsterdam: A.M. Hakkert, 1966), preface. On this subject in general see Paul Botley, Learning in Western Europe, 1396– 1529: Grammars, Lexica and Classroom Texts, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 100, Part 2 (Darby, Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society, 2010); some discussion of scribes and émigrés from a different angle can be found in Eva Nyström, Containing Multitudes. Codex Upsaliensis Graecus 8 in Perspective (Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, 2009).
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described as facing penury in the middle of Rome and having to part with his books as a result. Argyropoulos taught Laskaris back in Constantinople. From other sources we know that Andronikos Kallistos also had to sell his library in Milan in 1475. So when he came to London the following year he had very few books to accompany him.27 Another scholar by the name of Demetrius is reported by Laskaris in a sad tone. He is said to have had to return home to serve the barbarians, as Laskaris calls them. In Italy at the time ‘Demetrius’ was the customary name of Demetrius Chalkokondyles among learned circles but this Demetrius has been rightly identified as the much less-known scholar Demetrius Kastrenos. According to the pioneering Italian humanist Francesco Filelfo, who studied under John Chrysoloras in Constantinople, Kastrenos ‘was nurtured in the sweet milk of wisdom’. That is the high esteem in which he was held. It is known that unlike Kastrenos, Demetrius Chalkokondyles never went back to the occupied Byzantine lands to serve the Ottoman masters. Many others did, including for example Manuel, the younger brother of Andreas Palaiologos, the latter being the last claimant to the imperial throne.28 The diplomat Franculios Servopoulos, not to be confused with the scribe John Servopoulos, completes the number of people included in Laskaris’s account and is referred to as ‘wise’. This is all we know about Franculios as a man of letters. His whereabouts in Italy were unknown to Laskaris, which fact he presents as another sign of misfortune and of the fall from prominence of Byzantine personalities. The impressive array of individuals discussed by Laskaris shows therefore this brief reference to Andronikos Kallistos to be placing him among some of the finest scholars of his day. It is a comment filled with sorrow and anger at the injustice of human affairs, and it serves as fitting praise and an epitaph to him. This is the only direct testimony to Kallistos’s death that we have. Andronikos Kallistos was not the only Byzantine trying to succeed in England, although he was probably one of the most unlucky. A scribe known as Emanuel of Constantinople seemed to have had a comfortable existence in Oxford, copying manuscripts for the Archbishop George Neville, another pioneering patron of Greek letters at the time. Emanuel of Constantinople was the scribe of the famous Leicester Codex of the New Testament. Emanuel was 27
28
The buyer was Gian Francesco de la Torre with Bonaccorso Pisano. See Todd, ‘Baltasar Meliavacca, Andronicus Callistus’, p. 72; E. Legrand, Bibliographie Hellénique, vol. 1 (Paris, 1885: Leroux, repr. Brussels: Culture et civilization, 1963), liv–lv; G. Cammelli, ‘Andronico Callisto’, La Rinascita 5 (1942), 104–21 and 174–214, at 206–7; Paul Botley, ‘The Books of Andronicus Callistus, 1475–76’ (Abstract, publication forthcoming) www.princeton.edu/~hellenic/renaissanceconferenceabstracts. html (accessed 30 July 2011). Harris, Greek Émigrés, pp. 113–14; Jonathan Harris, ‘A Worthless Prince? Andreas Palaeologus in Rome – 1464–1502’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 61 (1995), 537–54, at 540.
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known to William Waynflete, founder of Magdalen College, Oxford. Thomas Grocyn, mentioned earlier for his part in laying the foundations of Greek humanism in England, possessed many of Emanuel’s copied manuscripts. Grocyn probably taught Greek and the humanities at Oxford and London and may have used the manuscripts in his teaching.29 The scholar George Hermonymos of Sparta, a friend of Kallistos, initially came to England on a diplomatic mission. He tried to establish himself in London but he had many misadventures including his own arrest. He was freed with the help of Kallistos and he left the country for Paris in the first opportunity, where he made his reputation as a teacher of Greek letters. There, he had Erasmus and Reuchlin among his pupils who had opposing views regarding his abilities and his character. Erasmus really had a very low opinion of Hermonymos as a man and as a scholar, while Reuchlin showed him long-term loyalty.30 A third Byzantine scholar in London, Demetrius Kantakouzenos had some success in securing work here copying excerpts of Herodotus in 1475, a year before the arrival of Andronikos Kallistos. It is likely that Demetrius Kantakouzenos would have known Kallistos and Hermonymos.31 Another Byzantine, John Servopoulos, had a long career residing in Reading Abbey after a few good years at Oxford. From Reading he copied a large amount of Greek manuscripts, many of which survive. The humanists Thomas Linacre and William Grocyn both seemed to know John Servopoulos. Regarding the manuscripts he copied, the ghost-story writer and scholar M. R. James commented on Servopoulos’s unmistakable and ugly hand-writing, which he joked that he used as a method for tracing the manuscripts that Servopoulos had produced.32 Thanks to him the volume of the manuscripts copied by John Servopoulos is known and it shows that there must have been considerable interest in Greek letters to support it. We know that one of the works that he reproduced many times was the Grammar of Theodore Gazes. This may indicate that there was enough desire for learning Greek in England to dictate such industry.33 This interest for Greek letters was strong in Oxford and Canterbury due to the patronage of George Neville, whose love of Greek was a motivating factor for the promotion of the discipline in England
29 30
31 32
33
Cox Wright, ‘Continuity in XV Century English Humanism’, pp. 370 and 376. Maria Kalatzi, ‘Georgios Hermonymos, A Greek Scribe and Teacher in Paris’, in Godfried Croenen and Peter Ainsworth (ed.), Patrons, Authors and Workshops: Books and Book Production in Paris Around 1400 (Leuven: Peeters, 2006), pp. 355–66, at pp. 360–3. Harris, Greek Émigrés, pp. 36, 146; Weiss, Humanism in England, pp. 141–8. M. R. James, Abbeys (London, 1925); www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/reading_abbey_library. html (accessed 30 July 2011). Harris, Greek Émigrés, pp. 147–8.
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and who is believed to have commissioned Greek manuscripts, which both gave work to individuals and promoted the knowledge of Greek.34 The activities of Greek scholars in London and Reading have been already mentioned. There is also a record of a Greek in Norwich who was responsible for a translation of a Greek romance into English.35 Furthermore, it is documented that the Bishop of Durham John Shirwood had a Greek library. Another Greek library was enjoyed by the well-known pioneer of Greek, William Sellyng, mentioned at the beginning of this chapter.36 The six Byzantine scholars in the Laskaris passage were in England in an academic capacity. However, the field of activity of Byzantines in England is much broader. John Argyropoulos, appears to have come to England on a diplomatic trip, as does the ambassador Franculios Servopoulos. Similarly, during their respective visits to various parts of England, there is no evidence of scholarly activity undertaken neither by Manuel Chrysoloras nor by the Cretan scholar of the Franciscan Order Peter Philarges or Peter of Candia, the later Pope Alexander V, who from an early age had been renowned for his equal mastery of Greek and Latin. Certainly Chrysoloras is documented to have come to London during his visit to the country.37 Close cultural links with England were already cultivated as early as the thirteenth century, when there is evidence of Greeks from Southern Italy coming to England and being involved in teaching and translation projects at the request of the Aristotelian scholar Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln.
34
35 36
37
For George Neville see Harris, Greek Émigrés, pp. 136–46; Weiss, Humanism in England, pp. 141–8; Jonathan Harris, ‘Greek Scribes in England: The Evidence of Episcopal Registers’, in R. Cormack and E. Jeffreys (ed.), Through the Looking Glass: Byzantium through British Eyes (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000), pp. 121–6, at p. 125. Harris, Greek Émigrés, p. 135. Harris, Greek Émigrés, p. 148; Cox Wright, ‘Continuity in XV Century English Humanism’, 374; for more about developments in England see Rosemary Masek, ‘The Humanistic Interests of the Early Tudor Episcopate’, Church History 39 (1970), 5–17; Roberto Weiss, ‘New Light on Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 14 (1951), 21–3; Pearl Kibre, ‘The Intellectual Interests Reflected in Libraries of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries’, Journal of the History of Ideas 7 (1946), 257–97 (deals with libraries in Italy but refers to some English scholars); Walter F. Shrimer, Der Englische Frühumanismus (Leipzig, 1931; revised 1963); Jonathan Harris, ‘Publicising the Crusade: English Bishops and the Jubilee Indulgence of 1455’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History 50 (1999), 23–37. Harris, Greek Émigrés, p. 134; H. L. Gray, ‘Greek Visitors in England in 1455–6’, Anniversary Essays in Medieval History by Students of Charles Homer Haskins, ed. C. H. Taylor (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1929), 81–116, at 86; on Peter Philarges see also Kenneth M. Setton, ‘The Byzantine Background to the Italian Renaissance’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 100 (1956), 1–76, at 58; Nikolaos M. Panagiotakes, ‘The Italian Background of Early Cretan Literature’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 49, Symposium on Byzantium and the Italians, 13th–15th Centuries (1995), 281–323, at 291. Roberto Weiss believes that Philarges taught in Oxford in 1370. See Roberto Weiss, Medieval and Humanist Greek, Collected Essays (Padua: Antenore, 1977), p. 10.
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We know the names of two of those Greeks: Nicholas ‘Grecus’ and Robertus ‘Grecus’. The former went on to become Canon of Lincoln. In turn, Grosseteste was the teacher of Roger Bacon, the author of a Greek and Hebrew Grammar. Incidentally, the Greek Grammar of Roger Bacon differs from the Byzantine ones in subject matter. It does not follow their classical bias but it uses excerpts from hymns as his examples. It also employs the feature of transliterations from the Greek letters into Latin characters underneath.38 Another mention to this country by Constantine Laskaris compells us to return to him. Despite his anguish for the manner of death of Andronikos Kallistos in London, he portrays England as a desirable place. Expressions of desire to come to the British isles coming from Laskaris and Kallistos’s bitter rival, the Platonist scholar Michael Apostolis, appear clearly in their letters.39 Laskaris goes as far as to make a parallel between the British Isles and the Isles of the Blessed. By that time, already the Athenian historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles had expressed his admiration for London by saying that it has no equal among the cities of the West, and Manuel Palaiologos called England in his letter a second oikoumeni.40 If this view was common in late Byzantium it is no wonder that many Byzantines looked to make England their new home. The full extent of the activity of Byzantine émigrés in this country and in Europe in general, including aspects of cultural dissemination, has been made known to us primarily thanks to the many years of research and publications of Jonathan Harris. These émigrés followed a great variety of professions, ranging from medicine and priesthood to teaching and very skilled and specialized trades.41 From these it is only aspects of Greek scholarship that concern us here, 38
39
40
41
Harris, Greek Émigrés, p. 134; Weiss, Medieval and Humanist Greek, p. 81. For Grosseteste see Robert Grosseteste, Scholar and Bishop. Essays in Commemoration of the Seventh Centenary of his Death, ed. D. A. Callus (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955), pp. 33–67, 121–45. Iriarte, Regiae Bibliothecae Matritensis, p. 290; Michael Apostolis, Lettres inédites de Michel Apostolis, ed. H. Noiret (Paris: E. Thorin, 1889), p. 113; Harris, Greek Émigrés, pp. 52 and 54. Laonikos Chalkokondyles, Historiarum Libri Decem, ed. I. Bekker, CSHB (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1843), pp. 93–4; Manuel, Letters, p. 103; Harris, Greek Émigrés, p. 52. Harris, Greek Émigrés; Harris,‘Greek Scribes in England’; Jonathan Harris,‘Two Byzantine Craftsmen in Fifteenth Century London’, Journal of Medieval History 21 (1995), 387–403; ‘Byzantines in Renaissance Italy’, in Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies: http://the-orb.net/encyclop/late/ laterbyz/harris-ren.html; ‘Being a Byzantine after Byzantium: Hellenic Identity in Renaissance Italy’, Kambos: Cambridge Papers in Modern Greek 8 (2000), 25–44; ‘Common Language and the Common Good: Aspects of Identity among Byzantine Émigrés in Renaissance Italy’, in S. McKee (ed.), Crossing Boundaries: Issues of Cultural and Individual Identity in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance 3 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1999), pp. 189–202; ‘Cardinal Bessarion and the Ideal State’, in E. Konstantinou (ed.), Der Beitrag der byzantinischen Gelehrten zur abendländischen Renaissance des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts (Frankfurt-am-Main: Peter Lang, 2006), pp. 91–7; ‘The Influence of Plethon’s Idea of Fate on the Historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles’, in L. G. Benakis and Ch. P. Baloglou (eds), Proceedings of the International Congress on Plethon and his Time, Mystras, 26–29 June 2002 (Athens: Society for Peloponnesian and Byzantine Studies, 2004), pp. 211–17.
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as that was the defining characteristic of the personality of Andronikos Kallistos and marked his destiny. Now going back to Laskaris. Apart from distinguishing himself for his sense of solidarity to other émigrés, Constantine Laskaris was an impressive scholar. His one-volume Grammar was the first book to be published entirely in Greek. It was printed under the care of Demetrius Chalkokondyles and Demetrius Damilas in Milan in 1476, the year Kallistos died. This was a significant step because since then Greek had only appeared in quotations and not necessarily in Greek letters. Some printers would transliterate the Greek words into Latin characters, or leave them blank to be entered by hand. Others used similar Latin letters in the place of the Greek, and only cut the Greek characters that they could not get away with. It took some time before they would make complete Greek sets of letters. A second book by Laskaris of related subject-matter, called Erotemata, is incorporated with his Grammar.42 From Messina in Sicily, Laskaris likens the possibility of a trip to Ottoman Constantinople as the passage of Skylla and Charybdis. Geographically this was relevant because of his residence in Messina which would have reminded him of the straits of Bosporus. To reflect his mood, he refers to the wine-dark sea in front of him, after Homer, the darkness of the water being symbolic of the melancholy of his soul. Of course, the Homeric passage of Skylla and Charybdis is traditionally placed at the straits of Messina, although modern archaeology may advise us otherwise. To add to his despondency, Laskaris perceived Europe as a place were mockery and hostility against Greeks and the classics were expressed. He deplored especially the lack of appreciation for Homer, Demosthenes and Plato.43 This should not surprise us. Although the great number of Byzantine scholars in Western Europe implies a flourishing in Greek studies, this was not always a straight-forward battle. Evidence of direct hostility against a certain Andronikos can be found in a letter by the humanist Petrus Bravus, written in Latin, where he brutally attacks Andronikos on several grounds. The growing popularity of Greek letters in Europe and the high esteem in which Greek scholars were held among certain circles seems to have triggered the resentment of some Italian humanists, who did not necessarily favour the advancement of 42
43
Josephine W. Bennett,‘John Morer’s Will: Thomas Linacre and Prior Sellyng’s Greek Teaching’, Studies in the Renaissance 15 (1968), 70–91, at 82; Deno J. Geanakoplos, ‘The Discourse of Demetrius Chalcondyles on the Inauguration of Greek Studies at the University of Padua in 1463’, Studies in the Renaissance 21 (1974), 118–44, at 128–9; Febvre and Martin, The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450–1800, p. 266; Robins, The Byzantine Grammarians, p. 247 onwards. Iriarte, Regiae Bibliothecae Matritensis, pp. 290–1.
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Greek studies. Similarly, Giovanni Conversini, of Ravenna, called anyone who addressed him in the Greek language ‘a barbarian’. Examples of contempt like this towards Greek studies and the classics abound.44 The reality of the matter was that many Italian scholars saw themselves as superior to their Greek counterparts.45 Like Argyropoulos and others, Kallistos had brought with him from Byzantium several manuscripts containing Greek works, which of course he could also translate and copy for his European patrons.46 This was, at the time, a highly valued service in addition to teaching. Yet the two men were not a straight replacement one for the other. Kallistos had a deep interest in Greek literature unlike Argyropoulos, who used the language as a means of teaching natural philosophy and physics, and often taught from a Latin text, which was generally the method used when teaching Greek in Europe. That meant that for one to progress in Greek they had to be first proficient in Latin. This can be seen from the Decree of Vienne back in 1312, which established the chairs of Greek, Hebrew, Syriac Aramaic and Arabic in the Universities of Avignon, Paris, Oxford, Bologna and Salamanca, as well as the papal court. A stipulation of the decree was that the professors should produce Latin translations of key texts from their chosen respective languages. This reminds us of the absolute dependency on Latin as the scholarly language of the time. Moreover, the chairs were not established at that stage because of the lack of expertise and infrastructure, showing the amount of work that had to be done. On another note, although generally we may think of the Byzantine teachers as exponents of the humanities, it is worth noting that there was a keen interest in natural philosophy among the Byzantine scholars in Italy, and Cardinal Bessarion is known to have been particularly taken with the work of Theophrastus of Eressos of Lesvos, the successor of Aristotle in the Peripatetic School. Theophrastus’s Historia Plantarum was translated by Gazes into Latin. The pupil of Andronikos Kallistos Angelo Poliziano numbered the works of Hippocrates and Galen among his many translations. We know in any case that Kallistos was well-versed in natural philosophy, too, due to his Aristotelian leanings and he definitely taught Aristotle’s Physics. Yet at the same time close to 44
45 46
Paul Botley has suggested that in the light of latest evidence it is most probable that the criticism was addressed against Andronikos Kontovlakas and not Andronikos Kallistos. The two men were often confused. I would like to thank him for his help. Also see James Hankins, ‘Renaissance Crusaders: Humanist Crusade Literature in the Age of Mehmed II’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 49 (1995), 111– 207, at 131 and 203; Geanakoplos, ‘The Discourse of Demetrius Chalcondyles’, 130. Woodward, ‘Greek History at the Renaissance’, 7. Harris, Greek Émigrés, p. 1.
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his heart was the teaching of Homer, Demosthenes and Apollonius of Rhodes, the author of The Argonautica.47 We also know that Kallistos taught Pindar in Bologna in the 1460s. His autograph manuscript belonging to Baltasar Meliavacca, with most of Pindar’s Odes copied in Kallistos’s characteristic spacious style, survives and is preserved in Florence. Kallistos may have used the manuscript for his teaching. His interest in Hellenistic poetry is also testified in works he copied on the same volume.48 Generally, in his transparent love of literature he distinguished himself among his contemporaries. Further more, it has been shown that in Bologna Kallistos proved to be a pioneer in yet another way. He was the first Byzantine scholar in Italy to teach humanities in a broader context as well as Greek language. Being a dedicated Aristotelian scholar, he used Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics as part of his instruction in Ethics and the principles of morality.49 The pioneering approach of Kallistos opened the road for the expansion of teaching opportunities to a wider range of subjects for other Greek émigrés. Before we discuss Kallistos’s work in greater detail, however, let us look at his movements in Italy. Before coming to Italy he may have stopped for a while at Mistra, which is indicated in a letter by Filelfo saying that he ‘left the land of Lycurgus, having great ambitions in his soul’.50 His first port of call in Italy seems to have been Padua, where he was engaged in private teaching in the household of the Florentine patron and statesman Palla Strozzi, like Argyropoulos also was.51 While in Padua, Francesco Filelfo wrote to Kallistos to offer friendship and assistance. Filelfo was very concerned with the well-being of the Byzantine scholars as he realized the hardships many had to face. Filelfo once wrote to Gazes on the topic of the incompatibility of wealth and wisdom.52 From the same scholar we also know about the second city where Kallistos taught, Bologna. Filelfo enjoyed great respect among the Greek émigrés. A collection of some 47
48
49
50
51 52
Peter Lautner, ‘Theophrastus in Bessarion’, The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, JHS 115 (1995) 155–60; Paul F. Grendler, The Universities of the Italian Renaissance (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), p. 272; Jonathan Davies, Florence and Its University During the Early Renaissance (Leiden: Brill, 1998), pp. 114–15. The manuscript is Ashburnhamiani no. 1144 [Florence: Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana]; see Todd, ‘Baltasar Meliavacca, Andronicus Callistus’, p. 71. John Monfasani, Byzantine Scholars in Renaissance Italy: Cardinal Bessarion and Other Émigrés: Selected Essays (Aldershot: Variorum, 1995), p. iv; Grendler, The Universities of the Italian Renaissance, p. 243. C. M. Woodhouse, Gemistos Plethon; The Last of the Hellenes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), p. 226; Legrand (1892), p. 203. Geanakoplos, ‘The Discourse of Demetrius Chalcondyles’, 124. Diana Robin, ‘Unknown Greek Poems of Francesco Filelfo’, Renaissance Quarterly 37 (1984), 173–206, at 193.
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of his letters published posthumously in Basle in 1486 are an early example of Greek type in print and one of the first to be produced outside Italy.53 Kallistos had further support in recognition of his talents. He found protection in Rome under Cardinal Bessarion working as a scribe between 1466–71, and later when the time was ripe, Bessarion and Poliziano both bid for the lecturship in Florence on behalf of Kallistos as the departure of Argyropoulos had made it available. Poliziano did so by producing a poem in Greek. His effort was a genuine display of his support; he was most impressed by the teaching of Kallistos and regarded him the most influential of all his teachers. The strong literary bias of Kallistos appealed to his scholarly instincts and found in his person a most deserved reception. Yet his good wishes and passion did not secure Kallistos an academic post. Despite all this support, Kallistos did not settle happily in Italy. Without a pension,54 which some Byzantines sometimes managed to secure but normally only members of the imperial family, he left Italy which could not offer him the reward that he needed. After a short time in Paris, he came to London in 1476, at the age of 76, in search of work and financial stability. This was not to be, and his lonesome death in London in the same year can be said to be a consequence of the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the subject of his celebrated Monody. This Monody is very revealing of him and we will examine it further in the remainder of this chapter. Before doing so however, we need to have an overview of his literary output. Because of his association with Bessarion and the copying work he did for him and for others, Andronikos Kallistos is more known as a scribe than as an author. Yet his original contributions are significant, and prove him to be a talented writer. This sets him apart from some of his very successful colleagues, including Argyropoulos for instance, who did not leave equally significant literary work of his own and is remembered primarily for his teaching. Though many of the works of Kallistos remain unpublished or unknown, we have the benefit of a handful of them being available to us. He is the author of several commentaries on the works of Aristotle previously believed to have been written by Andronikos of Rhodes.55 He is the author of philosophical treatises and of a commentary on Homer.56 He has also left some letters. Yet, he is remembered primarily for two pieces, his Defence of Theodore 53
54 55 56
Lucien Paul Victor Febvre, Henri-Jean Martin, The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450–1800, trans. David Gerard (London, New York: Verso, 1984), p. 266; Robins, The Byzantine Grammarians, p. 266. For pensions given to Byzantines in Europe see Harris, ‘Andreas’, 543 onwards. William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, p. 176. Gregorios D. Ziakas,, ‘Πνευματικός βίος και πολιτισμός της Θεσσαλονίκης κατά την περίοδο της Οθωμανικής κυριαρχίας’, Xριστιανική Θεσσαλονίκη‚ Οθωµανική Περίοδος 1430–1912‚ Β΄ (Thessalonica: Kentro Istorias Thessalonikis, 1994), pp. 90–165, at pp. 112–13.
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Gazes against the attack of Michael Apostolis regarding the controversy on the merits of Aristotle and Plato, and the Monody for the Fall of Constantinople. The first work reveals the state of play regarding Greek letters in Europe at the time of its composition and is an insight into the sympathies of its author. Consequently it may help us detect possible reasons for his difficulties to find employment. It is also useful as a template for a similar treatise by Demetrius Chalkokondyles which has not survived. Among Kallistos’s contemporaries the debate was raging regarding the superiority of Plato over Aristotle or otherwise. Many important personalities of their day were involved and it took the mediation of Bessarion himself to bring the two parties to reconciliation.57 Marcilio Ficino, the Platonist leader, and John Argyropoulos, the Aristotelian leader,58 who knew one another,59 accepted his mediation with due praise. Yet there was a scapegoat. As a result of the turn of events, the Platonist Michael Apostolis, who had attacked Gazes on account of his Aristotelianism, fell out of favour with the also Platonist Bessarion for the extremity of his view. Not being able to survive without the protection of his patron, he left Italy for his native Crete where he continued to work as a scholar, teaching and copying manuscripts until his death (c. 1480). Being a Unionist, upon his return to Crete Apostolis had local resistance and hostility added to his financial problems. Apostolis was very vocal of his misfortunes. He signed his manuscripts as follows: Ϻιχαῆλος ᾽Αποστόλης Βυζάντιος µετὰ τήν ἄλωσιν τῆς αὐτοῦ πατρίδος πενίᾳ συζῶν ἐξέγραψε – Michael Apostolis, the Byzantine, living together with Poverty after the fall of his own homeland, has composed this.60 In Apostolis, a Platonist may have suffered as a result of the controversy, yet the tide was turning. The climate for the reign of neo-Platonism was ready in Italy and the demand for Platonist studies overwhelmed the intellectual life of the Universities. It should be stressed that the opportunities were not always plentiful and the Byzantine scholars often had to compete for the same 57
58
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John Monfasani, ‘A Tale of Two Books: Bessarion’s In Calumniatorem Platonis and George of Trebizond’s Comparatio Philosophorum Platonis et Aristotelis’, Studies in the Renaissance 22 (2008), 1–13. For Argyropoulos teaching Plato see Deno J. Geanakoplos, Constantinople and the West: Essays on the Late Byzantine (Palaeologan) and Italian Renaissances and the Byzantine and Roman Churches (Maddison: University of Wisconsin Press, WI, 1989), pp. 15–16 and 107 onwards. The two men knew one another, as there is evidence that they taught at the Studio in Florence at the same time. Jonathan Davies, ‘Marsilio Ficino: Lecturer at the Studio fiorentino’, Renaissance Quarterly 45 (1992), 785–90, at 787; on Ficino more generally see Christopher S. Celenza, ‘Pythagoras in the Renaissance: The Case of Marsilio Ficino’, Renaissance Quarterly 52 (1999), 667–711; James Hankins, ‘The Myth of the Platonic Academy of Florence’, Renaissance Quarterly 44 (1991), 429–75; James Hankins, ‘Cosimo de’ Medici and the “Platonic Academy”’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 53 (1990), 144–62. Ziakas, ‘Πνευματικός βίος και πολιτισμός’, pp. 112–13.
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resources among themselves. While the many literary gifts of Andronikos Kallistos together with the fact that he was a well-rounded and expertly trained instructor of Greek letters would have made him an asset for any academic institution, his involvement in the Plato-Aristotle debate coloured him with a strong pro-Aristotelian tinge and may have led to a disadvantage. This is all the more unfortunate because although he was a convinced Aristotelian scholar, this is only one of the aspects of Kallistos that contributes to his impressive intellectual profile. His position in the debate may have played a deciding role in the fact that the eventual succession of the perceived Aristotelian John Argyropoulos in Florence was not by him but by Demetrius Chalkokondyles, a well-known Platonist, despite the fact that Kallistos taught in Florence for a short time (1471–3) and was a contender for the position. As has been mentioned, Demetrius Chalkokondyles himself wrote a similar defense of Theodore Gazes but irrespective of his noble consiliatory intentions, his strong affiliation to Platonism was obvious in his scholarly interests and made him an attractive candidate. Although Demetrius Chalkokondyles is primarily remembered for his monumental edition of Homer, jointly produced with Demetrius Damilas, he was also pivotal in the very influential translation of Plato undertaken by Marcilio Ficino, a fact that Ficino himself generously recognized.61 That translation of Plato by Marcilio Ficino in which Demetrius Chalkokondyles played such an important role, is probably the most influential single work produced in the entire period in the West. One commentator attributed the enormous appeal of Ficino’s interpretation of Neo-Platonism in Florence to it being an ‘elegant, gnostic, perfectly spiritualized brand of Christianity that appealed to their own sense of being superior to ordinary people’. This same flavour permeated Ficino’s lectures, which fact, in his view, gives Ficino a great advantage over the much drier teaching of his rival Argyropoulos.62 In agreement with this statement is the observation of James Hankins that there is a distinction between the aims that underpinned the teaching of the two men. That is to say, Ficino did not aim to teach scholars, but ‘citizens and men of letters’.63 Anyhow, in his coupling of Plato with Plotinus, in other words in his championship of neo-Platonism, Ficino was not an innovator but an imitator 61 62
63
Geanakoplos, ‘The Discourse of Demetrius Chalcondyles’, 127 and 129. Charles Garfield Nauert, Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 62; for the rivalry between the groups of scholars, almost the fractions, in which the two men belonged see Eugene M. Waith, ‘Landino and Maximus of Tyre’, Renaissance News 13 (1960), 289–94, at 289; for the purist approach of Argyropoulos see Alison Brown, ‘Platonism in Fifteenth-Century Florence and Its Contribution to Early Modern Political Thought’, The Journal of Modern History 58 (1986), 384–413, at 390. James Hankins, Plato in the Italian Renaissance (Leiden: Brill, 1990), p. 299.
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of Gemistos Plethon who had already sawn the seeds of those ideas through his teaching in Florence.64 In any case, alongside Chalkokondyles it is Poliziano who is found teaching the humanities in Florence. The interest of Poliziano in neo-Platonism can be seen in his translation of Plotinus.65 Yet unlike his friend Marcilio Ficino, Poliziano was not a convinced neo-Platonist. His work was much concerned with precision, and in his book Panepistemon he betrays an understanding of Aristotelian ethics which has to link him in our minds with his teacher, Andronikos Kallistos. In Florence, Poliziano and Chalkokondyles were very highly esteemed as lecturers and Erasmus is known to have been made aware of their scholarly activities there.66 Thomas Linacre was taught by both Chalkokondyles and Poliziano and when Chalkokondyles left for Milan in 1491/2, Linacre remained to learn with Poliziano probably until the latter’s untimely death in 1494. The influence of Poliziano can be seen in Linacre’s choice of material for his translation, the work of the neo-Platonist Proclus, On the Sphere, published by Aldus Manutius in Venice in 1499.67 The second major work of Andronikos Kallistos, the Monody, goes deeper into the core of him as a human being than the treatise. It shows us how much he was shaken by the fall of Constantinople and how he foresaw his own desolate end. His death in London is in many ways pre-figured in this work. Therefore it is the Monody that will concern us in greater detail here. In his capacity for expressing his emotional world he should be compared with his pupil, Poliziano, who has been repeatedly praised by critics for his personal style and the injection of emotion into his Latin and Italian works. Poliziano’s interest in the Italian vernacular and contemporary life make him more than a student of the past and place him alongside figures such as Boccaccio and Ariosto in the ranks of modern Italian poetry. He also used his original compositions in his teaching, to help illuminate the classics. Both as a philologist and as a poet Poliziano was not afraid to break new ground.68 In his own lifetime he was mostly celebrated as a master of Latin. In 1470, aged 15, he published the second book of the Iliad in Latin hexameter. A ground-breaking study of this translation by Alice Levine Rubinstein 64
65 66
67
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Louise Ropes Loomis, ‘The Greek Renaissance in Italy’, The American Historical Review 13 (1908), 246–58, at 256–7. Al Wolters, ‘Poliziano as a Translator of Plotinus’, Renaissance Quarterly 40 (1987), 452–64. Bennett,‘John Morer’s Will’, 74; for more on the life-long interest Erasmus had shown in Greek studies see Erika Rummel, Erasmus as a Translator of the Classics (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985). Arthur Tilley, ‘Greek Studies in England in the Early Sixteenth Century’, The English Historical Review 53 (1938), 221–39, at 221–2. A. Grafton, ‘On the Scholarship of Politian and Its Context’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 40 (1977), 150–88.
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published in 1983, still awaits to be fully appraised.69 Later in his short life, putting his poetic talent into the vernacular ensured that Poliziano’s legacy lives on. So it is with his teacher, Kallistos. His classicism should be viewed from the angle of somebody striving to make sense of their world. There are two significant references to the classical world in the Monody for the Fall of Constantinople. One to Hesiod’s Works and Days and one to Sophocles’s Ajax. Hesiod’s popularity was rising among Byzantine teachers in Italy70 and it is his Works and Days rather than the Theogony that seemed to attract more attention. On the other hand, Ajax had been traditionally the most popular among Greek tragedies on the Byzantine curriculum. As a general rule, it seems that Ajax, Electra and Oedipus Rex were the plays most utilized for teaching throughout Byzantine history and that Sophocles was always a popular dramatist, while Euripides caught up and superceeded him in acclaim in the later years.71 In that light, both of the classical allusions drawn upon in the Monody come from majorly used works. So in this respect the choices Kallistos made are not surprising. What is striking is the sorrowful application of his chosen passages to his circumstances. He does not use classical mimesis to show his intellectual brilliance or his lavish style. He does not mention them in passing to adorn his turn of phrase. The examples he chooses are a reflection of his emotional world. Hesiod’s Works and Days is a didactic epic with descriptions of the labour of man in an attempt to conquer the land and achieve prosperity. It gives practical advice on matters of lifestyle and agriculture and has a strong moral flavour. It also tends to idealize the past against the present. Kallistos picked a reference to the misfortune of the fifth generation in comparison to previous ones and the deplorable life that there would be ahead of them. There is in Hesiod an almost apocalyptic description of a future of injustice, brutality, illness and toil. The life of slavery or exile that the Byzantines were facing would have made them fear that they themselves may well have fitted into the above description. This lays the emotional foundation for the allusion to Ajax. In Ajax there is the mighty call-out of Death before the moment of the hero falling onto his naked sword, formerly the sword of Hector. Kallistos takes those two literary moments and internalizes them and makes their anguish his own.72 69
70 71
72
Alice Levine Rubinstein, ‘Imitation and Style in Angelo Poliziano’s Iliad Translation’, Renaissance Quarterly 36 (1983), 48–70. Geanakoplos, ‘The Discourse of Demetrius Chalcondyles’, 127–8. Pat E. Easterling, ‘Sophocles and the Byzantine Student’, in Charalambos Dendrinos, Jonathan Harris, Eirene Harvalia-Crook and Judith Herrin (eds), Porphyrogenita: Essays on Byzantine History and Culture and the Latin East Presented to Julian Chrysostomides (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), pp. 319–34, at p. 321. Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία’, pp. 204, 215. Cf. Hesiod, Works and Days, 193, 256; Sophocles, Ajax, 632, 854.
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The cultural values that those references carry are representative of the educated class of late Byzantium. Yet, the classical allusions grow from the intensity of the moment, and serve as a release when no other words could do justice to what the author feels. In despair he asks what is there to become of him. He calls himself unfortunate, he despairs: Τὶ γὰρ καὶ δράσεις, ὦ τάλας ᾽Ανδρόνικε; – What are you going to do, unfortunate Andronikos? It is in this frame of mind that he recalls Ajax and his desire for death. The literary reference shows the notional audience of fellow-Byzantines who would have shared his knowledge and his agony.73 An analysis of his Monody reveals not only the richness of his classical allusions but also a sophistication and emotional intensity in the portrayal of defeat or slavery that can be paralleled with Aeschylus’s Persians and the Trojan Women by Euripides. Additionally, he makes use of the Boethian time metaphor, where time is a wheel of fortune, a staple of the literature of the time. Time as a wheel appears in Anagnostes. It also appears for example in the thirteenth-century collection of Latin and Middle German poems known as Carmina Burana. The poem Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi [Fortune, Empress of the World], which tops and tails the collection, sums up the notion of time and chance. Looking at his work now in the context of literary criticism, while the defence of Kallistos’s fellow-Thessalonian Theodore Gazes regarding Aristotelianism serves mainly as a testimony of contemporary intellectual debate, his Monody for the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 is part of a living literary tradition. His is one of the earliest monodies for the fall of the city, Constantinople being the subject of numerous lamentations, as discussed early in the chapter. It must be underlined that such folk songs are jewels on the crown of modern world literature. The Byzantine monodies are their forgotten but handsome predecessors. The one by Andronikos Kallistos among them is one of the finest, because it bridges the gap between learned expression and freshness of style. His educational calibre does not take anything away from the emotional impact and the immediacy of his work.74 This can be seen not only in the ideas and emotions expressed in the Monody but also in its poetic style. The Monody of Kallistos is a text breaming with vitality. Its rhythm and musicality make it comparable to the Monody of John Anagnostes with its repeated exclamations and its emotional outbursts. The two great cities are lamented with equally great might. Their short descriptive sentences are reminiscent of hymnography and the references to the sufferings 73 74
Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία’, p. 215. Alexiou, The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition, pp. 83–101.
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of religion under the new regime link them to late Byzantine sermons. All these stylistic traits add great literary interest to the Monody of Andronikos Kallistos and make him an exponent of Modern Greek literature, in the same way that his student, Angelo Poliziano, led the way in the literature of his own language.
Suffering in silence? What do the English manuscripts tell us Andronikos Kallistos has shown advanced and sophisticated literary tastes, making choices of material that distinguish him among his contemporaries. He was a champion of ancient Greek poetry, with Hesiod, Pindar, the Pythagorean Verses, Homer with scholia, Theocritus and Aratus among his choices. He copied works from the rhetorical and sophist traditions including Lucian, Aelius Aristeides and Livanios. A dedicated Aristotelian scholar, he was also interested in Proclus and Porphyry. He played his part in the dissemination of Galen in his time and paid tribute to several Byzantine scholars by copying their original works. These include Matthew Blastares, Nikephoros Blemmydes, Michael Psellos and Theodore Gazes. His literary tastes are also reflected in his own original works. Kallistos was a talented author and his use of Medieval Greek was fresh and resonant. His writings connect him with Vernacular literary traditions. His original take on classical allusions, in a way that is pertinent to naked human suffering, gives his voice a vulnerability and timelessness. His literary tastes can be guessed from his copied manuscripts, teaching, correspondence, writings and other biographical information. There is more work to be done so that all necessary connections can be made. It appears, however, from comparing the evidence, that Kallistos was someone to whom congruity between his intellectual preferences and the projects he was working on was of great importance. Therefore, we can examine the proposition that his copied manuscripts were a fairly accurate reflection of his intellectual profile. This has to be seen at the backdrop of Bessarion’s circle and the latter’s overbearing personality and unweavering pro-Catholic policy. So the added tension of Kallistos’s religious neutrality, or indeed possible resistence to Catholicism in that environment, make his seemingly straightforward scholarly profile much more poignant. Seen in that light, the fact that he followed his scholarly preferences in his teaching and copying of manuscripts does not seem as uncontroversial. As Kallistos was one of the most influential Greek émigrés of his time, building an intellectual profile for him, which can be compared to this of some
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of his most prominent students and co-workers, can assist in throwing light on a number of topics. Most of these can be put under the heading of ‘dissemination of ideas’ in Italy and Western Europe in general, through the choice of works to be taught at Universities, methods of Greek language teaching, scholarly practices that emerged as a result of the new wave of Greek scholarship and the transmission of knowledge through copying and printing. Manuscripts copied by Andronikos Kallistos can be found all across Europe, in France, Italy, Germany and England. It is noticeable that no manuscripts are currently held in the Greek lands. This may be due to the fact that most of the scholar’s surviving output dates from after the fall of Constantinople and also to the fact that after that date he had the tendency to take his manuscripts with him rather than leaving them behind. Greek manuscripts were on high demand in Western Europe and they were an asset when seeking employment as a scholar of Greek. They could also be sold for cash, getting their owner out of difficult financial situations.75 This part of the chapter focuses on the manuscripts found in England. Most of the manuscripts produced by Andronikos Kallistos contain works by classical, post-classical and Byzantine authors, and some contain commentaries or scholia on these authors or original works by Kallistos. It is also worth noting here that other scribes have copied some of Kallistos’s original works. Michael Lygizos (Oxon. Bar. 165), George Hermonymos (Par. 2966 Ga), Janus Laskaris (Par. 2131), and a certain Konstantios (Par. 1774) are some of those scribes. From those only Hermonymos, from Sparta, is documented to be a personal friend of Kallistos. The others would have copied his work as part of the general attempt to disseminate seminal Greek works through their reproduction. This can be seen as recognition for the work of Kallistos. From the 80 known manuscripts of Andronikos Kallistos kept in libraries across Europe, at least 7 are to be found in England. Of these, three are kept in Oxford, three in Cambridge and one in London. It is these manuscripts, rather than the collection of the scholar’s output as a whole, that this section concentrates on. It is hoped that scholars will deal with other parts of the collection in future papers. Some speculations can be made as to the possible use of these manuscripts and the purpose of their production. Whether for teaching, presenting as a gift to patrons, done in the context of his work as a scribe or for personal use, these manuscripts can help illuminate the scholarly profile of Kallistos and aid our 75
Kallistos sold most of his books before embarking on his voyage to England. Cf. Botley, ‘The Books of Andronicus Callistus, 1475–76’ (Abstract, publication forthcoming).
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understanding of his personality. That the edification of foreigners was one of the objectives of copied manuscripts in the fifteenth century is known to us from many observations of the actions of scribes at the time. There are some links that can be made between Kallistos’s teaching and his manuscripts, some of which have been made by Robert Todd, and there is another possible category of manuscripts, those which had being commissioned by European nobles for personal study. Looking now at the group held in England, some comments on them will be made, before presenting a full list of their contents. Among these manuscripts there are works of Aristotle and not Plato, as Kallistos was a well-known Aristotelian. In fact, in the output of Kallistos’s manuscripts, there are not many where Plato’s works can be found.76 In the context of the Aristotle-Plato controversy which broke out in Bessarion’s court77 and in which Kallistos took an active part if unwittingly (the copy of Bessarion’s tract on this is in Kallistos’s hand: Marc. Gr. 198), this statistic is quite illuminating.78 It is possible that the same tendency would have been reflected in his teaching. In fact we know from the work of Robert Todd that Kallistos taught Aristotle’s Ethics in Italy.79 Further, the influence of Aristotelianism can be seen in the thought of Kallistos’s most celebrated pupil, Angelo Poliziano. Other scholars, like for example John Argyropoulos, were happy to teach anything that was asked of them and he is documented to have taught Aristotle in Florence in the Academy during the day, as it were, and his preferred Plato privately in the evening. As discussed, the change of climate in favour of Platonism meant that when the chair of Greek was vacant in Florence after Argyropoulos had left, the position went not to the Aristotelian Kallistos but to the Platonist Demetrius Chalkokondyles. Also, there was the custom of teaching the classical authors in Latin. Argyropoulos taught in Latin quite a lot, while Kallistos informs Demetrius Chalkokondyles in a letter about his own teaching that he (Kallistos) taught Aristotle’s Politics, Economics and Physics in Latin, while several other authors in Greek (Pindar, Phalares, Gazes). An intriguing reference to the Soteros iera teleti (the solemn ceremony of the Saviour) is also made; this would have been taught in Latin.80 76 77
78
79 80
There are of course exceptions. See Mut. a. Q. 5. 20 (87). A similar intellectual rivalry took place in late Byzantium between the Platonist Nikephoros Gregoras and the Aristotelian John Kantakouzenos. For a parallel between the two scenes see Klaus Oehler, ‘Aristotle in Byzantium’, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 5 (1964), 133–46, at 145. Aubrey Diller, ‘Three Greek Scribes Working for Bessarion: Trivizias, Callistus, Hermonimus’, Italia medioevale e umanistica 10 (1967), 403–10, at 407–8. Todd, ‘Baltasar Meliavacca, Andronicus Callistus’, 67–75. J. E. Powell, ‘Two Letters of Andronicus Callistus to Demetrius Chalcocondyles’, ByzantinischNeugriechische Jahrbücher 15 (1939), 14–20, at 18–20.
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On the speculation that manuscripts were probably used in his teaching: Robert Todd81 has already commented on the broad, legible and attractive handwriting of Kallistos, a fact that I have experienced myself. This quality would have been an asset to Kallistos when dealing with more inexperienced students of Greek or complete beginners, which some would have been. The emphasis on helping beginners advance can also be seen in that period in the two most popular Grammars produced, these by Theodore Gazes and Constantine Laskaris. Paul Botley brought to my attention another important Greek Grammar by an émigré, this of Andronikos Kontovlakas (Vat. Gr. 1822, fols 146r–192r), a work that has not enjoyed much scholarly attention as yet. Thucydides and Herodotus are some of the other authors represented in this group of manuscripts by Kallistos, the latter in a manuscript that should be read in conjunction with the Herodotus copy produced by Demetrius Kantakouzenos in London in 1475 (Par. Gr. 1731). Demetrius Kantakouzenos82 was probably known to Kallistos but apart from what can be derived from his copied manuscript of Herodotus we know very little about him.83 The production of the manuscripts of Thucydides and Herodotus as a pair shows that in the scholar’s time, as today, these two ancient authors were considered the most significant models of historical writing. As Michael Lygizos has preserved some of Kallistos’s original writings, it may be worth examining his Thucydides copy as well (Lond. Arund. 545) to add to the above comparison. This might also indicate any possible contact between Kallistos and Lygizos. Other selected ancient authors are Hesiod, Pindar and Theocritus and their inclusion shows Kallistos’s love of poetry, a fact also reflected in his teaching. There is evidence that Kallistos taught some of those authors in Italy. Theocritus’s Idylls includes references to characters who played a major role in the imagination of Renaissance poets and composers, as these of Amaryllis and Daphnis. This is an element that could be further developed by researchers as there is a great deal of work to be done in terms of classical reception in literature and early opera and madrigals of that period. A study entitled From Poliziano to Monteverdi by Nino Pirotta and Elena Povoledo lays the foundations for such work.84 Another book on Poliziano, of a similar title but with different intent, is 81 82
83 84
Todd, ‘Baltasar Meliavacca, Andronicus Callistus’, 71. More on him can be found in the fine prosopographical study of Donald M. Nicol, The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos ca. 1100–1560. A Genealogical and Prosopographical Study (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1968), no. 100, p. 228. Paul Botley has done some work on comparing the copying styles of the two scribes. Nino Pirrotta and Elena Povoledo, Music and Theatre from Poliziano to Monteverdi, trans. Karen Eales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
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an essential read for the student not only of the Renaissance but also of Political Thought in general: Peter Godman, From Poliziano to Machiavelli : Florentine Humanism in the High Renaissance (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998). But we need to get back to Theocritus, who was very popular at the time we are referring to. Influential persons like the German scholar Johannes Cuno, who flourished in Padua and Basel and was known to Mark Mousouros and Johannes Reuchlin, is among those who have copied Theocritus’s poems (Lon. Arund. 550). In addition, Paul Botley has shown that the critical editions of the works of Hesiod and Theocritus were heavily influenced by Kallistos’s copied manuscripts.85 Considering the importance of those two ancient authors in the literary canon, this is a major contribution of the scribe. It is hoped that many more such connections will be made that show Kallistos’s direct influence on the course of scholarship. The handsome production of the manuscript (of which more details later) has the feel of a presentation copy and another observation on it suggests that it may have been prepared with further illumination in mind. At the beginning of each classical work contained there, the first letter is tentatively written, with space left around it so that such addition can take place at a later stage. It may be that it was the turbulence of Kallistos’s later years that did not allow for the completion of any intended illumination. Several methods were used in the case of preparing and planning for it. An example comes from the colleague of Kallistos John Rhossos, who made a rough version of the first four books of the Iliad (Harley, 5672) before proceeding to a fully illuminated and spectacular copy of the same work, in full colour and using golden ink as well as deep blue, green and red pigments (Harley, 2600). In the latter manuscript he used the spacings and scribal habits that he had developed during work on the draft manuscript. To give some more details of the choices of authors by Kallistos, the Pythagorean Golden Verses, Aratus’s Phaenomena, the works of Nicomachus of Gerasa and Anatolius of Laodecaea (referred to in the manuscript as Alexandrinus), and the Commentary on Dionysius Periegetes by Eustathius of Thessalonica show the interest Kallistos had in science and natural philosophy (and I include Geography in that). Some references to manuscripts of the same authors copied by other scribes suggest possible comparative studies for the future. Angelos Philleti of
85
Botley, forthcoming paper.
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Messina copied the commentary of Hierokles on the Golden Verses attributed to Pythagoras (Lond. Add. 36749). Nikolaos Mou/rmouris copied Dionysius Periegetes but without the commentary by Eustathius (Lond. Add. 10969). The earlier scholar Maximus Planudes copied works by Cleomedes and Aratus in the same manuscript (Edinb. N.L. 18.7.15), which indicates that he saw them as part of the same intellectual spectrum. Cleomedes is of interest also for his influence on Nikephoros Blemmydes on whom more later. Nicomachus of Gerasa is also found in a manuscript of John Franciscus (16th c.) (Vat. Urb. 77). Stravon (or Strabo) was typically of interest to travellers. Cyriac of Ancona has made a copy (Eton 141,3) and we know that Kallistos was instrumental on the first printed edition of his work.86 The rhetorical works of Aelius Aristeides and Livanios can also be found among the works copied. Aelius Aristeides’s Panathenaikos among them is modelled on the more well known Panathenaikos of Isocrates. The inclusion of Porphyry’s Isagoge should be of no surprise to us as it is essentially a commentary on Aristotle’s Categories. In fact it is copied alongside Categories for ease of reference. More surprising is the inclusion of the works of Matthew Blastares, Nikephoros Blemmydes and Michael Psellos; and even more intriguing is the fact that works by the last two authors are included in a manuscript which was owed for some time by Kallistos’s pupil, the Milanese scholar Giorgio Valla. Could it be that Kallistos used the Byzantine authors in his instruction to him? On another note, while Kallistos includes the work of Blastares with rhetorical and astronomical works and moral carmina, the sixteenth-century scribe Manuel Malaxo/s, for instance, puts him together with theological writers only, that is Athanasios, Photios and Symeon of Thessalonica (Rom. Vall. F 18 (84)). More generally, how Byzantine authors were juxtaposed with classical writers and how their commentaries or contributions to knowledge were perceived to rate against the classical works (something that can be indicated by the way they feature alongside classical and post-classical texts) is a matter for further investigation. From looking at the selection of works and the way Kallistos groups them together, we see that the artificial distinction of humanities and sciences that we impose on the material did not exist in his mind. If anything, the following classification by Andronikos Kontovlakas87 gives us an indication of contemporary groupings: 86 87
Botley, forthcoming paper. John Monfasani, ‘In Praise of Ognibene and Blame of Guarino: Andronicus Contoblacas’ Invective against Niccolò Botano and the Citizens of Brescia’, Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance 52 (1990), 309–2, at 314.
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Philosophy
Contemplative
Physics Mathematics Theology
Active
Ethics Economics Politics
It is also possible to trace how some of Kallistos’s interests coincide with these of other scholars. This can be done through comparing the authors they copy and also what some of them tend to teach. It is arguable as well that Kallistos did not only copy manuscripts for money but also for his own personal use, for instance personal study and teaching practice. It has been shown that some of his manuscripts must have been used by his pupils. His pupils also copied manuscripts in turn. The selection of manuscripts of Kallistos that I have quickly described is representative more or less of the entire collection except that there is a small group of manuscripts with works of Euripides now kept in Florence. Euripides is not represented in the rest of the collection except for one instance (Mut. A. U. 9. 22 (93)). The popularity of Euripides increased in late Byzantium and eventually he overtook from Sophocles, who had been traditionally the most represented in the Byzantine curicullum with his plays Ajax, Antigone and Oedipus Rex. Kallistos must have given preference to Euripides, if the collection can be an indicator of his taste. Why there is such concentration of those works in one place I have not yet determined. Another scholar who shared some of the interests of Kallistos was the pioneer printer Demetrius Damilas, the designer of the first Greek typeface. His typeface is the one that was used for Constantine Laskaris’s Grammar. The similarity lies in the existence of both Homeric and medical manuscripts. Damilas has left us copies of Galen and Andromachus as well as Homer, with scholia. Galen and scholia on Homer are prominent in the manuscripts of Kallistos but not in the selection examined here. I will attempt here to throw light on the entire output of Kallistos by discussing a sample of his work. Can the English manuscripts tell us something meaningful about him as a man and as a scholar? A list of the manuscripts in question, some of which have been already discussed, is given below: Cantabrigiensis Univ. Library Ii V 44,88 Cantabrigiensis Univ. Library Nn III 18 (the Cambridge Thucydides), 88
Includes: Aristotle, Magna Moralia (of disputed authorship), Aristotle, Eudemian Ethics and Economics.
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Cantabrigiensis Emmanuel College 30 (the Cambridge Herodotus89); Londinensis Burney 109;90 Oxoniensis Bodleianus Barocc. 63,91 Oxoniensis Bodleianus d’ Orville 115 (Eustathius of Thessalonica, Commentary on Dionysius Periegetes), Oxoniensis Holkham Hall 71 (103).92 The pupil of Kallistos Giorgio Valla possessed Oxoniensis Holkham Hall 71 (103) for some time. Other manuscripts of Kallistos were in the possession of another of his Milanese pupils, Baltasar Meliavacca. Of course many would have been owned by Bessarion who had commissioned a fair number of them. A look at the content of the manuscripts that Kallistos produced will no doubt cause one to notice the relative absence of theological or liturgical material. Exceptions are a copy of a New Testament (Marc. Gr. 10) and an anti-Palamite tract of Bessarion (Marc. Gr. 527). This becomes even more striking if Kallistos’s output is compared to that of some of his contemporaries. Some speculations will be offered here as to why this might have happened. In contrast to Kallistos, Michael Apostolis who was a Platonist and a Unionist has quite a lot of Aristotle in his output and numbers the works of Mark Eugenikos among his copied manuscripts (Oxon. Holkh. 25). This may either mean that he was more easy-going as to what he copied, or that he relied more heavily on money from his work as a scribe and he had less choice over his material. We know that he treated the copying of manuscripts as a workshop, so to speak, where he worked with his son Aristovoulos (1468/9–1535), his pupil Michael Lyngeas and others. Because the output of Michael Apostolis is shared between Italy and Crete and the dating of some of his work is not yet determined, the history of his 89
90
91
92
The fact that Herodotus was written in the Ionic dialect made his History undesirable material for teaching. It is intriguing, therefore, to find copies of it made: it shows that there was interest in Herodotus for other reasons. Cf. Botley, forthcoming paper. Cantabrigiensis Emmanuel College 30 can be compared to the manuscript of Herodotus produced by Demetrius Kantakouzenos in London in 1475. Includes: Aratus, Phaenomena, Hesiod, The Shield of Hercules, and Works and Days, Pindar, Olympia, Pythia, Nemea, and Istmia, Pythagoras, Golden Verses, Theocritus, Idylls. This manuscript is written in black ink with red or black for the names of persons taking part in dialogue and with red for titles. Towards the end of the manuscript he must have run out of red ink as titles appear in black. Kallistos made corrections in bolder writing, with sepia and brown ink. Another interesting feature of this manuscript is the fact that Kallistos gives alternative titles for some of the works, often in red ink. See for example his copying of Theocritus, ff. 1–25. In f. 17 we find: ἐργατίναι ἢ θερισταὶ, βάττος ἢ μΐλων, κύκλωψ (u with diaeretics) ἢ γαλάτεια. Today we think of the titles of works that belong to the classical canon as set in stone but obviously that would not have been the case then. Includes: Aelius Aristeides, Orations (incl. Panathenaikos), Livanios, many orations, including Odysseus, Orestes, Menelaus, and those concerning the Emperor Julian (as well as Julian’s epitaph), Matthew Blastares, De appositione Colybi, as well as anonymous astronomical tables (at the beginning of the manuscript) and anonymous moral carmina. Includes: Nikephorus Blemmydes, inluding Epitome logica, Epitome physica (influenced by the Stoic cosmologist Cleomedes), De fide, De virtute et ascesi, De anima, Autobiography (in two parts), Michael Psellos, Synopsis Nomon, Nicomachus of Gerasa, Introduction to Arithmetic (with scholia), Anatolius of Laodicea (referred to here as Alexandrinus), Porphyry, Isagoge, Aristotle, Kategoriae and Peri Hermeneias.
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collaborations is a topic that needs further investigation. Aristovoulos Apostolis is sometimes called in the sources Apostolides, that is son of Apostolis. Another theory was suggested by Theodore Zeses. In his monograph on George Scholarios he observes that a key letter of Scholarios to Mark Eugenikos in which he apologizes for previous Unionist behaviour was copied by John Plousedianos, another scribe in the environment of Bessarion as Kallistos and Apostolis once were, and was probably a forged letter that Bessarion himself had composed. Zeses points out that the style and tone of the letter make it a candidate for being Bessarion’s own and it would have been used for internal consumption in the West as anti-Orthodox propaganda.93 The likelihood of such pressure on Kallistos might explain why he stayed away from any religious writings, as there is no evidence or suggestion that he ever expressed pro-Latin tendencies as for example Theodore Gazes and John Argyropoulos freely did. The results of the sample of manuscripts discussed in this chapter agree with his thesis.
Afterword Making now a more general point, in spite of much speculation, it is still unclear to us what was the city of origin of Kallistos. Constantinople is quoted in several letters but many of the Greek modern scholars believe it to be Thessalonica. Due to the strong cultural links between the two centres, it was common for scholars to have a parallel career in the two cities. In the previous generation from Kallistos, the friends Demetrius Kydones and Nikolaos Kavasilas had done exactly that, and so did Philotheos Kokkinos, while the Constantinopolitan Symeon, Metropolitan of Thessalonica, maintained his links with the capital but many still think of Thessalonica as his city of origin because of his prominence there. Another example are the brothers Antonios and Demetrius Damilâs. The surname Damilâs is derived from the toponym Ϻεδιολανεύς, from Milan, despite the fact that Milan was their place of residence and not their place of origin. They actually came from Crete as did their colleague Michael Apostolis. The inscription Κρὴς τὸ γένος, found in several of their manuscripts, testifies to the fact. In the case of Kallistos, the fact that the Thessalonian Theodore Gazes was his cousin might weigh in favour of the possibility of a Thessalonian 93
Theodore Zeses, Γεννάδιος Β΄ Σχολάριος. Βίος-Συγγράµµατα-Διδασκαλία (Thessalonica: Patriarchikon Idhrima Paterikon Meleton, 1980). The argument is explored throughout his monograph.
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origin but the matter remains open. However, Constantine Sathas, the great prosopographer of the post-Byzantine diaspora, is also of the opinion that Kallistos came from Thessalonica.94
Bibliography Primary sources Andronikos Kallistos, ‘Μονῳδία ἐπὶ τῇ δυστυχεῖ Κωνσταντινουπόλει’, in Agostino Pertusi (ed.), La caduta di Constantinopoli l’ eco nel mondo [Caduta, II] (Verona: Mondadori, 1976), pp. 353–63. —, ‘Μονῳδία κῦρ ᾽Ανδρονίκου τοῦ Καλλίστου ἐπὶ τῇ δυστυχεῖ Κωνσταντινουπόλει’, in S. Lambros (ed.), in ‘Μονῳδίαι καὶ θρῆνοι ἐπὶ τῇ ἁλώσει τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως’, Neos Ellinomnemon 5 (1908), 109–269. Constantine Laskaris, Greek Grammar (Amsterdam: A.M. Hakkert, 1966). Giovanni Iriarte, Regiae Bibliothecae Matritensis Codices Graeci Mss (Madrid: E typographia Antonii Perez de Soto, 1769). John Anagnostes, Pro Viribus Acta Monodia, ed. Barthold Georg Niebuhr, CHSB (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1838). Laonikos Chalkokondyles, Historiarum Libri Decem, ed. I. Bekker, CSHB (Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi, 1843). Legrand, E., Bibliographie Hellénique, vol. 1 (Paris: Leroux, 1885, repr. Brussels: Culture et civilization, 1963). Manuel II Palaiologos, The Letters of Manuel II Palaeologus, ed. George Dennis, CFHB (Washington DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1977). Michael Apostolis, Lettres inédites de Michel Apostolis, ed. H. Noiret (Paris: E. Thorin, 1889). Mohler, Ludwig, Kardinal Bessarion als Theologe, Humanist und Staatsmann, 3 vols, Quellen und Forschungen 20, 22, 24 (Paderborn: Schöningh, 1923–42), iii.
Secondary sources Alexiou, Margaret, The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition (2nd edn, Lanham, MD; Boulder, CO; New York, Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002). Avezzù, Guido, ‘ΑΝΔΡΟΝΙΚIΑ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΑ: Per l’identificazione di Andronico Callisto copista. Con alcune notizie su Giano Lascaris e la biblioteca di Giorgio 94
Constantine Sathas, Νεοελληνική Φιλολογία, Βιογραφίαι των εν τοις γράµµασι διαλαµψάντων Ελλήνων από της καταλύσεως της Βυζαντινής Αυτοκρατορίας µέχρι της Ελληνικής Εθνεγερσίας 1453–1821 (Athens: Typographeio Teknon Andreou Koromila, 1868), pp. 112–14.
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Valla’, Atti e memorie dell’Accademia Patavina di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti 102 (1989), parte 3, memorie della Classe di Scienze Morali, Lettere ed Arti, 75–93. Bennett, Josephine W.,‘John Morer’s Will: Thomas Linacre and Prior Sellyng’s Greek Teaching’, Studies in the Renaissance 15 (1968), 70–91. Botley, Paul, ‘The Books of Andronicus Callistus, 1475–76’ (Abstract, publication forthcoming) www.princeton.edu/~hellenic/renaissanceconferenceabstracts.html (accessed 30 July 2011). —, Learning Greek in Western Europe, 1396–1529: Grammars, Lexica, and Classroom Texts, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 100, Part 2 (Darby, Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society, 2010). Brown, Alison, ‘Platonism in Fifteenth-Century Florence and Its Contribution to Early Modern Political Thought’, The Journal of Modern History 58 (1986), 384–413. Bywater, Ingram, The Erasmian Pronunciation of Greek and Its Precursors: Jerome Aleander, Aldus Manutius, Antonio of Lebrixa (London: Henry Frowde, 1908). —, Four Centuries of Greek Learning in England (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1919). The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100–1600, ed. Norman Kretzmann, Anthony Kenny, Anthony John Patrick Kenny, Jan Pinborg and Eleonore Stump (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988). Cammelli, G., ‘Andronico Callisto’, La Rinascita 5 (1942), 104–21 and 174–214. Celenza, Christopher S., ‘Pythagoras in the Renaissance: The Case of Marsilio Ficino’, Renaissance Quarterly 52 (1999), 667–711. Centanni, Monica, La biblioteca di Andronico Callisto. Primo inventario di manoscritti greci (Padua: Societa cooperativa tipografica, 1986). Cox Wright, Elizabeth, ‘Continuity in XV Century English Humanism’, Periodical of the Modern Language Association 51 (1936), 370–6. Davies, Jonathan, Florence and Its University During the Early Renaissance (Leiden: Brill, 1998). —, ‘Marsilio Ficino: Lecturer at the Studio fiorentino’, Renaissance Quarterly 45 (1992), 785–90. Diller, Aubrey, ‘Petrarch’s Greek Codex of Plato’, Classical Philology 59 (1964), 270–2. —, ‘Three Greek Scribes Working for Bessarion: Trivizias, Callistus, Hermonimus’, Italia medioevale e umanistica 10 (1967), 403–10. Easterling, Pat E., ‘Sophocles and the Byzantine Student’, in Charalambos Dendrinos, Jonathan Harris, Eirene Harvalia-Crook and Judith Herrin (eds), Porphyrogenita: Essays on Byzantine History and Culture and the Latin East Presented to Julian Chrysostomides (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), pp. 319–34. Febvre, Lucien Paul Victor and Henri-Jean Martin, The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450–1800, trans. David Gerard (London, New York: Verso, 1984). Fortuna, Stefania, ‘Galen’s De Constitutione Artis Medicae in the Renaissance’, The Classical Quarterly 43 (1993), 302–19.
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Geanakoplos, Deno J., Constantinople and the West: Essays on the Late Byzantine (Palaeologan) and Italian Renaissances and the Byzantine and Roman Churches (Maddison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989). —, ‘The Discourse of Demetrius Chalcondyles on the Inauguration of Greek Studies at the University of Padua in 1463’, Studies in the Renaissance 21 (1974), 118–44. Grafton, A., ‘On the Scholarship of Politian and Its Context’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 40 (1977), 150–88. Gray, H. L., ‘Greek Visitors in England in 1455–6’, Anniversary Essays in Medieval History by Students of Charles Homer Haskins, ed. C. H. Taylor (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1929), pp. 81–116. Grendler, Paul F., The Universities of the Italian Renaissance (Baltimore, MD and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002). Günther, Hans-Christian, ‘Andronikos Kallistos und das Studium griechischer Dichtertexte’, Eikasmos: Quaderni bolognesi di filologia classica 10 (1999), 315–34. Hankins, James, ‘Cosimo de’ Medici and the “Platonic Academy”’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 53 (1990), 144–62. —, ‘The Myth of the Platonic Academy of Florence’, Renaissance Quarterly 44 (1991), 429–75. —, Plato in the Italian Renaissance (Leiden: Brill, 1990). —, ‘Renaissance Crusaders: Humanist Crusade Literature in the Age of Mehmed II’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 49 (1995), 111–207. Harris, Jonathan, ‘Being a Byzantine after Byzantium: Hellenic Identity in Renaissance Italy’, Kambos: Cambridge Papers in Modern Greek 8 (2000), 25–44. —, ‘Byzantines in Renaissance Italy’, in Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies: http://the-orb.net/encyclop/late/laterbyz/harris-ren.html —, ‘Cardinal Bessarion and the Ideal State’, in E. Konstantinou (ed.), Der Beitrag der byzantinischen Gelehrten zur abendländischen Renaissance des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts, (Frankfurt-am-Main: Peter Lang, 2006), pp. 91–7. —, ‘Common Language and the Common Good: Aspects of Identity among Byzantine Émigrés in Renaissance Italy’, in S. McKee, Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance 3 (ed.), Crossing Boundaries: Issues of Cultural and Individual Identity in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Turnhout: Brepols, 1999), pp. 189–202. —, Greek Émigrés in the West, 1400–1520 (Camberley: Porphyrogenitus, 1995). —, ‘Greek Scribes in England: The Evidence of Episcopal Registers’, in R. Cormack and E. Jeffreys (eds), Through the Looking Glass: Byzantium through British Eyes (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000), 121–6. —, ‘The Influence of Plethon’s Idea of Fate on the Historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles’, in L. G. Benakis and Ch. P. Baloglou (eds), Proceedings of the International Congress on Plethon and his Time, Mystras, 26–29 June 2002 (Athens: Society for Peloponnesian and Byzantine Studies, 2004), pp. 211–17.
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—, ‘Publicising the Crusade: English Bishops and the Jubilee Indulgence of 1455’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History 50 (1999), 23–37. —, ‘Two Byzantine Craftsmen in Fifteenth Century London’, Journal of Medieval History 21 (1995), 387–403. —, ‘A Worthless Prince? Andreas Palaeologus in Rome – 1464–1502’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 61 (1995), 537–54. Hirsch, S. A., ‘Early English Hebraists. Roger Bacon and His Predecessors’, The Jewish Quarterly Review 12 (1899), pp. 34–88. James, M. R., Abbeys (London, 1925); www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/reading_ abbey_library.html (accessed 30 July 2011) Kalatzi, Maria, ‘Georgios Hermonymos, A Greek Scribe and Teacher in Paris’, in Godfried Croenen and Peter Ainsworth (eds), Patrons, Authors and Workshops: Books and Book Production in Paris Around 1400 (Leuven: Peeters, 2006), pp. 355–66. Kibre, Pearl, ‘The Intellectual Interests Reflected in Libraries of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries’, Journal of the History of Ideas 7 (1946), 257–97. Lautner, Peter, ‘Theophrastus in Bessarion’, The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, JHS 115 (1995), 155–60. Loomis, Louise Ropes, ‘The Greek Renaissance in Italy’, The American Historical Review 13 (1908), 246–58. Masek, Rosemary, ‘The Humanistic Interests of the Early Tudor Episcopate’, Church History 39 (1970), 5–17. Monfasani, John, Byzantine Scholars in Renaissance Italy: Cardinal Bessarion and Other Émigrés: Selected Essays (Aldershot: Variorum, 1995). —, ‘In Praise of Ognibene and Blame of Guarino: Andronicus Contoblacas’ Invective against Niccolò Botano and the Citizens of Brescia’, Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance 52 (1990), 309–2. —, ‘A Philosophical Text of Andronicus Callistus Misattributed to Nicholas Secundinus’, in Renaissance Studies in Honor of Craig Hugh Smyth I (Florence: Giunti Barbèra, 1985), pp. 395–406. —, ‘A Tale of Two Books: Bessarion’s In Calumniatorem Platonis and George of Trebizond’s Comparatio Philosophorum Platonis et Aristotelis’, Studies in the Renaissance 22 (2008), 1–13. Nauert, Charles Garfield, Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995). Nicol, Donald M., The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos ca. 1100–1560. A Genealogical and Prosopographical Study (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1968), no. 100. —, The Immortal Emperor: The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992). Nyström, Eva, Containing Multitudes. Codex Upsaliensis Graecus 8 in Perspective (Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, 2009).
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Oehler, Klaus, ‘Aristotle in Byzantium’, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 5 (1964), 133–46. Panagiotakes, Nikolaos M., ‘The Italian Background of Early Cretan Literature’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 49, Symposium on Byzantium and the Italians, 13th–15th Centuries (1995), 281–323. Pirrotta, Nino and Elena Povoledo, Music and Theatre from Poliziano to Monteverdi, trans. Karen Eales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982). Powell, J. E., ‘Two Letters of Andronicus Callistus to Demetrius Chalcocondyles’, Byzantinische-Neugriechische Jahrbücher 15 (1939), 14–20. Powell, J. U., ‘The Papyri of Thucydides and the Translation of Laurentius Valla’, The Classical Quarterly 23 (1929), 11–14. Robert Grosseteste, Scholar and Bishop. Essays in Commemoration of the Seventh Centenary of his Death, ed. D. A. Callus (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955). Robin, Diana, ‘Unknown Greek Poems of Francesco Filelfo’, Renaissance Quarterly 37 (1984), 173–206. Robins, Robert Henry, The Byzantine Grammarians: Their Place in History (Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1993). Rubinstein, Alice Levine, ‘Imitation and Style in Angelo Poliziano’s Iliad Translation’, Renaissance Quarterly 36 (1983), 48–70. Rummel, Erika, Erasmus as a Translator of the Classics (Toronto and Buffalo, NY: University of Toronto Press, 1985). Sathas, Constantine, Νεοελληνική Φιλολογία, Βιογραφίαι των εν τοις γράµµασι διαλαµψάντων Ελλήνων από της καταλύσεως της Βυζαντινής Αυτοκρατορίας µέχρι της Ελληνικής Εθνεγερσίας 1453–1821 (Athens: Typographeio Teknon Andreou Koromila, 1868). Setton, Kenneth M., ‘The Byzantine Background to the Italian Renaissance’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 100 (1956), 1–76. Shrimer, Walter F., Der Englische Frühumanismus (Leipzig, 1931; revised M. Niemeyer, 1963). Smith, O. L., ‘Anonymous Mutinensis or Andonikos Kallistos?’ Classica et Mediaevalia 38 (1986), 255–8. Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (London: Taylor and Walton, 1844–9). Tilley, Arthur, ‘Greek Studies in England in the Early Sixteenth Century’, The English Historical Review 53 (1938), 221–39. Todd, Robert B., ‘Baltasar Meliavacca, Andronicus Callistus, and the Greek Aristotelian Commentators in Fifteenth-Century Italy’, Italia medioevale e umanistica 37 (1994), 62–75. Waith, Eugene M., ‘Landino and Maximus of Tyre’, Renaissance News 13 (1960), 289–94. Weiss, Roberto, Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century (2nd edn, Oxford: Blackwell, 1957).
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—, Medieval and Humanist Greek, Collected Essays (Padua: Antenore, 1977). —, ‘New Light on Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 14 (1951), 21–3. Westgate, R. I. Wilfred, ‘The Text of Valla’s Translation of Thucydides’, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 67 (1936), 240–51. Wolters, Al, ‘Poliziano as a Translator of Plotinus’, Renaissance Quarterly 40 (1987), 452–64. Woodhouse, C. M., Gemistos Plethon; The Last of the Hellenes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), p. 226. Woodward, A. M., ‘Greek History at the Renaissance’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 63 (1943), 1–14. Zeses, Theodore, Γεννάδιος Β΄ Σχολάριος. Βίος-Συγγράµµατα-Διδασκαλία (Thessalonica: Patriarchikon Idhrima Paterikon Meleton, 1980). Ziakas, Gregorios D., ‘Πνευματικός βίος και πολιτισμός της Θεσσαλονίκης κατά την περίοδο της Οθωμανικής κυριαρχίας’, Χριστιανική Θεσσαλονίκη‚ Οθωµανική Περίοδος 1430–1912‚ Β΄ (Thessalonica: Kentro Istorias Thessalonikis, 1994).
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6
An Akathistos Hymn to St Demetrius: An Example of Post-Byzantine Devotion
The Akathistos Hymn is a genre – not a title of a specific piece. The Akathistos Hymn to the Virgin Mary1 is the most famous Akathistos Hymn and usually by the word ‘Akathistos’ people refer to this particular work. The word means ‘unseated’ or ‘standing’ and it refers to the fact that, in church, the congregation would be expected to stand for the duration of the hymn. This mandatory standing resembles that reserved for the reading of the Gospel. The Akathistos to the Virgin Mary is associated with the unsuccessful siege of Constantinople in 626 by the Avars, Slavs and their allies.2 The Akathistos is a thanksgiving hymn in honour of the Theotokos who protected the city from defeat on that occasion. This was an important moment for Emperor Heraclius and the Byzantine empire itself; together with other military successes of Heraclius in the years before and after the siege, it established the political and military power of Constantinople and laid the foundations for future stability. The Akathistos is symbolic of all this. Its composition is attributed to the most well-known Byzantine hymnographer, Romanos Melodos (fl. early sixth century), and musicologists have given stylistic reasons for this attribution, comparing the Akathistos to other hymns authored by him and especially the Nativity Hymn.3 However, it is most likely that the opening of the Akathistos was composed on the spot by Patriarch Sergius in 626 as an introduction to the already existing hymn,4 hence the explicit reference to victory. Many other theories regarding the authorship of the Akathistos have 1
2
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For more on this work, with bibliography, see G. Papagiannis, Ακάθιστος Ύµνος. Άγνωστες πτυχές ενός πολύ γνωστού κειµένου. Κριτικές και µετρικές παρατηρήσεις, σχολιασµένη βιβλιογραφία (Thessalonica: Vanias, 2006). For details on the siege of 626 see Jonathan Harris, Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium (London and New York: Hambledon Continuum, 2007), pp. 47–8. For Romanos Melodos in general see R. J. Schork, From the Byzantine Pulpit: Romanos the Melodist (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1995), where also a relevant bibliography. Egon Wellesz, ‘The “Akathistos”. A Study in Byzantine Hymnography’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 9 (1956), 141–74, especially at 143.
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been expressed.5 In any case, by the eleventh century the Akathistos Hymn became associated with the icon of the Virgin Hodegetria, perhaps the most powerful visual symbol of veneration to the Virgin Mary in Byzantine Constantinople.6 This gave both symbols of veneration an added aura. The well-known edition of the Akathistos produced by Wellesz is of a thirteenth-century musical setting, a fact that shows the constant renewal of the tradition of the hymn. Within its celebration of Byzantine supremacy, the most important message of the Akathistos Hymn is its portrayal of the Virgin Mary as the protector of Constantinople. This, seen in the context of Byzantine ideology and the central role of religion in the life of the empire, makes the Akathistos a powerful point of reference within Byzantine society. It is also an indicator of the complexity of Byzantine identity: the Virgin Mary is portrayed both as a powerful general, rather like the Greek goddess Athena, and as a pure maiden, in line with Christian doctrine. The refrain line Rejoice Unwedded Bride is one of the most celebrated phrases in the canon of the Eastern Church. Sung in the Akolouthia of the Chairetismoi during Lent, the Akathistos Hymn is an oasis of repose among the generally dark Lenten mood. Another important aspect of the Akathistos Hymn is its importance as a work of Greek literature, at a time when, on the initiative of Heraclius, Greek was replacing Latin as the official language of the Eastern Roman Empire. Equalling in beauty and poetry Latin hymns such as Ave Maris Stella and Stabat Mater, the Akathistos is perhaps the most popular Eastern votive gift. Comparisons between Byzantine poetry and the Latin Dies Irae and Stabat Mater have been made before by Deno John Geanakoplos.7 The relatively unknown Threnos tis Yperaghias Theotokou, Legomenos ti Aghia kai Megali Paraskevi edited by Wim. F. Bakker, complements the Akathistos brilliantly. It is its editor’s hope that the latter will also be used again in services one day.8 The Threnos is a masterpiece of Medieval Greek literature and so far unduly overlooked. Yet, there is another contender for the Byzantine equivalent to the Stabat Mater. It is the hymn Mi epodyrou mou mitir, one of the most evocative hymns in the Byzantine repertory (see Table in Appendix III).9 5
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Andrew J. Ekonomou, Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern Influences on Rome and the Papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752, Roman Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches (Lanham: Lexington Books, MD, 2007), pp. 285–6. Bissera V. Pentcheva, Icons and Power: The Mother of God in Byzantium (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006). D. J. Geanakoplos, Byzantine East and Latin West: Two Worlds of Christendom in Middle Ages and Renaissance, Studies in Ecclesiastical and Cultural History (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), in his Prologue, ‘The Two Worlds of Christendom’. See Wim F. Bakker, Θρη̑νος τη̑ς ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου λεγόµενος τη̑ ἁγίᾳ καὶ µεγάλῃ Παρασκευη̑ (Athens: MIET, 2005), p. 12. See Table in Appendix III.
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Prosomoia of this hymn composed by Symeon of Thessalonica and his successors transform the roles of Christ and Virgin Mary into St Demetrius and Thessalonica: the dramatic intensity of the original situation is transferred to the new context. Furthermore, the theological traditions of the cult of St Demetrius, which give the saint Christ-like qualities, are in line with the creative take of the hymn. Many Byzantine authors have likened St Demetrius to Christ but the most explicit in this respect is the theologian and mystic Nikolaos Kavasilas, whose Christo-centric approach was central to his two best-known works, Life in Christ and Commentary to the Divine Liturgy.10 A comparative study of the theological and liturgical attitudes of Kavasilas and Symeon of Thessalonica has been conducted by Paul Mantovanis.11 I agree with him that the two authors had a similar approach overall, yet Kavasilas is more theoretical and Symeon more interested in the liturgical application of doctrine. In Symeon’s hymn Thessalonica laments for St Demetrius in the same way as the Panaghia laments for Christ. Indeed, a look at the two prosomoia would convince us that this happens explicitly (Table 1). Thessalonica as a woman in the poetic imagination is well-attested. In the modern day, the neo-Byzantine writer and artist Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis has portrayed her in that way in his poem Symvan, describing the victories of St Demetrius in the imagination of a group of Greek soldiers. I have discussed the poetic register and function of Symeon’s hymns to some detail in my doctoral thesis. Another dimension of this intense and dramatic hymn has been shown by Theodore Bogdanos, who employed a comparison from the English repertory. He has proved that the Wakefield Crucifixion Play follows the pattern of the hymn Mi epodyrou closely and, to my mind, there is no other option than to assume that the Wakefield play was heavily influenced by it.12 Finally, hymns were written not only in the honour of saints but also of prominent Byzantine personalities. Such hymns were most definetely prosomoia of existing hymns. Manuel II Palaiologos was one such person, who had a hymn by Mark Eugenikos 10
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Nikolaos Kavasilas, ‘De Vita in Christo’. French translation with Greek text by Marie-Hélène Congourdeau, La Vie en Christ, Sources Chrétiennes 355, 361, 2 vols (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1989–90). English translation by Carmino J. deCatanzaro, The Life in Christ (Crestwood, NY: Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1974); Explication de la divine liturgie, introduction and ed. Sévérien Salaville, Sources Chrétiennes 4 (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1967). English translation by J. M. Hussey and P. A. McNulty, Commentary on the Divine Liturgy (London: S.P.C.K., 1960). For examples of the portrayal of St Demetrius by Kavasilas see Eugenia Russell, ‘Nicholas Kavasilas Chamaëtos (c.1322-c.1390), a Unique Voice amongst His Contemporaries’, Nottingham Medieval Studies 54 (2010), 121–35. Paul Chr. Mantovanis, ‘The Eucharistic Theology of Nicolas Cabasilas’, University of Oxford, DPhil thesis (1984). Theodore Bogdanos, ‘Liturgical Drama in Byzantine Literature’, Comparative Drama 10 (1976), 200–15, at 211.
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written in his honour. This hymn is interesting not only for its compositional technique but also for what it tells us in terms of Byzantine ideology.13
The prosomoion of the Akathistos This brief introduction has established the prominent place the Akathistos Hymn occupies in Christian worship. The messages it gives regarding Byzantine ideology are also conveyed in the adaptation of the hymn for the festival of St Demetrius. Moreover, by adapting this iconic hymn for Thessalonica and St Demetrius, the anonymous14 post-Byzantine hymnographer gives out several further messages. The first and most obvious is that St Demetrius plays for his own city the role the Virgin Mary played for the Byzantine capital. This is fairly straightforward, as the role of Demetrius as patron saint is well-documented. It would be no exaggeration to say that, apart from the Blessed Virgin herself, St Demetrius was the most prominent patron saint in the entire Oikoumene. The fourteenth-century author Constantine Harmenopoulos likens the relationship between the Virgin Mary and St Demetrius to this of a majestic Queen and her brave, most trusted general. As a side to this parallel one should mention the joint veneration that the Virgin Mary and St Demetrius enjoyed in Thessalonica, and in particular in one of the three most important churches of the Byzantine city, that of the Acheiropoietos, which was originally dedicated to them jointly. The site where the church of the Acheiropoietos is built has been identified by some archaeologists as the site of a place called Kataphyge, where St Demetrius is said to have taught in secret. The name of the Acheiropoietos was given probably in the fourteenth century after an icon of the Virgin Mary. The site was regarded so important that a litany from the church of the Aghia Sophia in Thessalonica stopped at the Acheiropoietos where a speech of praise to St Demetrius was offered during his festival in October. Gregory Palamas in such an encomium mentions the importance of Kataphyge for the cult of the saint.15 A second and more subtle message that can be derived from this hymn is the legacy of Thessalonica as an independent metropolis, one stemming from 13
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Mark Eugenikos (attr.), ‘Duo Kanones Anekdotoi eis ton Autokratora Manuil Palaiologon’, ed. Spyridon P. Lambros, Neos Hellenomnemon 14 (1920), 318–41. The Monastery of Vatopedi attributes this hymn to St Athanasios Patelaros (born between 1580 and 1597; died 1654), a monk of Vatopedi who served both as Patriarch of Constantinople and Archbishop of Thessalonica. For a discussion of these themes and a full bibliography on St Demetrius see Eugenia Russell, St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010). For details on the Acheiropoieitos see Andreas Xyngopoulos, ‘Kataphyge-Acheiropoietos’, Makedonika 4 (1955–60), 441–8.
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the Palaiologan era. Many parallels between Thessalonica and Constantinople, not least predictions of dual doom, are recorded in the later sources. Doukas, for example, states that the fall of Thessalonica in 1430 was a pre-figuration of what was to happen to the capital itself. Symeon of Thessalonica links the two cities with reference to their importance for the preservation of faith. Political, social and dynastic circumstances made Thessalonica increasingly autonomous and powerful towards the end of Byzantium. The loss of Adrianople to the Turks was only one factor isolating the two cities, now only accessible to each other by sea. The civil wars of the fourteenth century, the Zealot revolt, the wealth of the aristocracy, the demands for social reform and the trend of appanages all accentuated this tendency of an autonomous Thessalonica. Manuel II Palaiologos, in fact, pursued from Thessalonica a separate, much more militant, policy against the Turks than his father John V, who saw compromise as the way to the future. Such contrast gave Thessalonica extra kudos. The honour bestowed upon St Demetrius reflects this heightened civic feeling, intensified in the late Byzantine period. Our post-Byzantine adaptation of the Akathistos is written in the tradition of this intensified veneration. The post-Byzantine veneration of St Demetrius has not been studied in depth and a first appraisal will be attempted in this chapter.16 A third message that can be derived from the hymn in the context of its postByzantine identity is that of a strong allegiance to a Byzantine past; the language, techniques and cultural references of the hymn speak of such a bond. Examples of the same abound in other works of post-Byzantine authors, many of which remain unpublished. The Byzantines explained defeat as being a direct result of sinfulness. This was their way of making sense of adversity and seeking hope. This message can be famously found in the work of George Scholarios, later the Archbishop Gennadios,17 and it is a motif that continues to occur in the writings of post-Byzantine authors. Here in the prosomoion St Demetrius is said to have allowed for his city to be taken because of the transgressions of the people for which the hymnographer praises him. An important question regarding the Akathistos adaptation would be that of its intended use in the post-Byzantine world. The British Library manuscript gives no clues, but the fact that there is a similar work preserved in a manuscript of Mount Athos18 may indicate that there would have been Akolouthies within monastic communities that included such hymns. This also reminds us of the strong links between Mount Athos 16 17
18
See Russell, St Demetrius, ‘Aftermath’, pp. 129–31. George Kourtesis Scholarios, ‘Fragmentum Panegyrici in Sanctum Demetrium’, in Louis Petit, X. A. Siderides and Martin Jugie (eds), Oeuvres complétes de Georges Scholarios, 8 vols (Paris: Maison de la bonne presse, 1928–35), i. 238–46. Mount Athos, Bibliotheke Mones Panteleimonos, MS 734 (19th c.), ff. 1–14.
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and Thessalonica which were partly the cause of the hesychast controversy, one that involved almost all the prominent theological and political figures of the fourteenth century.19 These links between Thessalonica and Mount Athos were administrative as well as spiritual. For example, John VII, the nephew of Manuel II Palaiologos, administered improvement works at Mount Athos as part of his duties while he was in charge of Thessalonica between 1403 and 1408.20
Secondary research questions A secondary research question addressed in this chapter relates to the relevance of this material in an English context. This topic has been already partly introduced in the discussion of the adoption of the Byzantine hymn Mi epodyrou mou mitir for the purposes of the Wakefield Crucifixion Play. The evidence Bogdanos gives totally satisfies and the possibilities of cultural contact and exchange that must have taken place excite the imagination. Yet, although the work done by Bogdanos on the links between Byzantine and English traditions is exciting, it is not unique. Egon Wellesz and Jonathan Harris have brought to our attention another hymn to the Virgin Mary, Haire i Puli, which is present in the Winchester Troper. This is a bilingual hymn, both in Latin and Greek, and one that has been key to our understanding of Byzantine musical styles.21 In the post-Byzantine era, a scribe known as Emanuel of Constantinople, is the creator of the Leicester Codex of the New Testament. Emanuel of Constantinople resided in Oxford.22 The well-known scholar and teacher John Argyropoulos is another person with links to England. He taught the classics alongside Marcilio Ficino, and is thought to have taught classes attended by Leonardo da Vinci.23 Yet the musical and religious theme brings us not to him but to his son, who flourished in Italy. The activities of the musician and organ maker Isaac Argyropoulos 19
20 21
22
23
For an incisive definition of hesychasm see Jane Baun, ‘Church’, in Jonathan Harris (ed.), Palgrave Advances in Byzantine History (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), pp. 100–18, at p. 116. For details see Russell, St Demetrius. Jonathan Harris, Greek Émigrés in the West, 1400–1520 (Camberley: Porphyrogenitus, 1995), p. 155; Egon Wellesz, Eastern Elements in Western Chant; Studies in the Early History of Ecclesiastical Music, Monumenta Musicae Byzantinae, Subsidia, II; American Series I (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1947), pp. 192–201. Elizabeth Cox Wright, ‘Continuity in XV Century English Humanism’, Periodical of the Modern Language Association 51 (1936), 370–6, at pp. 370 and 376; M. R. James, ‘The Scribe of the Leicester Codex’, Journal of Theological Studies 5 (1904), pp. 445–7; Harris, Greek Émigrés, p. 137, where further bibliography. For John Argyropoulos teaching Plato see Deno J. Geanakoplos, Constantinople and the West: Essays on the Late Byzantine (Palaeologan) and Italian Renaissances and the Byzantine and Roman Churches (Maddison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989), pp. 15–16 and 107 onwards.
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have been studied extensively.24 Isaac Argyropoulos was closely associated with the celebrated Flemish composer Henrich Isaac. The confusion caused by their names means that the latter was previously credited for organ playing done by Argyropoulos and it is highly likely that many of the compositions attributed to Isaac, too, are the work of his Greek colleague. In this chapter I will not discuss any of the activities of Greek personalities in England. I will take a different approach and use two English works to raise questions of identity and style. The first example is a set of two hymns by the Elizabethan composer Thomas Tallis. Tallis was so highly thought of, that at his death in 1585 his pupil William Byrd proclaimed that music itself had died.25 Tallis uses the melody of the hymn Purge me o Lord for the secular song Fond Youth is a Bubble.26 It is obvious from reading the two texts that the two pieces are rather opposing in content, one expressing religiosity and remorse while the other laments the passing of youth and good times. For an English composer, borrowing a melody and using it in an unrelated context posed no problem. The Byzantine approach we have been discussing is much different, with close parallels drawn between the two hymns. This is reflected even in the vocabulary used, with the first word of each Verse being either the same word in both hymns, or another grammatical form of the same word or a close alternative (see Appendix V). The implications to be found in the adaptation relate to both a personal and a collective identity. Any changes are carefully planned because of their theological and liturgical significance. The second example is a Greek prayer preserved as an autograph written by Queen Elizabeth I around 1570. This prayer has been known to Elizabethan scholars but it has never been discussed in a Greek context.27 It is one of six prayers Elizabeth wrote, the others being written in English, French, Latin and 24
25 26 27
Harris, Greek Émigrés, is rich in information on both John Argyropoulos and Isaac Argyropoulos; James Haar and John Nádas, ‘Antonio Squarcialupi: Man and Myth’, Early Music History 25 (2006), 169–207: Isaac Argyropoulos comes up in their study of Antonio Squarcialupi because he is mentioned as an important pupil. Generally, Isaac Argyropoulos is mentioned in contemporary accounts as organist and son of Giovanni and as a famous organ maker. He is also mentioned (by Cortese) as a keyboard instrument virtuoso. For more on Issac Argyropoulos see: Spyros P. Lambros, Argyropouleia, Athens 1910; Adr. Cappelli (ed.), ‘Giovanni e Isacco Argiropulo’ Archivio storico lombardo, 2nd series, 8 (1891); Johannes Burckardi Liber notarum (ed.), Enrico Celano, Rerum italicarum scriptores, I (1907) and II (1911); Paolo Cortese, De cardinalatu, 3 vols (Rome: Symeon Nicolai Nardi Impr., 1510); Claudio Sartori, ‘Organs, Organ-Builders, and Organists in Milan, 1450– 1476: New and Unpublished Documents’, The Musical Quarterly 43.1 (1957), 57–67; Evelyn S. Welch, ‘Sight, Sound and Ceremony in the Chapel of Galeazzo Maria Sforza’, Early Music History 12 (1993), 151–90; André Pirro, ‘Leo X and Music’, The Musical Quarterly 21,1 (1935), 1–16; Nino Pirrotta, ‘Music and Cultural Tendencies in 15th-Century Italy’, Journal of the American Musicological Society 19.2 (1966), 127–61; Christian Berger, Reinhard Strohm, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Online. For William Byrd’s tribute see Appendix V. Thomas Tallis, BL Additional 30480–4 contains a set of part-books of Purge me, O Lord. Elizabeth I, BL Facs. 218; Jennifer Clement, ‘The Queen’s Voice: Elizabeth I’s Christian Prayers and Meditations’, Early Modern Literary Studies 13.3 (2008), 1–26.
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Italian. A second prayer in English brings the number of them up to six. Although written in Greek, this prayer is ‘as English as they come’, to use an expression drawn from a cultural commentary by David Beckham. Elizabeth’s prayer does not follow any of the traditions of Byzantine hymnography or the self-less mode of expression common to iconographers and hymnographers alike. It is a very personal piece, in many ways modern, conscious of its authorship and individual relationship with the Lord. In it, Elizabeth speaks both as a woman and a queen asking for strength at both a personal and an institutional level. Interestingly, she refers to ‘her people’ and not ‘Your people’, as it would certainly have been the case for a Byzantine Archbishop or Emperor. The two English works mentioned in this chapter may well be roughly contemporary to the post-Byzantine hymn we have discussed. Although the version preserved to us was copied in the eighteenth century, the hymn is probably much earlier. However, because of the continuity of compositional technique within Byzantine hymnography, stylistically the hymn reads similar to its seventh-century original. This makes certain mentions to historical events which point to the fall of Byzantium even more evocative. It is hoped that much more will be written on this topic. Further studies may extend to other European traditions, following for instance the path opened by a recent volume on Laments for the Lost in Medieval Literature but extending the enquiry to the Byzantine world.28 They may also use comparative approaches in the study between Byzantine hymns and hymns in Old Slavonic, such as the Akathistos dedicated to St Panteleimon.29
Bibliography MS British Library, Additional 30480–4 British Library, Additional 53736 British Library Facs. 218 Mount Athos, Bibliotheke Mones Panteleimonos, MS 734
28
29
J. Tolmie and M. J. Toswell (eds), Laments for the Lost in Medieval Literature, Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe 19 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2010). For the cult of St Panteleimon and some application of such comparative approaches see Eugenia Russell and Teodora Burnand, ‘Donors, Texts and Images. Visualisation of the Hagiographical Cycle of St Panteleimon’, Byzantion 81 (2011), 288–325.
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Printed Sources Primary Bakker, Wim F., Θρη̑νος τη̑ς ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου λεγόµενος τη̑ ἁγίᾳ καὶ µεγάλη̑ Παρασκευῇ (Athens: MIET, 2005). George Kourtesis Scholarios, ‘Fragmentum Panegyrici in Sanctum Demetrium’, in Louis Petit, X.A. Siderides and Martin Jugie (eds), Oeuvres complétes de Georges Scholarios (Paris: Maison de la bonne presse, 1928–35), i. 238–46. Johannes Burckard, Liber notarum, ed. Enrico Celano, Rerum italicarum scriptores, I (1907) and II (1911). Lambros, Spyros P., Argyropouleia (Athens: s.n., 1910). Mark Eugenikos (attr.), ‘Duo Kanones Anekdotoi eis ton Autokratora Manuil Palaiologon’, ed. Spyridon P. Lambros, Neos Hellenomnemon 14 (1920), 318–41. Nikolaos Kavasilas,‘De Vita in Christo’. French translation with Greek text by MarieHélène Congourdeau, La Vie en Christ, Sources Chrétiennes 355, 361, 2 vols (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1989–90). English translation by Carmino J. deCatanzaro, The Life in Christ (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1974). —, Explication de la divine liturgie, introduction and ed. Sévérien Salaville, Sources Chrétiennes 4 (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1967). English translation by J. M. Hussey and P. A. McNulty, Commentary on the Divine Liturgy (London: S.P.C.K., 1960). Paolo Cortese, De cardinalatu, 3 vols (Rome: Symeon Nicolai Nardi Impr., 1510).
Secondary Baun, Jane, ‘Church’, in Jonathan Harris (ed.), Palgrave Advances in Byzantine History, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), pp. 100–18. Berger, Christian and Reinhard Strohm, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Online. Bogdanos, Theodore, ‘Liturgical Drama in Byzantine Literature’, Comparative Drama 10 (1976), 200–15. Cappelli, Adr. (ed.), ‘Giovanni e Isacco Argiropulo’ Archivio storico lombardo, 2nd series, 8 (1891). Clement, Jennifer, ‘The Queen’s Voice: Elizabeth I’s Christian Prayers and Meditations’, Early Modern Literary Studies 13.3 (2008), 1–26. Cox Wright, Elizabeth, ‘Continuity in XV Century English Humanism’, Periodical of the Modern Language Association 51 (1936), 370–6. Ekonomou, Andrew J., Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern Influences on Rome and the Papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752, Roman Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007). Geanakoplos, Deno J., Byzantine East and Latin West: Two Worlds of Christendom in Middle Ages and Renaissance, Studies in Ecclesiastical and Cultural History (New York: Harper & Row, 1966).
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—, Constantinople and the West: Essays on the Late Byzantine (Palaeologan) and Italian Renaissances and the Byzantine and Roman Churches (Maddison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989). Haar, James and John Nádas, ‘Antonio Squarcialupi: Man And Myth’, Early Music History 25 (2006), 169–207. Harris, Jonathan, Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium (London and New York: Hambledon Continuum, 2007). —, Greek Émigrés in the West, 1400–1520 (Camberley: Porphyrogenitus, 1995). James, M. R., ‘The Scribe of the Leicester Codex’, Journal of Theological Studies 5 (1904), 445–7. Mantovanis, Paul Chr., ‘The Eucharistic Theology of Nicolas Cabasilas’, University of Oxford, DPhil thesis (1984). Papagiannis,G., Ακάθιστος Ύµνος. Άγνωστες πτυχές ενός πολύ γνωστού κειµένου. Κριτικές και µετρικές παρατηρήσεις, σχολιασµένη βιβλιογραφία (Thessalonica: Vanias, 2006). Pentcheva, Bissera V., Icons and Power: The Mother of God in Byzantium (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006). Pirro, André, ‘Leo X and Music’, The Musical Quarterly 21.1 (1935), 1–16. Pirrotta, Nino, ‘Music and Cultural Tendencies in 15th-Century Italy’, Journal of the American Musicological Society 19.2 (1966), 127–61. Russell, Eugenia, ‘Nicholas Kavasilas Chamaëtos (c.1322-c.1390), a Unique Voice amongst His Contemporaries’, Nottingham Medieval Studies 54 (2010), 121–35. —, St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010). Russell, Eugenia and Teodora Burnand, ‘Donors, Texts and Images. Visualisation of the Hagiographical Cycle of St Panteleimon’, Byzantion 81 (2011), 288–325. Sartori, Claudio, ‘Organs, Organ-Builders, and Organists in Milan, 1450–1476: New and Unpublished Documents’, The Musical Quarterly 43.1 (1957), 57–67. Schork, R. J., From the Byzantine Pulpit: Romanos the Melodist (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1995). Tolmie, J. and M. J. Toswell (eds), Laments for the Lost in Medieval Literature, Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe 19 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2010). Welch, Evelyn S., ‘Sight, Sound and Ceremony in the Chapel of Galeazzo Maria Sforza’, Early Music History 12 (1993), 151–90. Wellesz, Egon, ‘The “Akathistos”. A Study in Byzantine Hymnography’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 9 (1956), 141–74. —, Eastern Elements in Western Chant; Studies in the Early History of Ecclesiastical Music, Monumenta Musicae Byzantinae, Subsidia, II; American Series I (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1947), pp. 192–201. Xyngopoulos, Andreas, ‘Kataphyge-Acheiropoietos’ Makedonika 4 (1955–60), 441–8.
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Maps*
Heptapyrgion
Gate of the Akropoils Gate of Anna Palaeologina (of Savoy) Tower of Manuel Palaeologus Tower of Trigonion
Gate
St David Monastery Vlatadon Gate St Catherine
Gate
Prophet Church of the Taxiarchs Elijah St Nicholas Orphanos St Demetrius
Golden Gate (of Vardar)
Rotunda (St George)
Panagla Chalkeon (of the Coppersmiths)
Gate of Kalamar
Gate
Aghiou Demetriou (Decumanus) Agora St Apostles
ia
Acheiropoieitos St Panteleimon Leophoros / Egnatia (Decumanus Maximus) Arch of Galerius St Menas St Sophia
me
Sea W alls
Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour
Hippodro
Tower of Samaria
Harbour of Constantine
Gate of Rome Modern Harbour
Tower of Blood
1 The Medieval City Plan
* All maps are the intellectual property of the author.
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152
Maps
s xio ) r A ar ve rd Ri (Va
Rive r (Ma Evros ritsa ) Adrianople
Thessalonica
Constantinople
2 Thessalonica-Adrianople-Constantinople
Ax
s) hedoro
R. L
sto
s
Drama Serres L. Kerkini
s
R. Gall
oudia
ikos (E k
Ne
ymon
ios
L. Vegoritis
R.
R. Str
R.
Pella
L. Koroneia L. Volvi Thessalonica
on
m
ak
ali
Therme KALAMARIA CHALKIDIKI Kassandreia
THASSOS
H R.
s
eio
n Pe R.
3 Thessalonica and its Hinterland
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Maps
153
Novgorod TrinityMonastery R.
Moscow
Vo lga
BALTIC SEA Vilnius
R. N
Smolensk
ema
n PO L RUS CO ISH L MM ITH ON UAN WE IAN ALT H
R.
Dn
iep
er
HU
New Sarai
NG
AR Y
Milan
Tana Sarai
Venice
R. D
anub
EA
Caffa
IA
Trnovo BLACK SEA BULGARIA Klokotnitsa Constantinople L. Ochrid Thessalonica Nicaea M. Ankara Athos
Siena
ALANIA
CH
Florence
a
ach Matr
ZI
Vicina (?) Sougdaia TheodoroMangup
Genoa Bologna Pisa
CRIM
e
CA U MO CAS U UN TAI S NS
SERBIA
Rome
Sebasteia Trebizond Caesarea
Nymphaion Mistra
Melitene CILICIA Edessa Antioch
I. Rhodes
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Alexandria
Jerusalem
4 The Byzantine Commonwealth NB. This map was first commissioned by Catherine Holmes and Jonathan Shepard for his magnificent essay ‘Imperial Constantinople: Relics and the Resilience of the Exemplary Centre’, in Jonathan Harris, Catherine Holmes and Eugenia Russell (eds), Byzantines, Latins and Turks in the Eastern Mediterranean World after 1150 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 61–92.
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154
Maps
MACEDONIA Serres Thessalonica
Constantinople
Kalamaria
THESSALY
LEMNOS
Gallipoli
Ankara
LESVOS The MOREA
Antioch
Jerusalem
5 The Eastern Mediterranean
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Illustrations*
1 St Nikolaos Orphanos, outside (photography Derek Smith)
* I would like to thank the photographers acknowledged in this section for their work.
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Illustrations
2 St Nikolaos Orphanos, inside (photography Derek Smith)
3 Arch of Galerius (photography Derek Smith)
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Illustrations
157
4 Arch of Galerius and Egnatia (photography Derek Smith)
5 The Rotunda, outside (photography Derek Smith)
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Illustrations
6 St George, Rotunda (photography Derek Smith)
7 St Theodores, Dolna Kamenitsa: an example of the depiction of the military saints in the Byzantine Commonwealth (photography Teodora Burnand)
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Learning Resources
Byzantine Emperors of the House of the Palaiologoi1 Co-emperors are given underneath, indented. Michael VIII Palaiologos 1223–82. Founder of the dynasty; son of Andronikos Doukas Komnenos Palaiologos; reigned 1259–82. Co-emperor at Nicaea (with John IV Laskaris) 1259–61 Re-capture of Constantinople 1261 At Constantinople 1261–82 Andronikos II Palaiologos 1259–1332. Son of Michael VIII Palaiologos; reigned 1282–1328. Michael IX Palaiologos 1277–1320. Son of Andronikos II Palaiologos; co-emperor 1293–1320 Andronikos III Palaiologos 1297–1341. Son of Michael IX Palaiologos; – co-emperor 1321–8. Andronikos III Palaiologos; reigned 1328–41. John V Palaiologos 1332–91. Son of Andronikos III Palaiologos; reigned 1341– 76 (and 1379–91 see below). Anna (Johanna) of Savoy, also known as Anna Palaiologina 1306–c. 1359. Daughter of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy; wife of Andronikos III Palaiologos; mother of John V Palaiologos; regent 1341–7.
1
Cf. Warren Treadgold, A Concise History of Byzantium (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave, 2001), p. 251; Timothy E. Gregory, A History of Byzantium (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005), p. 376; Jonathan Harris (ed.), Palgrave Advances in Byzantine History (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), p. xiii.
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Learning Resources
John VI Kantakouzenos 1292–1383. Son of Michael Kantakouzenos; co-emperor 1347–54. Andronikos IV Palaiologos 1348–85. Son of John V Palaiologos; reigned 1376–9. John V Palaiologos (restored) 1379–91. John VII Palaiologos 1370–1408. Son of Andronikos IV Palaiologos. Rival emperor; reigned 1390. Manuel II Palaiologos 1350–1425. Son of John V Palaiolgos; reigned 1391–1425. John VIII Palaiologos 1392–1448. Son of Manuel II Palaiologos; reigned 1425–48. Constantine XI Palaiologos Dragases 1404–53. Often referred to simply as Dragases, a name he favoured in honour of his mother Helena Dragaš (c. 1372– 1450). Son of Manuel II Palaiologos; reigned 1449–53. Fall of Constantinople and Death of Constantine XI in Battle 1453. Constantine Palaiologos was Despot of the Morea (1428–49) before becoming emperor (1449–53). For succession see below.
Claimants in exile Demetrius Palaiologos 1407–70. Son of Manuel II Palaiolgos; claimant 1453–60. 1449–60 Despot of Morea (jointly with Thomas Palaiologos) 1460 desertion to the Ottomans Thomas Palaiologos 1409–65. Son of Manuel II Palaiologos; claimant 1453–65. Despot of the Morea 1428–60 (1449–60 jointly with Demetrius Palaiologos). May 1460 – The Morea is taken by Sultan Mehmed II. Andreas Palaiologos2 1453–1502. Son of Thomas Palaiologos; claimant 1465–1502. also Titular Despot of the Morea 1465–1502
2
For more details on Thomas Palaiologos and Andreas Palaiologos see Jonathan Harris, ‘A Worthless Prince? Andreas Palaeologus in Rome, 1465–1502’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 61 (1995), 537–54. For information on all the sons of Manuel II Palaiologos see Jonathan Harris, The End of Byzantium (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2010); for the tracing of female members of the Palaiologoi family in particular see Anthony Luttrell, ‘John V’s Daughters: A Palaiologan Puzzle’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 40 (1986), 103–12.
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Appendix I
William Miller (1864–1945): Selected Bibliography Books William Miller, Essays on the Latin Orient (Cambridge: University Press, 1921); also see: R. M. Dawkins, ‘Review of Essays on the Latin Orient by William Miller’, The English Historical Review 37 (1922), 288–90. —, Greek Life in Town and Country (London: G. Newnes, 1905). —, A History of the Greek People (1821–1921), with an Introduction by G. P. Gooch (New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1922). —, The Latins in the Levant; A History of Frankish Greece (1204–1566) (New York: Dutton, 1908). —, Trebizond: The Last Greek Empire (1st edn, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1926; repr. Chicago: Argonaut Publishers, 1968). —, The Turkish Restoration in Greece, 1718–1797 (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1921).
Essays William Miller, ‘Additions to Modern Greek History in the “Gennadeion”’, The Journal of Modern History 9 (1937), 56–63. —, ‘The Finlay Library’, Annual of the British School at Athens 26 (1923–5), 46–66. —, ‘The Finlay Papers’, English Historical Review 39 (1924), 386–98. —, ‘The Gattilusj of Lesbos (1355–1462)’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 22 (1913), 406–47. —, ‘The Genoese in Chios, 1346–1566’, The English Historical Review 30 (1915), 418–32. —, ‘George Finlay as a Journalist’, English Historical Review 39 (1924), 552–67.
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Appendix I
—, ‘The Historians Doukas and Phrantzes’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 46 (1926), 63–71. —, ‘The Journals of Finlay and Jarvis’, English Historical Review 41 (1926), 514–25. —, ‘The Last Athenian Historian’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 42 (1922), 36–49. —, ‘Modern Greek Historians of Modern Greece’, History 10 (1925), 110–23. —, ‘Modern Greek History in the Gennadeion’, The Journal of Modern History 2 (1930), 612–28. —, ‘Monemvasia during the Frankish Period 1204–1540’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies (1907), 229–41. —, ‘Recent Publications on Medieval and Modern Greek History, 1932–1935’, The American Historical Review 40 (1935), 688–93. —, ‘Recent Works on Medieval, Turkish and Modern Greece’, Cambridge Historical Journal 2 (1928), 229–47. —, ‘Salonika’, The English Historical Review 32 (1917), 161–74. —, ‘The Zaccaria of Phocaea and Chios (1275–1329)’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 31 (1911), 42–55.
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Appendix II
The Opening of the Iliad – A Sampler of English Versions (Or, An Invitation to the Reader to Reflect upon Translation) Achilles’ bane full wrath resound, O Goddesse, that imposd Infinite sorrowes on the Greekes, and many brave soules losd From breasts Heroique – sent them farre, to that invisible cave That no light comforts; and their lims to dogs and vultures gave. To all which Jove’s will gave effect; from whom first strife begunne Betwixt Atrides, king of men, and Thetis’ godlike Sonne. Translated by George Chapman (c. 1559–1634) O Goddess sing what woe the discontent Of Thetis’ son brought to the Greeks; what souls Of heroes down to Erebus it sent, Leaving their bodies unto dogs and fowls; Whilst the two princes of the army strove, King Agamemnon and Achilles stout. Translated by Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Jove fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles, first fell out with one another. Translated by Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
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The wrath do thou sing, O goddess, of Peleus’son, Achilles, that baneful wrath which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans, and sent forth to Hades many valiant souls of warriors, and made themselves to be a spoil for dogs and all manner of birds; and thus the will of Zeus was being brought to fulfilment; ósing thou thereof from the time when at the first there parted in strife Atreus’son, king of men, and goodly Achilles. Translated by Augustus Taber Murray (1866–1940) Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achilleus and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians, hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict Atreus’ son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus. Translated by Richmond Alexander Lattimore (1906–84) Anger now be your song, immortal one, Akhilleus’ anger, doomed and ruinous, that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss and crowded brave souls into the undergloom, leaving so many dead men – carrion for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done. Begin it when the two men first contending broke with one another – the Lord Marshal Agamémnon, Atreus’ son, and Prince Akhilleus. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald (1910–85) Sing, Goddess, sing of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus – that murderous anger which condemned Achaeans to countless agonies and threw many warrior souls deep into Hades, leaving their dead bodies carrion food for dogs and birds –
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Appendix II
165
all in fulfilment of the will of Zeus. Start at the point where Agamemnon, son of Atreus, that king of men, quarrelled with noble Achilles. Translated by Ian C. Johnston (b. 1938)
* To these examples I will add a passage from a particularly fine translation of the Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso, that by Edward Fairfax, considered by scholars an undisputed masterpiece of the English language. In this small act of randomness in an otherwise fairly rational and structured book, I am suggesting that history is not a science, hardly even a social science although for funding purposes that is how it is sometimes categorized; I am suggesting that history is a personal expression of human activity, like any other art form, and, even in the current climate of having to justify everything ‘scientifically’, history deserves the space to be that. Gerusalemme Liberata (‘Jerusalem Delivered’), Twelfth Book
V My thoughts are full, my lord, of strange desire Some high attempt of war to undertake, Whether high God my mind therewith inspire Or of his will his God mankind doth make, Among our foes behold the light and fire, I will among them wend, and burn or break The tower, God grant therein I have my will And that performed, betide me good or ill.
Torquato Tasso (1544–95). Published in Parma, 1581. Translated into English by Edward Fairfax (1560–1635); translation first published in London, 1600.
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Appendix III
Symeon Chapter I. Comparison between Symeon’s hymn and Symeon’s encomium Symeon’s prosomoion
Symeon’s encomium (presented as if in verse)
῎Εαρ νοητὸν ἡμῖν σήμερον ἀνατέταλκεν‚ ἔαρ καινὸν ἅγιον‚ ἔαρ παμφαέστατον‚ μάρτυς Χριστοῦ χρυσοειδής‚ μάρτυς πάμφωτος‚ μάρτυς μέγας‚ μάρτυς μυστικός‚ μάρτυς ὁ πνεύσας ὀσμήν τοῦ παραδείσου ἡδίω ἐν τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς αὑτοῦ ἑορτῆς.
Δημήτριος‚ ὁ κάλλιστος ἀθλητής˙ Δημήτριος‚ ὁ σοφώτατος καὶ παρθένος˙ Δημήτριος‚ ὁ εὐώδης˙ Δημήτριος‚ ὁ ἡδύς‚ ὁ συμπαθής‚ ὁ φιλόπατρις˙ δι᾽ ὃν καὶ τὸ τῆς πατρίδος ἅπαν ἅθροισμα σήμερον‚ μετὰ πάντων τῶν εὐσεβούντων ἐν τῇ γῇ
II. Comparison between Symeon’s hymn and Easter hymn Symeon’s prosomoion
Easter hymn
῎Εαρ νοητὸν ἡμῖν σήμερον ἀνατέταλκεν‚ ἔαρ καινὸν ἅγιον‚ ἔαρ παμφαέστατον‚ μάρτυς Χριστοῦ χρυσοειδής‚ μάρτυς πάμφωτος‚ μάρτυς μέγας‚ μάρτυς μυστικός‚ μάρτυς ὁ πνεύσας ὀσμήν τοῦ παραδείσου ἡδίω ἐν τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς αὑτοῦ ἑορτῆς.
Πάσχα ἱερὸν ἡμῖν σήμερον ἀναδέδεικται˙ Πάσχα καινόν‚ ἅγιον˙ Πάσχα μυστικόν˙ Πάσχα πανσεβάσμιον˙ Πάσχα Χριστὸς ὁ Λυτρωτῆς˙ Πάσχα ἄμωμον˙ Πάσχα μεγα˙ Πάσχα τῶν πιστῶν˙ Πᾲσχα τὸ πύλας ἡμῖν τοῦ Παραδείσου ἀνοῖξαν˙ Πάσχα‚ πάντας ἁγιάζον πιστούς.
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Appendix III
167
Symeon’s prosomoion
Easter hymn
Δεῦρο ἀπὸ θέας τῶν ἄνω ἐλθέ‚ Δημήτριε‚ καὶ τοῖς ἐν γῇ φάνηθι φέρων ἐκ Θεοῦ χαρᾶς εὐαγγέλια τοῖς λυπουμένοις ἐν δεινοῖς˙ τέρπε‚ φώτιζε καὶ εὐλόγει ἅπαντας ἡμᾶς‚ τοῦ βασιλέως Χριστοῦ τεθεωμένος ἐκ μεθέξεως στρατιώτης γνωριζόμενος.
Δεῦτε ἀπὸ θέας‚ γυναῖκες εὐαγγελίστριαι‚ καὶ τῇ Σιὼν εἴπατε˙ δέχου παρ ᾿ ἡμῶν χαρᾶς εὐαγγέλια τῆς ᾽Αναστάσεως Χριστοῦ˙ τέρπου‚ χόρευε καὶ ᾿Αγάλλου‚ ῾Ιερουσαλήμ‚ τὸν Βασιλέα Χριστὸν θεασαμένη ἐκ τοῦ μνήματος ὡς Νυμφίον προερχόμενον.
Οἱ ἐν πυρφόρῳ καμίνου λύπης βαθείας ἐπιστάντες πρὸς τὸν τάφον τοῦ στεφηφόρου‚ ἄλλον ἄγγελον δροσοβολοῦντα ὀψόμενοι καὶ αὐτὸς ἐφιπτάμενος ἡμῖν οὕτω φθέγγεται˙ Τί ζητεῖτε‚ τὸν ὄντα ἤδη μεθ ᾿ ὑμῶν; τί θρηνεῖτε‚ κατέχοντές με ἤδη τὴν χαράν; ἀπελήλυθε‚ χαίρετε‚ ἀφ᾿ ὑμῶν τὰ δεινά.
Αἱ μυροφόροι γυναῖκες ὄρθρου βαθέος ἐπιστᾶσαι πρὸς τὸ μνῆμα τοῦ Ζωοδότου‚ εὗρον ἄγγελον ἐπὶ τὸν λίθον καθήμενον‚ καὶ αὐτὸς προσφθεγξάμενος αὐταῖς‚ οὕτως ἔλεγε˙ τὶ ζητεῖτε τὸν ζῶντα μετὰ τῶν νεκρῶν; τί θρηνεῖτε τὸν ἄφθαρτον ὡς ἐν φθορᾷ; ἀπελθοῦσαι‚ κηρύξατε τοῖς αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς.
Χαίροις ἀθλητά‚ χαῖρε‚ ὁπλῖτα‚ χαῖρε˙ χαῖρε κοσμοπόθητον ἡμῶν διάσωσμα˙ χαῖρε ὄντως χαρᾷ καρδίας περιπτυσσόμεθα˙ ὧ χαῖρε λύτρον λύπης˙ καὶ γὰρ ἐξ ὕψους σήμερον‚ ὥσπερ ἐκ παστοῦ νυμφίος φανεὶς τὰ γήινα χαρᾶς ἔπλησας‚ λύσας κατήφειαν ἐκ προσώπου.
Πάσχα τὸ τερπνόν˙ Πάσχα‚ Κυρίου Πάσχα˙ Πάσχα πανσεβάσμιον ἡμῖν ἀνέτειλε˙ Πάσχα ἐν χαρᾷ ἀλλήλους περιπτυξώμεθα˙ ὧ Πάσχα‚ λύτρον λύπης! καὶ γὰρ ἐκ τάφου σήμερον‚ ὥσπερ ἐκ παστοῦ ἐκλάμψας Χριστός‚ τὰ γύναια χαρᾶς ἔπλησε‚ λέγων˙ κηρύξατε ἀποστόλοις.
III. Extract from the Encomia to Christ (Good Friday) From the Encomia to Christ (Good Friday), O glyky mou ear ῏Ω γλυκύ μου ἔαρ, γλυκύτατόν μου τέκνον, που ἔδυ σου τὸ κάλλος;
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Symeon’s prosomoion Mὴ δειλιᾷς ὦ πατρίς μου Θεσσαλονίκη πόλις, ον ἐκ δεινῶν ἐλευθερῶ ἀεὶ ταῖς προσευχαῖς· ἐκλυτρώσομαι γὰρ καὶ νῦν ἐκ θλίψεων καὶ πληρώσω ἐνθέων ἀμέτρων ἀγαθῶν καὶ φυλάξω καὶ σώσω λέγει Δημήριος.
Appendix III
Symeon’s hymn reworked Good Friday evening (after 1430) hymn Mὴ ἀνιῶ, ὧ πατρίς μου, ὑπαχθεῖσα τυράννοις ὧν δι’ ἐμοῦ ἀπαλλαγὴν εὑρεῖν ἐπιζητεῖς.
ἐκλυτρώσομαι γὰρ καὶ νῦν ἐκ θλίψεων καὶ πληρώσω παντοίων ἐνθέων ἀμαθῶν καὶ φυλάξω καὶ σώσω, λέγει Δημήριος.
Mὴ ἐποδύρου μου, Mῆτερ, καθορῶσα ἐν τάφῳ ὅν ἐν γαστρὶ ἄνευ σπορᾶς συνέλαβες Υἱὸν· ἀναστήσομαι γὰρ καὶ δοξασθήσομαι καὶ ὑψώσω ἐν δόξῃ ἀπαύστως, ὡς Θεός, τους ἐν πίστει καὶ πόθῳ σε μεγαλύνοντας.
On this table thee versions of a hymn are given. The Middle one is an adaptation of Symeon’s hymn by an anonymous author of his see after his death to reflect the fall of Thessalonica in 1430. See Sophronios Eustratiades, ‘Ἁγιολογικά. Ὁ Ἅγιος Δημήτριος ἐν τῇ Ὑμνογραφίᾳ’, EEBS 11 (1935), 120–50, at 147; Symeon of Thessalonica, Τα Λειτουργικά Συγγράµµατα, ed. Ioannis Phountoules (Thessalonica: Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon, 1968), p. 203.
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Appendix IV
Kallistos Chapter Tables: Greek learning in Thessalonica after 1430 – Kallistos’s students – Scholars in Constantine Laskaris’s letter – Confusions to be avoided – Byzantine scholars in England – Other Byzantines in England – Byzantine scholars in Western Europe closely associated with Kallistos – Kallistos’s movements after the fall of Constantinople – Kallistos: Manuscripts kept in England These tables demonstrate at a glance the complex intellectual world that Andronikos Kallistos had to navigate as an exiled teacher. It brings together all the strands of his later life, underlines the breadth of his activity and attempts to clear up common confusions regarding the protagonists of the Renaissance circles within which he operated.
Tables I. Greek learning in Thessalonica after 1430 1. Theodore Gazes (c.1400–75/6) 2. Andronikos Kallistos (c.1400–76) 3. Luke Spandounes (d. 1481) 4. John Moschos (pupil of George Gemistos Plethon) 5. Matthew Laskaris 6. Manuel Laskaris 7. Demetrius Sgouropoulos
Left for Italy. Left for Italy.
Taught Greek there. Before 1494 the Greek Thessalonians asked for him to be sent to them from Corfu to teach. Their presence is recorded in the city in the context of selling Greek manuscripts They were involved in to Janus Laskaris. the copying of 8. Janus Laskaris (1445–1535) He took two trips to the manuscripts with Greek lands (including Andronikos Kallistos. Thessalonica) between 1489– 92 to find more Greek works to assist with his studies and his career in Italy.
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II. Kallistos’s students 1. Angelo Poliziano 2. Antonio de Lebrija 3. William Tilly or Sellyng
4. John Free 5. Giorgio Valla 6. Baltasar Meliavacca
Iconic scholar, poet and literary critic. A pioneer of modern scholarly practices. Established Greek letters and the humanities in Spain. A pioneer of modern scholarly practices. Contributed to the establishment of Greek letters in England (together with the physician William Linacre and Thomas Grocyn). Knew Sellyng. Active in Pavia and Milan. They owned manuscripts copied by Andronikos Milanese scholar. Kallistos.
III. Scholars in Constantine Laskaris’s letter 1. Theodore Gazes
2. Andronikos Kallistos
3. John Argyropoulos 4. Demetrius (Kastrenos) 5. Franculios Servopoulos
Constantine Laskaris considers him to have arrived at the highest level of wisdom. He is said in the letter to have been forced to go to Polycastro of Calabria by the severity of circumstances where he died ‘without glory’. He came to London where he died ‘bereft of friends’. [Wrote defense of Gazes. Monody for the fall of Constantinople. Scholia. Copied manuscripts.] Laskaris’s teacher. Poor in Rome, he was forced to sell his books. Admired by Filelfo. Went back to serve the Ottoman masters because of lack of opportunity in Europe. Constantine Laskaris calls him wise. He is unaware of his whereabouts.
They all suffered due to the ‘meanness of rulers’.
IV. Confusions to be avoided 1. Andronikos Kallistos
Andronikos Kontovlakas
2. Demetrius Kastrenos Demetrius Chalkokondyles Demetrius Damilas 3. Giorgio Valla Laurentius Valla 4. Constantine Laskaris Laskaris Kananos 5. Peter Philarges = Peter of Candia = the later Pope Alexander V 6. John Servopoulos Franculios Servopoulos
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V. (i). Byzantine scholars in England 1. Andronikos Kallistos
Died after a short time in London ‘bereft of friends’.
2. George Hermonymos
Left for Paris after arrest and ordeal. Was helped by Kallistos. Long residency in Reading. A prolific copyist. Neville was his patron. Copied Herodotus in London. Translator of Greek romance.
3. John Servopoulos 4. Emmanuel of Constantinople 5. Demetrius Kantakouzenos 6. A Greek in Norwich
V. (ii). Other Byzantines in England 1. Nicolas ‘Grecus’ and Robertus ‘Grecus’
Associates of Grosseteste. Involved in Greek Studies and translation. 2. Manuel II Palaiologos Fundraising 3. Laskaris Kananos Commercial traveller 4. ‘Demetrius’ (Lambeth Palace Library MS) Visitor to England 5. Manuel Chrysoloras London, Salisbury 6. Peter Philarges (Pietro di Candia, Pope Norwich, Oxford Alexander V) 7. John Argyropoulos Diplomatic trip
VI. Byzantine scholars in Western Europe closely associated with Kallistos 1. Andronikos Kontovlakas 2. Theodore Gazes 3. Demetrius Chalkokondyles
4. Constantine Laskaris 5. John Argyropoulos
6. Michael Apostolis 7. Cardinal Bessarion
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Met Kallistos in Rome. Teacher of Reuchlin in Basle. Influential Greek Grammar. Filelfo’s closest friend. Close to Kallistos. Edition of Homer. Translation of Plato with Ficino. Printing of Constantine Laskaris’s Grammar with Demetrius Damilas in Milan. Taught alongside Poliziano in Florence. Influential Greek Grammar. Taught in Messina. Taught Constantine Laskaris in Constantinople. Leonardo da Vinci may have attended his lectures in Italy. Rival of Kallistos and Gazes. Ended his days in Crete. Prolific copyist. Controversial figure. Acted as patron of Byzantine intellectuals.
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Appendix IV
VII. Kallistos’s movements after the fall of Constantinople 1. Mistra (?) 2. Padua 3. Bologna 4. Rome 5. Florence 6. Milan / Pavia 7. Paris 8. London
Mentioned by Filelfo. Plethon was based in Mistra. Mentioned by Filelfo. Mentioned by Filelfo. Some of his most influential teaching took place here. In Bessarion’s ‘Academy’. Private lessons while hoping to secure a Chair of Greek. Often scholars taught at both centres. Kallistos sold library in Milan. Brief attempt to secure employment. Struggle to find financial security. Death.
Kallistos – Manuscripts kept in England Cambridge Cantabrigiensis Univ. Library Ii V 44 Includes: Aelius Aristeides Cantabrigiensis Univ. Library Nn III 18 Includes: Thucydides Cantabrigiensis Emmanuel College 30 Includes: Herodotus London Londinensis Burney 109 Includes: Aratus, Hesiod, Pindar, Pythagoras, Theocritus Oxford Oxoniensis Bodleianus Barocc. 63 Includes: Aelius Aristeides (incl. Panathenaikos), Libanius, Matthew Blastares, astronomical tables and anonymous moral carmina Oxoniensis Bodleianus d’ Orville 115 Includes: Eustathius, Commentary on Dionysius Periegetes Oxoniensis Holkham Hall 71 (103) Includes: Nikephorus Blemmydes, Michael Psellos, Nicomachus Gerasene (mathematical works, with scholia), Anatolius of Laodicea (referred to here as Alexandrinus), Porphyry, Aelius Aristeides Giorgio Valla possessed this manuscript for some time
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Appendix V
Akathistos Chapter Items IV. and V. are transcribed from the original sources; the layout and spelling of the originals have been preserved.
I. Excerpt from the Wakefield Crucifixion Play (14th c.) My moder mylde, thou chaunge thi chere! Sease of thi sorow and sighyng sere, It syttys vnto my hart full sare; ……………………………………………. The fyrst cause, moder, of my commyng Was for mankynde myscarying, To salf thare sore I soght; ……………………………………………. Woman, wepe thou right noght! Blo and blody thus am I bett, Swongen with swepys & all to swett, Mankynde, for thi mysdede! (II. 447–71)
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II. Hymns by Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585) Fond youth is a bubble (Contrafactum) Fond youth is a bubble blown up with breath whose wit is weakness, whose wage is death, whose way is wilderness, whose inn penance; and stoop gallant age, the host of grievance.
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Appendix V
175
***
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Appendix V
Purge me, O Lord (original hymn) Purge me, O Lord, from all my sin, and save thou me by faith from ill, that I may rest and dwell with thee, upon thy holy blessed hill. And that done, grant that with true heart I may without hypocrisy affirm the truth, detract no man, but do all things with equity. Soprano
Purge me, O
Lord, from all
my
sin,
And
Purge me, O
Lord,
from
all
my sin, And
Purge me, O
Lord,
from
all
my sin,
Purge me, O
Lord,
from
all
my sin,
save thou
Alt
save thou me
by
faith from
ill,
by
save thou
me by
Tenor
And
Bass
And save thou
me by
dwell with thee
Up -
For Practice Only
6
me
by faith
faith from
faith
ill, That
from ill, by
faith from
ill,
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from
I
ill, That
I may
may rest and
faith from ill, That
That I may
rest
dwell
I
rest
may rest
and
with
and
and dwell
thee
dwell with thee Up - on thy ho - ly
with
thee Up - on thy ho - ly
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11
-
on
thy ho - ly bless - ed
hill:
And, that
done,
grant
Up - on thy
ho - ly bless-ed
hill:
And, that
done, grant that with
bless - ed hill, thy
ho - ly bless-ed
hill:
And, that
done, grant that with
bless - ed hill, thy
ho - ly bless-ed
hill:
And, that
done,
heart
with - out
that with
true
true heart
true
grant
that with true
17
I
heart
I
may
may
I
may
heart
hy -
po -
with - out
with
-
I
out
hy - po
may
with - out
hy
-
-
cri - sy
-
po - cri - sy
Af - firm
the
sy
Af - firm
the
cri
hy
-
Af -
-
po - cri - sy
Af
-
firm
the truth, de -
But
do
all things
with
e - qui - ty.
with
e - qui - ty.
21
-firm
the truth, de
-
tract
no man,
truth, de - tract
no
man,
But
do
all things
truth, de - tract
no
man,
But
do
all
-tract
no man, But
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do
all things with
things
e - qui - ty,
with
with
e
-
qui - ty.
e
-
qui - ty.
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Appendix V
III. Ye Sacred Muses Ye sacred Muses, race of Jove, whom Music’s lore delighteth, Come down from crystal heav’ns above to earth where sorrow dwelleth, In mourning weeds, with tears in eyes: Tallis is dead, and Music dies. William Byrd (1540–1623)
IV. Greek Prayer by Elizabeth I British Library, Facs. 218 27
27ν
ΟΤΑΝ μὲν ~ πϱὸς τὰ ϰαϰὰ του̑̑ ϰόσμου τούτου ἀναβλέψω ϰαὶ τὰς ~ πϱάξεις ϕαύλων μɩ̑σος ἐχθϱω̑ ν τοὺς ἀσεβω̑ ν ϰινδίνους ϰαὶ τεχνάσματα ~ δόλεϱα ϰατιδω̑ ἐν οἱ ̑ς ~ διαγόντες ἡμεɩ̑ς οἱ δούλοι σου συνεχω̑ ς ϰινδυνεύομεν; ἔτι δὲ ϰαι μάλλον ὅταν ~ ἀναμνήσϰομαι τη̑ς ἰδίας ζωη̑ς τὰ πταίσματά ϰαι πλημμηλήματα ὅσα ἐϰ νεότητος παϱαϰείται μοὶ, ϕοβου̑̑μαι, αἰσχίνομαί ϰαι ἀθυμίας πληϱου̑̑μαι. Οταν δὲ πάλιν τὴν μεγάλην χεɩ̑ϱά σου τὸ μέγεθος ϰαὶ τὸ συνεχὲς τη̑ς ση̑ς εἰς ἐμε ~ βοηθίας ἐννοήσω, ἀναλαμβάνω πάλιν τοὺς λογισμοὺς ϰαὶ ϰουϕοτέϱη γίνομαι ~ ταɩ̑ς ἑλπίσιν. Διὰ του̑̑το
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Appendix V
28
28ν
29
179
πϱοσηλθου̑̑σα νυ̑̑ν σοι ἐν ψυχῃ̑ συντετϱιμένῃ πϱω̑ τόν μεν εὐχαϱιστω̑ σοι ϰύϱιε Ιησου̑̑ Χϱιστὲ ω̑ σωτέϱ μου ἐπὶ πα̑σιν οἱ ̑ς παϱ έσχου μοι ἀγαθοɩ̑ς ὁς ἐϰ τοσούτων ϰινδύνων διασωζο μένων ἐπὶ βασιλιϰὸν τὸν θϱόνον τη̑ς δυναστείας ταύτης ὑψώσας ἐμε μηδὲ ἐν ἀυτω̑ παύεις συντεϱω̑ ν με Επειτα δε ἱϰετεύω ϰαὶ ὁμολογω̑ σοι Χϱιστὲ μου̑̑. ̑ γὰϱ τὰ παϱαπτώμαΟἰ δα τα μου̑̑ ϰαὶ τὰς πϱάξεις, ἁς ἐγὼ ϰατειϱγησάμην ἀλλὰ ̑ ὡς οὐ ~ του̑̑το πάλιν οἰ δα μέγεθος ἁμαϱτημάτων ~ ὑπεϱβαίνει του̑̑ σωτη̑ϱος μου τήν πολλὴν μαϰϱοθυμίαν Ου γαϱ γυναɩ̑ϰα ἁμαϱτολὸν πϱοσηλθου̑̑σαν σοι μετὰ δαϰϱύων ἀπέϕυγες οὐ δὲ τελώνων ἀναβάλον μετανοήσαντα, οὐδὲ ληστὴν ἐπιγνόντα τὴν βασιλείαν ~ σου̑̑ ἀποδίωξας μηδὲ διώϰτην μετανοήσαντα ϰατέλιπες ὁ ὠ̑ν· ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀπὸ τη̑ς μετανοίας ἅπαντας ἐν τω̑ χωϱῳ̑ τω̑ ν σω̑ ν ϕίλων μετέταξας. Διο ὡς θαϱ̓ϱ̔ω̑ν τῃ̑ ἀϕάτῳ σου ἀγαθότητι πϱοσέϱχομαι ϰαὶ δέομαί σου Χϱιστὲ ϰύϱιέ μου, δέσποτά μου, λυτϱοτά μου, βασιλευ̑̑ τω̑ ν αἰώ-
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29ν
30
Appendix V
νων ἄνες ἄϕες, ἰλάσθητι ϰαὶ συγχώϱησόν μοι ἁμαϱτολῃ̑ ϰαὶ ἀναξίῳ τῃ̑ δούλῃ σου̑̑ ὅσα σοὶ ἐϰ νεότητος ἥμαϱτον εἰτὲ ἐν γνώσει ϰαὶ ἀγνοίᾳ ~ εἰτὲ ἐν λόγοις ϰαὶ ἔϱγοις ὁς μόνος ὤν ἁγίος τω̑ ν ἁγίων ἁγίασόν μου τὴν ψυχήν ϰαὶ τὸ σω̑ μα, τὸν νου̑̑ν ϰαὶ τὴν ϰαϱδίαν, ϰαὶ ὅλην με ἀναϰαίνισον. Καὶ γένου μοι βοηθὸς ϰαὶ ἀντιλήπτωϱ ϰυβεϱνω̑ ν ἐν εἰϱήνῃ τὴν ζωὴν ϰαὶ τὸν λαὸν μου̑̑ ὁς μόνος ὑπάϱχων εὐλογημένος πάντοτε, νυ̑̑ν ϰαὶ εἰς ἀπεϱάντους αἰώνας. Αμήν. c. 1570.
V. Greek Prosomoion to St Demetrius after the Akathistos by anonymous author British Library, Add. 53736 1
Οἰϰοι ϰατὰ α´β´ ӄ δ´εἰς τὸν Μυϱοβλύτην Δημήτϱιον. ~ Κοντάϰιον πϱὸς τὸ τῃ̑ ὑπεϱμάχω. Η´χος πλ´ δ´. Τὸν μυϱοβλύτην ἐν ᾠδαɩ̑ς ϰαὶ θείοις ἄσ= μασι. νυ̑̑ν μελωδήσωμεν πιστοὶ ὕμνον ἐ= πάξιον. ὡς ὠλέσαντα τυϱάννων τὴν ὠμ= ότητα. ϰαὶ ἀπώσασαντα λυαίον τὴν θϱασύτητα ϰαὶ Χϱιστὸν υἱὸν Θεου̑̑ τϱα= νω̑ ς ϰηϱύξαντα. ϰαὶ βοήσωμεν· Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε.
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Akathistos to the Virgin Mary – first words of each verse
Akathistos adaptation for the festival of St Demetrius – first words of each verse
Ἄγγελος Βλέπουσα Γνω̑σιν Δύναμις Ἔχουσα Ζάλην Ἤϰουσαν Θεοδϱόμον ̑ ̕ Iδον Κήϱυϰες Λάμψας Μέλλοντος Νέαν Ξένον Ὅλος Πα̑σα Ῥήτοϱας Σω̑ σαι Τει χ̑ ος Ὕμνος Φωτοδόχον Χάϱιν Ψάλλοντές Ὠ
Ἄγγελοι Βλέπων Γνω̑σιν Δύναμις Ἔχων Ζάλην Ἤϰουσαν Θεοϕόϱων Ἴδε Κήρυϰες Λάμψας Μέλλουσα Νέον Ξένον Ὅλος Πα̑σαν Ῥήτορας Σω̑ σαι Τει χ̑ ος Ὕμ(ν)ον Φωτοπάϱοχος Χάϱιν Ψάλλομέν ̑ ᾽Ω
Ι. (1)
1ν
Ἄγγελοι ἐϰπλαγέντες οὐϱανόθεν ὀϱω̑ ν= τα, τὴν ἄθεον ὀϱμὴν του̑̑ τυϱὰννου· ӄʹ σὺν τῃ̑ ἀποϕάσει αὐτου̑̑ θανατούμενον ὄντα δημήτϱιον. ϰατήϱχοντο, ϰαὶ ἤϱ= χοντο ϰϱαυγάξειν πϱὸς αὐτὸν τοιαυ̑̑τα. Χαίϱοις. μαϱτύϱων, τω̑ ν σεπτω̑ ν ἡ ἀϰϱότης. Χαίϱοις ἁγίων, ϰαθαϱω̑ ν ἡ λαμπϱότης. Χαίϱοις ὅτι ὡς ϰατάδιϰος, σύ ϰατέβης πϱὸς βυθὸν. Χαίϱοις ὅτι ὡς ἀσώματος. ἤϱθης πϱος τὸν οὐϱανὸν. Χαίϱοις χοϱοστασίαις, τω̑ ν ἀγγέλων οἰϰήσας. Χαίϱοις του̑̑ παϱαδείσου, τη̑ς τϱυϕη̑ς ἀπολαύσας. Χαίϱοις ἀπειλὰς βασιλέως, εἰς οὐδὲν λογισάμενος. Χαίϱοις τὰς βουλὰς τω̑ ν ἐχθίτων, εἰς ὑϕὲν παϱωσὰμενος.
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Χαίϱοις στεϱ̓ϱ̒ὸν, τη̑ς πίστεως ἔϱεισμα. Χαɩ̑ϱε ὁ ζω̑ ν ψυχῃ̑ σου, ϰαὶ θανὼν ἐν τῳ̑ σώματι. Χαɩ̑ϱε ὁ τὴν ζωήν σου, οὐϱανου̑̑ ἔχων δόματι. Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε. (2)
Βλέπων ὁ θεɩ̑ος νέστωϱ, ἑαυτὸν ἐν ἀνδϱεί= ᾳ. ϕησὶ τῳ̑ βασιλεɩ̑ θαϱσαλαίως, τὸ ἐξαί= σιον τη̑ς ἀπειλη̑ς, ἀποτϱόπαιον μοι τῃ̑ ψυχῃ̑ ϕαίνεται. λυαɩ̑ον γάϱ τὸν ἄθεον ἐγὼ ϕονεύσω. ϰϱάξων ᾿Αλληλούϊα.
ΙΙ. (3)
2
Γνω̑ σιν ἔνθεον ἔχων, τω̑ ν μαϱτύϱων τὸ ϰλέος, Δημήτϱιος πϱὸς τὸν τύϱα= νον ἔϕη, ἐξ ἀψύχων ὑλω̑ ν πω̑ ς ἐστὶ γε= νέσθαι τὸν θεὸν; λέξον μοι. πϱὸς ὅν οἱ πιστω̑ ς σέβοντες θεὸν, βοω̑ μεν πλὴν ἐν ϕόβω. Χαίϱοις ὁ θεɩ̑ον μυ̑̑ϱον, ἐϰ του̑̑ τάϕου βϱύων. Χαίϱοις ὁ θεɩ̑ον ζη̑λον, ἐν ϰαϱδίᾳ σου ϕέϱων. Χαίϱοις Θεσσαλονίϰης, λαμπτήϱ παμϕαέστατος. Χαίϱοις λυαίου νίϰης, ὑπάϱχων ὑπέϱτατος. Χαίϱοι ὅτι τὸ αἱ ̑μά σου, ὑπήϱχε σώματος σου λουτήϱιον. Χαίϱοις ὁ τω̑ ν εἰδώλων, ϰαταβαλὼν τὴν πλάνην. Χαίϱοις ὁ τω̑ ν τυϱάννων, ἐξελέγχων τὴν μάνην. Χαίϱοις ὁ τὸν αἰμοϱ̓ϱ̒όην, θεϱαπεύσας του̑̑ πάθους. Χαίϱοις ὁ τὴν ψυχὴν σου, ἐξελϰύσας του̑̑ βάθους. Χαίϱοις ὁ τὸν μαϱɩ̑νον, ἐξεϱ̓ϱ̒ύσας τη̑ς λέπϱας. Χαίϱοις ϱ̒ευμάτων ἴστϱον, τὸν πιστὸν σου πεϱάσας. Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε.
(4)
2ν
Δύναμις οὐϱανόθεν, ϰατεϰϱάτησε τότε, τὸν Νέστοϱα πϱὸς τὸ πολεμη̑σαι, ϰαὶ τὰ ὅπλα τὰ τούτου λαβὼν, τὴν λυαί= ου ἄϰϱαν ἰσχύν, εὐχεϱω̑ ς ϰαθεɩ̑λεν, ἀ= ποδοὺς θάνατον, ϰαὶ τότε πϱὸς τὸν πάν= των δεσπότην, ἀντεβόα. ᾿Αλληλούϊα.
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ΙΙΙ. (5)
3 (6)
῎Εχων τὸν θεɩ̑ον πόθον, εὐσεβὴς μονοϰϱάτωϱ. Κατέχειν Δημητϱίου τό σω̑ μα. ἐξαπέστει= λε τότε εὐθὺς, ἀλλ ᾿ αὐτὸς μὴ θέλων, τὸ πυ̑̑ϱ ἐϰ τάϕου ἐξέπεμψε, ϰαὶ θάνατον ἀπείλησεν, ὅθεν ἐϰεɩ̑νοι πϱὸς αὐτὸν σὺν ̑ ϕόβῳ εἰ πον . Χαίϱοις θαυμάτων, πηγή ἀνεξάντλητος. Χαίϱοις τϱαυμάτων, εἰϰὼν ἡ ἀνέϰλειπτος. Χαίϱοις ὁ σὸν λείψανον, πϱοσιου̑̑σι μή διδοὺς. Χαίϱοις ἅγιασμου̑̑ χάϱιν, μόνον μέϱος αὐτοɩ̑ς δούς. Χαίϱοις ὁ πυ̑̑ϱ ἐϰχέων, ἐϰ του̑̑ θείου μνήματος. Χαίϱοις ὁ ϕω̑ ς ἐξάλλων, του̑̑ ἐνθέου ἐνδύματος. Χαίϱοις ὁ τὴν μανίαν, τω̑ ν τυϱάννων ἐλέγξας. Χαίϱοις ὁ τὴν λατϱείαν, τω̑ ν εἰδώλων ϰατάξας. Χαίϱοις ὁ λόγχαις ὀξυτόμοις, νενυγμένος τὸ σω̑ μα. Χαίϱοις ὅτι τὸ αἱ ̑μά σου ἀθέοις, δεδωϰὼς ὥσπεϱ πόμα. Χαίϱοις ϰαθαγιάσας, τὴν γὴν σω̑ αἵματι. Χαίϱοις μὴ πϱοσεγγίσαι θίς, τῳ̑ σῳ̑ ἀϕέμενος σώματι. Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε. Ζάλην ἔνθεον ἔχων, λογισμω̑ ν ϰενοδόξων, ὁ ἄ= ϕϱων βασιλεὺς ἐταϱάχθη, πϱὸς τοὺς μάϱτυ= ϱας μὲν ϰαθοϱω̑ ν, τὴν εἰδώλων πλάνην μὴ ϰηϱύττοντας, ἡμεɩ̑ς δ ᾿ αὑτω̑ ν. τὴν ἐϰδίϰη= σιν ἄδιϰον σϕαγὴν τιμώντες, λέγωμεν οὑ̑τως. ᾿Αλληλούϊα.
ΙV. (7)
῎Ηϰουσαν ἐϰ πεϱάτων, Δημητϱίου τὸν ϕό= νον, ὅν ἔδωϰεν ὁ τύϱαννος ἄϕϱων, ϰαὶ νο= ου̑̑ντες αὐτὸν θανέντα. πϱοσδϱαμω̑ ντες τούτου, ἔβλεπον πάσῃ τῃ̑ γῃ̑ θαυμάσια πηγάζοντα, ὅν ϰαὶ τιμω̑ ντες εἰ ̑πον. Χαίϱοις ὁ ἀνταλλάξας, τω̑ ν ϕθαϱτω̑ ν τὰ οὐϱάνια. Χαίϱοις ὁ ϰαταϱ̓ϱ̔άξας, δυσσεβω̑ ν τὰ συνέδϱια.
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3ν
(8)
Appendix V
Χαίϱοις συνεδϱιάζων, τοɩ̑ς ἀΰλοις ἀγγέλοις. Χαίϱοις συγχωϱιάζων, πολυάθλοις ἁγίοις. Χαίϱοις ὁ συνδουλεύων, τοɩ̑ς ἀχϱάντοις χεϱουβίμ. Χαίϱοις ὁ συνδιάγων, τοɩ̑ς ἀμώμοις σεϱαϕίμ. Χαίϱοις Κυϱιοτήτων, τὴν ϰυϱίαν ϰατέχων. Χαίϱοις τω̑ ν θείων θϱόνων, τὴν ϰαθεδϱίαν ἐνέχον. Χαίϱοις σοϕω̑ ν ἀγγέλων, ὁ θεϱμότατος σύνδουλος. Χαίϱοις τω̑ ν ἀϱχαγγέλων, ἐμϕϱονέστατος σύμβουλος. Χαίϱοις ὁσίων, τὸ σεπτὸν ἀγαλλίαμα. Χαίϱοις Μαϱτύϱων, τὸ λαμπϱὸν ἐγϰαλλώπισμα. Χαίϱοις Μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε. Θεοϕόϱων νομίζων, τὸν δημήτϱιον ἔμϕϱων, θεϱμώτατος ἀνὴϱ ἐν τῃ̑ πίστει. ϰαὶ ὡς λύτϱον ϰατέχων αὐτὸν, δι ᾿ αὐτου̑̑ ἐϱ̓ϱ̔ύσθη ϕοβε= ϱου̑̑ δαίμονος. ϰαὶ λήψας μὲν τὴν λύτϱω= σιν ἐχάϱη, πϱὸς αὐτόν ϰϱαυγάζων, ᾿Αλληλούϊα.
V. (9)
4
῎Ιδε παɩ̑ς ὀϱθοδόξων, ὁ λεόντιος πάλαι, τὸ ἄϕϱαστον του̑̑ μάϱτυϱος ϰϱάτος, ϰαὶ ἐλ= θὼν πϱὸς του̑̑τον ὁ αὐτὸς, τὴν χλαμμύδα ἔλαβεν αὐτου̑̑, ϰαὶ ἔσπευδε τὸν ἴστϱον ἐϰπεϱάσαι, ποσὶ δὲ ἀβϱόχοις διαβὰς ἐ= βόα, χαίϱων. Χαίϱοις ὁ τὴν χλαμμύδα, τεϱατουϱγου̑̑σαν ἔχον, Χαίϱοις ὁ μὴ ϰηλίδα, ϰαταθολου̑̑σαν ϕέϱων. Χαίϱοις ὅτι τὰ ϱεɩ̑θϱα, σοὶ ὑπήϰουσαν ἴστϱου. Χαίϱοις ὁ τω̑ ν βαϱβάϱων, ϰαταϱγήσας ἐνέδϱας. Χαίϱοις ὁ τω̑ ν μαϱτύϱων, ϰατοιϰω̑ ν τὰς ϰαθέδϱας. Χαίϱοις θεσσαλονίϰην, του̑̑ λοιμου̑̑ ἀπαλλάξας. Χαίϱοις ηλίου δίϰην, τοὺς πιστοὺς ϰαταλάμψας. Χαίϱοις ὁ ϱ̔ύσας πάντας, σϰότους εἰδωλομανίας. Χαίϱοις ὁ λύσας πάντα, τὰ δεσμὰ τη̑ς δουλείας. Χαίϱοις ὁ δοὺς χάϱιν, πα̑σι τοɩ̑ς πϱοσιου̑̑σι.
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(10)
185
Χαίϱοις ὅτι σὺ πάϱει, πα̑σι τοɩ̑ς σὲ αἰτου̑̑σι. Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε. Κήϱυϰες ψυχοϕθόϱοι, γεγονότες οἱ πλα̑νοι, ἀνέτϱεχον πϱὸς θεσσαλονίϰην, ἐϰτελέσον= τες εἰδωλισμόν, ϰαὶ ϰηϱύξαντες ἀθεϊσ= μὸν ἅπασιν, ἀϕέντες δὲ τυϱάννους, ὡ= σπεϱ ἄννους, οἱ μάϱτυϱες ᾐ̑δον. ᾿Αλληλούϊα.
VΙ. (11)
4ν
(12)
Λάμψας ὁ θεɩ̑ος νέστωϱ, σὺν σεπτῳ̑ δημη= τϱίω, ἀπέβαλον του̑̑ ψεύδους τὸν ζόϕον, τὰ γὰϱ εἴδωλα πάνυ στεϱ̓ϱ̔ω̑ς ἀναθεμα= του̑̑ντες, εὐχεϱω̑ ς πέπτωϰεν, οἱ πιστοὶ δὲ σωθέντες, ἐβόων πϱὸς τοὺς ἐναθλου̑̑ντας. Χαίϱοις στεϱ̓ϱὸν, Δημήτϱιε ἔϱεισμα. Χαίϱοις στιλπὸν, ὠ̑ νέστωϱ ἀγλα΅ iσμα. Χαίϱοις, ὁ τῳ̑ νέστοϱι, ἰσχὺν χαϱισάμενος. Χαιϱοις ὁ τῳ̑ λυαίῳ, τὴν ϕθοϱὰν δωϱησάμενος. Χαίϱοις ὁ πϱω̑ τος ἐλέγξας, του̑̑ τυϱάννου τὸν τύϕον. Χαίϱοις ὁ δεύτεϱος στέϱξας, του̑̑ πϱοτέϱου τὸν τύπον. Χαίϱοις ὁ ταɩ̑ς λόγχαις, δεξάμενος θάνατον. Χαίϱοις ὁ τῳ̑ ξίϕει, ζωὴν λήψας ἄϕθαϱτον. Χαίϱοις ὁ ϕυλαϰαɩ̑ς, ϕονευθεὶς ὡς ϰατάδιϰος. Χαίϱοις ὁ ἐν τῃ̑ γῃ̑, ϰηϱυχθεὶς ὡς ἀθάνατος. Χαίϱοις ὁ πϱὸ θανάτου, ἐνεϱγὼν τὰ τεϱάστια. Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς, Δημήτϱιε. Μέλλουσα τω̑ ν μαϱτύϱων, ἡ δυὰς ἡ ἁγία, μεθίστασθαι ἐϰ του̑̑ νυ̑̑ν ϰόσμου, ἐπεδόθη= σαν ἄμϕω, στεϱ̓ϱ̔ω̑ς τῳ̑ ἀνόμῳ ϕόνῳ οἱ στε= ϱ̓ϱ̔οὶ μάϱτυϱες, δι ᾿ ὅπεϱ ἐξεπλάγησαν οἱ ̑ βλέποντες. ϰαὶ εἰ πον οὑ̑τως ᾿Αλληλούϊα.
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VΙΙ. (13) 5
Νέον ἄσμα εὑϱόντες, γοεϱὸν Δημητϱίου, βοω̑ μεν τὸν ἐξόδιον ὕμνον, ἐξ ἀθέου τυ= ϱάννου νυ̑̑ν, αὐθαδω̑ ς ἐσϕάγη, ὅτι οὐϰ ἐθ= υσε τοɩ̑ς βδελυϱοɩ̑ς εἰδώλοις μὲν, ὅν ἀνυμνου̑̑ν= τες θεϱμω̑ ς βοω̑ μεν. Χαίϱοις ὁ ὡς νεϰϱὸς, ἐν τῳ̑ τάϕῳ ϰείμενος. Χαίϱοις ὁ ὡς πεϱ ζω̑ ν, ἐν τῳ̑ πόλῳ ἐλϰόμενος. Χαίϱοις νέον λουτϱὸν, τῳ̑ σῳ̑ αἵματι δείξας. Χαίϱοις τὴν σὴν ψυχὴν, μετ ᾿ ἀγγέλων συμμίξας. Χαίϱοις ὅν ἀνυμνου̑̑σιν, ἐν τοɩ̑ς πέϱασι ϰόσμου. Χαίϱοις ὅτι ἀντλου̑̑σι, του̑̑ σου̑̑ μύϱου εὐόσμου. Χαίϱοις λαμπτήϱ, ἐν τῳ̑ μέσῳ μαϱτύϱων. Χαίϱοις βολίς, τω̑ ν ἐνθέων χαϱίτων. Χαίϱοις ὁ ϕοινιχθεὶς, ἐνθέῳ σου αἵματι. Χαίϱοις ἁγιασθεὶς, ϰαὶ θείῳ σου σώματι. Χαίϱοις ἀμαϱαντίνους, δεξάμενος στεϕάνους. Χαίϱοις τοὺς ἀοιδίμους, ϰατοϰήσας θαλάμους. Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε.
(14)
5ν
Ξένον θαυ̑̑μα ὁϱω̑ μεν, τω̑ ν μαϱτύϱων τὸ θάϱσος τὰ εἴδωλα στεϱ̓ϱ̔ω̑ς μετατεθέντων. διὰ του̑̑το, γὰϱ ὁ ὑψηλὸς θεὸς, τοɩ̑ς ἐν γῃ̑ οἰϰου̑̑σιν εὐθαϱσω̑ ς δέδωϰεν. εἰδώλων τὰ τοξεύματα βάλλειν. πϱὸς οὕς βοω̑ μεν. ᾿Αλληλούϊα.
VΙΙΙ. 15)
῞Ολος ὠ̑ν ἐν τοɩ̑ς ϰάτω τῃ̑ σαϱϰὶ, ϰαὶ τω̑ ν ἄνω οὐδ ᾿ ὅλως ἀπη̑ν τῳ̑ νοΐ, ὁ ϰαθαϱώτατος μάϱ= τυς, τῃ̑ ἰσχύϊ μὲν θεΐϰη̑, τω̑ ν εἰδώλων τὴν πλά= νην τϱανω̑ ς ὤλεσε, ϰαὶ τὸν Χϱιστὸν ϰηϱύ= ξας παϱ̓ϱ̔ησία, ἀϰούει οὕτως. ᾿Αλληλούϊα.
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Χαίϱοις ὅτι ἐϕϱόνεις, του̑̑ Χϱιστου̑̑ ϰαὶ Θεου̑̑ σου· Χαίϱοις ὅτι ἐπόθεις, τὰ τεϱπνὰ παϱαδείσου· Χαίϱοις δϱόμον οὐϱανου̑̑ μὲν ὑψηβάτης ϕοιτήσας. Χαίϱοις δόμους ϰαθαϱοὺς δὲ, ἐν ὑψύστοις οἰϰήσας. Χαίϱοις ὅτι ἀγγέλους, συμπολίτας συ̑̑ ἔχεις. Χαίϱοις ὅτι ἁγίους, συνοδίτας ϰατέχεις. Χαίϱοις σάλπιψξ ἁγία, τὸν Χϱιστὸν σου ϰηϱύξας. Χαίϱοις ἄλπεις ἀχϱάντους, παϱαδείσου σϰηνώσας. Χαίϱοις ἔνεϰα μύϱου, του̑̑ ἀχϱάντου σου σώματος. χαίϱοις ἄθεον λη̑ϱον, ὁ ἐλέγξας του̑̑ σϰώματος. Χαίϱοις σὺ γὰϱ πλεϰτάνας, βασιλέως διαϱ̓ϱ̔ήξας. Χαίϱοις σὺ γὰϱ τὰς πλάνας, τω̑ ν εἰδώλων ϰατέαξας. Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε. (16) 6
̑ αν χάϱιν ἐδέξω, οὐϱανόθεν ὠ̑ μάϱτυς Πασ Δημήτϱιε πϱάττειν παϱάδοξα, τὸν ἀπϱόσι= τον γὰϱ ὡς θεὸν, γεγονέναι ἔϕης πϱοσιτὸν ἄνθϱωπον, ϰαὶ τούτον μὲν ὑπάϱχοντα υἱὸν θεου̑̑, δι ᾿ ὅ σοι ἄδωμεν· ἀλληλούϊα.
ΙΧ. (17)
῾Ρήτοϱας πολυστϱόϕους, του̑̑ς τυϱάννους ἀσό= ϕους, ἀπέδειξας ὠ̑ Δημήτϱιε μάϱτυς, ἀποϱου̑= ̑ σι γὰϱ βλέπειν τὸ πω̑ ς τω̑ν εἰδώλων πλάνην ϰατασχεɩ̑ν, ἴσχυσας· ἡμεɩ̑ς δὲ τὸ παϱάδοξον θαυμάζοντες πϱὸς σὲ βοω̑ μεν. Χαίϱοις τὸ ϱ̔όδον τη̑ς παϱθενίας. Χαίϱοις τὸ ἄνθος τη̑ς ἀϋλίας. Χαίϱοις ὁ πϱὸ του̑̑ ϕόνου, ϰαθαϱω̑ ς βιωτεύσας. Χαίϱοις ὁ μέτα ϕόνον, πϱὸς Θεόν ἐϰδημήσας. Χαίϱοις ἐν ὡ̑. του ἡ λάμψις, του̑̑ θεου̑̑ μὲν ἐνίδϱυσε. Χαίϱοις ἐν ὡ̑ ἡ χάϱις, τη̑ς τϱιάδος ἐνοίϰησε. Χαίϱοις τω̑ ν ἀσεβου̑̑ντων, ἡ ὀϱθόδοξος στάθμη. Χαίϱοις τω̑ ν ἀπιστούντων, ἡ ὁξύτομος σπάθη. Χαίϱοις ὁ ἀνατέλλων, του̑̑ ἡλίου ἀϰτίνας. Χαίϱοις ὁ ἀναστέλλων, του̑̑ τυϱάννου μανίας. Χαίϱοις δένδϱον χαϱίτων, πολλοὺς ϕέϱων τοὺς ϰαϱπούς.
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6ν
χαίϱοις τω̑ ν ϰαλλινίϰων, σὺ ὁ ϕέϱων τοὺς βλαστούς. Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε.
(18)
Σω̑ σαι θέλων τὸ γένος. ὀϱθοδόξων ὁ μάϱ= τυς, τη̑ς πλάνης τω̑ ν ματαίων εἰδώλων, αὐ= τεπάλγελτος ἠ̑λθε πϱὸς αὐτὸν τὸν πλά= νον, ϰαὶ μιϰϱὸν τύϱαννον, ϰηϱύξας δὲ τὸν ϰύϱιον ὡς τέλειον θεὸν, ἀϰούει βο= ω̑ ν αὐτῳ̑. ᾿Αλληλούϊα
Χ. (19)
Τεɩ̑χος εἰ ̑ τω̑ ν ἀθλοϕόϱων, ἀθλοϕόϱε ϰαὶ μάϱτυς, ϰαὶ πάντων τω̑ ν εἰς σὲ πϱοστϱεχόν= των· σὺ γὰϱ τὸν οὐϱανου̑̑ ϰαὶ γη̑ς ποιητήν ἀναϰηϱύξας ἅπασι, ϰαθεɩ̑λες μὲν τὸν τύϱαννον ϰαὶ εἴδωλα, ἡμεɩ̑ς δὲ σοὶ βο= ω̑ μεν. Χαίϱοις τὴν ϱ̒ω̑σιν, ἀσθενου̑̑σιν παϱέχων. Χαίϱοις τὴν ϱ̔υ̑σιν, του̑̑ αἰμοϱ̓ϱ̔οων συνέχων, Χαίϱοις τοɩ̑ς ὑμνηταɩ̑ς σου πα̑σαν χάϱιν ποϱίζων. Χαίϱοις τοɩ̑ς οπαδοɩ̑ς σου, πα̑σαν ἴασιν νέμων. Χαίϱοις ἔνθεος στήλη, τω̑ ν χαϱίτων ὑπάϱχων. Χαίϱοις θεία δυνάμει, τω̑ ν εἰδώλων ϰατάϱχων·
7
Χαίϱοις ὅτι τὸ αἱ ̑μα, ὥσπεϱ βάπτισμα ἔχεις. Χαίϱοις ὅτι τὸ σω̑ μα, τῳ̑ θανάτῳ παϱέσχες. Χαίϱοις πύϱγος ὁ ϕθάνων, πϱὸς οὐϱάνιον ὕψος. Χαίϱοις τεɩ̑χος διεɩ̑ϱ̓γον, τω̑ ν ἐχθϱω̑ ν ἅπαν νɩ̑ϰος. Χαίϱοις ἁγνὸν, θεου̑̑ οἰϰητήϱιον. Χαίϱοις σεμνὸν, Χϱιστου̑̑ τὸ ἐϰλόγιον. Χαίϱοις Μάϱτυς δημήτϱιε.
(20)
῞Υμ(ν)ον ἄπαντες μάϱτυς, τη̑ς ἐξόδου= σου τάϕω, πϱοσϕέϱωμεν ἡμεɩ̑ς οἱ ̑ σοὶ δου̑= ̑ λοι· δαϰϱυϱ̓ϱ̔όους δὲ ᾠδὰς ϰαὶ ψαλμούς. εἰ ϰαὶ ϕέϱωμέν σοι, οὐδαμω̑ ς ἄξιον τε= λου̑̑μεν, τη̑ς ση̑ς ὡ̑ν πϱέπει σοι ταϕη̑ς. ἀλλ ᾿ οὐ̑ν βοω̑ μεν· ἀλληλούϊα.
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Appendix V
189
ΧΙ. (21)
7ν
(22)
Φωτοπάϱοχος τάϕος, ὁσος μάϱτυς ἐδεί= χθη, τὴν χάϱιν ὥσπεϱ ϕω̑ ς ἀνατέλλων. πϱοσιου̑̑σι τε πα̑σι χαϱὰν ϰαὶ ὑγείαν. ἄϕνω ἀποδοὺς βϱαβεύει, ἡμεɩ̑ς δ ᾿ οὐ̑ν σοὶ πϱοσιω̑ μεν ϰ(υϱίο)υ ἐϰβοω̑ ντες ταυ̑̑τα‧ Χαίϱοις ὁ του̑̑ ἐμπϱησμου̑̑, τὸν ναὸν σου ϕυλά ξας, χαίϱοις ὁ τω̑ ν σθλαβίνων, τὸ ἔθνος ἐϰδιώ ξας, Χαίϱοις ὁ τω̑ ν εἰδώλων, ἐϰδιώξας τὸ σϰότος. Χαίϱοις ὁ τω̑ ν βαϱβάϱων, ϰαταβάλλων το θϱάσος. Χαίϱοις ὁ τω̑ ν τυϱάννων ϰαταϱγήσας ἐπάϱσεις, Χαίϱοις ὁ ϰαϱ̓ϱ̒άξας, τω̑ ν ἀνόμων ἐπάλξεις. Χαίϱοις ὁ ϕυλάξας, τὴν πόλιν σου ἄτϱωτον. Χαίϱοις ὁ ταϱάξας, τὴν πλάνην τὴν ἄθεον. Χαίϱοις ὁ τὸν ὀνησιϕόϱον, τη̑ς ϰλοπη̑ς τιμωϱήσας. Χαίϱοις βλάβην δαιμόνων ἐϰ τη̑ς γη̑ς ϰαταϱγή= σας· Χαίϱοις τω̑ ν πϱοσϕουγόντων σοι ἀσϕαλὲς παϱαμύθιον. Χαίϱοις τω̑ ν πϱοσιόντων σοι, τη̑ς ψυχη̑ς ϕυλα= ϰτήϱιον. Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε. Χάϱιν ἄνωθεν ἔχων, ὠ̑ Δημήτϱιε πάσας, ἐδίωξας ἐχθϱω̑ ν τὰς ἐνέδϱας· ἐϰηϱύχ= θης δὲ ἐπὶ γη̑ς, ὡς στεϱ̓ϱ̔ω̑ς ὁπλίτης, τη̑ς χάϱιτος του̑̑ χϱιστου̑̑, ϰαὶ συντϱίψας τὰ ξόανα, ἀϰούεις παϱὰ πάντων, τῳ̑ σωτη̑= ϱι ψάλλειν· ᾿Αλληλούϊα.
ΧΙΙ. (23) 8
Ψάλλομέν σου τὸ θαυ̑̑μα, ὅπεϱ γέγονε μάϱτυς, ἡνίϰα τὴν σὴν πόλιν πϱοδου̑= ̑ ναι. ἀπεϕήνατο· ἀπίστοις θεὸς, ἀπέ=
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Appendix V
στειλεν ἀγγέλους εἰπεɩ̑ν σοι, τάχιστα ἐϰ= βοήθητι, μαϰϱύνθιτι, ϰαὶ ἄπιθι τη̑ς πόλεος. ὅθεν ϕωνω̑ μεν. Χαίϱοις ὅτι βουλῃ̑ σου, ἡ σῃ̑ πόλις ἐλήϕθη. Χαίϱοις ὅτι ἰσχύϊ σου, ὁ ἐχθϱὸς ϰατηϱγήθη. Χαίϱοις ὁ ἀχιλλίῳ, ὑπάντησας ϕυγῃ̑ σου. Χαίϱοις ὁ ὑπουϱγῳ̑ σου, ἀποστείλλας ἰσχύν σου. Χαίϱοις ὁ τὸν λυαɩ̑ον, ϰαταβάψας ἐν αἵματι. Χαίϱοις ὁ τοὺς ἀπίστους, ϰαταθϱαύσας ἐν πνεύματι. Χαίϱοις ὁ στεϱεώσας, πόλιν σῃ̑ παϱουσία. Χαίϱοις ὁ παϱαδώσας, ταύτην σῃ̑ ἀπουσία. Χαίϱοις ὁ ὑμνολόγους, ἀγαπω̑ ν ἐν τῳ̑ τάϕῳ σου. Χαίϱοις ὁ ψευδολόγους, θανατω̑ ν ἐν τῳ̑ ϰϱάτει σου. Χαίϱοις ἡμɩ̑ν χαϱίζων, τω̑ ν χαϱίτων τὸ πέλαγος. Χαίϱοις πα̑σι ποϱίζων, του̑̑ σου̑̑ μύϱου τὸ ἔλεος. Χαίϱοις μάϱτυς Δημήτϱιε ῞Αγιε του̑̑ θεου̑̑. Πϱέσβευε ὑπὲϱ ἡμω̑ ν. 8ν (24) ᾽̑Ω μαϱτύϱων τὸ ζευ̑̑γος, οἱ ϰηϱύξαν= τες πα̑σι θεὸν τὸν ὑπεϱούσιον λόγον. ἐξοδίους ἡμω̑ ν ὕμνους ἡμω̑ ν, ὑμνολόγους ᾠδὰς δεξάμενοι, ἀπὸ πάσης, ϰ(υϱίο)υ ἡμα̑ς συμϕο= ϱας ϱ̒ύσασθαι, ϰαὶ τη̑ς μελλούσης λυτϱώ= σατε ϰολάσεως, ὑμω̑ ν πϱεσβείαις θε= ῳ̑ βοω̑ ντας ἀλληλούϊα.
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Appendix VI
Byzantine Studies – PhD Topic Suggestions The topics are organized in seven thematic groups. They are meant to serve as points of departure for interested MA students who are designing their PhD proposals and planning their future studies. They may also be helpful as templates for other topics of a similar nature candidates might be interested in. Late Byzantine Religious Culture: The Early Fathers and hesychasm; the reception of Pseudo-Dionysus the Areopagite in late Byzantium; the influence of Neilos Kavasilas on the Council of Florence; the ecclesiastical reforms of Symeon of Thessalonica; Byzantine liturgical traditions. Ancient Greek legacies: The manuscript tradition of Euripides in Byzantium; the architectural and cultural legacy of the Roman basilica as a Christian place of worship; pagan remnants in the localized cults of saints; Galenic thought in Byzantium. The cult of saints: Companion saints in Byzantine art and veneration; the Akathistos Hymn: a pictorial survey / a Mariological survey; the Cretan-Venetian School of Painting and its legacies; Crete and hymnography. Teachers and Scribes: Education in late Byzantium; history of Greek palaeography; an edition of a text; transcription of Byzantine hymns. Byzantine Epirus: The Chronicle of Tocco; social conflict in Frankish Greece; a history of medieval Arta and the Despotate of Epirus.
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Byzantium and Modern Greece: Ancient Greek archetypes in the work of Giannis Ritsos; Cavafy and Byzantium; Philhellenism and the Greek War of Independence; the legacy of Regas Ferraios in Greek Letters. The post-Byzantine world: The post-Byzantine diaspora; philosophy in the Peloponnesus after the Fall of Constantinople; Italian influences on the Greek vernacular in the late Byzantine period.
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Index Abrahamsen, Valerie xviiin. 22 Acheiropoietos church 142 Adams, W. L. xviiin. 19 Aeschylus Persians 123 Agnew, J. xiiin, 5 Akathistos Hymn 100, 103, 139–46 prosomoion of 142–4 akolouthies 63–5, 67–8, 86 Akrivopoulou, Sophia xivn. 7 Alexander, importance and significance of xxii–xxv Alexiou, Margaret 32n. 29, 105n. 3, 123n. 74 Aliandro, Girolamo 108 Amaryllis 127 Anagnostes, John 31, 63, 102, 123 Monody for the Fall of Thessalonica 105 Anatolius of Laodecaea 128 Andronikos, Manolis xvi To Chroniko tis Verginas [The Chronicle of Vergina ] xvi Andronikos of Rhodes 118 Angelatos, Phokas 61, 86 Angelov, Dimiter Church and Society in Late Byzantium 16 Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium, 1204–1330 16 Anna of Savoy (or Anna Palaiologina) 30 Antikas, T. G. xvin. 14 Antipater, of Thessalonica xin. 1 Apostolis, Aristovoulos 131, 132 Apostolis, Michael 114, 119, 131, 132 Aratus 129 Phaenomena 128 Argyropoulos, Isaac 144–5 Argyropoulos, John 110–11, 113, 116, 118, 119, 120, 132, 144, 145n. 24 Aristeides, Aelius Panathenaikos 129
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Aristotle Categories 129 Economics 126 Ethics 126 Nicomachean Ethics xxi, 117 Physics 116, 126 Politics xix, 126 Aristotle University xiv Ars Antiqua (music) 37 Ars Nova (music) 37 Ascough, Richard S. xiin. 2 Asmatikos Orthros 64 Athanasios the Hierodiakonos 58, 129 Aurelius, Marcus Meditations 25 Avezzù, Guido 102n. 4 Bacon, Roger 107n. 12, 114 Baer, Marc ‘Globalization, Cosmopolitanism, and the Donme in Ottoman Salonica and Turkish Istanbul’ 11 Bailey, Terence 37n. 41 Bakirtzis, Charalambos 9, 18n. 54 Bakker, Wim, F. 58 Threnos tis Yperaghias Theotokou, Legomenos ti Aghia 140 Balzaretti, Ross 37n. 42 Barclay, William xiin. 2 Barker, John W. 30n. 20, 36n. 40, 37 Baun, Jane 144n. 19 Beaton, Roderick 12n. 37 Beckham, David 146 Bennett, Josephine W. 115n. 42, 121n. 66 Bercovitz, J. Peter 27n. 14 Berger, Christian 145n. 24 Bessarion, Cardinal 116, 118, 119, 131, 132 Beutler, Johannes 27n. 14 Bianconi, Daniele 19 bible verses 57–8, 88, 89–94nn. 11–29, 95, 96 Bibliotheca Marciana 86 Billy Budd 33
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Index
Blastares, Matthew 124, 129 Blemmydes, Nikephoros 124, 129 Bockmuehl, Markus xiin. 2 Bogdanos, Theodore 141 Bolton, Brenda xviin. 18 Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat 28 Borghart, Pieter 12n. 37 Borza, Eugene N. xvin. 14 Botley, Paul 105n. 1, 110n. 26, 111n. 27, 116n. 44, 127n. 83, 128, 129n. 87, 131n. 89 Boytsov, M. A. 26n. 10 Bravus, Petrus 115 Bremer, Jan Maarten 31n. 27 Briscoe, John 24n. 4 Brown, Alison 120n. 62 Brownlee, Kevin 19n. 58 Brownlee, Marina Skordalis 19n. 58 Bruce, F. F. xiin. 2 Bugh, Glenn Richard xviiin. 21 Burke, John Bernard 19n. 59 Burnand, Teodora 146n. 29 Buxtehude, Diderik 4 Byrd, William 145 Byron, Lord Don Juan, Canto III (‘The Isles of Greece’ section) 5 Bywater, Ingram 108, 109 Callus, D. A. 114n. 38 Cameron, Alan xin. 1 Cammelli, M. 109n. 24, 111n. 27 Canon 64, 71, 76, 95–6 for Christmas 62 Easter 73 Heirmi of 97 significance of 94 structure of 87 thematic 95 Verses of 96, 97 Canticles 95, 96 Carmina Burana poems 123 celebration 73–5 Celenza, Christopher S. 119n. 59 Centanni, Monica 109n. 21 Chalkeopoulos, Gerasimos 57 Chalkokondyles, Demetrius 111, 115, 119, 120, 121, 126 Chalkokondyles, Laonikos 114
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Chomatianos, Demetrius 29, 64 Choniates, Michael 102 Choniates, Niketas 102 Choumnos, Makarios 80n. 65 Chrissis, Nikolaos 36n. 39 Christianopoulos, Dinos xvn. 11 Christodoulou, Athanasios C. 13n. 45 Chrysaphes, Manuel 56 Chrysoloras, Demetrius 80, 82 Chrysoloras, John 111 Chrysoloras, Manuel 110, 113 civic identity 85 Clement, Jennifer 145n. 27 Cleomedes 129 Common, R. xvin. 13 Conomos, Dimitri 57n. 6 Constantine the Great 25, 27 Constantinople xxviii, 6, 14, 15–16, 28, 29, 32, 33–8, 68, 105–7, 123, 132 Constas, Nicholas P. 18n. 56 Conversini, Giovanni 116 Cook, Brad L. xxiin. 27 Cormack, Robin 7n. 15 Cortese, Paolo 145n. 24 cosmopolitanism 11 cultural transmission, beyond Byzantium 99 Cunctos Populos 26 Cuno, Johannes 128 Cyriac of Ancona 129 Dalaras, Giorgos 9 Damascene, John ‘The Golden Canon’ 73 Damilas, Antonios 132 Damilas, Demetrius 110, 115, 130, 132 Daphnis 127 Davies, Jonathan 117n. 47, 119n. 59 DeMaris, Richard E. 24n. 4 Dennis, George T. 30nn. 20–2 departures, poetry of 10 Dettlaff, Shirley M. 13n. 45 da Vinci, Leonardo 144 Diamant, Steven xviiin. 21 Didier, Miguel Castillo 32 Digenis Akrites 32 Diller, Aubrey 102n. 4, 109n. 19, 126n. 78 Dobbeleer, Michel De 105n. 1
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Index Domestikos of Aghia Sophia Iviron MS 57, 985 Donfried, Karl P. 27n. 14 Donnelly, Elizabeth xixn. 25 Dotsika, Elissa vet xvn. 12 Dragas, Helena 65 Dryden, John The Flower and the Leaf xxiv Duffy, John 62 ‘Embellishing the Steps’ 62 Dunn, David 20n. 61 Dutch, Robert S. 24n. 4 Eadie, John 27n. 14 Easterling, Pat E. 122n. 71 ecclesiastical poetry 62 Efthymiadis, Stephanos 85 Eirene (Yolanda) of Montferrat 30 Ekonomou, Andrew J. 140n. 5 Elizabeth I, Queen 145 Elizbarashvili, Eliso 32 Emanuel of Constantinople 111, 144 encomia 61, 62, 72–3, 75–7, 79–81 links with hymnography 77–8, 81–2 Encomia of Christ 73 Erasmus 105, 108, 110, 112, 121 Dialogue between the Lion and the Bear 107 Escallier, Robert 11n. 29 Euchologion 86 Eugenikos, John 31n. 26 Eugenikos, Mark 31n. 26, 131, 132, 141 Euripides 130 Trojan Women 123 Eustathius of Thessalonica 28, 31 Commentary on Dionysius Periegetes 128 Eustratiades, Sophronios 61, 86 Evans, Suzanne 9 excellence, significance of xxi Fasolo, Michele 24n. 5 Febvre, Lucien Paul Victor 115n. 42, 118n. 53 Ficino, Marcilio 119, 120, 144 Filelfo, Francesco 109, 111, 117 Flavianus, Nicomachus 26n. 9 Fortuna, Stefania 109n. 18 Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi 123
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195
Franciscus, John 129 Fraser, P. M. 20n. 61 Free, John 108 Fytikas, Michalis xvn. 12 Gabriel of Thessalonica 77 Gale, N. H. xvn. 12 Garland, David E. xiin. 2 Gastaut, Yvan 11n. 29 Gatsos, Nikos 9 Gazes, Theodore 34, 109, 116, 117, 120, 123, 124, 127, 132 Greek Grammar 110, 112 Geanakoplos, Deno J. 115n. 42, 116n. 44, 117n. 51, 119n. 58, 120n. 61, 122n. 70, 140n. 7, 144n. 23 Georgoudaki, Ekaterini 13 Gerhold, Victoria Casamiquela 32 Gero, Stephen xxiv Géza, Alföldy xviiin. 21 Ghilardi, Matthieu xvin. 14 Giannopoulos, Emmanouil 56, 57 Gibbon, Edward 25 Glavas, Isidore 62 Godman, Peter From Poliziano to Machiavelli : Florentine Humanism in the High Renaissance 128 Goušchin, Valerij xviiin. 21 Grafton, A. 121n. 68 Gray, H. L. 113n. 37 Grecus, Nicholas 114 Grecus,Robertus 114 Greenwalt, William xvin. 14 Gregoras, Nikephoros 73, 82, 85, 126n. 77 Grendler, Paul F. 117nn. 47, 49 Grivaud, Gilles 19n. 58 Grocyn, Thomas 112 Grocyn, William 108, 112 Grosseteste, Robert 113 Gryparis, Ioannis 8 Hadjigiakoumes, Manolis 56, 58 Hankins, James 116n. 44, 119n. 59, 120 Hanley, Will 12 Hannick, Christian 56n. 2, 65 Harding, Phillip xviiin. 21 Harmenopoulos, Constantine 71, 142
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Index
Harris, Jonathan 1, 19n. 58, 45n. 24, 107n. 11, 110n. 26, 111n. 28, 112nn. 31, 33, 113nn. 34–7, 114, 116n. 46, 118n. 54, 139n. 2, 144 Byzantium and the Crusades 15 Harris, Simon 64 Hassiotis, I. K. 18n. 54 Hawkes–Teeples, Steven 18 Haydon, Glen 3 Heirmoi 97 Heirmologion 97 Hellenic rulers and Palaiologan heyday 29–30 Henry, V. 24n. 4 Hermonymos, George 112, 125 Herodotus 131n. 89 Hesiod 127, 128 Theogony 122 Works and Days 122 Hetherington, Paul 24 Hine, Daryl 14 Hinterberger, Martin 85 Hirsch, S. A. 107n. 12 historians 16–17 historical and geographical background 23–4 ancient metropolis, from Macedonia to Rome 24–6 Constantinople and Thessalonica 33–8 downfall and literary response 30–3 early Christian Thessalonica 26–8 Hellenic rulers and Palaiologan heyday 29–30 second city 28–9 Hobbes, Thomas 26 Hollings Marion 9 Holmes, Catherine 32n. 27 Honoré, Tony 26n. 9 Houlden, James Leslie xiin. 2 Huddleston, James xviiin. 23 Hutchinson, R. W. xvn. 12 hymnography 62, 71, 81 links with encomia 77–8, 81–2 hymns 61–8, 71–9, 141, 145 see also individual entries Ilicak, H. Sükrü 13 Ioannidou, Arsinoi 35n. 35 Ioannou, Giorgos
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The Sarcophagus 9 Iorga, Neculai Byzance apres Byzance Continuation de l’‘Histoire de la vie byzantine’ 101 Iriarte, Giovanni 110n. 25, 114n. 39, 115n. 43 Isaac, Henrich 145 Isocrates Panathenaikos 129 James, M. R. 112, 144n. 22 Jeppesen, Knud 3 Kontrapunkt. Vokalpolyfoni 4 John (Ivan) Asen II of Bulgaria 29 John III Doukas Vatatzes 29 Johnston, Ian xixn. 24 John the Reader see Anagnostes, John Kalatzi, Maria 112n. 30 Kaldellis, Anthony 38n. 45 Kallistos, Andronikos 6, 34, 56, 99, 100, 101–2 death of, and monody 105–24 Defence of Theodore Gazes 118 English manuscripts of 124–32 Monody for the Fall of Constantinople 102, 105, 118, 119, 121–4 Kalomoiris, Manolis 33 Konstantinos Palaiologos (musical sacred drama) Kaltsogianne, Helene 19 Kaminiates, John 28, 32 Kanatsouli, Melpomeni xxii Kantakouzenos, Demetrius 112, 127 Kantakouzenos, John 126n. 77 Karalis, Vrassidas 32 Karamberopoulos, Demetrius Hymnos Patriotikos by Rigas (editor) xxiii Karkavitsas, Andreas The Beggar 12 Words of the Prow xxii, 12 Kastrenos, Demetrius 110, 111 Kavafis, Konstantinos 5 Kavasilas, Constantine 64 Kavasilas, Nikolaos 18, 72, 74, 77, 82, 132, 141n. 10 Commentary to the Divine Liturgy 141 Life in Christ 141
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Index Kavvadias, Nikos 5, 6, 10–11 Thessaloniki xvii Kazantzakis, Nikos 33 Konstantinos Palaiologos 32, 33 Keizer, Helena Maria 31n. 27 Keyder, Çaǧlar 12 Kibre, Pearl 113n. 36 Kiilerich, Bente xv King, N.Q. 26 Klimakos, John Klimax (The Ladder) 58, 62 Klinck, Anne L. 55 Kokkinos, Philotheos 56, 59, 77, 85, 86, 132 Byzantine hymn to St Demetrius 85–8 context 94–7 text 88–94 Komnenos Doukas, Theodore I 29 Kontakes, Christophoros 31n. 27 Kontakion 94, 95, 96 Heirmi of 97 Kontovlakas, Andronikos 107, 116n. 44, 127, 129 Kotzambassi, Sophia 19 Kydones, Demetrius 132 Lamb, W. xvn. 12 Lambrianides, Kyriacos xvn. 12 Lambrianides, Lois xvn. 10 Lambros, Spyridon 31, 102, 145n. 24 laments 31, 32n. 29, 34, 55, 56–7, 73, 102, 106, 141 Lapina, Elizabeth 85n. 4 Larmour, David H. J. xviiin. 21 Laskaris, Constantine 105, 109–11, 114, 115, 127 Erotemata 115 Grammar 130 Laskaris, Janus 125 Laskaris, Theodore II 29 Lautner, Peter 117n. 47 Lebrija, Antonio de 108, 109 Gramática de la lengua castellana 108 Legrand, E. 111n. 27, 117n. 50 Lemerle, Paul Miracula 59, 86 Levene, Mark 13 Levy, Kenneth 64 ‘A Hymn for Thursday in Holy Week’ 62 life in death, theme of 76
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Linacre, Thomas 108, 112, 121 Lingas, Alexander 34, 37 litanies 63 liturgical culture, origins, and significance 55–7 Psalm 57–8, 79 Livanios 129 Livieratos, Evangelos xvin. 14 Loans, Jacob Ben Jehiel 107n. 12 Lolos, Yannis 24n. 5 Loomis, Louise Ropes 121n. 64 Lounghis, Telemachos C. 16n. 50 Louth, Andrew 19 Lygizos, Michael 125, 127 Lyngeas, Michael 131 Mabbett, Ian ‘A History Essay is History’ 16 McDonald, William A. xiin. 2 MacGregor, James B. 7n. 15, 85n. 4 Machiavelli, Niccolò 16 McLynn, Neil Brendan 37n. 42 Madariaga, Elizabeth 32n. 27 Maestri, Roberto 30n. 18 Malalas, John 102 Malaxos, Manuel 129 Manoledakis, Manolis xvn. 11, xvin. 14, xviin. 16, xviiin. 20, xxiiin. 32 Mantovanis, Paul Chr. 18n. 57, 141n. 11 Manutius, Aldus 108 Marovitz, Sanford E. 13n. 45 Marsh, Christopher Songs of the Seventeenth Century 36 Martin, Henri-Jean 115n. 42, 118n. 53 Masek, Rosemary 113n. 36 Matthews, J. F. 26n. 1 Matula, Jozef 105n. 1 Matzukis, Corinna xxiv Mauropous, John 82 Maximus Planudes 110 Mazower, Mark xvii, 12, 17, 18n. 53 Salonica City of Ghosts 11 Melanchthon, Philip 107 Meliavacca, Baltasar 109, 131 melismatic musical style 95 Melodos, Romanos 73 Melville, Herman 13, 14nn. 46–7, 33–4 Melville-Jones, John R. 31n. 27 metaphors 80, 106
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Index
Metaphrastes, Symeon 79 Metochites, Theodore 8, 77 Metso, Pekka 18 Meyendorff, John 19n. 58 Michailidis, Iakovos D. ‘From Christians to Members of an Ethnic Community’ 12 Michalopoulos, Fanis 8n. 17 Michelot, Jean-Luc xvn. 12 Mihalarias, Stavros 7n. 15 Mikropaideia 107 military saints, cultural impact of 6–9 Miller, William 23, 24 Mioni, Elpidio 86 Mohler, Ludwig 102n. 4 Monfasani, John 100n. 1, 102n. 4, 117n. 49, 119n. 57, 129n. 87 monodies 31–2, 34, 102, 105–24 Montaigne, Michael de xxvi, xxviin. 42 Monteverdi, Claudio 4 Morin, Edgar Vidal and His Family 13 Morris, Leon 27n. 14 Mouksouris, Stylianos 18 Mount Athos 58 Mount Hortiatis xvii Mourmouris, Nikolaos 129 Mousouros, Mark 128 Mumford, Lewis The City in History 15 Naar, Devin E. xxviii Nadejena, Lydia 7n. 13 Nasrallah, Laura Salah xvn. 8 National Library of Athens 57, 63, 64, 65, 79, 86 Nativity Hymn 139 Nauert, Charles Garfield 120n. 62 Nebrissensis, Antonius see Lebrija, Antonio de Necipoğlu, Nevra 18 Nelson, R. S. ‘Tale of Two Cities’ 38 Nelson, Robert S. 7n. 16, 8, 16n. 50 Neville, George 111, 112, 113n. 24 Neyzi, Leyla 18n. 53 Nguyen, T. 24n. 4 Nickel, Helmut 7 Nicol, Donald M. 127n. 82
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Nicomachus of Gerasa 128, 129 Nielsen, Carl 4 Nigdelis, Pantelis xxvn. 37, 25 Nikolaos, Koukoumas Douloi Kyrion 56 Noblitt, Thomas L. 37n. 41 Nyström, Eva 110n. 26 O’Neil, James L. xix Obolensky, Dimitri The Byzantine Commonwealth 4–5 Oehler, Klaus 126n. 77 Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna Theol. Gr. 185 64, 65 Ottoman Thessalonica 100 Ouranis, Kostas 10 The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium 86 Özveren, Y. Eyüp 12 Paganopoulos, Michelangelo 11 Palaiologos, Andreas 111 Palaiologos, Andronikos 30 Palaiologos, John VII 30 Palaiologos, Manuel II xxiv, 30, 65, 75, 114, 141 Palamas, Gregory 86 Pallis, Alexandros xxii, xxiiin. 31 Panagiotakes, Nikolaos M. 113n. 37 Panselinos, Manuel 38 Papadatou, Daphne 30n. 19 Papaggelos, Ioakeim A. xivn. 7 Papagiannis, G. 139n. 1 Papakonstandinou-Diamandourou, D. xvin. 14 Paraskeuopoulou, Iliana 19 Pardo, Giovanni 105, 110 Pascal, Blaise xxvi past, constructions of 14–21 Paullus, Lucius Aemilius xxv Peltomaa, Leena Mari 100 Pentcheva, Bissera V. 140n. 6 Pentzikis, Nikos Gabriel 5, 9, 10 Mother Thessalonica 6 Symvan 6, 141 Periegetes, Dionysius 129 personal redemption 77 Petras, Simonos 56n. 3 Pezopoulos, E. A. 62 Philarges, Peter 113
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Index Philleti, Angelos 128 Philotheos of Selymbria 85 Photios 129 Phountoules, Ioannes 63, 73nn. 39–40, 79, 86 Pilavakis, Marios 31 Pindar 127 Odes 117 Pirrotta, Nino 145n. 24 From Poliziano to Monteverdi 127 Pirro, André 145n. 24 Pitra, Joannes Baptista 64n. 15 Planudes, Maximus 129 Plousedianos John 132 Poenicke, Klaus 13n. 45 Polemis, Ioannis D. 19n. 58 Poliziano, Angelo 108, 109, 116, 121, 126 Panepistemon 121 Polybius xxvi Porphyry Isagoge 129 Potter, Liz 24 Povoledo, Elena From Poliziano to Monteverdi 127 Powell, J. E. 102n. 4, 126n. 80 Proclus, On the Sphere 121 prosody 62 prosomoion/prosomoia 71, 73, 74, 75, 78, 79, 103, 140 Psellos, Michael 124, 129 Pythagoras Golden Verses 128, 129 Quataert, Donald 12, 13 Raasted, Jorgen 103 Rackham, H. xxi Rautman, Marcus L. 30n. 22 Renaissance 100, 127 Resurrection of Christ 77–8 Reuchlin, Johannes 107, 112, 128 Reumann, John xiin. 2 Rhossos, John 128 Rites 34–5, 36, 56, 57, 61–82 Ritsos, Giannes xiiin, 6 Robin, Diana 117n. 52 Robins, Robert Henry 106n. 6, 110n. 26, 115n. 42, 118n. 53 Rodenbeck, John 20n. 61
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Roilos, Panagiotis 32 ‘Byzantium and Heroic Pessimism’ 32 Roisman, J. xviiin. 19 Romanchuk, Robert 19n. 58 Romanides, Ioannes xiiin, 6 Roudometof, Victor 29n. 1 Rowland, Beryl 13n. 45 Rubinstein, Alice Levine 121, 122n. 69 Ruijgh, C. J. 31n. 27 Rummel, Erika 121n. 66 Runciman, Steven 30n. 18 Rundle, David 100n. 1 Ruschenbusch, Eberhard xviiin. 21 Russell, Eugenia 3n. 1, 16n. 50, 17n. 52, 19n. 58, 31n. 24, 33, 34, 35n. 36, 55n. 1, 85n. 3, 141n. 10, 144n. 20, 146n. 29 St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages 27 Russell, Norman 85 Sagundino, Nicolò 109 St Ambrose of Milan 26, 37 St Andronikos (I, II, III) 7–8 St Demetrius 6–7, 8, 9, 27, 28, 38, 61, 62, 63–4, 71–2, 74–7, 79–80, 82, 141 Akathistos Hymn to 100, 139–46 Byzantine hymn of Kokkinos to 85–8 context 94–7 text 88–94 St George 6, 7, 8–9 St Kosmas Aitolos 8 St Paul 26, 27 St Probos 8 St Tarachos 8 St Theodore 7 Salonique, significance of 11 Salteris, Vassileios 35 Sartori, Claudio 145n. 24 Sathas, Constantine 133 Schabel, Christopher 19n. 58 Schirò, Giuseppe 86 Scholarios, George 132 Schork, R. J. 139n. 3 Scordilis, Andreas 56 Scott, Roger 19n. 59 Seferis, Giorgos xxiii, xxivn. 33, 5
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Index
Sellars, John 25 Sellyng, William 108, 109, 113 Serefas, Sakis 19 Sergius, Patriarch 139 Servopoulos, Franculios 110, 111, 113 Servopoulos, John 111, 112 Setton, Kenneth M. 113n. 37 Shepard, Jonathan 11 Teaching Byzantium 3 Shipley, Graham xviiin. 19 Shirwood, John 113 Shrimer, Walter F. 113n. 36 Sinaites, Philotheos 86 Sirmium, historic city of 25 Skordili, Beatrice 20n. 61 Slesinski, Robert F. 18n. 57 Smith, O. L. 102n. 4 Smith, William 118n. 55 Sophocles 130 Ajax 122 Antigone 130 Electra 122 Oedipus Rex 122 Spatharakis, Ioannis 103 Spawforth, Antony J. S. 24n. 4 Spenser, Edmund The Faerie Queene 9 Stathis, Gregorios 56n. 3, 65 Stavrakios, John 73 Stone, Andrew 31n. 27 Stos-Gale, Zofia xvn. 12 Strohm, Reinhard 145n. 24 Strozzi, Palla 117 Strunk, Oliver 64, 65 Sultan Murad II 31 syllabic musical style 95 Symeon of Thessalonica 35, 57, 59, 86n. 8, 129, 141 ‘Explanation of the Divine Temple’ 18 ‘On the Sacred Liturgy’ 18 Sung Thessalonian Rite 61 synoikismos xviii Taft, Robert F. 18, 64n. 10 Tallis, Thomas 145 Tăpkova-Zaimova, Vasilka 27n. 15 temple consecration 69–70 Theocritus 128 Idylls 127
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Theophrastus of Eressos of Lesvos Historia Plantarum 116 threatened metropolis 15 threnos 58 Tilley, Arthur 121n. 67 Tilly, William see Sellyng, William Tiverios, Michalis xivn, 7 Todd, Robert B. 102n. 4, 109n. 22, 111n. 27, 117n. 48, 126, 127 Tolias, George 23n. 1 Tolmie, J. 146n. 28 topos 79 Toswell, M. J. 146n. 28 Touliatos-Banker, Diane 64 Trivellato, Francesca The Familiarity of Strangers 13 Troparion 94, 95 tropes 55, 56 Tröster, Manuel xxvn. 38 Tsougarakis, Nikiphoros I. xviin. 17, xviin. 18, 36 Tuplin, Christopher J. xvn. 11 twin cities 34 Usque, Samuel xxviii Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel xxviii Vakalopoulos, Apostolos E. Istoria tis Thessalonikis 19 Valla, Giorgio 109, 129, 131 Valla, Lorenzo 109 Vamvakas, Demetrius 31n. 26 van der Valk, Marchinus 31n. 27 Velestinlis, Rigas xxiii, 23n. 1 Vickers, Michael xvn. 11, xxvn. 36, 25 Virgin Hodegetria 140 Virgin Mary 71, 72, 88, 139, 140, 141, 142, 144 virtue and education, link between xx–xxi Viviers, Didier xvn. 11 Voela, Angie xxii Vokotopoulou, Julia xvn. 11 Waith, Eugene M. 120n. 62 Wakefield Crucifixion Play 141, 144 Wanamaker, Charles E. 27n. 14 Waynflete, William 112
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Index Weiss, Roberto 36–7, 108n. 17, 113n. 34, 114n. 38 Welch, Evelyn S. 145n. 24 Wellesz, Egon 73n. 40, 94, 95n. 32, 97, 103, 139n. 4, 140, 144 Westgate, R. I. Wilfred 109n. 20 Wilken, Robert L. 26n. 11 Williams, Edward V. 37 Wolters, Al 121n. 65 Woodhead, A. G. xvn. 11 Woodhouse, C. M. 117n. 50 Woodward, A. M. 105n. 2, 116n. 45
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worship 71–2 Worthington, I. xviiin. 19 Wright, Cox 112n. 29, 113n. 36 Wright, Elizabeth Cox 144n. 22 Xarchakos, Stavros 9 Zachariadou, Elizabeth A. 24n. 5 Zealot revolt 30 Zeses, Theodore 132 Ziakas, Gregorios D. 118n. 56, 119n. 60 Zola, Émile 34
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