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John monk and archbishop of all Bulgaria (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

The Virgin seated on a throne (unclear traces of a high back) holding medallion of Christ before her. No epigraphy or border visible.

Reverse

Inscription of six lines. Border of dots.

ΘΚΕ
ΤΣ
ΙΜΟΝΑ
ΑΡΧΙΕ
ΚΠΠ
ΛΓ

Θ(εοτό)κε [β(οή)θ(ει)] τῷ σῷ [δούλ(ῳ)] Ἰω(άννῃ) μονα[χ(ῷ)] (καὶ) ἀρχιε[πισ]κ(ό)πῳ π[άση(ς)] Βουλγ[αρ(ίας)]

Obverse

The Virgin seated on a throne (unclear traces of a high back) holding medallion of Christ before her. No epigraphy or border visible.

Reverse

Inscription of six lines. Border of dots.

ΘΚΕ
ΤΣ
ΙΜΟΝΑ
ΑΡΧΙΕ
ΚΠΠ
ΛΓ

Θ(εοτό)κε [β(οή)θ(ει)] τῷ σῷ [δούλ(ῳ)] Ἰω(άννῃ) μονα[χ(ῷ)] (καὶ) ἀρχιε[πισ]κ(ό)πῳ π[άση(ς)] Βουλγ[αρ(ίας)]

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4701
Diameter 16.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 1, no. 29.6c. Cf. Laurent, Corpus V/3 no. 2016 and idem, Corpus V/2, no. 1494 (with corrected reading).

Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἰωάννῃ μοναχῷ καὶ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ πάσης Βουλγαρίας.

Mother of God, help your servant John monk and archbishop of all Bulgaria.

Commentary

This specimen is considerably smaller than its counterparts BZS 1958.106.5308 and 1951.31.5.1035 but seems to reproduce them faithfully, including the unusual abbreviation ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ. It is all but certain that the three specimens belonged to the same individual, who must have been John of Lampe, a former monk of Mount Olympus and archbishop of Bulgaria 1064-1077/8. In the (incomplete) list of archbishops of Ohrid, published by Gelzer, Achrida, 6-7, and discussed by P. Gautier (Theophylacti, Opera, 29-37), three archbishops named John are mentioned in the eleventh century: (1) John (alias David), mentioned in 1019, the last "patriarch" of Ohrid during the reign of Samuel; demoted to archbishop by Basil II after 1018; (2) John of Lampe, the former monk; and finally (3) his successor, John Aoinos, a former abbot, who became archbishop in 1078. Laurent, for technical reasons, rightly eliminated from consideration the John of 1019 (it is true that all specimens have the ligature , which first appears on seals in the 1030s); and excluded John Aoinos on the assumption that another aniconic seal (see Corpus V/2, no. 1492) of a John archbishop of Bulgaria and former abbot, was likely to be that of John Aoinos.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Der Patriarchat von Achrida; Geschichte und Urkunden (Open in Zotero)
  • Theophylacti Archridensis Opera (Open in Zotero)
  • Les duchés byzantins de Paristrion (Paradounavon) et de Bulgarie (Open in Zotero)
  • Bolgarija i Vizantija v XI-XII vv. (Open in Zotero)
  • L’évolution de l’organisation administrative de l’empire byzantin au XIe siècle (1025–1118) (Open in Zotero)