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Anthony IV, patriarch of Constantinople (1389–90; 1391–97)

 
 

Obverse

The Mother of God, seated on a backless throne, holding Christ on her knees. At left and right, two sets of sigla M-P-ΘV: Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ, and IC-XC: Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of eight lines. Border of dots.

ΑΝΤΩ
ΝΙΟΣΕΛΕΩΘΥ
ΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΣ
ΚΩΝΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟ
ΛΕΩΣΝΕΑΣΡΜΗΣ
ΚΑΙΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙ
ΚΟΣΠΡΙΑΡΧΗ
Σ

Ἀντώνιος ἐλέο Θ(εο)ῦ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Νέας Ῥώμης καὶ οἰκουμενικὸς π(ατ)ριάρχης.

Obverse

The Mother of God, seated on a backless throne, holding Christ on her knees. At left and right, two sets of sigla M-P-ΘV: Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ, and IC-XC: Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of eight lines. Border of dots.

ΑΝΤΩ
ΝΙΟΣΕΛΕΩΘΥ
ΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΣ
ΚΩΝΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟ
ΛΕΩΣΝΕΑΣΡΜΗΣ
ΚΑΙΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙ
ΚΟΣΠΡΙΑΡΧΗ
Σ

Ἀντώνιος ἐλέο Θ(εο)ῦ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Νέας Ῥώμης καὶ οἰκουμενικὸς π(ατ)ριάρχης.

Accession number BZS.1958.106.312 (formerly DO 58.106.312)
Diameter 38.0 mm; field: 32.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 6, no. 126.1; Zacos, Seals 2: no. 50a; Laurent, Corpus 5.3: no.1634. Mentioned in Dated Lead Seals, no. 155. Cf. Galavaris, “Thokos,” no. 68 (p. 180).

Translation

Ἀντώνιος ἐλέο Θεοῦ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Νέας Ῥώμης καὶ οἰκουμενικὸς πατριάρχης.

Anthony, by the grace of God, archbishop of Constantinople, the New Rome, and ecumenical patriarch.

Commentary

Anthony was twice patriarch. He served briefly under John V (1341–91) and then again under Manuel II (1391–1425), at whose coronation he officiated in February of 1392. He promoted among the rulers of Poland and Russia the notion of a crusade, led by Sigismund of Hungary, against the Turks and requested that Grand Prince Basil of Moscow reinscribe the name of the Byzantine emperor in the diptychs in Moscow, after it had been dropped. See ODB 1:125; PLP 1: no. 1113; Nicol, Biographical Dictionary, 10.

Three seals of this patriarch, still attached to the documents they validated, have survived on Mount Athos. One in the archives of the monastery of Vatopedi, dating from April of 1389, is published in Oikonomides, Dated Lead Seals, no. 155. The second dates from June of 1393, illustrated in Zacos, Seals 2: no. 50b and Laurent, Corpus 5.1: no. 46. The third dates from June of 1395 and is preserved in the archives of the monastery of Koutloumousiou, illustrated in Zacos, Seals 2: no. 50c and Laurent, Corpus 5.1: no. 47.

Bibliography