The bishop of Methone (eleventh/twelfth century)
Obverse
Bust of St. John the Theologian blessing and holding book. Inscription in two columns: |Ι̅|ΟΛ|ΟΓ|Ο: Ὁ ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Θεολόγος. No visible border.
Obverse
Bust of St. John the Theologian blessing and holding book. Inscription in two columns: |Ι̅|ΟΛ|ΟΓ|Ο: Ὁ ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Θεολόγος. No visible border.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines preceded by cross. Border of dots.
ΘΥΤΗΝ
ΜΕΘΟΣ
ΗΓΑΜΕ
ΝΕΣΚΠΕ
ΠΕ
Θύτην Μεθόνης, ἠγαπημένε, σκέπε
Accession number | BZS.1958.106.333 |
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Diameter | 20.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 30.3; Laurent, Corpus V/3, no. 1756 (dated to the end of the tenth century). See also Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 953. A new specimen of this seal has been discovered at the Corinth excavations: information kindly provided by A. Dunn. |
Translation
Θύτην Μεθόνης, ἠγαπημένε, σκέπε.
Beloved one, protect the bishop of Methone.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
- Un décret synodal inédit du patriarche Jean VIII Xiphilin (Open in Zotero)
- 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)
- Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 2, Siegellegenden von Ny bis inklusive Sphragis (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
One twelve-syllable verse.
The interpretation of these anonymous seals of bishops has not been elucidated (DO Seals 1, 24.1, 24.2, 36.13, 50.2, 84.1, 87.1). We suppose that they did not necessarily belong to a specific bishop but were used during periods of vacancy of the throne by the administrators of the bishopric, who had to issue documents in the name of the bishop to come. We know that even in normal times. such vacancies could be long, especially since many of these elections and ordinations were in reality conducted away from the see itself, often in Constantinople, in spite of the canonical and synodal prohibitions. Cf. N. Oikonomides, "Un décret synodal inédit du patriarche Jean VIII Xiphilin concernant l'éelection et l'ordination des évȇques," REB 18 (1960) 55-78.