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John bishop of Troizen (eighth/ninth century)

 
 

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΣ|.Λ. Wreath border.

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.

ιαν
νηεπισκο
πτρυι
ν..

Ἰωάννῃ ἐπισκόπῳ Τρυζῖνος

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΣ|.Λ. Wreath border.

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.

ιαν
νηεπισκο
πτρυι
ν..

Ἰωάννῃ ἐπισκόπῳ Τρυζῖνος

Accession number BZS.1958.106.371
Diameter 30.0 mm; field: 24.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 35.2.
Laurent, Corpus V/3, no. 1750.
Zacos-Veglery, no. 2003.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἰωάννῃ ἐπισκόπῳ Τρυζῖνος.

Mother of God, help your servant John, bishop of Troizen.

Commentary

As Laurent has correctly seen, there is space for two more letters on line 4 of the reverse. We think that one must restore the name in the genitive of the third declension, Τροιζῆνος, which is also attested in the signature of bishop Antonios in 787 (Mansi XII, 1099D), without turning to more demotic forms, such as the one of the iconoclastic notitia, which may well be inspired from the Synekdemos of Hierokles.

Troizen (ancient and modern Troizen in the eastern tip of the Peloponnesos, belonging to the nomos of Attika). The first reference to its existence as a bishopric is in the year 787 (Mansi XII, 1099); it is listed in the controversial iconoclastic notitia as a suffragan of Cephalonia (Darrouzès, Notitiae, no. 3, line 771, cf. line 739). The bishopric will adopt from the early 10th century onward the name of Damalas and will reappear constantly as a suffragan of Corinth (Darrouzès, Notitiae, no. 7, line 489; no. 9, line 372; etc.). Our seals show that in the 9th century the authorities continued to use the traditional name, in the third declension, while Damalas was obviously a more popular--and more demotic--name (presumably the name of a landowner, τοῦ Δαμαλᾶ?) that prevailed and is mentioned (and confused with Epidauros) in the Life of St. Nikon, 88, 90, cf. 280-81. See Laurent, Corpus V/3, 102-3; Fedalto, 525-26; Bon, Morée francque, 486-91.

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)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
  • Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio (Open in Zotero)
  • The Life of Saint Nikon: Text, Translation, and Commentary (Open in Zotero)
  • Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
  • La Morée franque: Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d’Achaïe (1205-1430) (Open in Zotero)