Constantine proedros (= metropolitan) of Madyta)
Obverse
St. Stephen (left) holding censer and pyxis in form of a domed church; and St. Euthymios holding book. St. Stephen is identified by an inscription in two columns: |Ε|Φ|ΑΠΡ|Τ||.: Ὁ ἅγιος Στέφανος ὁ Πρωτωμάρτυς. The beginning of St. Euthymios' name appears in a vertical inscription in center: Ε|Υ: Ὁ ἅγιος Εὐθύμιος. No visible border.
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, decoration above. Border of dots.
σφραγισ
κ̅νΑ ε
δρνμ
αδυτ
Σφραγὶς Κωνσταντίνου πρόεδρων Μαδύτων
Obverse
St. Stephen (left) holding censer and pyxis in form of a domed church; and St. Euthymios holding book. St. Stephen is identified by an inscription in two columns: |Ε|Φ|ΑΠΡ|Τ||.: Ὁ ἅγιος Στέφανος ὁ Πρωτωμάρτυς. The beginning of St. Euthymios' name appears in a vertical inscription in center: Ε|Υ: Ὁ ἅγιος Εὐθύμιος. No visible border.
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, decoration above. Border of dots.
σφραγισ
κ̅νΑ ε
δρνμ
αδυτ
Σφραγὶς Κωνσταντίνου πρόεδρων Μαδύτων
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.5168 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 25.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 55.1. |
Translation
Σφραγὶς Κωνσταντίνου πρόεδρων Μαδύτων.
Seal of Constantine, metropolitan of Madyta.
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)
- L’attribut des diacres dans l'art chrétien du Moyen Age en Orient (Open in Zotero)
- La Thrace Orientale et La Mer Noire: Géographie Ecclésiastique et Prosopographie (VIIIe-XIIe Siècles) (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The inscription is prosodic: two six-syllable lines with the accent on the penultimate (cf. DO Seals 1, no. 52.1). There is an obvious engraver's error in προέδρων instead of προέδρου. For the objects held by St. Stephanos on the obverse, see G. de Jerphanion, "L'attribut des diacres dans l'art chrétien du Moyen Age en Orient," Εἰς μνήμην Σπυρίδωνος Λάμπρου (Athens, 1935) 403-16. Constantine Kaloethes, a former teacher at the patriarchal academy in Constantinople, was appointed to the see of Madyta shortly before 1204 and spent most of his life as a bishop in Nicaea: Laurent, Corpus V/3, 137-38 and Asdracha, Thrace orientale, 297.
Madyta or Madytos (modern Maïdos) was located opposite Abydos along the Hellespont. The first mention of a "bishop of Madytos" occurs at the Second Council of Nicaea (787): Μαδύτου ἤτοι Κοίλων. Darrouzès is undoubtedly correct that there was an "equivalence" of Madyta/Koila (or Kyla, which lies only slightly north of Madytos and is attested as a suffragan bishopric of Herakleia in the earliest episcopal lists: see Darrouzès, Notitiae, 275, note 163). It appears that Koila (which was in existence by 431) ceased to function as a bishopric in the later seventh century. The throne was elevated to a metropolis by Constantine X Doukas (1058-1067): Laurent, Corpus V/1, 552; Asdracha, Thrace orientale, 251-53, 296-97.