Constantine thytes (=bishop) of Korone (eleventh/twelfth century)
Obverse
Inscription of four lines, a cross above. Border of dots.
Η
ΣΦΡΑ
ΓΙΣ
Κ̅Ν
ἡ σφραγὶς Κωνσταντίνου
Reverse
Inscription of three lines, a cross above. Border of dots.
ΘΥΤ
ΚΟΡ
ΝΗΣ
θύτου Κορώνης
Obverse
Inscription of four lines, a cross above. Border of dots.
Η
ΣΦΡΑ
ΓΙΣ
Κ̅Ν
ἡ σφραγὶς Κωνσταντίνου
Reverse
Inscription of three lines, a cross above. Border of dots.
ΘΥΤ
ΚΟΡ
ΝΗΣ
θύτου Κορώνης
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.349 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 19.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 28.1. See also Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 653. |
| Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
ἡ σφραγὶς Κωνσταντίνου θύτου Κορώνης.
Seal of Constantine, bishop of Korone.
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)
Commentary
The inscription has been misread by previous editors. What they took for a cross at the top of the obverse inscription is in fact the letter Η, giving us the reading ἡ σφραγὶς Κωνσταντίνου, a correct seven-syllable hemistich complemented by the five-syllable hemistich on the reverse. This metrical inscription should thus be added to the corpus assembled by Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, volume I.
The ancient Korone was situated near the modern village of Petalidi (Messenia); the medieval and modern town occupies the location of ancient Asine. The bishopric, given as a suffragan to Patras sometime between 802 and 806 (Σαρσοκορώνη: problematic name on which see M. Kordoses, "Ἡ ἀρχαία Ἀρκαδικὴ πόλη Κορώνη καὶ ἡ Βυζαντινὴ Σαρσοκορώνη," Δωδώνη 16/1 [1987] 243-52), appears for the first time in an episcopal list of the early 10th century (Darrouzès, Notitiae, no. 7, line 552). A bishop of Korone is mentioned by Michael Psellos (MB V, 378). Later (14th c.) Korone will be attached to Monembasia. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 486; Fedalto, 499-500; ODB II, 1149-50.