Constantine metropolitan of Patras (eleventh/twelfth century)
Obverse
Inscription of three lines, a decoration below. Border of dots.
ΣΦΡΑ
ΓΙΣΠΡΟ
ΕΔΡΟΥ
Σφραγὶς προέδρου
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, a decoration below. Border of dots.
ΤΝ
ΠΑΤΡΝ
ΚΝΣΤΑΝ
ΤΙΝΟΥ
τῶν Πατρῶν Κωνσταντίνου
Obverse
Inscription of three lines, a decoration below. Border of dots.
ΣΦΡΑ
ΓΙΣΠΡΟ
ΕΔΡΟΥ
Σφραγὶς προέδρου
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, a decoration below. Border of dots.
ΤΝ
ΠΑΤΡΝ
ΚΝΣΤΑΝ
ΤΙΝΟΥ
τῶν Πατρῶν Κωνσταντίνου
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.5032 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 27.0 mm; field: 23.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 34.1a; see also Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden II, no. 2785c. |
Translation
Σφραγὶς προέδρου τῶν Πατρῶν Κωνσταντίνου.
Seal of Constantine, metropolitan of Patras.
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)
- Corinth, Vol. 12, The Minor Objects (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)
- Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 2, Siegellegenden von Ny bis inklusive Sphragis (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Dodecasyllabic. Both this seal and BZS 1958.106.3657 were issued by the same individual but from different boulloteria. We know of another seal bearing the same dodecasyllabic inscription, but with a bust of St. Andrew on the obverse (Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 631). Laurent is right in saying that the owner of the present seal should not be identified with either of the two Constantines of Patras that we know for the period, the first (1030-38) being too early and the second (1157) too late.
Today Patras, the city of St. Andrew. The see of Patras was functioning by the 4th century; it is mentioned as an archbishopric in the iconoclastic notitia and perhaps in the council of 787 (Darrouzès, Notitiae, 23, note 1 and no. 3, line 55). Sometime between 802 and 806 it was raised to the rank of a metropolis by being attributed three suffragans: Lakedaimonia, Methone and Korone. All this information concerning the foundation of the metropolis and its right to collect taxes from the neighboring Slavic populations is related to a miraculous intervention of St. Andrew to save the city from Slav rebels. In the 10th century, an archon exercised authority in Patras (Corinth XII, no. 2705). See Laurent, in REB 21 (1963) 129-36; Laurent, Corpus V/1, 471; Fedalto, 517-19; ODB II, 1597-98; Bon, Morée francque, 449-57.