Skip to Content

Matthew I, Patriarch of Constantinople (1397–1402; 1403–10)

 
 

Obverse

The Mother of God, seated on a backless throne, holding Christ on her knees. At left and right, two sets of sigla, M-P-ΘV: Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ, and IC-XC: Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of eight lines. Border of dots.

ΜΤΘΙ
ΟΣΕΛΕΘΥ
ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠ
ΟΣΚΝΣΤΑΝΤΙ
ΝΠΟΕΣΝΕ
ΣΡΩΣΚΙ
ΟΙΚΜΕΝΙΚ
ΟΣ,ΑΡΧΗΣ

Ματθαῖος ἐλέῳ Θ(εο)ῦ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Νέας Ῥώμης καὶ οἰκουμενικὸς π(ατ)ρ(ι)άρχης.

Obverse

The Mother of God, seated on a backless throne, holding Christ on her knees. At left and right, two sets of sigla, M-P-ΘV: Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ, and IC-XC: Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of eight lines. Border of dots.

ΜΤΘΙ
ΟΣΕΛΕΘΥ
ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠ
ΟΣΚΝΣΤΑΝΤΙ
ΝΠΟΕΣΝΕ
ΣΡΩΣΚΙ
ΟΙΚΜΕΝΙΚ
ΟΣ,ΑΡΧΗΣ

Ματθαῖος ἐλέῳ Θ(εο)ῦ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Νέας Ῥώμης καὶ οἰκουμενικὸς π(ατ)ρ(ι)άρχης.

Accession number BZS.1958.106.316
Diameter 40.0 mm; field: 30.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 6, no. 127.1; Zacos, Seals 2: 51a; Laurent, Corpus 5.3: no. 1635; Oikonomides, Dated Lead Seals, no. 158. Cf. Galavaris, “Thokos,” no. 70 (p. 181).

Translation

Ματθαῖος ἐλέῳ Θεοῦ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Νέας Ῥώμης καὶ οἰκουμενικὸς πατριάρχης.

Matthew, by the grace of God, archbishop of Constantinople, the New Rome, and ecumenical patriarch.

Commentary

Matthew began his ecclesiastical career at age 15, when he entered the Charsianeites Monastery in Constantinople. He received instruction first from the abbot Mark and then his successor, Neilos, who later became patriarch and whom Matthew succeeded as abbot. He held this position throughout his reign as patriarch. He is remembered for writing a typikon of the monastery in which he reasserted the spiritual guidelines established by Mark and Neilos. See Janin, Églises, 501–2; ODB 2:1316; PLP 7, no. 17387; and Monastic Foundation Documents 4:1625.

In the last line on the reverse the alpha and rho are in ligature. Zacos (Seals 2: nos. 51b and c) has published two additional examples of Matthew’s seals: one from his own collection and a specimen from the Hermitage Collection (for this see also Likhachev, Molivdovuly, no. LXIX.11).

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 6, Emperors, Patriarchs of Constantinople, Addenda (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • A Collection of Dated Byzantine Lead Seals (Open in Zotero)
  • The Representation of the Virgin and Child on a ‘Thokos’ on Seals of the Constantinopolitan Patriarchs (Open in Zotero)
  • La géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin, Vol. 1, Le siège de Constantinople et le patriarcat oecuménique, Pt. 3, Les églises et les monastères (Open in Zotero)
  • Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Open in Zotero)
  • Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents: A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founders’ Typika and Testaments (Open in Zotero)