Ignatios, patriarch of Constantinople (847–58, 867–77)
Obverse
Bust of Christ, with a nimbus cruciger, raising his right hand in blessing and holding in his left a book decorated with a cross. Vertical inscription on either side. Triple border of dots.
ΙΥ Η
ΧΕ Γ
ΚΕ Ο
Υ
Ἰ(ησο)ῦ Χ(ριστ)ὲ Κ(ύρι)ε ἡγοῦ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, preceded and followed by a row of crosslets. Triple border of dots.
ΙΓΝΑΤΙ
.Υ.ΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚ
.ΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝ
.ΟΛΕΩΣΝΕΑΣ
ΡΩΜΗΣ
Ἰγνατί[ο]υ [ἀ]ρχιεπισκ(όπου) [Κ]ωνσταντινου[π]όλεως Νέας Ῥώμης.
Obverse
Bust of Christ, with a nimbus cruciger, raising his right hand in blessing and holding in his left a book decorated with a cross. Vertical inscription on either side. Triple border of dots.
ΙΥ Η
ΧΕ Γ
ΚΕ Ο
Υ
Ἰ(ησο)ῦ Χ(ριστ)ὲ Κ(ύρι)ε ἡγοῦ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, preceded and followed by a row of crosslets. Triple border of dots.
ΙΓΝΑΤΙ
.Υ.ΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚ
.ΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝ
.ΟΛΕΩΣΝΕΑΣ
ΡΩΜΗΣ
Ἰγνατί[ο]υ [ἀ]ρχιεπισκ(όπου) [Κ]ωνσταντινου[π]όλεως Νέας Ῥώμης.
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.862 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 34.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 6, no. 112.1; T. Whittemore, “An Unpublished Seal of Patriarch Ignatios,” Byzantina-Metabyzantina 1 (1946): 261–66; Zacos, Seals 2: no. 6b; Laurent, Corpus 5.1: no. 5; Oikonomides, Dated Lead Seals, no. 52. For similar seals, but from different boulloteria, see Zacos, Seals 2: no. 6c and Münz Zentrum, Sale 75, 14–16 April 1993, no. 1589. |
| Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ Κύριε ἡγοῦ Ἰγνατίου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Νέας Ῥώμης.
Lord Jesus Christ, guide Ignatios, archbishop [patriarch] of Constantinople, the New Rome.
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)
- 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)
- Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Ignatios, a saint of the Orthodox Church (feast day 23 October; see Syn. Eccl. CP, cols. 158–59), was born at Constantinople about 797/98 and christened Niketas. He was the son of Michael the kouropalates (the future Michael I Rhangabe), who married the daughter of Emperor Nikephoros I, Prokopia, who also bore Theophylaktos and Staurakios. Following his father’s defeat at Versinikia in 813 and his abdication, Niketas (Ignatios), along with his brothers, was castrated and shunted into a monastic career. According to Skylitzes (106, line 21) he became hegoumenos of the μονὴ τοῦ Σατύρου, a sanctuary located in Bithynia in the port town of the same name. Janin is skeptical; in his opinion (Grands centres, 42), Ignatios was the founder of the monastery and church dedicated to Archangel Michael built on property facing the Princes’ Islands. According to the Byzantine historians Symeon Magister and George the Monk this construction took place in 873/74. He was the empress Theodora’s choice to succeed Patriarch Methodios, but his support evaporated when Caesar Bardas sent Theodora into exile. As a result Ignatios was forced to abdicate and to retire first to the island of Terebinthos, at a monastery he had founded there, and later to Mytilene. Photios succeeded him, but in 867 he in turn was forced to step down and was replaced by Ignatios. Upon his death Ignatios was buried at the μονὴ τοῦ Σατύρου, where he had seen fit to have his father’s remains interred as well. Photios, who once again became patriarch, was active in bringing about Ignatios’s sainthood. See ODB 2:983–84 and Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit 2, no. 2666.
Two different types of seals bear this patriarch’s name. This first, the present type, is decorated on the obverse with a bust of Christ. The second, which is preserved in the Hermitage Collection (see: Dated Lead Seals, no. 51, and Zacos, Seals 2: no. 6a) portrays Christ standing on the obverse, with his right hand raised in blessing and his left holding a book; in columns on either side: O|Θ|E|O|S-H|Γ|O|V: Ὁ Θεὸς ἡγοῦ. As Oikonomides observes, there is no compelling reason for assigning either seal to one or the other of Ignatios’s two reigns.
On this specimen the cover of the book that Christ holds is decorated with a cross. On the Zacos seal (Seals 2: no. 6c) the decoration consists of three rows of dots.
Ignatios’s seals are the first to bear the title ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Νέας Ῥώμης. It should be noted, however, that a seal of his predecessor, John VII Grammatikos, identifies this patriarch as ἐπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Νέας Ῥώμης (see Zacos, Seals 2: no. 4; Oikonomides, Dated Lead Seals, no. 49).