Theodore bishop of Methone (tenth/eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of St. John the Theologian blessing and holding book. Inscription in two columns: |ΙΩ|ΟΘ|ΕΟ|Λ,: Ὁ ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Θεολόγος. Border of dots.
Obverse
Bust of St. John the Theologian blessing and holding book. Inscription in two columns: |ΙΩ|ΟΘ|ΕΟ|Λ,: Ὁ ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Θεολόγος. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, preceded and followed by decoration. Border of dots.
ΚΕ,Θ,
ΘΕΟΔΡ,
.Π,ΚΟΠ
ΜΕΘ,
Κύριε βοήθει Θεοδώρῳ ἐπισκόπῳ Μεθώνης
Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4679 |
---|---|
Diameter | 22.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 30.2a. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει Θεοδώρῳ ἐπισκόπῳ Μεθώνης.
Lord, help Theodore bishop of Methone.
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
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin, vol. 5, L’Église
- Βυζαντιακὰ μολυβδόβουλλα τοῦ ἐν ἈΘήναις Ἐθνικοῦ Νομισματικοῦ Μουσείου
- Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin
- Catalogue of Seals in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium
Commentary
Today Methone, in the southwestern tip of the Peloponnesos. The ancient city is still attested in the 6th century; the bishopric may have already existed in the 4th century, but it (re?)appears in the early 9th as a suffragan of the newly created metropolis of Patras. It is mentioned in the controversial iconoclastic notitia (as a suffragan of Corinth) and then in all notitiae, starting with that of Leo VI, under Patras (Darrouzès, Notitiae, no. 3, line 762; no. 7, line 551). See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 482; Fedalto, 510; ODB II, 1356. The cathedral of Methone being dedicated to St. John the Theologian (NE 7 [1910] 156-57), this saint appears on most seals of its bishops.