Niketas metropolitan of Patras (eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of St. Andrew holding a staff cross on his left shoulder. On either side the inscription: |Α|ΝΔ|Ρ.|..: ὁ ἅγιος Ἀνδρέας. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, a decoration above. Border of dots.
ΣΦΡΑΓ,
ΝΙΚΗΤΑ
ΠΟΙΜΕΝΟΣ
ΤΩΝΕΝΠΑ
ΤΡΑΙΣ
Σφραγ(ὶς) Νικήτα ποιμένος τῶν ἐν Πάτραις
Obverse
Bust of St. Andrew holding a staff cross on his left shoulder. On either side the inscription: |Α|ΝΔ|Ρ.|..: ὁ ἅγιος Ἀνδρέας. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, a decoration above. Border of dots.
ΣΦΡΑΓ,
ΝΙΚΗΤΑ
ΠΟΙΜΕΝΟΣ
ΤΩΝΕΝΠΑ
ΤΡΑΙΣ
Σφραγ(ὶς) Νικήτα ποιμένος τῶν ἐν Πάτραις
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.3 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 29.0 mm; field: 21.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 34.4. |
Translation
Σφραγὶς Νικήτα ποιμένος τῶν ἐν Πάτραις.
Seal of Niketas, metropolitan of the people 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)
- Les regestes des actes du patriarcat de Constantinople, Vol. 1, Les regestes de 381 à 715 (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (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. Laurent identifies Niketas with the signatory of a synodal decree of March 19, 1067; see Grumel, Regestes, no. 897. A seal of a Niketas of Patrai is published in Zacos, Seals II, no. 651.
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.