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Gregory bishop of Argos (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin, indistinct. No inscription visible. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

...,Θ,
ΤΣΔ
..ΗΓΟΡΙ
.ΠΙ,Κ,ΑΡ
ΓΣ

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Γρηγορί ἐπισκόπῳ Ἄργους

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin, indistinct. No inscription visible. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

...,Θ,
ΤΣΔ
..ΗΓΟΡΙ
.ΠΙ,Κ,ΑΡ
ΓΣ

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Γρηγορί ἐπισκόπῳ Ἄργους

Accession number BZS.1958.106.363
Diameter 23.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 24.1.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Γρηγορίῳ ἐπισκόπῳ Ἄργους.

Mother of God, help your servant Gregory bishop of Argos.

Commentary

The Synodikon mentions two bishops named Gregory, but their dates are not known (Gouillard, Synodikon, 109, lines 3, 4; cf. 272-73).

Ancient and modern Argos are near the gulf of Nauplion. The see was in existence as early as the 5th century (DHGE 4, col. 80) and is first mentioned in the notitia of Nichoas I Mystikos (10th century: Darrouzès, Notitiae, no. 7, line 490). We know from the Life of St. Peter of Argos (d. ca. 922) and from the letters of Theodore of Nicaea (Darrouzès, Epistoliers, 51-52, 55, 283-84, 314-15) that the bishoprics of Argos and its port city Nauplion came to be united by at least the 10th century (see ODB I, 163-64; II, 1443; Laurent, Corpus V/1, 426, expressed the opinion that this probably took place already by the end of the 9th century; cf. also N. Oikonomides in Πρακτικά of the 3rd Panionian Congress [Athens, 1967], 269-79). It is important to note that this union is not reflected either on the seals or in the notitiae episcopatuum, which mention Argos alone (except an episcopal list of the Tourkokratia: Darrouzès, Notitiae, no. 21, line 52). On inscriptions, Argos appears alone (1149) and with Nauplion (1173/4) (Philippidis-Braat, 309, 310). See also REB 40 (1982) 163-65; Fedalto, 488.

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)
  • Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
  • Épistoliers byzantins du Xe siècle (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Inventaires en vue d’un recueil des in- scriptions historiques de Byzance. III. Inscriptions du Péloponnèse (à l’exception de Mistra) (Open in Zotero)
  • Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Synodikon de l’orthodoxie: Édition et commentaire (Open in Zotero)