Theodore Synkellos (
Greek: Θεόδωρος Σύγκελλος) was a
Byzantine clergyman, diplomat and writer who flourished in the first half of the 7th century. He wrote in
Greek.
Theodore delivered a sermon on the
Virgin's veil on the occasion of its temporary transfer from the
church of Blachernae to the
Hagia Sophia when the
Avars attacked the suburbs of Constantinople in 619 or 623.[2] Theodore's authorship has sometimes been questioned, because many manuscripts leave the text anonymous, but it is generally accepted.[3] The text was certainly written by an eyewitness.[4] Theodore refers to the veil generically as a "garment" (ἐσθής). According to the legend he knew, it was stolen from a Jewish widow by the patricians Galbios and Kandidos and was the same garment in which
Mary had nursed the infant
Jesus.[5]
According to the Chronicon Paschale, Theodore was a member of the embassy sent to the
khagan of the Avars on 2 August 626, at the start of the Avar
siege of Constantinople. Following the withdrawal of the Avars, he was commissioned by Patriarch
Sergius to write a sermon on the siege.[1] The sermon is anonymous in the manuscripts, but its attribution to Theodore is generally accepted.[6] It makes full use of biblical language, especially
Isaiah 7:1–9 and its account of the
siege of Jerusalem during the reign of
Ahaz. The sermon had a major influence on
George of Pisidia's Bellum Avaricum.[1]
^For the dating of this episode, see
Cameron 1979, pp. 43–44 (619) and
Howard-Johnston 2021, pp. 208–210 (623). For Cameron, the sermon was composed after the return of the veil to Blachernae, which probably took place a year after the raid, following the peace treaty with the Avars mentioned by
Theophanes the Confessor under 620. Howard-Johnston notes that the date of 619 comes from Theophanes, but is contradicted by both the Chronicon Paschale and
Isidore of Seville, a contemporary.
^According to
Kazhdan 1991, this sermon has been erroneously associated with the
Rus'siege of 860 and attributed to
George of Nicomedia.
Cameron 1979, pp. 45–46, considers that the stylistic similarities with the homily on the siege of 626 are strongly suggestive of common authorship.
Cameron, Averil (1979). "The Virgin's Robe: An Episode in the History of Early Seventh-century Constantinople". Byzantion. 49: 42–56.
Carr, Annemarie Weyl (2001). "Threads of Authority: The Virgin Mary's Veil in the Middle Ages". In Stewart Gordon (ed.). Robes and Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture. Palgrave. pp. 59–94.
doi:
10.1007/978-1-349-61845-3.
ISBN978-1-349-61847-7.
Howard-Johnston, James (2010). Witnesses to a World Crisis: Historians and Histories of the Middle East in the Seventh Century. Oxford University Press.
Howard-Johnston, James (2021). The Last Great War of Antiquity. Oxford University Press.
Makk, Ferenc, ed. (1975). Traduction et commentaire de l'homélie écrite probablement par Théodore le Syncelle sur le siège de Constantinople en 626. Szeged.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
Szádeczky-Kardoss, Sámuel (1975). "Préface". In Makk, Ferenc (ed.). Traduction et commentaire de l'homélie écrite probablement par Théodore le Syncelle sur le siège de Constantinople en 626. Szeged. pp. 5–8.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)