Theodorus Lector
Theodorus Lector (Greek: Θεόδωρος Ἀναγνώστης, Theodoros Anagnostes) was a lector, or reader, at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople during the early sixth century.[note 1] He wrote two works of history; one is a collection of sources which relates events beginning in 313, during Constantine's early reign, down to 439, during the reign of Theodosius II. The other is Theodorus' own work, retelling events from the death of Theodosius II in 450 to the beginning of Justin I's reign in 518. The former work is important to scholars editing the authors quoted by Theodorus; the latter exists only in fragment and owes its importance more to the "scantiness of our information concerning the period it treats rather than its merits."[1]
Historia Tripartita
While a lector at Hagia Sophia, Theodorus collected the works of the fifth-century historians Socrates Scholasticus, Sozomen, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus to create a chronicle of church history from Constantine to Theodosius II. The resulting work, Selections from Church History (Τριμερὴς Ἱστορία), known better by its Latin title Historia Tripartita, is a single narrative in four books which gives Theodorus' preferred reading for each section of history related, with notes and comparisons in the margins (Excerpta Barocciana).
Historia Ecclesiastica
Theodorus later continued his chronicle, using other available sources to write his Church History (Ἐκκλησιαστικὴ Ἱστορία) from the death of Theodosius II down to 518. The date of composition is not known, though it was probably finished before 543, as it can be conjectured that Theodorus would not have spoken of the "holy memory" of Theodoret following the onset of the Three-Chapter Controversy.[1] The chronicle has not survived; excerpts exist in other chronicles, and it is also quoted in a tract by John of Damascus, and by the acts of the Second Council of Nicaea. It is believed that a badly damaged manuscript of this work survives in the Library of St. Mark's in Venice, however no scholarly research has yet been done into it.[2] A critical edition based on all extant excerpts of the Church History was published by Polish scholars in 2020.[3]
Notes
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica dates his tenure from 520-530
References
- ^ a b This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Theodorus Lector". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Smith, William (1849). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology: Oarses-Zygia. J. Murray.
- ^ Kosiński, Rafał; Twardowska, Kamilla; Szopa, Adrian (2020). The Church Histories of Theodore Lector and John Diakrinomenos. Peter Lang GmbH. ISBN 978-3-631-82013-1.
External links
- Theodorus Lector - Catholic Encyclopedia article
- Theodorus Lector - Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D (at CCEL)
- (In Greek) Theodorus Lector in Migne, Patrologia Graeca, vol. 86a View online.
- Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference
- Articles incorporating text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference
- Articles containing Greek-language text
- Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text
- Articles with FAST identifiers
- Articles with ISNI identifiers
- Articles with VIAF identifiers
- Articles with BIBSYS identifiers
- Articles with BNE identifiers
- Articles with BNF identifiers
- Articles with BNFdata identifiers
- Articles with GND identifiers
- Articles with ICCU identifiers
- Articles with J9U identifiers
- Articles with KBR identifiers
- Articles with LCCN identifiers
- Articles with Libris identifiers
- Articles with NLA identifiers
- Articles with NTA identifiers
- Articles with PLWABN identifiers
- Articles with VcBA identifiers
- Articles with DTBIO identifiers
- Articles with SUDOC identifiers
- 6th-century deaths
- 6th-century Byzantine historians
- Year of birth unknown