Lead seal of Michael Choniates as Metropolitan of Athens
Metropolitan
Born
1138, Colossae, Asia Minor
Died
1222, Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner, Vodonitsa, Thermopylae
Venerated in
Eastern Orthodoxy
Feast
4 July
Attributes
Bishops vestments
Patronage
City of Athens
Saint Michael Choniates (or Acominatus; Greek: Μιχαὴλ Χωνιάτης or Ἀκομινάτος; c. 1140 – 1220) was a Byzantine Greek writer and cleric, born at Chonae (the ancient Colossae). At an early age he studied at Constantinople and was the pupil of Eustathius of Thessalonica. Around 1175 he was appointed archbishop of Athens, a position which he retained until 1204.[1] In 1204, he defended the Acropolis of Athens from attack by Leo Sgouros, holding out until the arrival of the Crusaders in 1205, to whom he surrendered the city.[2] After the establishment of Latin control, he retired to the island of Ceos. Around 1217 he moved again to the monastery of Vodonitsa near Thermopylae, where he died.
Though he is known to classical scholars as the last possessor of complete versions of Callimachus' Hecale and Aitia,[3] he was a versatile writer, and composed homilies, speeches and poems, which, with his correspondence, throw considerable light upon the condition of Attica and Athens at the time. His memorial to Alexios III Angelos on the abuses of Byzantine administration, the poetical lament over the degeneracy of Athens and the monodies on his brother Nicetas and Eustathius, archbishop of Thessalonica, deserve special mention.
It is believed that his daughter Constantina tutored, in Greek and science, John of Basingstoke, Archdeacon of Leicester known for his fluency in and advocacy of the Greek language.[4] Michael's pupil George Bardanes, who had accompanied him during his exile on Ceos, became a distinguished bishop in subsequent years.[5]
^Kenneth M. Setton, "A Note on Michael Choniates, Archbishop of Athens (1182-1204)", Speculum, 21 (1946), pp. 234-236
^N.G. Wilson, Scholars of Byzantium 1983:204-06.
^A.S. Hollis, "A New Fragment on Niobe and the Text of Propertius 2.20.8". The Classical Quarterly, New Series, 47.2 (1997:578-582).
^Archer, Thomas Andrew (1885). "Basing, John" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
^Macrides, R. J. (1991). "Bardanes, George". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. pp. 254–255. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
Saint MichaelChoniates (or Acominatus; Greek: Μιχαὴλ Χωνιάτης or Ἀκομινάτος; c. 1140 – 1220) was a Byzantine Greek writer and cleric, born at Chonae...
his brother Michael Akominatos, whom he accompanied to Constantinople from their birthplace Chonae (from which came his nickname, "Choniates" meaning "person...
time of the Fourth Crusade, the see of Athens was in the hands of MichaelChoniates. Refusing to acknowledge the authority of the Pope, he was forced...
among scholars, especially in Greece, ascribed it to the tenure of MichaelChoniates as Metropolitan of Athens, at the turn of the 13th century. However...
Bishop". oca.org. Retrieved 2015-10-16. Corrigan, Kevin; Harrington, Michael. "Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford...
Pelagonia in 1259 against an anti-Nicaean coalition, the Nicaean emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos, was left free to pursue the reconquest of Constantinople...
was a Byzantine churchman and theologian from Athens. A pupil of MichaelChoniates, he later became bishop of Corfu and played a major role in the rivalry...
seem to have succeeded in checking Sgouros, but the local bishop, MichaelChoniates, nevertheless composed an encomium in his honour. Three seals of Stryphnos...
Villehardouin lost the Battle of Pelagonia against the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus. William was forced to ransom himself by surrendering...
broke away under Michael I's illegitimate son, Michael II Komnenos Doukas. Manuel awarded Michael the title of Despot—making Michael the first Epirote...
the future Metropolitan of Athens MichaelChoniates. So close was the friendship between them that Niketas Choniates calls the Belissariotes brothers his...
apocryphal creations of the 13th century. Michael III can also take credit for acting as patron to the young MichaelChoniates, who composed an encomium in his...
Byzantine Empire. Nonetheless, it had produced the prominent clergyman MichaelChoniates. It was a metropolitan see (province or eparchy) with eleven suffragans...
Melissenos MichaelChoniates Leo Sgouros Leo Gabalas Michael I Komnenos Doukas Theodore Komnenos Doukas Demetrios Chomatenos John Apokaukos Michael II Komnenos...
tradition also flourished with the works of the brothers Niketas and MichaelChoniates in the beginning of the 13th century and George Akropolites a generation...
Melissenos MichaelChoniates Leo Sgouros Leo Gabalas Michael I Komnenos Doukas Theodore Komnenos Doukas Demetrios Chomatenos John Apokaukos Michael II Komnenos...
historians and annalists; encyclopaedists (Patriarch Photios, Michael Psellus, and MichaelChoniates are regarded as the greatest encyclopaedists of Byzantium)...
historian (b. 1130) Jean de Gisors, Norman nobleman and knight (b. 1133) MichaelChoniates, Byzantine cleric and writer (b. 1140) Muhammad II, Khwarezmid viceroy...
a Latin bishop. Its loss was a serious blow to the emperor of Nicaea, Michael VIII Palaiologos, as it overturned his plans for the recovery of the lands...
of Palaia Chora. According to the 12th-century bishop of Athens, MichaelChoniates, by his time the island had become a base for pirates. This is corroborated...
influential circles of Constantinople and was rapidly promoted by the emperor Michael III eventually becoming co-emperor. By means of political maneuvering he...
Melissenos MichaelChoniates Leo Sgouros Leo Gabalas Michael I Komnenos Doukas Theodore Komnenos Doukas Demetrios Chomatenos John Apokaukos Michael II Komnenos...
a little revenue", according to the Byzantine historian, Niketas Choniates. Choniates' words show that the brothers wanted to receive a pronoia grant (that...
Nicholas Hagiotheodorites Michael II Theophylactus George III George IV MichaelChoniates Meletius I§ Elias§ Neophytus I§ Anthimus I§ Nicodemus§ Dorotheus I...
nobles, at the Battle of Pelagonia, by the forces of the Nicaean emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. Two years later, the Nicaeans recaptured Constantinople...
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