File(s) not publicly available

E05741: John Malalas in his Chronographia mentions the rededication of the church of the Apostles in Constantinople on 28 June 550. The relics of Andrew (the Apostle, S00288), Timothy (disciple of Paul, S00466) and Luke (evangelist, S00442), were paraded by Patriarch Menas on an imperial carriage and deposited at the church. Written in Greek at Antioch (Syria) or Constantinople, in the mid-6th c.

online resource

posted on 2018-06-15, 00:00 authored by erizos

John Malalas, Chronographia, 18.109

Μηνὶ ἰουνίῳ κηʹ, ἰνδικτιῶνι τῇ αὐτῇ, ἐγένετο τὰ ἐγκαίνια τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων καὶ ἡ κατάθεσις τῶν τιμίων λειψάνων Ἀνδρέου, Λουκᾶ, καὶ Τιμοθέου ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει· καὶ διῆλθεν ὁ ἐπίσκοπος Μηνᾶς μετὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ἁγίων λειψάνων καθήμενος ἐν ὀχήματι βασιλικῷ.

‘On 28th June in that indiction there occurred the dedication of the Holy Apostles and the deposition of the precious relics of Andrew, Luke, and Timothy in Constantinople. The bishop Menas paraded through the city with the holy relics, seated in an imperial carriage.’

Text: Thurn 2000. Translation: E. Rizos.

History

Evidence ID

E05741

Saint Name

Andrew, the Apostle : S00288 Timothy, the disciple of Paul the Apostle : S00466 Luke, the Evangelist : S00442

Saint Name in Source

Ἀνδρέας Τιμόθεος Λουκᾶς

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

520

Evidence not after

570

Activity not before

550

Activity not after

550

Place of Evidence - Region

Constantinople and region Syria with Phoenicia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Constantinople Antioch on the Orontes

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Constantinople Constantinople Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoupolis Constantinopolis Constantinople Istanbul Antioch on the Orontes Thabbora Thabbora

Major author/Major anonymous work

John Malalas

Cult activities - Liturgical Activity

Ceremony of dedication

Cult activities - Festivals

Saint’s feast

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops

Cult Activities - Relics

Unspecified relic Transfer, translation and deposition of relics Public display of relics

Source

The Chronographia of John Malalas (c. 490–c. 570) is a Christian chronicle of universal history, from Adam to the death of Justinian I (565). It appears to have been composed in two parts, the earlier of which focuses on the history of Antioch and the East, ending in c. 528 or 532. The second part focuses on the urban history of Constantinople up to the death of Justinian. Malalas is likely to have pursued a career in the imperial administration at both Antioch and Constantinople, writing the two parts of his chronicle while living in these two cities. Malalas was widely used as a source by Byzantine chroniclers and historians, including John of Ephesus, John of Antioch, Evagrius Scholasticus, the Paschal Chronicle, John of Nikiu, John of Damascus, Theophanes, George the Monk, pseudo-Symeon, Kedrenos, Zonaras, Theodore Skoutariotes, and Nikephoros Kallistou Xanthopoulos. The text of the chronicle is preserved in a very fragmentary form, based on quotations in other sources (notably the Paschal Chronicle and Theophanes), and on a Slavonic translation which follows a more extensive version of the original text. It is believed that we now have about 90% of the text. On the composition and manuscript tradition of the text, see Thurn 2000, and: http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/1298/

Discussion

The rededication of the church of the Apostles, and the deposition of the relics of the three saints are also recorded by Procopius in the Buildings (E04334). Malalas' passage is reproduced by Theophanes in his Chronographia (ed. de Boor, p. 227: 10-15 - AM 6042) who adds that the patriarch was seated on the sumptuous imperial carriage, holding the three reliquaries on his lap. Theophanes seems to have had access to a text of Malalas which was more complete than the extant versions.

Bibliography

Text: Dindorf, L., Ioannis Malalae Chronographia (Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae; Bonn, 1831). Thurn, J., Ioannis Malalae Chronographia (Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 35; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2000). Translation: Jeffreys, E., Jeffreys, M., and Scott, R., The Chronicle of John Malalas: A Translation (Sydney, 1986). On Malalas: Carrara, L., Meier, M., and Radtki-Jansen, C. (eds.), Die Weltchronik des Johannes Malalas. Quellenfragen (Malalas-Studien 2; Göttingen: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2017). Jeffreys, E., Croke, B., and Scott, R. (eds.), Studies in John Malalas (Sydney, 1990). Meier, M., Radtki-Jansen, C., and Schulz, F. (eds.), Die Weltchronik des Johannes Malalas: Autor, Werk, Überlieferung (Malalas-Studien 1; Göttingen: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2016). Treadgold, W.T. The Early Byzantine Historians (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 235-256. Further reading: Cronnier, E., Les inventions de reliques dans l'Empire romain d'orient (Hagiologia 11; Turnhout: Brepols, 2015), 114-116.