Theodorus Lector was a lector, or reader, at the
Hagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
in
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
during the early sixth century. 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, in the reign
Theodosius IIFlavius Theodosius , called the Calligrapher, known in English as Theodosius II, was a Eastern Roman Emperor . He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code as well for the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...
. The other is Theodorus' own work, retelling events from the death of Theodosius II in 450 to the beginning of
JustinianFlavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ; AD 483 – 13 or 14 November 565, known in English as Justinian I or Justinian the Great, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and Eastern Roman Emperor from 527 until his death...
's reign in 518.
Theodorus Lector was a lector, or reader, at the
Hagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
in
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
during the early sixth century. 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, in the reign
Theodosius IIFlavius Theodosius , called the Calligrapher, known in English as Theodosius II, was a Eastern Roman Emperor . He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code as well for the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...
. The other is Theodorus' own work, retelling events from the death of Theodosius II in 450 to the beginning of
JustinianFlavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ; AD 483 – 13 or 14 November 565, known in English as Justinian I or Justinian the Great, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and Eastern Roman Emperor from 527 until his death...
's reign in 518. The former work is important to scholarls 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."
Historia Tripartita
While a lector at Hagia Sophia, Theodorus collected the works of the fifth century historians
Socrates ScholasticusSocrates of Constantinople, also known as Socrates Scholasticus, was a Greek Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Theodoret, who used his work; he was born at Constantinople c. 380: the date of his death is unknown...
,
SozomenSalminius Hermias Sozomenus was a historian of the Christian church.-Family and Home:He was born around 400 in Bethelia, a small town near Gaza, into a wealthy Christian family of Palestine....
, and
Theodoret of CyrrhusSaint Theodoret, known as Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus, was an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria...
to create a chronicle of church history from Constantine to Theodosius II. The resulting work, "
Selections from Church History", 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.
Historia Ecclesiastica
Theodorus later continued his chronicle, using other available sources to write his
Church History 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 ControversyThe Three-Chapter Controversy, a phase in the Monophysite controversy, was an attempt to reconcile the Christians of Syria and Egypt with Orthodox Christianity, following the failure of the Henotikon...
. The chronicle has not survived; excerpts exist in other chronicles, and it is also quoted in a tract by
John of DamascusSaint John of Damascus was an Arab Christian monk and priest...
, and by the acts of the
Second Council of NicaeaThe Second Council of Nicaea is believed to have been the Seventh Ecumenical Council by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Old Catholics, and various other Western Christian groups...
.
External links
- Theodorus Lector - Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and it was completed in April 1914...
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
Jacques Paul Migne was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely-distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a universal library for the Catholic priesthood.He was born at Saint-Flour, Cantal and studied...
, Patrologia GraecaThe Patrologia Graeca is an edited collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers and various secular writers, in the ancient Koine or medieval variants of the Greek language. It consists of 161 volumes produced in 1857–1866 by J. P. Migne's Imprimerie Catholique...
, vol. 86a View online.