Abonoteichos (,

demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...

: , ), later Ionopolis (, ; ), was an ancient city in

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, on the site of modern İnebolu (in Asian Turkey), and remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

History

Abonoteichos was a town on the coast of

Paphlagonia Paphlagonia (; , modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; ) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia ...

, memorable as the birthplace of the infamous fortuneteller Alexander Abonoteichites, founder of the cult of Glycon, of whom

Lucian Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...

left an amusing account in the treatise bearing his name. According to Lucian, Alexander petitioned the Roman emperor (probably

Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...

) that the name of his native place should be changed from Abonoteichos to Ionopolis; and whether the emperor granted the request or not, we know that the town was called Ionopolis in later times. Not only does this name occur in Marcian of Heraclea and Hierocles, but on coins of the time of Antoninus and

Lucius Verus Lucius Aurelius Verus (; 15 December 130 – 23 January 169) was Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 169, alongside his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Verus' succession together with Ma ...

we find the legend Ionopoliton (), as well as Abonoteichiton (). The modern Turkish name İnebolu is evidently a corruption of Ionopolis. It was the site of a 2nd-century AD temple of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

Ecclesiastical history of Ionopolis

It was important enough in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

to become a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

bishopric of the Metropolitan of its capital Gangra, but faded later. Michel LeQuien mentions eight bishops between 325 and 878 and Ionopolis is mentioned in the later “

Notitiae episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') were official documents that furnished for Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the mos ...

.” * Petronius of Ionopolis was at the Council of Nicaea *Rhenus, at the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; ) was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 Oct ...

*Diogenes of Ionopolis, at

Council of Ephesus The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church th ...

* ''.....ios'', bishop of Ionopolis. (known only from a 10th century

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

) * Niketas, bishop of Ionopolis and chartoularios of the Great Orphanotropheion. 11th century *John, bishop of Ionopolis 11th century

Catholic titular see

The

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

was nominally revived as a

Latin Catholic The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches in full communion w ...

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

under the name Ionopolis, which was spelled Jonopolis in the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

(besides Italian ''Gionopoli'') from 1929 to 1971. It has been vacant for decades, having had the following incumbents, both of the lowest (episcopal) and intermediary (archiepiscopal) ranks : * Titular Bishop Wilhelm Hermann Ignaz Ferdinand von Wolf-Metternich zu Gracht (1720.09.16 – 1722.10.28) * Titular Bishop Joannes Karski (1771.07.29 – 1785) * Titular Bishop

Bishop-elect A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

John Murphy (1815.02.21 – 1815.02.21) * Titular Bishop Bishop-elect Ferdinand Corbi (1833.09.30 – ?) * Titular Bishop Wincenty Lipski (1856.09.18 – 1875.12.13)Hierarchia Catholica, Volume 8, Page 323. * Titular Archbishop James Gibbons (1877.05.29 – 1877.10.03), previously Titular Bishop of

Adramyttium Adramyttium ( ''Adramyttion'', Ἀδραμύττειον ''Adramytteion'', or Ἀτραμύττιον ''Atramyttion'') was an ancient city and bishopric in Aeolis, in modern-day Turkey. It was originally located at the head of the Edremit Gulf, G ...

(1868.03.03 – 1872.07.30) &

Apostolic Vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

(USA) (1868.03.03 – 1877.05.20), also Bishop of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

(USA) (1872.07.30 – 1877.05.29); later

Coadjutor Archbishop The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

(USA) (1877.05.29 – 1877.10.03), succeeding as Metropolitan Archbishop of Baltimore (1877.10.03 – 1921.03.24),

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

of S. Maria in Trastevere (1887.03.17 – 1921.03.24), becoming Protopriest of the Sacred College of Cardinals (1920.12.07 – 1921.03.24) * Titular Archbishop Francis Xavier Leray (1879.09.30 – 1883.12.28) * Titular Bishop Giacomo Daddi (1884.03.24 – 1897?) * Titular Bishop Andrea Cassato (1898.03.24 – 1913.05.01) * Titular Bishop Henri Doulcet,

Passionists The Passionists, officially named the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, are a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720, with a special emphasis on ...

(C.P.) (1913.06.03 – 1914.03.17); previously Bishop of Nikopol (Bulgaria) (1895.01.07 – 1913.03.31); later Titular Archbishop of Dioclea (1914.03.17 – 1916.07.27) * Titular Bishop Joseph John Fox (1914.11.07 – 1915.03.14) * Titular Bishop Nicolás Gonzalez Pérez, Claretians (C.M.F.) (1918.08.24 – 1935.03.23) * Titular Bishop Eugène-Louis-Marie Le Fer de la Motte (1935.07.08 – 1936.07.20) * Titular Bishop Johann Baptist Dietz (1936.07.25 – 1939.04.10),

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

(Germany) (1936.07.25 – 1939.04.10), succeeding as Bishop of Fulda (1939.04.10 – 1958.10.24), later Titular Archbishop of Cotrada (1958.10.24 – 1959.12.10) * Titular Bishop Maurice-Auguste-Eugène Foin (1939.06.10 – 1948.07.10) * Titular Bishop Hubert Joseph Paulissen, Society of African Missions (S.M.A.) (1951.11.15 – 1966.08.12)

Notes

References

External links

GigaCatholic with titular incumbent biography links
{{coord, 41.9740255, N, 33.7660475, E, display=title, format=dms, source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/27453 Populated places in ancient Paphlagonia Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Roman towns and cities in Turkey Roman Paphlagonia Populated places of the Byzantine Empire Glycon cult