Euthymius of Sardis or Euthymius the Confessor
Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU). (; 751 or 754 – 26 December 831) was

metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

between ca. 785 and ca. 804, and a leading

iconophile Iconodulism (also iconoduly or iconodulia) designates the religious service to icons (kissing and honourable veneration, incense, and candlelight). The term comes from Neoclassical Greek εἰκονόδουλος (''eikonodoulos'') (from – ''i ...

during the period of

Byzantine Iconoclasm The Byzantine Iconoclasm () are two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within the Ecumenical Patriarchate (at the time still comprising the ...

. Martyred in 831, he is a saint in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

, celebrated on 26 December and March 8.
Hieromartyr Euthymius the Bishop of Sardis
'' OCA - Feasts and Saints.

Life

Euthymius was born in 751 or 754 in Ouzara, probably in

Lycaonia Lycaonia (; , ''Lykaonia''; ) was a large region in the interior of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), north of the Taurus Mountains. It was bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the north by Galatia, on the west by Phrygia and Pisidia, while to ...

in central

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 ...

. At an early age he entered a monastery, and sometime between 784 and 787, he was ordained as

by Patriarch Tarasios of Constantinople. In this capacity he took part in the

Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics and others. ...

in 787, where he played a leading role in the council's decision to condemn

. Euthymius spoke in several of the council's sessions, advocating the reinstatement of the exiled bishops Theodore of Amorium and Basil of Ancyra, the reinstatement of traditional veneration of

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s as proposed by Tarasios and

Pope Hadrian I Pope Adrian I (; 700 – 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 until his death on 25 December 795. Descended from a family of the military aristocracy of Rome known as ''domini de via Lata'', h ...

, and the

anathema The word anathema has two main meanings. One is to describe that something or someone is being hated or avoided. The other refers to a formal excommunication by a Christian denomination, church. These meanings come from the New Testament, where a ...

tizing of Iconoclasm and its supporters. According to his

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

, sometime between 787 and 790 he participated in an embassy to the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

court at

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, where he distinguished himself by his ability and succeeded in securing a peace settlement with the Caliphate, but such a mission, let alone a peace treaty, is nowhere else attested for this period. Under Emperor

Nikephoros I Nikephoros I (; 750 – 26 July 811), also known as Nicephorus I, was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. He was General Logothete (finance minister) under Empress Irene, but later overthrew her to seize the throne for himself. Prior to becomi ...

(r. 802–811) he fell into disfavour and was deposed and exiled to the island of

Pantelleria Pantelleria (; ), known in ancient times as Cossyra or Cossura, is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and east of the Tunisian coast. On clear days Tunisia is visible from the ...

off

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

(ca. 804). According to his hagiography, Nikephoros' animosity was due to Euthymius persuading a woman, whom the future emperor had desired, to become a nun, but the real motive was probably Euthymius' support for the rebellion of the general

Bardanes Tourkos Bardanes, nicknamed , "the Turk" (, ), was a Byzantine general who launched an unsuccessful rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros I () in 803. Although a major supporter of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens (), soon after her overthrow he was ap ...

in 803. Thanks to the intervention of Patriarch Tarasios, he was recalled from exile soon after, but was not reinstated in his old see. When Iconoclasm was once more adopted as the official doctrine under emperors

Leo V the Armenian Leo V the Armenian (, ''Léōn ho Arménios''; 775 – 25 December 820) was the Byzantine emperor from 813 to 820. He is chiefly remembered for ending the decade-long war with the First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgars, as well as initiating the second ...

(r. 813–820) and Michael II the Amorian (r. 820–829), Euthymius again defended the veneration of icons, for which he was arrested, whipped and exiled, then released only to be again arrested and exiled. He was particularly vehemently persecuted by the future patriarch John Grammatikos. The traditional chronology of his death, found both in Byzantine chroniclers ( Genesios,

John Skylitzes John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes Scylitzes (, ; , ; early 1040s – after 1101), was a Byzantine historian of the late 11th century. Life Very little is known about his life. The title of his work records him as a '' kouropalat ...

and

Theophanes Continuatus ''Theophanes Continuatus'' () or ''Scriptores post Theophanem'' (, "those after Theophanes") is the Latin name commonly applied to a collection of historical writings preserved in the 11th-century Vat. gr. 167 manuscript.Kazhdan (1991), p. 2061 It ...

) and older historiography and

martyrology A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...

(cf. the entries in the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

''), is 26 December 824, when he was whipped to death at the orders of Michael II. Modern research, however, places it on 26 December 831 on the island of St. Andrew to the north of Cape Akritas on the Bithynian coast south of Constantinople, during the reign of Michael II's successor Theophilos (r. 829–842). Euthymius' hagiography was written by Patriarch Methodios I of Constantinople. In addition, several letters by Theodore of Stoudios to Euthymius survive, as well as a panegyric poem in his honour, written by a certain Metrophanes.

References

Sources

December 26/January 8
Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU). * *

External links

Saints.SQPN: Euthymius of SardisSantiebeati:Euthymius of SardisCatholic Online:Euthymius of Sardis
{{authority control 750s births 831 deaths 8th-century Byzantine monks 9th-century Christian saints Byzantine Anatolians Byzantine saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church Byzantine Iconoclasm Year of birth uncertain Byzantine prisoners and detainees 8th-century Byzantine bishops 9th-century Byzantine bishops Bishops of Sardis Torture victims

Life

References

Sources

Further reading

External links