Leontios () was

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

of Neapolis (

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

) in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in the 7th century. He wrote a ''Life'' of

John the Merciful John V Eleemon (), also known as John the Almsgiver, John the Almoner, John the Compassionate, or John the Merciful, was the Chalcedonian/Melkite Patriarch of Alexandria in the early 7th century (from 606 to 616). He was born in Amathus around ...

, commissioned by the archbishop of Constantia Arcadius; a ''Life'' of Simeon the Holy Fool; a lost ''Life'' of Spyridon, an

apologia An apologia (Latin for ''apology'', from , ) is a formal defense of an opinion, position or action. The term's current use, often in the context of religion, theology and philosophy, derives from Justin Martyr's '' First Apology'' (AD 155–157) ...

against the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and another apologia in defence of icons. His apologia in defence of the icons was read by the bishop of Constantia, Constantine II at 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. ...

that focused on the

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 ...

. His works are considered among the few works giving any insight into the vernacular

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

of Early and Middle Byzantium. He was probably present at the Lateran council in Rome in 649. His work was translated in Latin and published in Patrologia Graeca. He is also credited with a Dialogue with a Jew, containing a defense of the Christian veneration of images, fragments of which are quoted in the treatise On the Holy Images of John Damascene and in the Acts of the Council of Nicea of 787.

Publications

* '' Leontii Neapoleos in Cipro Episcopi. Opera Omnia'' (1865) Greek original with parallel Latin translation. * '' Leontios’ von Neapolis: Leben des helligen Johannes des Barmherzigen'' (1893) German Translation.

References

External links

* Derek Krueger
Symeon the Holy Fool: Leontius' Life and the Late Antique City
Berkeley: University of California Press 1996. * Jan Hofstra
Leontius von Neapolis und Symeon der heilige Narr
ein Pastor als Hagiograph, Diss. Groningen 2008, Year of birth missing Year of death missing 7th-century Byzantine bishops 7th-century Byzantine writers Byzantine writers Christian writers Cypriot biographers Bishops of the Church of Cyprus People from Limassol {{Cyprus-writer-stub