Nikephoros Kallistu Xanthopulos

Nikephoros Kallistu Xanthopulos (Νικηφόρος Καλλίστου Ξανθόπουλος, * around 1268/1274; † after 1328) was the last great Greek church historian .

Nikephoros was a cleric and a monk in the last years of his life. He is considered one of the most important ecclesiastical authors of the late Byzantium . His main work is a church history in 18 books ( Historia Ecclesiastica ), which today is only preserved in one manuscript ( Austrian National Library , Vind. Hist. Gr. 8). It covers the period up to 610, whereby for the first four centuries the author relied primarily on the late antique church historians Eusebios von Kaisareia , Socrates Scholastikos , Sozomenos , Theodoretos and Euagrios Scholastikos . For the last two centuries, Nikephoros provides valuable material, as he had access to documents that are now lost in Constantinople and for some events his church history is the only surviving source. There is a table of contents for another 5 books, which would cover the time up to 911. It is unclear whether these are lost or never written.

Nikephoros probably led his second name "des Kallistos" in reference to Eusebios, who had also called himself "Eusebios des Pamphilos" after his teacher Pamphilos . However, the identity of this callistus is unknown. The 18 books of church history preserved in the manuscript bear the Akrostichis ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΟΥ, ie "from Nikephoros des Kallistos".

In addition, Nikephoros wrote a synopsis of parts of the Bible in poetry, a presentation of Jewish history and the fall of Jerusalem according to Flavius ​​Josephus , lists of the Byzantine emperors and the patriarchs of Constantinople , as well as liturgical writings and hagiographic works .

expenditure

• Nicephori Callisti Xanthopuli… Ecclesiasticae historiae libri decem et octo. Latin translation by Johann Lange. Feyerabend, Frankfurt 1588
• Nicephori Callisti Xanthopuli ecclesiasticae historiae libri XVIII. In: Migne : Patrologia Graeca. 145-147. Paris 1865. Reprinted by Brepols, Turnhout approx. 1967.

literature

• Günter Gentz , Friedhelm Winkelmann : The church history of Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopulus and its sources. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1966.
• Ewald Kislinger:  Xanthopulos, Nikephoros, Kallistos. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 14, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-073-5 , Sp. 267-268.
• Sebastiano Panteghini: The Church History of Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos . In: Ostkirchliche Studien 58, 2009, pp. 248–266 full text (PDF; 895 kB).
• Christian host, Sebastiano Panteghini (ed.): Ecclesiastical History and Nikephoros Kallistou Xanthopoulos. Proceedings of the International Symposium, Vienna, 15th – 16th Dec., 2011. Verlag der Österr. Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-7001-7682-4 .