Theophylact of Ohrid

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Theophylact of Ohrid in an iconic representation

Theophylact of Ohrid ( Greek Θεοφύλακτος Ηφαιστος , Bulgarian Теофилакт Охридски , also: Theophylact of Bulgaria ) (born around 1055; died after 1107) was a Greek , Byzantine cleric of Ohrid and commentator on the Bible . Archbishop .

Life

Theophylact was probably born in Chalkida , Evia , around the middle of the 11th century. He was in Constantinople Opel for deacon ordained. There he achieved a great reputation as a scholar and became the teacher of Constantine X , the son of Michael VII. For him he wrote the education of princes . In 1078 he went to Bulgaria as Archbishop of Ohrid .

At that time, Ohrid was one of the most important cities in the Bulgarian Empire , which had been conquered by the Byzantines six years earlier. In this challenging position in an occupied area on the outskirts of the Byzantine Empire, he carried out his pastoral duties very carefully and dynamically for over 20 years . Although he was a Byzantine by upbringing and appearance, he was a careful Arch Shepherd of the Bulgarian Church who defended its interests and independence. He acted resolutely to protect his diocese from the teachings of the Paulicians and Bogomils and won the respect and love of the Bulgarians.

In his letters he often complained about the bad manners of the Bulgarians and tried to give up his office, but without success. His letters are a valuable source for the economic, social and political history of Bulgaria and the Byzantine prosopography . There are constant complaints about the “barbaric” environment, while Theophylact himself was deeply involved in the development of the local cultural development. Among other things, he created an encomium (praise) on 15 martyrs from Tiberiupolis and a vita of Kliment von Ohrid . In his letters he also reported that the constant wars between the Byzantine Empire and the Pechenegs , Magyars and Normans had destroyed a large part of the food and drove many people to flee.

He died after 1107.

He is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Churches of Serbia , Bulgaria , Greece and Russia . His feast day is December 31st.

Works

Title page of a Latin translation of Theophylact's Bible Commentaries

His commentaries on the Gospels , Acts of the Apostles and Pauline Epistles, as well as the Book of the Twelve Prophets, are based on the teachings of John Chrysostom , but they maintain their place in the exegetical literature for their accuracy, sobriety, accuracy and balance. Other surviving works are 530 letters, various homilies and orations as well as the vita of Kliment von Ohrid. A careful edition of his works has been published by JFBM de Rossi (4 vols. Fol., Venice). This was made by J.-P. Migne in the Patrologia Graeca vols. 123-6 (1869) reissued.

Thomas Aquinas included parts of Theophylact's writings in his Catena Aurea , which is a collection of commentaries on the four Gospels by Church Fathers.

In the early 16th century, his biblical commentaries had an important influence on the Novum Testamentum and the Annotationes of Erasmus of Rotterdam , even if Erasmus incorrectly referred to him as "Vulgarius" in his early edition of the New Testament. Theophylact's Commentaries on the Gospel were published in Greek in Rome in 1542 and translated into Latin by Catholic (Porsena) and Protestant (Oecolampadius) translators in the 1520s. Modern translations are available in Greek, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian. This reflects the great influence on Orthodox theology. A 20th century Bishop of Ohrid, Nikolai Velimirovic , writes: Theophylact's “ Commentaries on the Gospels and other New Testament books ... are the finest works of their kind after those of St. John Chrysostom, and they continue to do so to this day read big gain. "

The first English translation (and thus the first into a modern West European language) was The Explanation of the Gospels . It was published by Chrysostom Press (see below).

literature

Web links

Commons : Theophylact of Ohrid  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dimitri Obolensky : Six Byzantine Portraits. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1988, pp. 34-82.
  2. ^ The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Vol. 3. Oxford University Press, 1991, p. 2068.
  3. ^ Nikolai Velimirovic: The Prologue From Ochrid. Vol. 4. Lazarica Press, Birmingham 1985, p. 393.
  4. ↑ a b Lives of the saints according to the prologue of Ohrid ( Memento of February 9, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
predecessor Office successor
Johann III. Ainos Archbishop of Ohrid
1084–1107 		Leo II Mung
personal data
SURNAME Theophylact of Ohrid
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Θεοφύλακτος ¨Ηφαιστος (Greek); Теофилакт Охридски (Bulgarian); Theophylact of Bulgaria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archbishop of Ohrid
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Chalkida , Euboea
DATE OF DEATH 12th Century