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Byzantine rhetor, author, and clergyman
Constantine Stilbes
(
Greek
:
Κωνσταντ?νο? Στιλβ??
,
fl.
2nd half of 12th century
) was a
Byzantine
rhetor
and clergyman, and a prolific author of ecclesiastical treatises, letters, and poetry.
Biography
[
edit
]
He was born in the mid-12th century and the date of his death is unknown.
[1]
From his own writings it is clear that he became a
deacon
and magister in the
Patriarchal School
of
Constantinople
. A little before 1204 he was promoted to the
metropolitan bishopric
of
Cyzicus
, which he had to relinquish shortly after the
Latin conquest
. Although most of what is known about Stilbes comes from his own works,
Niketas Choniates
does praise a certain "Stilbes, a good man in every regard" (
? καλ?? τ? π?ντα Στιλβ??
).
[2]
Works
[
edit
]
Stilbes' works pertain mostly to
theology
, the best known among scholars is his
Errors of the Latin Church,
[3]
[4]
[5]
which Stilbes compiled in the wake of the Fourth Crusade. The list describes western "errors," including their failure to honour foreign
saints
and their hatred of the Emperor
Constantine
for creating
New Rome
.
[6]
Stilbes is also known for his poem describing a catastrophic fire that took place in Constantinople on July 25, 1197.
[7]
Running to about a thousand lines, the
Carmen de Incendio
describes the course of the fire along the
Golden Horn
from the Gate of the
Droungarios
(
Turkish
: Odun Kapısı) through the Latin Quarter, using
ekphrases
rich with Biblical and Classical metaphors. The poem is an important resource for those studying the urban topography of Medieval Constantinople, as it describes the burning of three story houses
[8]
and aristocratic houses with turrets,
[9]
and it makes allusions to coastal roads,
[10]
aqueducts,
[11]
the
Neorion Harbour
,
[12]
granaries,
[13]
the Church of the
Forty Martyrs
,
[14]
and the
Church of the Theotokos Kyriotissa
.
[11]
Byzantinist
Paul Magdalino
has used the poem to date the medieval reconstruction of the Kyriotissa church to between the date of the fire in 1197 and the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
[15]
An annotated version of the poem is available in English translation.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Stilbes, Constantine (2005). Diethart, Johannes M.; Horandner, Wolfram (eds.).
Constantinus Stilbes Poemata
. Walter de Gruyter. p. vii.
ISBN
978-3-598-71235-7
.
- ^
Niketas Choniates
Epistula 10, 215,2.
- ^
Abulafia, David
(1999).
The New Cambridge Medieval History c.1198-c.1300
. Cambridge University Press. p. 542.
- ^
Mottahedeh, Roy
(2001).
The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World
. Dumbarton Oaks. p. 117.
- ^
Angold, Michael
(2003).
The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context
. Longman. pp. 201?202.
- ^
Kaldellis, Anthony (2008).
Hellenism in Byzantium - The Transformations of Greek Identity and the Reception of the Classical Tradition
. Cambridge University Press. p. 358.
ISBN
978-0521876889
.
- ^
Layman, Trevor (2015).
"The Incineration of New Babylon": The Fire Poem of Konstantinos Stilbes
. Geneva: La Pomme d'or. pp. 1?2.
ISBN
978-2-9700763-3-9
.
- ^
Diethart & Horandner 2005
, p. 16.
- ^
Diethart & Horandner 2005
, p. 24.
- ^
Diethart & Horandner 2005
, p. 21.
- ^
a
b
Diethart & Horandner 2005
, p. 27.
- ^
Diethart & Horandner 2005
, p. 40.
- ^
Diethart & Horandner 2005
, p. 15.
- ^
Diethart & Horandner 2005
, p. 29.
- ^
Paul Magdalino, "Constantinopolitana,"
Studies on the History and Topography of Byzantine Constantinople
, (Ashgate, 2007) pp. 227-230.
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