John Malalas, in his Chronographia (18.109), mentions the rededication of the church of the *Apostles (S02422) in Constantinople on 28 June 550. The relics of *Andrew (the Apostle, S00288), *Timothy (disciple of Paul, S00466) and *Luke (evangelist, S00442), were paraded by Patriarch Menas on an imperial carriage and deposited at the church. Written in Greek at Antioch (Syria) or Constantinople, in the mid 6th c.
Evidence ID
E05741
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Major author/Major anonymous work
John Malalas
John Malalas, Chronographia, 18.109
Μηνὶ ἰουνίῳ κηʹ, ἰνδικτιῶνι τῇ αὐτῇ, ἐγένετο τὰ ἐγκαίνια τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων καὶ ἡ κατάθεσις τῶν τιμίων λειψάνων Ἀνδρέου, Λουκᾶ, καὶ Τιμοθέου ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει· καὶ διῆλθεν ὁ ἐπίσκοπος Μηνᾶς μετὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ἁγίων λειψάνων καθήμενος ἐν ὀχήματι βασιλικῷ.
‘On 28th June in that indiction there occurred the dedication of the Holy Apostles and the deposition of the precious relics of Andrew, Luke, and Timothy in Constantinople. The bishop Menas paraded through the city with the holy relics, seated in an imperial carriage.’
Text: Thurn 2000.
Translation: E. Rizos.
Liturgical ActivitiesCeremony of dedication
FestivalsUnspecified relic
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ceremony of dedication
Procession
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
RelicsUnspecified relic
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Public display of relics
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
The Chronographia of John Malalas (c. 490–c. 570) is a Christian chronicle of universal history, from Adam to the death of Justinian I (565). It appears to have been composed in two parts, the earlier of which focuses on the history of Antioch and the East, ending in c. 528 or 532. The second part focuses on the urban history of Constantinople up to the death of Justinian. Malalas is likely to have pursued a career in the imperial administration at both Antioch and Constantinople, writing the two parts of his chronicle while living in these two cities.Malalas was widely used as a source by Byzantine chroniclers and historians, including John of Ephesus, John of Antioch, Evagrius Scholasticus, the Paschal Chronicle, John of Nikiu, John of Damascus, Theophanes, George the Monk, pseudo-Symeon, Kedrenos, Zonaras, Theodore Skoutariotes, and Nikephoros Kallistou Xanthopoulos.
The text of the chronicle is preserved in a very fragmentary form, based on quotations in other sources (notably the Paschal Chronicle and Theophanes), and on a Slavonic translation which follows a more extensive version of the original text. It is believed that we now have about 90% of the text.
On the composition and manuscript tradition of the text, see Thurn 2000, and:
http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/1298/
Discussion
The rededication of the church of the Apostles, and the deposition of the relics of the three saints are also recorded by Procopius in the Buildings (E04334). Malalas' passage is reproduced by Theophanes in his Chronographia (ed. de Boor, p. 227: 10-15 - AM 6042) who adds that the patriarch was seated on the sumptuous imperial carriage, holding the three reliquaries on his lap. Theophanes seems to have had access to a text of Malalas which was more complete than the extant versions.Bibliography
Text:Dindorf, L., Ioannis Malalae Chronographia (Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae; Bonn, 1831).
Thurn, J., Ioannis Malalae Chronographia (Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 35; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2000).
Translation:
Jeffreys, E., Jeffreys, M., and Scott, R., The Chronicle of John Malalas: A Translation (Sydney, 1986).
On Malalas:
Carrara, L., Meier, M., and Radtki-Jansen, C. (eds.), Die Weltchronik des Johannes Malalas. Quellenfragen (Malalas-Studien 2; Göttingen: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2017).
Jeffreys, E., Croke, B., and Scott, R. (eds.), Studies in John Malalas (Sydney, 1990).
Meier, M., Radtki-Jansen, C., and Schulz, F. (eds.), Die Weltchronik des Johannes Malalas: Autor, Werk, Überlieferung (Malalas-Studien 1; Göttingen: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2016).
Treadgold, W.T. The Early Byzantine Historians (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 235-256.
Further reading:
Cronnier, E., Les inventions de reliques dans l'Empire romain d'orient (Hagiologia 11; Turnhout: Brepols, 2015), 114-116.
Record Created By
Efthymios Rizos
Date of Entry
25/06/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00288 | Andrew, the Apostle | Ἀνδρέας | Certain | S00442 | Luke, the Evangelist | Λουκᾶς | Certain | S00466 | Timothy, the disciple of Paul the Apostle | Τιμόθεος | Certain | S02422 | All Apostles | οἱ ἁγίοι ἀποστόλοι | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Efthymios Rizos, Cult of Saints, E05741 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05741