The Paschal Chronicle records that in 627 a wall was built around the church of Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) outside the walls of Constantinople [at Blachernae]. Written in Greek at Constantinople, c. 630.
Evidence ID
E07979
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Paschal Chronicle, s.a. 627
Τούτῳ τῷ ἔτει ἐκτίσθη τὸ τεῖχος πέριξ τοῦ οἴκου τῆς δεσποίνης ἡμῶν τῆς θεοτόκου, ἔξωθην τοῦ καλουμένου Πτεροῦ.
'In this year was built the wall around the church of our Lady the Mother of God, outside the so-called Pteron.'
Text: Dindorf 1832, 726.
Translation: Whitby and Whitby 1989, 181.
Cult Places
Cult building - independent (church)
Source
The Chronicon Paschale (paschal or Easter chronicle) is a chronicle compiled at Constantinople in the first half of the 7th century. It covers events from the creation of the world up to the anonymous author's own time. The Chronicle probably concluded with the year 630 (see Whitby and Whitby 1989, xi), though the surviving text breaks off slightly earlier, in the entry for 628. The traditional name for the Chronicle originates from its introductory section, which discusses methods for calculating the date of Easter. The Chronicle survives thanks to a single manuscript, Vatican, Gr. 1941 (10th c.), on which all other surviving manuscripts depend. The only critical edition remains that of Ludwig Dindorf (1832).The chronicler uses multiple chronological systems to date events: Olympiads, consular years, indictions, and years from the Ascension, as well as using Roman, Greek, and sometimes Egyptian dates (see Whitby and Whitby 1989, x). Numerous literary sources are utilised for the period before the author's own time, including well-known historical sources such as Eusebius and John Malalas. We have not included entries for material in the Paschal Chronicle which simply reproduces material in earlier sources already entered in our database.
Discussion
The church of Mary at Blachernae had been miraculously preserved from damage during the siege of 626 (E07978), but evidently it was felt that more mundane protection was needed for it in the future. Blachernae was the suburb at the northern end of Constantinople's land-wall, which already bulged outwards to include much of the district: this bulge is what was known as the pteron ('wing'); in 627 it was extended to include the church. On the church, see Janin 1969, 161-71.Bibliography
Edition:Dindorf, L., Chronicon Paschale (Bonn, 1832).
Translation:
Whitby, M., and Whitby, M., Chronicon Paschale 284-628 AD (Translated Texts for Historians 7; Liverpool, 1989).
Further reading:
Janin, R., La géographie ecclésiastique de l'empire byzantin. I: Les églises et les monastères de la ville de Constantinople. (2nd ed.; Paris, 1969).
Record Created By
David Lambert
Date of Entry
02/09/2020
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | ἡ θεοτόκος | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E07979 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07979