ANNO DOMINI DCCCXC. THEOGNOSTUS MONACHUS. NOTITIA.
(Hanckius, *De Græcis scriptoribus historiarum Byzantinarum*, Lipsiæ, 1677, in-4°).
1. The monk Theognostus, exarch of Constantinople, that is, legate of the patriarch of Constantinople (whom more recent Latin authors call a "visitor"), when Ignatius, the patriarch of Constantinople—who had held office for almost twelve years from the year of Christ 847—was driven into exile by the Emperor Michael in the year of Christ 858 and had yielded to Photius; and when the Ignatians and Photians were persecuting each other, in order to settle the disputes a synod was celebrated at Constantinople in the year of Christ 861. In the presence of the legates of the Roman pontiff Nicholas, it adjudged the patriarchate taken from Ignatius to Photius. Deeming this unendurable, a man who felt as the Ignatians did secretly traveled to Rome in civilian garb and, with the help of Nicholas, endeavored in every way possible to provide for both Ignatius and himself. Stylianos of Neocaesarea, in a letter to the Roman pontiff Stephen V, reported that at the Constantinopolitan council, the patriarchate was confirmed for Photius by the Roman legates themselves: "When the monk Theognostus the archimandrite, moved by zeal, also arrived secretly in Rome in secular dress, and gave instruction to the most holy Pope Nicholas regarding the situation of Ignatius." Moved likewise by zeal, the monk Theognostus, archimandrite, also hastened to Rome in civilian garb and explained the cause of Ignatius to the most holy Pope Nicholas.
II. While living in Rome, he was cited to Constantinople to a tribunal—though in vain—by the Emperor Michael, just as he was reported among the slanderers who traduced Photius and the Photians in the West with fabrications. On behalf of Theognostus, Pope Nicholas, the Ignatian himself, replied to the Emperor Michael in Letter 8 (which, as can be gathered from Letter 9, he wrote in A.C. 865, indiction XIII): "Furthermore, your empire has written to us to suggest that we should deliver to you Theognostus—who is known to have accepted the burden of exarchate over certain provinces from our brother and co-bishop Ignatius—and other monks as well, as if they were calumniators of your August Excellency. Yet since they are not, in fact, your calumniators, what else can we conclude more clearly than that you are inquiring as to what penalty and what tortures should be visited upon those who belong to the faction of Ignatius and reside within your dominion? For they are certainly not sought out for feasts or for the gaining of some honor/insignia, but rather to be punished, though perhaps you have never seen them, nor have you known deeply what kind of people they are. Indeed, some of them have served God's ministries in Rome from their youth, and we do not believe it right that they should be subjected to such tortures. We testify, moreover, that Theognostus does not speak ill of you, but rather speaks with gratitude. Why, therefore, you seek him, we do not know, unless perhaps it is because, having been driven from there, he has found some small measure of rest here among us, just as countless other Christians have."
III. Theognostus, however, found such favor among the Romans that he was appointed ἀρχιμανδρίτης τῆς πρεσβυτέρας Ῥώμης, that is, archimandrite of Old Rome—in other words, the prefect of the monasteries of Old Rome—he who had been an exarch of New Rome, that is, Constantinople. The title which the narrative of Theognostus bears at the head—to be brought forward in § VIII—teaches this.
IV. Ignatius recovered the patriarchate of Constantinople in A.C. 867 after the Emperor Basil, successor to Michael, sent Photius into exile. Theognostus, who had stayed in Rome for seven years up to that point and had exerted all his efforts on behalf of the cause of the exiled Ignatius before the Roman pontiffs Nicholas I and Adrian II, returned to Constantinople in A.C. 868, bringing letters written by Adrian to the Emperor Basil and the Patriarch Ignatius, in which he was commended to both in the highest degree. Adrian, devoted to the Ignatian party, represents this in a letter which he wrote to the Emperor Basil on the Kalends of August, Indiction I (as recorded by Anastasius Bibliothecarius in the Latin Acts of the Fourth Council of Constantinople, action VII): "After we learned that merciful God has stirred your empire and your sentiment toward this end: that He might gather the dispersed, and raise up what has fallen, and settle what has been crushed; we can confidently, giving thanks to God, ask that those who have been cast out be received by your empire, and those who have been dispersed be gathered. Wherefore, we commend to your trust the most prudent man, Theognostus, a most honorable exarch, whom we send back; who, having served in the legation both for our brother and co-minister Ignatius and for the other afflicted ones, has lived for seven years at the threshold of the prince of the apostles as a pilgrim and an inhabitant, and has continually commended your memory in their confessions; and from the day of his arrival until the present, he has not ceased to relate the praises of your piety, to manifest the wounds of the Church, and to demand their healing. Now, therefore, since he is one of those who, after the wolf became the shepherd, were immediately dispersed and have been gathered by you who are directing all things, we ask that he too be recalled, and by your clemency be gathered into the fold of all the faithful.
A And for the love of God, and the honor of your protectors, the princes of the apostles—from whose governance he sets out—may he experience the support of your gentleness; may he find serenity after turbulence, and after many adversities, the fruition of his longed-for prosperity, in so far as it is granted through the intercessions of your patrons—that is, the princes from whose see he is sent, and whose leadership he has not ceased, for many cycles of time, to invoke night and day on behalf of your Church, which is greatly tossed.
In the second epistle, which he wrote to Patriarch Ignatius in the first indiction, on the Kalends of August, (Anastasius, *ibid.*) he presents: "Furthermore, we have sent to you our common son Theognostus, most reverend exarch and beloved to us, who, having been saved naked from there by your pursuing rivals—and indeed having barely reached this place, even with his habit changed—has won his life. He then stayed for nearly seven years near the memorials of the apostles as a guest and a stranger, not so much lamenting his own misery as the pressure upon your holiness and the calamities of the Constantinopolitan Church; so much so that he did not cease, day and night, to rouse not only my aforementioned predecessor (Nicholas I) but also myself, and to strike our sides with frequent goads of persuasion regarding the status and restoration of such a Church, saying to us each day as did the angel of old: 'Rise, Peter, take fortitude to save the nations,' until, with God granting it, he received what he always carried ardently in his breast. For this reason, most beloved brother, commending him to your holiness, we ask and entreat that you may let him feel the purpose of your kindness toward him; and just as he has become a communicator of your passion, so too of your consolation—not as our familiar, but as one received from the see of the prince of the apostles, he ought to find in the sight of your holiness favor that is not of a common sort."
B V. In the year of Christ 869, Theognostus, the patriarchal hegumen, was receiving the legates of the Roman pontiff Hadrian II, sent to celebrate the council at Constantinople; they arrived at Constantinople in the third indiction, on the 15th day of September, A.D. 869. The Continuator of Anastasius on the Roman pontiffs, in *Hadrian II*: "Treading through the laborious circuits of many windings, the (pontifical legates) finally come through Christ’s guidance to Thessalonica, where Emperor Basil appointed Eustathius the *spatharius candidatus* to meet the legates of the Roman Church with the office of his greeting. Conducting them very honorably through adjacent areas of the route, they arrived at Selymbria. Where, by Sisinnius, the imperial *protaspatharius*, and by Theognostus the patriarchal hegumen—who had been a diligent intercessor at Rome with the most holy Pope Nicholas for the restoration of Ignatius—they were received with 40 horses from the imperial stable and with the entire silver outfit of the mess, and with officials who would serve them at every whim. They received lodging, by imperial favor, on the Saturday, at the round castle, in which there is a church of wondrous magnitude dedicated to the name of the holy Evangelist John. And on Sunday, which was the fifteenth day of September, third indiction, taking individual horses with golden saddles, by imperial devotion, they came to the Golden Gate, having met with all the schools: namely, the *spatharii*, the *candidati*, the *strategoi*, the *mandatores*, and the rest of the Palatine orders, and all the clerical planetary orders."
VI. After the Council of Constantinople, finished in A.D. 870—which entirely according to the mind of the Roman pontiff Hadrian II had stripped the Constantinopolitan patriarchate from Photius and confirmed it to Ignatius—Theognostus, the hegumen (that is, abbot) of the monastery of the Font at Constantinople, and the *scenophylax* (that is, keeper of the vessels) of the Great Church (by which terms the temple of Holy Sophia is accustomed to be designated), being about to go to Rome himself, was accepting letters to be carried to Hadrian from the emperors Basil, Constantine, and Leo, and from Patriarch Ignatius: to seek consent [concerning the following]: regarding the useful persons for the Churches, both the many readers whom Photius had initiated into sacred orders, to be tolerated in their offices and promoted to higher dignities; and also regarding certain bishops who, on account of the communion maintained with Photius, had been stripped of their duties, to be restored to their former sees. C The emperors, in the letter to Hadrian which Anastasius the Librarian appended in Latin to the Acts of the Constantinopolitan Council: "We have obtained a bearer of letters, equipped for a foreign journey and magnanimous in the tolerance of evils, holding his own desired promise to the prince of the apostles for the sake of rendering recompense, and we commend him to your paternal Holiness, also asking much of your tranquility on this matter. This same man is this Theognostus, whom you also know well, the God-beloved hegumen of the super-laudable Mother of God of the Pegae (that is, the Font) and keeper of the vessels of the Great Church. Through him, therefore, we have seen fit to fulfill opportunely those things which are of our desire." Ibidem, a little later: "Our special Father and patriarch of the great city has requested of us to write to your Holiness concerning those readers who were promoted by Photius, there being many and innumerable of them in diverse provinces; furthermore, also concerning Paul the most reverend librarian, resplendent in word and life, and Theodore the metropolitan, who himself is also extremely useful to the Church, so that a dispensation may be made by your Holiness concerning them—for some, indeed, for the ascents to higher sacred grades, for others, however, for the reception of their own sees; toward this asking your virtue that imitates God, considering the multitude of these, the labors and sweats on behalf of the truth of this one, and the condemnation of his fault, and that he was promoted by canonical imposition of hands: on behalf of these, our empire also begs your piety that something more humane be dispensed in this matter." Ignatius in the letter to Hadrian, extant in the same place: "Our humility, mindful of your charity, and of the amiable affection which you hold toward us, and to this very thing having the will and the healing, finds a procurator..."
A to be sent on the journey which leads to Rome, of great name, for the sake of prayer, our most intimate and most reverend son the abbot of the Spring (Fonte), and B skevophylax of the Great Church, the lord Theognostus; and we therefore the more have studied to fulfill your desire, whom we have also sent with this our present letter to visit and salute, and to adore your fraternal Holiness; also to announce the safety granted to us by Christ in this life, which is full of many passions and tribulations, as He Himself willed and judged, who dispenses all things wisely and congruously; and furthermore to tell of the prosperity and trophies of yours—most pious and God-loving and divinely-fortified emperors—and the translation of the affairs of the Roman empire for the better from day to day, so that you too, while we rejoice, may congratulate us through the mutual co-affection and compassion of the members of one body, and that he may return sooner to our mediocrity by the grace and cooperation of a good God, and bear very amiable good news of your life to our Church."
Ibidem post pauca: "But what has not yet been completed, nor has found an ending, in the presence of the most holy vicars of your paternal Holiness (at Constantinople, where they had come for the council), we pray now be terminated and disposed perfectly, and that it be written in full to our humility concerning those readers who have been tonsured by Photius by the laying on of hands: who, since they are of an almost innumerable multitude in all the regions and cities of the Church, demand by necessity a priestly advancement for the others: so that we may know also concerning this matter your will and decree most certainly and most manifestly, whether they are worthy to be promoted to the greater degrees of the priesthood, or whether they are not: for they left this doubt alone. And we further request also concerning our intimate son and most valiant champion of the truth, namely Paul the chartophylax, that if there is any way of dispensation possible for him, he may receive the dignity of the episcopate, just as we have also previously requested in our letters. Then also concerning Theodore, who was indeed consecrated metropolitan of Caria by us, but labored much and was afflicted from the beginning of our unjust and iniquitous deposition, yet in the latest times agreeing with the miserable Photius—on account of the immense torments which he inflicted upon those resisting him—he consented, and until his very last day repenting, nonetheless with a contrite heart and spirit of humility he sought pardon. For the most holy vicars of your Almightiness forbade him to discharge the priesthood in any way, even because he had subscribed to that which was done by the most unhappy Photius, as if [it were] a deposition of our most blessed and excellent Father Nicholas, predecessor of your Holiness. These are the things concerning which we ask your Holiness that, if it be possible, you may use the word of dispensation and mercy in these cases, since all other things have received an excellent and convenient end and disposition." C
VII. But of these things which the emperors of the Constantinopolitans, with the patriarch, sought in a sufficiently humble manner, Theognostus obtained nothing from the implacable Hadrian against the Photians, and inexorable to the Constantinopolitans, by his own authority or by his own prayers. Hadrian teaches us this in the letters written to Basil, Constantine, and Leo, the Constantinopolitan emperors, in the fifth indiction, on the 10th of November, in the year of Christ 871, which we find added to the Latin Acts of the Fourth Council of Constantinople: "Although," he says, "by the many entreaties and struggles of the most prudent and religious man, the hegumen and custodian of the sacred vessels, Theognostus—who gladdened us much by his report concerning the virtues of your piety and the marks of your laudable character, and the triumphs of your trophies, and concerning the multitude of your benefits piously bestowed upon him, and [by] telling how your Christianity is thriving in your days by the heavenly arm and by study and diligence, [and] he showed greater eagerness to render manifold praises to the Holy Trinity and to return thanks for the granting of the requests to your divinely-fortified empire—he asked us immoderately, and more than can be said, in the accustomed and ancient manner, and for the sake of ecclesiastical utilities [he] investigated with frequent suggestions; concerning which, however, because of the already designated cause (that it is not the part of Pope Nicholas I, especially since he once issued a decree condemning the Photians, to admit anything to the contrary), we can neither agree, nor define anything in any way beyond that which has already been evangelized." D
THEOGNOSTUS THE MONK'S WRITINGS CONCERNING CONSTANTINOPOLITAN AFFAIRS.
VIII. He represents the cause of Ignatius, Patriarch of Constantinople, whom Emperor Michael cast down from his see and to whom he gave Photius as successor, in a historical booklet, the inscription of which is: *Λίβελλος περιέχων πάντα τὰ κατὰ τὸν μέγαν Ἰγνάτιον, πεμφθείς πρὸς Νικόλαον πάπαν Ῥώμης, προσωποποιηθεὶς ὑπὸ Θεογνώστου μοναχοῦ καὶ ἀρχιμανδρίτου τῆς πρεσβυτέρας Ῥώμης, καὶ ἐξάρχου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, εἰς ὄνομα Ἰγνατίου τοῦ πατριάρχου.* (A booklet containing everything concerning the great Ignatius, sent to Pope Nicholas of Rome, composed in the person of Ignatius the patriarch by Theognostus, monk and archimandrite of the older Rome, and exarch of Constantinople.)
IX. This booklet, recounting the miseries which Ignatius had suffered in exile to Pope Nicholas I, begins from the beginnings of the exile which Ignatius underwent in the year of Christ 858, and terminates in the Acts of the Constantinopolitan council, which condemned Ignatius, in the year of Christ 861.
X. It was published in Greek and Latin, interpreted by Matthæo Radero, placed before the Greek Acts of the Fourth Constantinopolitan council—which is accustomed to be called the eighth among the ecumenical councils—in the *Concilia*, Vol. VI, Paris, 1656, in folio; Vol. VIII, ibid., 1671, in folio.
THEOGNOSTUS THE MONK: ENCOMIUM ON ALL THE SAINTS
A Magnificent is the spectacle of the feast, and bright the song of the selection; for it behooves us to utter the selection of songs, and acts of veneration, to the Lords of songs. But I think that he who has begun, will grow numb regarding the worthy delivery of the word; for the magnificence of the struggled-for contests exceeds our eloquence; and that which exceeds the attempts has a more difficult accomplishment of the proposed goal. For how should I belch forth a hymn with my lips, being ignorant of the justifications of God, and uninitiated in the confirmations of Christ? For it is written: “My lips shall pour forth a hymn, when thou shalt teach me thy justifications.” (Ps. CXVIII, 171.) But there is also a most abundant Word, having the Word above words, possessing a copious treasure, pious thoughts, and an eloquence of words worthy, leaning upon whom, I shall begin to speak true words. Therefore, setting your ears upright, beloved, receive carefully the recitation of the present writing; for the hearing of better things knows how to lead to greater edification those who wish to listen attentively.
C Manifold is the bravery of the contests, and various the zeal of the struggles; for this encomium is not proclaimed for one or two or ten in number, but for an infinite multitude of saints, martyrs, and the righteous. For the crowd of men could not count those whom one and only God knows to have a well-calculated quantity, as he himself, the One, triumphed, saying: “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matt. X, 30). He, therefore, who is able to count the hairs of every man, will he not the more count the bodies of the martyrs and the righteous in the whole world? For the multitude does not adhere to one place, but the multitudes are dispersed through every place. For just as the excessive magnitude of God is spread out even in the invisible places, so too has the zeal of his faith, which captivates souls, been poured out to the ends of the civilized world. Wherefore, if the multitude is indeed place-bound, yet love gathers them into one place. For whom the earth separated by habitations, these heaven gathered through the harmony of minds; and there comes to pass a bodily separation, but a spiritual gathering; and those who