Theodorus

Archbishop of Ravenna
Theodorus' sarcophagus in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna[nb 1]
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseArchdiocese of Ravenna
In office677-691
PredecessorReparatus
SuccessorDamianus

Theodorus was the archbishop of Ravenna from 677 to 691.[1]: 304 

Life

Consecrated in Ravenna by his suffragans,[1]: 283–4 [2] under his tenure the church of Ravenna reconciled with the Roman papacy, thus ending a period of acrimony during which the Byzantine emperor Constans II, who was a monothelite, directly opposed the Pope by proclaiming the autocephaly of the church of Ravenna in 666.[3]: 320 [1]: 283–4 
In fact, in 680 Theodorus adhered to the Sixth Ecumenical Council which condemned monothelitism in favour of the Chalcedonian orthodoxy, thus resubmitting his church to Pope Agatho,[3]: 321 [2] and in 682 he formally renounced to the typus of autocephaly, following the resumption of friendly relations between Constans II's successor Constantine IV and the new Pope Leo II.[1]: 283–4 
Writing for the Catholic Encyclopedia, church historian Umberto Benigni claimed that he "was hated by his clergy for having suppressed many abuses among them".[2]

According to the 9th-century historian Andreas Agnellus, during Theodorus' tenure his namesake Theodorus, exarch of Ravenna, ordered a chapel dedicated to Saint Theodore the Deacon, but of which there is no trace today.[1]: 146–7 

Burial

Theodorus' stone sarcophagus is located in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe,[4]: 53  along with others belonging to some of his distant successors such as Gratiosus (died c.789). All these sarcophagi were sculpted imitating higher-quality models from previous centuries.[1]: 289 

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Latin epigraph on the sarcophagus' lid reads: "†HIC REQUIESCIT IN PACE THEOδORVƧ V.B. ARCIHEPIƧCOPUƧ†", roughly translatable as "Here rests in peace the archbishop Theodorus".

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mauskopf Deliyannis, Deborah (2010). Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83672-2.
  2. 1 2 3 Benigni, Umberto (1911), "Ravenna", The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company
  3. 1 2 Brown, T.S. (2008), "Chapter 13: Byzantine Italy, c.680-c.876", The New Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 2, Cambridge University Press
  4. ↑ Bovini, Giuseppe. Ravenna: Arte e Storia (in Italian). Ravenna: Longo Editore.

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