THEODORE THE STUDITE, ST.

Byzantine monastic reformer and theologian; b. Constantinople, 759; d. perhaps on the island of Prinkipo, 826. Theodore's family, particularly his mother, Theoctista, provided him with an excellent secular and religious education, and he entered the monastic life under the direction of his maternal uncle, Abbot Plato of Symbola, at Saccudium near Mt. Olympus in Bithynia. Ordained in 787 or 788, Theodore succeeded Plato as abbot in 794.

For his vigorous opposition to the adulterous second marriage of the Emperor Constantine VI and to the Patriarch Tarasius's toleration of it, Theodore was banished to Thessalonica in 796; but he was recalled a year later when the Empress irene deposed her son.

In 799 Theodore and his community moved to Constantinople and revived the dormant monastery of Studios. Continued conflict over Constantine's "Moechian Affair" led to Theodore's banishment again in 809 by the Emperor Nicephorus I. After this Emperor's death in 811, Theodore returned to his activities in the capital.

A resurgence under Leo V (813–820) of the controversy over iconoclasm resulted in a third period of exile for Theodore, a popular and eloquent defender of the veneration

of images. Despite harsh treatment and virtual imprisonment, he continued to lead opposition to imperial policies by letters, which included appeals to Pope pas chal i. The Emperor Michael II was installed after Leo's assassination, but though pursuing a tolerant policy, he feared renewed agitation and refused to allow Theodore to settle permanently in Constantinople. Theodore died away from his monastery in semiexile, but his body was brought to Constantinople with that of his brother Joseph on the restoration of orthodoxy (Jan. 26, 844).

However impressive his courageous defense of Christian morality, orthodox doctrine, and ecclesiastical independence, Theodore's primary contributions were in the area of monastic regulation. By a prudent delegation of authority and duty, carefully outlined yet consonant with cenobitic asceticism, Theodore rendered his Studios community the model of Byzantine monasticism. Many of his regulations and exhortations were promulgated in two series of catecheses, or spiritual conferences, on the virtues and demands of communal religious life. The abbot delivered these talks to his monks.

In addition to the catecheses there survives a collection of 550 letters including many controversial tracts, as well as exhortatory and consolation pieces. He composed liturgical and penitential studies, several works of incisive anti-iconoclastic polemic (including 80 syllogisms that form a systematic theology of the veneration of images), spiritual orations, and verse pieces ranging from hymns to epigrams.

Feast: Nov. 11.

Bibliography: theodore the studite, On the Holy Icons ; trans. c. p. roth (Crestwood, N.Y. 1981); The Testament, trans. n. p. constas, (Washington, D.C. 1991); Theodori Studitae epistulae, recensuit g. fatouros (Berolini; Novi Eboraci 1992, c1991). Patrologia Graeca, ed. j. p. migne (Paris 1857–66) 99; 102:923–926. h. g. beck, Kirche und theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reich (Munich 1959) 491–495. É. amann, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. a. vacant et al., (Paris 1903–50; Tables générales 1951–) 15.1:287–298. a. gardner, Theodore of Studium (London 1905). n. h. baynes and h. st. l. b. moss, eds., Byzantium (Oxford 1948) 136–165.

[r. j. schork]