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The Akathistos

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The Avar Siege of Constantinople in 626

Part of the book series: New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture ((NABHC))

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on the often-discussed topic of the significance of the most famous Byzantine Marian hymn, the Akathistos, in the context of the Avar siege. The first part discusses the arguments in favour of the creation of the second prologue of this hymn after the end of the siege along with the issue of the identity of its author, who some claim to be the patriarch Sergios. This chapter states that while we cannot completely dismiss the reflection of the Akathistos in the works of contemporary authors, this claim seems to be inconsistent with preserved accounts that tend to point towards the development of a tradition of liturgical commemoration of the Avar siege. In the conclusion, there is a discussion on the establishment of the Feast of the Akathistos and its significance in Byzantine liturgy.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Theodore Synkellos, 320.10–15.

  2. 2.

    Theodore Synkellos, 303.14–15.

  3. 3.

    Theodore Synkellos, 312.39–313.4.

  4. 4.

    Cf. the chapter “The Memory of the Avar Siege”.

  5. 5.

    Nikephoros 13, 60.37–40.

  6. 6.

    Kalendarium, 65 (with the short notice referring to “the memory of the Avars in Blachernai” including the appropriate liturgical reading from the New Testament). Cf. also Jaharis Gospel Lectionary, 113. For the other manuscripts preserving the notice of this commemoration, cf. Lowden 2009, 32–33.

  7. 7.

    Cf. the chapter “The Memory of the Avar Siege”.

  8. 8.

    Ps.-Germanos, 17, 195. A very similar concluding note is preserved in the first part of the Diegesis Ophelimos (1364B) referring to the Avar siege of Constantinople. Originally, this part of Diegesis could be an independent Synaxarion used for the commemoration of the Avar attack (7 August). It could serve as an archetype for Ps.-Germanos. Cf. Speck 1986, 216–217; who, however, connected this notice with the siege of 717/718.

  9. 9.

    Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (BHG 1063b), col. 872–876; Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Lipsiensis R II 25), 871–874; Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Parisinus Graecus 1587), 869–872. For Synaxaria-Typica, cf. Patmos 266, 101, n. 3 and 101, n. 4. Hagios Stauros 40: 1, 362.14–364.13.

  10. 10.

    On the structure of the Akathistos, cf. Wellesz 1953, 163–174; Trypanis 1968, 17–19; Meersseman 1958, 37; Grosdidier De Matons 1977, 53–54; Limberis 1994, 89–97; Peltomaa 2001.

  11. 11.

    For the complicated issue regarding the dating of the Akathistos and its authorship, cf. Papadopulos-Kerameus 1903, 5–13; Wellesz 1953, 151–152; Rehork 1962, 379–389; Trypanis 1968, 20–21; Grosdidier De Matons 1977, 55–56; Limberis 1994, 89–97; Kazhdan 1999, 70–71; Peltomaa 2001, 40–47; Pentcheva 2006, 12–16.

  12. 12.

    Meier 2003, 517–518.

  13. 13.

    Cf. for example: Frolow 1944, 93–97; Van Dieten 1972, 18–19; Waldmüller 1976, 281–282; Av. Cameron 1979, 22; Kaldellis 2013, 142.

  14. 14.

    Akathistos Hymn, 19.1–2, 37 and 23.13, 39. Cf. Peltomaa 2009, 290–291.

  15. 15.

    Romanos the Melodist Cantica dubia, 62, 15, 190.

  16. 16.

    Romanos the Melodist Cantica genuina 1, 23 and 35, 10.

  17. 17.

    Gador Whyte 2013, 82–83.

  18. 18.

    Meier 2003, 520.

  19. 19.

    Theodore Synkellos, 302.24–25 (τὴν πόλιν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἣν ἡ παρθένος τετείχηκε). For this comment, cf. Peltomaa 2009, 290–291.

  20. 20.

    Theodore Synkellos 303.17–19 and 303.28–29.

  21. 21.

    Peltomaa 2009, 293.

  22. 22.

    Miracula Sancti Demetrii, 2.1.188, 177.31; cf. Koder 1986, 527–528.

  23. 23.

    Barišić 1953, 144.

  24. 24.

    George of Pisidia Bellum Avaricum, v. 137 and 141, 164; v. 405, 182.

  25. 25.

    George of Pisidia Bellum Avaricum, v. 502–504, 188 (the English translation by Mar. Whitby 2003, 183).

  26. 26.

    Speck 1980, 60–61. A different explanation is given by Pertusi 1959, 224.

  27. 27.

    Peltomaa 2009, 295.

  28. 28.

    On the other hand, in one of the versions of the Chronicle of George Monachos (M, 612.13–15), the second prologue of the Akathistos is explicitly mentioned under the year 678 after the end of the Arab siege of Constantinople. However, in this case it is undoubtedly a later interpolation which is not considered as an original part of this chronicle. It occurs only in the Muralt edition based on cod. Mosquensis Bibl. Synod. Gr. 406 from the twelfth century. On this manuscript, cf. Wahlgren 2001, 252 and 2006, 36.

  29. 29.

    Diegesis Ophelimos, col. 1353–1354.

  30. 30.

    Barišić 1955, 170; Spadaro 1991, 259; Brzóstkowska 1995, 8; Speck 1986, 228.

  31. 31.

    Cf. however, the recent notes by Jankowiak 2013, 237–320.

  32. 32.

    Papadopoulos-Kerameus 1903, 14.

  33. 33.

    On the textual tradition of Diegesis, cf. Kösegi 2015, 20–34.

  34. 34.

    Speck 1986, 217.

  35. 35.

    Theodore Synkellos, 312.39–40–313.1–4 and 320.10–15.

  36. 36.

    Diegesis Ophelimos, col. 1364B.

  37. 37.

    Lectio Triodii, col. 1348–1354. For this text, cf. the chapter “The Memory of the Siege”.

  38. 38.

    Lectio Triodii, col. 1353B.

  39. 39.

    Lectio Triodii, col. 1352BC.

  40. 40.

    Lectio Triodii, 1353B.

  41. 41.

    Spadaro 1991, 252–253.

  42. 42.

    Huglo, 1951, 28–30; Meersseman 1958, 49–52; Spadaro 1991, 259.

  43. 43.

    Hymnus Sancta Dei Genitricis Marie 3, 103.

  44. 44.

    Fletcher 1958, 63.

  45. 45.

    Cf. Hatzidimitriou 1983, 183–207.

  46. 46.

    Theophanes, 412.24–25.

  47. 47.

    Théarvic 1904, 298; Meersseman 1958, 49–50, 52.

  48. 48.

    Gregory II,154D. On the problem of its authenticity, cf. Speck 1981, 155–156 and Brubaker and Haldon 2011, 93–94.

  49. 49.

    Huglo 1951, 53–54; Wellesz 1953, 152; Speck 1981, 169–171; 2002, 170–171. However, Meersseman (1958, 44) points out that the Latin translation of the Akathistos hymn uses a masculine form of this term (propugnatori) in connection with the Virgin Mary.

  50. 50.

    Gregory II, 147B.

  51. 51.

    Meersseman 1958, 48; Spadaro 1991, 263–264.

  52. 52.

    For the manuscript tradition, cf. Kösegi 2015, 20–34.

  53. 53.

    Patmos 266, 124. Huglo 1951, 50.

  54. 54.

    Mateos 1962:1, XVIII–XIX.

  55. 55.

    Hagios Stauros 40: 2, 52.20–54.24.

  56. 56.

    Kösegi 2015, 33.

  57. 57.

    Kösegi 2015, 20–27.

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  1. Department of History, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Martin Hurbanič

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Hurbanič, M. (2019). The Akathistos. In: The Avar Siege of Constantinople in 626. New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16684-7_12

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