Theodore the Studite

Byzantine saint

b. 759 · d. 11 Nov 826

Theodore the Studite, also known as Theodorus Studita and Saint Theodore of Stoudios/Studium, was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantine monasticism and of classical literary genres in Byzantium. He is known as a zealous opponent of iconoclasm, one of several conflicts that set him at odds with both emperor and patriarch. Throughout his life he maintained letter correspondences with many important political and cultural figures of the Byzantine empire; this included many women, such as the composer and nun Kassia, who was much influenced by his teachings.

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How we know

Recorded as a historical figure.

  • Chronographia 1 claim — Second Iconoclasm

What he held

  • Icons may be venerated Images of Christ, the Mother of God and the saints are to be set up and given honourable reverence, the honour paid to the image passing to its prototype.

In the disputes

  • Iconoclasm Whether Christ may be depicted, argued from Chalcedon by both sides: Hieria held that the two natures cannot be painted, since one cannot be circumscribed and the other cannot be shown alone; Nicaea II answered on the same ground and reached the opposite conclusion.

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