Last updated Early 16th-century manuscript of the Slavonic version of the Pandektai
Nikon of the Black Mountain (born c. 1025, died c. 1105) was a Byzantine soldier, monk and author.
Born at Constantinople around 1025 to a family of archontes, Nikon served in the army under Constantine IX (r.1042–1055). He never received a formal education and considered himself "simple, uncultivated and completely ignorant".[1] Acting on a vision of the Virgin Mary,[1] he retired to a monastery on the Black Mountain founded by Luke, the former metropolitan of Anazarbos, who also tonsured him.[2]
After the death of Luke, Nikon incurred the displeasure of his brother monks by striving to enforce rigid discipline. He was eventually forced to leave. He tried to establish his own monastery, but ultimately settled in the monastery of Simeon Stylites the Younger on the Wondrous Mountain.[2] In 1084, the Sultanate of Rum conquered Antioch and the monastery of Saint Simeon was sacked. For safety, Nikon moved to the monastery of the Theotokos tou Roidiou (Virgin of the Pomegranate), probably identical with the Simanaklay monastery in modern Kazmaca close to Anazarbos.[3] There he died between 1100 and 1110.[2]
Nikon produced two major compilations of ecclesiastical texts: the Pandektai (Pandects), a collection of conciliar and patristic writings on canon law for wandering monks, and the Taktikon, a collection of forty chapters of authoritative texts on liturgical problems.[2] The Pandektai was written while he was still on the Black Mountain.[1] It contains one episode cited to the Euthymiac History, which is one of only two surviving excerpts from this otherwise lost work.[4] The Taktikon includes a typikon initially intended for the community he founded, but they rejected it and the community disbanded.[1] The typikon was taken up by the monastery of the Virgin of the Pomegranate.[2] From the 13th century, the Taktikon was the main authority in Russian monasticism.[1]
Both Nikon's works were early translated into Arabic and Slavonic.[2] The Arabic translation of the Pandektai, entitled al-Ḥāwī al-kabīr, was then translated into Ethiopic under the title Maṣḥafa Ḥāwi in the 16th century.[5]
Oltean, Daniel (2022). "From the Monastery of the Theotokos tou Roudiou to Simanaklay?: Greek and Armenian Monks in a Changing World". Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 76: 101–116. JSTOR27172436.
Theotokos is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are Dei Genitrix or Deipara. Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-bearer" – but these both have different literal equivalents in Greek, Μήτηρ Θεοῦ and Θεοφόρος.
The Hilandar Monastery is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian monastery there. It was founded in 1198 by Stefan Nemanja and his son Saint Sava. St. Symeon was the former Grand Prince of Serbia (1166–1196) who upon relinquishing his throne took monastic vows and became an ordinary monk. He joined his son Saint Sava who was already in Mount Athos and who later became the first Archbishop of Serbia. Upon its foundation, the monastery became a focal point of the Serbian religious and cultural life, as well as assumed the role of "the first Serbian university". It is ranked fourth in the Athonite hierarchy of 20 sovereign monasteries. The Mother of God through her Icon of the Three Hands (Trojeručica) is considered the monastery's abbess.
The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the Theotokos, and her being taken up into heaven. It is celebrated on 15 August as the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Dormition not on a fixed date, but on the Sunday nearest 15 August. In Western Churches the corresponding feast is known as the Assumption of Mary, with the exception of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which has traditionally celebrated the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 15 August.
Saint Simon the Tanner, also known as Saint Simon the Shoemaker, is the Coptic Orthodox saint associated with the story of the moving the Mokattam Mountain in Cairo, Egypt, during the rule of the Muslim Fatimid Caliph al-Muizz Lideenillah (953–975) while Abraham the Syrian was the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
Gregory Pakourianos was a Byzantine politician and military commander. He was the founder of the Monastery of the Mother of God Petritzonitissa in Bachkovo and author of its typikon. The monks of this Orthodox monastery were Iberians.
Samandağ, formerly known as Süveydiye, is a municipality and district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is 384 km2, and its population is 123,447 (2022). It lies at the mouth of the Asi River on the Mediterranean coast, near Turkey's border with Syria, 25 km (16 mi) from the city of Antakya. In February 2023, the town was heavily damaged by powerful earthquakes.
Constantine Lips was a Byzantine aristocrat and admiral who lived in the later 9th and early 10th centuries. He was killed in 917 at the Battle of Acheloos against Bulgaria. Constantine Lips is most notable for his foundation of the convent bearing his name at Constantinople.
The Monastery of Saint Mary El-Sourian is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in Wadi El Natrun in the Nitrian Desert, Beheira Governorate, Egypt. It is located about 500 meters northwest of the Monastery of Saint Pishoy.
The Panagia Portaitissa also known as the Iviron Theotokos or Iverskaya in Russian, is an Eastern Orthodox icon of the Virgin Mary in the Georgian Iviron monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, where it is believed to have been since the year 999. According to the sacred tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church it was painted by Luke the Evangelist. The icon is referred to as "Wonderworking" meaning that numerous miracles have been attributed to the intercession of the Theotokos by persons praying before it. The synaxis for this icon is on February 12, as well as on Bright Tuesday, and also on October 13 for the translation to Moscow of the Iveron icon.
Saint Sava, known as the Enlightener, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law, and a diplomat. Sava, born as Rastko Nemanjić, was the youngest son of Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, and ruled the appanage of Zachlumia briefly in 1190–92. He then left for Mount Athos, where he became a monk with the name Sava (Sabbas). At Athos he established the monastery of Hilandar, which became one of the most important cultural and religious centres of the Serbian people. In 1219 the Patriarchate exiled in Nicea recognized him as the first Serbian Archbishop, and in the same year he authored the oldest known constitution of Serbia, the Zakonopravilo nomocanon, thus securing full religious and political independence. Sava is regarded as the founder of Serbian medieval literature.
Orphanotrophos was a Byzantine title for the curator of an orphanage. The director of the most important orphanage, the imperial orphanage in Constantinople, established in the 4th century and lasting until the 13th century, eventually rose to become an office of particular significance and ranked among the senior ministers of the Byzantine state.
John Komnenos was a Byzantine aristocrat and military leader. The younger brother of Emperor Isaac I Komnenos, he served as Domestic of the Schools during Isaac's brief reign (1057–59). When Isaac I abdicated, Constantine X Doukas became emperor and John withdrew from public life until his death in 1067. Through his son Alexios I Komnenos, who became emperor in 1081, he was the progenitor of the Komnenian dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 until 1185, and the Empire of Trebizond from 1204 until 1461.
The Monastery of Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger is a former Christian monastery that lies on a hill roughly 29 kilometres southwest of Antakya and six kilometres to the east of Samandağ, in the southernmost Turkish province of Hatay. The site is extensive but the monastery buildings are in ruins.
Artah was a medieval town and castle located 25 miles east-northeast of Antioch, to the east of the Iron Bridge on the Roman road from Antioch to Aleppo.
Meletios the Younger (c. 1035 – c. 1105), also called Meletios of Myoupolis, was a Byzantine Greek monk, pilgrim and priest. He is venerated as a saint in Eastern Orthodoxy and his feast is celebrated on 1 September.
The monastery of Theotokos Euergetis was a monastery in the European suburbs of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, established in 1049 and surviving until the 13th century.
Athanasius of Qus was a Coptic monk, bishop and scholar. He was a leader of the church in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia. He wrote in both Arabic and Coptic. His works include theology, Coptic grammar and poetry. His primary dialect was Sahidic.
Al-Makīn Jirjis ibn al-ʿAmīd, called the Younger, was a Coptic priest, theologian, physician and civil servant in the Mamluk Sultanate.
Copto-Arabic literature is the literature of the Copts written in Arabic. It is distinct from Coptic literature, which is literature written in the Coptic language.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
