Реч на Никита Хониат, адресирана до Константин Пантехни, митрополит на Филипопол
The Sermon of Nicetas Choniates to Constantine Pantechni, Metropolitan of Philippopolis

Summary/Abstract: The 18th sermon of Nicetas Choniates, according to the latest edition of the sermons by J. van Ditten, is a valuable source for the history of Philippopolis in the years from 1186 to 1190 and reveals interesting data on the personality and life of the Bishop of Philippopolis and at the same time Metropolitan of the diocese of Philippopolis, Constantine Pantechni. The sermon praises of deeds of the high-ranking noble clergyman. In the interpretation of the sermon and the comparison of the information in it with other sources was outline the sequence of the following events and facts. The Cathedra of Philippopolis was held in the period 1184–1185 by a Metropolitan who was not too particular about the purity of the orthodox faith. In 1186 in the city arrived Constantine Pantechni, appointed by the Patriarchate of Constantinople with the important goal: to attract the Armenian monophysites and anti-chalcedonists who were regarded as heretics to the bosom of the Byzantine Church. The Bishop became the initiator for the building of a his Christian shrine consecrated to Virgin Mary, patron of Philippopolis, the construction of which continued probably from 1186 to 1189. That was all probability the first shrine erected on the site of the present Cathedral of Virgin Mary in Plovdiv. At the time of the same cleric in the city raged a strong famine and misery, the aftermath of the coming of the crusaders of the Third Crusade. The famine broke out in the 1189 and went on the 1190. The presence of the Knights in Philippopolis was the cause for the departure of Constantine Pantechni owing to the hostile attitude to him of the Armenians and their Western protectors, the crusaders. After the withdrawal of the latter in November 1189 the Metropolitan returned to the city. After him in early 1190 came back also Nicetas Choniates. Bishop Constantine made considerable efforts to save those dying of hunger and called on the well-to-do to help against the calamity. After the stabilization of the situation in the city in the spring of 1190 Nicetas Choniates pronounced his sermon in honour of the Metropolitan of Philippopolis in the Cathedral of Virgin Mary. From the sermon one learns about the good friendly ties between Constantine Pantechni and Nicetas Choniates. The source makes possible a certain correction in the biography of Nicetas Choniates, about whom it was known that after the arrival of the crusaders in Philippopolis in 1189 he left the city and did not appear there anymore. The sermon gives grounds to assume his return after the withdrawal of the knights.

• Details
• Contents