A Quasi Patriarch In The State Of Epiros: The Autocephalous Archbishop оf "Boulgaria" (Ohrid) Deмеtrios Chomatenos  Cover Image

Квазипатријарх у Епирској држави: аутокефални архиепископ "Бугарске" (Охрида) Димитрије Хоматин
A Quasi Patriarch In The State Of Epiros: The Autocephalous Archbishop оf "Boulgaria" (Ohrid) Deмеtrios Chomatenos

Author(s): Günter Prinzing
Subject(s): History
Published by: Vizantološki institut SANU

Summary/Abstract: The paper sketches the life and work of the archbishop of the autocephalous Byzantine archbishopric of Boulgaria/Ohrid, Demetrios Chomatenos (fungit 1216-1236). His main work, the corpus of records Ponemata diaphora (=PD), appeared in 2002 in a critical edition in Vol. 38 of the CFHB. The PD prove to be a first quality historical source, also for the history of Serbia. This present paper is thus based on numerous new findings from the analysis of the PD and other relevant sources. In particular, it deals with the quasi-patriarchal self-understanding and work of Chomatenos, who was an excellent canonist and nomotriboumenos (legal expert): The increased rivalry between Nicaea and Epiros in the years 1215-1230 enabled him to act like a patriarch in the area controlled by the rulers of Epiros. In so far as he reached beyond the boundaries of his archbishopric in this connection, as a rule he acted with the consent of further metropolitans and bishops in the state of Epiros who - unlike him - were formally subject to the patriarch. This also applies for the coronation of Emperor Theodoros Doukas which he carried out in 1227.

  • Issue Year: 2004
  • Issue No: 41
  • Page Range: 165-182
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: English