Manuel Holobolos ( el, Μανουὴλ Ὁλόβολος; ca. 1245 – 1310/14) was a
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
orator and monk, who was a leading opponent of the
Union of the Churches in the reign of
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...
(r. 1259–1282).
Born ca. 1245, Holobolos entered the service of Michael VIII as a ''grammatikos'' in his teens, and composed several orations for the early years of Michael's reign that are an important primary source. In 1261, however, when Michael ordered the
blinding and imprisonment of the legitimate emperor,
John IV Laskaris
John IV Doukas Laskaris (or Ducas Lascaris) ( el, Ἰωάννης Δούκας Λάσκαρις, ''Iōannēs Doukas Laskaris'') (December 25, 1250 – c. 1305) was emperor of Nicaea from August 16, 1258, to December 25, 1261. This empire was one ...
(r. 1258–1261), Holobolos expressed public grief, and his lips and nose were mutilated as punishment. Holobolos then retired from public service and became a monk at the Prodromos Monastery in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, with the
monastic name
A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts.
Christianity
Catholic Church Baptismal name
In baptism, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should not be "foreign ...
Maximos.
In 1265/66, through the intervention of
Patriarch Germanus III, Holobolos was able to get a post as a teacher, possibly at the orphanage of the Church of St. Paul. Because of his fervent anti-Unionism, he was exiled to the Megalou Agrou monastery on the
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...
in 1273, and was not allowed to return to the capital until after Michael's death, when his son and successor
Andronikos II Palaiologos
, image = Andronikos II Palaiologos2.jpg
, caption = Miniature from the manuscript of George Pachymeres' ''Historia''
, succession = Byzantine emperor
, reign = 11 December 1282 –24 May 1328
, coronation = 8 Novembe ...
(r. 1282–1328) repudiated the Union. Thus Holobolos participated in the
Council of Blachernae in 1285, which formally condemned the Union, and was restored to imperial favour: he received the title of ''
rhetor
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate partic ...
'' and became ''
protosynkellos
A protosyncellus or protosynkellos ( el, πρωτοσύγκελλος) is the principal deputy of the bishop of an eparchy for the exercise of administrative authority in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church. The equivalent position in t ...
'' by 1299.
According to one of his students,
George Galesiotes, he continued teaching until his death, sometime between 1310 and 1314.
Sources
*
1240s births
1310s deaths
13th-century Byzantine monks
Byzantine prisoners and detainees
13th-century Byzantine writers
13th-century Eastern Orthodox Christians
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