Meletios the Younger (c. 1035 – c. 1105), also called Meletios of Myoupolis, was a

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...

monk, pilgrim and priest. He is venerated as a saint in Eastern Orthodoxy and his

feast A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...

is celebrated on 1 September. Meletios was born in the

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

n village of Moutalaske, which was also the birthplace of

Sabbas the Sanctified SabasPatrich (1995). (439–532), in Church parlance Saint Sabas or Sabbas the Sanctified ( el, Σάββας ο Ηγιασμένος), was a Cappadocian Greek monk, priest and saint, who was born in Cappadocia and lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. ...

. At fifteen or sixteen years of age, he ran away from home to

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 (" ...

, the capital of

Byzantine Empire 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 ...

, where he became a monk. He lived there for three years, before setting out on a pilgrimage.Johannes Pahlitzsch (2019), "Byzantine Monasticism and the Holy Land: Palestine in Byzantine Hagiography of the 11th and 12th Centuries", in D. Bertaina et al. (eds.), ''Heirs of the Apostles: Studies on Arabic Christianity in Honor of Sidney H. Griffith'' (Leiden: Brill), pp. 231–255, at 243–245. He quickly halted his pilgrimage, however, to join the ''

eukterion ''Eukterion'' ( el, εὑκτήριον), or ''eukterios oikos'' (εὑκτήριος οἰ̑κος), literally meaning "a house of prayer", was a term used in the Byzantine and some other Eastern Orthodox societies such as Georgia to refer to priv ...

'' (oratory) of Saint George near Thebes. After ten years and aged about 28, he left Saint George on a series of pilgrimages that brought him to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and possibly

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

. He stayed in the Holy Land for three years, visiting

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

and both sides of the

river Jordan The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

. He visited several monasteries, including that of Saint Sabbas, his compatriot. Upon his return to Greece, he settled on

Mount Myoupolis Cithaeron or Kithairon (Κιθαιρών, -ῶνος) is a mountain and mountain range about sixteen kilometres (ten miles) long in Central Greece. The range is the physical boundary between Boeotia in the north and Attica in the south. It is mai ...

and Patriarch

Nicholas III of Constantinople Nicholas III Grammatikos or Grammaticus (? – May 1111) was an Eastern Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople (1084–1111). Educated in Constantinople, Nicholas spent much of his early years in Pisidian Antioch, where it is believed he took his ...

consecrated him a priest. By around 1081 he had acquired the nearby monastery of the Symboulon, which came to be known as Hosios Meletios after him. There he introduced Palestinian monastic practices, including combining monks with

anchorites In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress) is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. While anchorites are ...

in '' paralauria''. In his later years, he received an annual donation of 422 ''

hyperpyra The ''hyperpyron'' ( ''nómisma hypérpyron'') was a Byzantine coin in use during the late Middle Ages, replacing the ''solidus'' as the Byzantine Empire's gold coinage. History The traditional gold currency of the Byzantine Empire had been the '' ...

'' from the Emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

. He died in his monastery around 1105 or 1110. Two

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

of Meletios were written after 1141 by

Nicholas of Methone Nicholas of Methone (died 1160/1166) was a Byzantine theologian and philosopher who served as the bishop of Methone from around 1150. Nicholas wrote hagiography, hymnody, theology, biblical exegesis and panegyric. His most widely read works were ...

and

Theodore Prodromos Theodore Prodromos or Prodromus ( el, Θεόδωρος Πρόδρομος; c. 1100 – c. 1165/70), probably also the same person as the so-called Ptochoprodromos (Πτωχοπρόδρομος "Poor Prodromos"), was a Byzantine Greek writer, well ...

.Dorothy E. Abrahamse (1986), "Byzantine Views of the West in the Early Crusade Period: The Evidence of Hagiography", in Vladimir Peter Goss (ed.), ''The Meeting of Two Worlds: Cultural Exchange Between East and West During the Period of the Crusades'' (Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications), pp. 189–200. Although largely independent of one another, Theodore appears to have had access to Nicholas' account.Symeon A. Paschalidis (2011), "The Hagiography of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries", in Stephanos Efthymiadis (ed.) ''The Ashgate Research Companion to Byzantine Hagiography, Volume I: Periods and Places'' (New York and London: Routledge), pp. 143–172. They occasionally contradict each other, but are nonetheless valuable historical sources because of their emphasis on Meletios' interactions with the Byzantine elite. Of the two, Theodore's is the more worldly and entertaining, giving more space to Meletios' pilgrimages. He claims that Meletios left Thebes only after a noble Theban lady attempted to seduce him. He also records how a group of "

Hagarenes Hagarenes ( grc, Ἀγαρηνοί , syc, ܗܓܪܝܐ or , arm, Հագարացի), is a term widely used by early Syriac, Greek, Coptic language, Coptic and Armenian sources to describe the early Arab conquerors of Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt. ...

" (Muslims) harassed the saint, who was rescued by from his predicament by a

Christian Arab Arab Christians ( ar, ﺍَﻟْﻤَﺴِﻴﺤِﻴُّﻮﻥ ﺍﻟْﻌَﺮَﺏ, translit=al-Masīḥīyyūn al-ʿArab) are ethnic Arabs, Arab nationals, or Arabic language, Arabic-speakers who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab ...

. He is the only one to mention a pilgrimage to Compostela in Spain. Nicholas focuses more attention on Meletios' care for his monastic community, whom he protects from fire and whose gardens he defends from rabbits.

Hagiographies

, "Vita sancti Meletii iunioris" BHG 1247">Bibliotheca_Hagiographica_Graeca.html" ;"title=" Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca">BHG 1247 ed. Vasily Vasilievsky, ''Pravoslavnyi Palestinskii Sbornik'' VI (Saint Petersburg, 1866), pp. 1–39. *—, "Bios tou hosiou patros hēmōn Meletiou tou en tō horei tēs Myoupoleōs askēsantos", in Iōannēs Polemēs (ed.), ''Hoi bioi tou hagiou Meletiou tou Neou'' (Athens: Ekdoseis Kanakē, 2018), pp. 30–150. *

, "Vita sancti Meletii iunioris" BHG 1248 ed. Vasily Vasilievsky, ''Pravoslavnyi Palestinskii Sbornik'' VI (Saint Petersburg, 1866), pp. 40–69. *—, "Bios tou hosiou patros hēmōn Meletiou tou Neou", in Iōannēs Polemēs (ed.), ''Hoi bioi tou hagiou Meletiou tou Neou'' (Athens: Ekdoseis Kanakē, 2018), pp. 152–254.

Hagiographies

References

Further reading