Neilos Doxapatres
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Neilos Doxapatres ( gr, Νεῖλος ὁ Δοξοπατρῆς) 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, theologian, and writer active 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 (" ...
and
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
during the first half of the 12th century.


Biography

Born into a native
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
family of
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 (" ...
, he made his career there, where he held various ecclesiastical and secular high offices;
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
of the
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
, patriarchal notary, ''
protoproedros ''Proedros'' ( el, πρόεδρος, "president") was a senior Byzantine court and ecclesiastic title in the 10th to mid-12th centuries. The female form of the title is ''proedrissa'' (προέδρισσα). Court dignity The title was created in ...
'' of the '' protosynkelloi'' and ''
nomophylax The ''nomophylax'' ( el, νομοφύλαξ, "guardian of the laws") was a senior Byzantine judicial office of the 11th–15th centuries. History The office of ''nomophylax'' was established by Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (r. 1042–1055) eit ...
''. At some point he became a monk, assuming 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 ...
"Neilos", and left for Sicily. According to the prologue of Neilos' work on the patriarchs, he was in
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
in 1142/43, at the court of king
Roger II of Sicily Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Rog ...
. His signature appears at the bottom of an act, dated 1146, regarding the church of the Martorana in Palermo. Neilos Doxapatres shares a surname with
John Doxapatres John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
, a professor of
rhetoric 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 parti ...
who taught 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 (" ...
in the eleventh century, but their relationship is unknown.


Works

Two works by Doxapatres have survived: * ''Treatise on the five patriarchs'' (' or '), a work of geography and ecclesiastical history commissioned by King
Roger II of Sicily Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Rog ...
. In it, Doxapatres explores Byzantine ideas of the Universal Church, which were far removed from those of the
papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
(as well as the other Greek theologians active in southern Italy). As a result, the work was very controversial in the West, and only two manuscript copies survive before 1453, but which were translated into
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
around 1179/80. The first printed edition appeared in
Étienne Le Moine Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Scientists and inventors ...
's collection ''Varia Sacra, seu Sylloge variorum opusculorum Græcorum ad rem ecclesiasticam spectantium,'' 2 vols. (Leiden, 1685). * ''A Useful Inquiry into the Divine Economy in Relationship to Man'' ('), a vast theological
summa Summa and its diminutive summula (plural ''summae'' and ''summulae'', respectively) was a medieval didactics literary genre written in Latin, born during the 12th century, and popularized in 13th century Europe. In its simplest sense, they might ...
apparently conceived of in five books, of which only the first two have survived——although we don't know whether the other three were ever, in fact, written. The first book discusses, in 263 chapters, the
creation of man The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis. In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word f ...
, Paradise, and the Fall; the second devoted 203 chapters to Christ, the second Adam, who repairs the sins for the first and saves humanity through his
Incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...
and Passion. Book I was inspired above all by
Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( grc-gre, Γρηγόριος Νύσσης; c. 335 – c. 395), was Bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 395. He is venerated as a saint in Catholici ...
's ''On the creation of man'' and
Nemesius Nemesius of Emesa ( grc-gre, Νεμέσιος Ἐμέσης; la, Nemesius Emesenus; fl. c. AD 390) was a Christian philosopher, and the author of a treatise ''Περὶ φύσεως ἀνθρώπου'' or ''De natura hominis'' ("On Human Nature"). ...
's ''On the nature of man'', Book II by the commentaries of
Theophylact of Ohrid Theophylact ( gr, Θεοφύλακτος, bg, Теофилакт; around 1055after 1107) was a Byzantine archbishop of Ohrid and commentator on the Bible. Life Theophylact was born in the mid-11th century at Euripus (Chalcis) in Euboea, at th ...
. Books III and IV, based on their titles, were probably meant to discuss the later history of the apostles and the Church. The ''Synopsis Canonum'' written by
Alexios Aristenos Alexios Aristenos ( gr, Ἀλέξιος Ἀριστηνός) was ''oikonomos'' and ''nomophylax'' of the Great Church at Constantinople. He flourished around 1166 AD, in which year he was present at the Council of Constantinople. He edited a ''S ...
was falsely attributed to him.Karl Krumbacher, ''Geschichte der byzantinischen Literatur'' (Munich, 1897), 607.


Editions of texts

*
Patrologia Graeca The ''Patrologia Graeca'' (or ''Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca'') is an edited collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers and various secular writers, in the Greek language. It consists of 161 volumes produced in 1857– ...
132, col. 1083-1114 (''Traité sur les patriarcats'') and col. 1292–96. First chapter and final paragraph of Book 1 of ''De Œconomia Dei'', based on a publication by
Angelo Mai Angelo Mai (''Latin'' Angelus Maius; 7 March 17828 September 1854) was an Italian Cardinal and philologist. He won a European reputation for publishing for the first time a series of previously unknown ancient texts. These he was able to discove ...
. * Finck, Franz Nikolaus, ed. ''Des Nilos Doxopatres Τάξις τῶν πατριαρχικῶν θρόνων''. Vagharshabad (
Etchmiadzin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...
e), Mayr Athorho, 1902. Greek and Armenian versions.


Bibliography

* Caruso, Stefano. "Echi della polemica bizantina antilatina dell'XI-XII sec. nel ''De Œconomia Dei'' di Nilo Doxapatres." In ''Atti del Congresso internazionale di studi sulla Sicilia normanna'', 403–31. Palermo, 1973. * Morton, James. "A Byzantine Canon Law Scholar in Norman Sicily: Revisiting Neilos Doxapatres's ''Order of the Patriarchal Thrones''." '' Speculum'' 92.3 (2017): 724–54. * Neyrinck, Stefaan. "The ''De Œconomia Dei'' by Nilus Doxapatres. Some Introductory Remarks to the Work and its Edition & Chapter I, 40 : Edition, Translation and Commentary," ''Byzantion'' 80 (2010): 265–305. *P. Van Deun, "Lire les Pères grecs en Sicile normande : le cas du ''De oeconomia Dei'' de Nil Doxapatrès", dans B. Cabouret, A. Peters-Custot et C. Rouxpetel (éd), ''La réception des Pères grecs et orientaux en Italie au Moyen Âge (Ve-XVe siècle)'', Paris 2020, p. 161‑179.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doxopatres, Nil Kingdom of Sicily people Eastern Orthodox deacons Byzantine officials 12th-century Byzantine writers 12th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians Byzantine jurists 12th-century Greek writers 12th-century jurists Byzantine theologians