Saint Theodore the Studite
Abbot of Stoudios who defended the veneration of icons during the iconoclast period
- Rank
- Saint
- Kind
- Religious
- Life
- 759 – 826
- Era
- 9th century
- Feast
- 11 November
- Countries
- Türkiye
Life story
Theodore was born in 759 in Constantinople into a well-off family. He became a monk around 780 together with his uncle Plato and other relatives. In 794 he became abbot of the Sakkoudion monastery in Bithynia, and around 798 he moved the community to the Stoudios monastery in Constantinople itself, where he served as abbot.
He shaped Stoudios into a communal (cenobitic) community that stressed manual labour, obedience and a clear order of offices, set out in his rule and his Testament. The monastery also had a library and a scriptorium and became a centre of learning. He openly opposed emperors when they meddled in Church affairs: he was exiled under Constantine VI and under Nikephoros I over disputes about the emperor's remarriage and the reinstatement of a priest.
When the emperor Leo V revived the policy of iconoclasm around 815, Theodore became a leader of the resistance. He was arrested, flogged and exiled to several fortresses in Anatolia, and wrote letters to encourage monks. Released under Michael II, he did not return to Stoudios but lived in retirement near Constantinople and on the Princes' Islands, and he died on 11 November 826, according to most accounts on the island of Prinkipo. His feast day is 11 November (12 November in some Western calendars).
Works and witness
- Abbot of Sakkoudion and then Stoudios
- Reformed monastic life around communal living and work
- Made Stoudios a centre of learning with a library and scriptorium
- Exiled several times under different emperors
- Led resistance to Leo V's iconoclast policy
Saints from the same country
References
- Theodore the Studite, Letters, ed. Georgios Fatouros (Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae, 1992)
- Roman Martyrology (11 November)
- Rule and Testament of Theodore the Studite
- Benedict XVI, general audience of 27 May 2009 (vatican.va)
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.