Gregorios 38

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitM/L VIII
Dates754 (taq) / 787 (tpq)
PmbZ No.2405, 2444
Variant NamesGregorius
ReligionChristian;
Iconoclast;
Iconophile
LocationsConstantinople;
Neokaisareia (Pontus) (officeplace);
Hieria (Constantinople);
Neokaisareia (Pontus);
Nikaia
OccupationBishop
TitlesBishop, Neokaisareia (Pontus Polemoniacus) (office)
Textual SourcesNikaia, Second Council of (Seventh Ecumenical Council, a. 787) (Mansi XII-XIII) (conciliar)
Seal SourcesLaurent, V., Le corpus des sceaux de l'empire byzatin, V, 1-3, L'église (Paris, 1963-72); II, L'administration centrale (Paris, 1981);
Schlumberger, G., "Sceaux byzantins inédits", RN 20 (1916), pp. 32-45

Gregorios 38 was bishop of Neokaisareia in Pontus Polemoniacus; in 787 he attended the Second Council of Nikaia (the Seventh Ecumenical Council). Apparently he had previously attended the iconoclast council of Hieria in 754; see below. Formerly an iconoclast, he was brought before the second session of the Council of Nikaia on 26 September 787, and under questioning from the patriarch Tarasios 1 confessed his errors and asked for forgiveness; it was decided that he should read a statement at the next session and a decision about his readmission would then be made: Mansi XII 1051-1054 (styled Γρηγόριος ὁ εὐλαβέστατος ἐπίσκοπος Νεοκαισαρείας or similar).

At the start of the third session Gregorios 38 was brought in to read his statement, which was identical with those read by others at the first session; he was questioned about his role in the persecution of iconophiles and denied ever using violence against them (cf. Theodoros 70), in Constantinople or in his own see; his leading role in convening the iconoclast council was also raised, but the Council decided that this was not grounds for refusing to allow him to resume his see and he and other repentant bishops were allowed to take their seats at the Council: Mansi XII 1114-1119. Later at this session he accepted as orthodox the statement of the faith contained in the letter read out from the eastern patriarchs and he anathematised iconoclasts: Mansi XII 1151 (Γρηγόριος ὁ ὁσιώτατος ἐπίσκοπος Νεοκαισαρείας). He is also attested at the fourth and seventh sessions, on 1 October and 13 October 787; he was probably present at the last six sessions, from 28 September to 23 November 787: Mansi XIII 136-486 (see below). In the lists of those present at the seventh session he is styled Γρηγορίου ἐπισκόπου Νεοκαισαρείας: Mansi XIII 365. Elsewhere he is styled Γρηγόριος ἐλάχιστος ἐπίσκοπος Νεοκαισαρείας or similar: Mansi XIII 37 (which has ὁσιώτατος not ἐλάχιστος), XIII 136, XIII 173, XIII 188, XIII 208 (which has Γρηγόριος θεοφιλέστατος ἐπίσκοπος Νεοκαισαρείας), XIII 381. At the fourth session he and Theodosios, bishop of Amorion, (Theodosios 14) revealed in response to a question from Tarasios 1 that the documents produced at the iconoclast council were not complete texts but pages (pittakia) and he admitted that they had been foolish not to insist on seeing the complete texts (cf. Euthymios 1): Mansi XIII 37. Later he subscribed the statements read out from the Fathers in support of the veneration of icons: Mansi XIII 136. At the fifth session he said that the passage about Lykomedes read out to the council from the so-called Itineraries of the Apostles had been cited in evidence against icons at the iconoclast council; he also admitted, to a question from Petronas 4, that the book itself had not been used but only forged extracts from it which had deceived them (διὰ ψευδοπιττακίων ἐξηπάτων ἡμᾶς): Mansi XIII 173. He read out a second copy of a scholion justifying the veneration of icons, similar to one deleted by iconoclasts: Mansi XIII 188. At the sixth session he read out passages from the statement of faith adopted by the iconoclast council, while Ioannes 139 and others read the relevant parts of its refutation: Mansi XIII 208-356. At the seventh session he subscribed the statement of the faith adopted by the Council: Mansi XIII 381. He is listed among the metropolitan bishops; his see is therefore Neokaisareia in Pontus, not Neokaisareia in Bithynia.

Gregorios 38 is probably identical with the metropolitan bishop of Neokaisareia, owner of a seal dateable to the eighth century: Laurent, Corpus V 1, no. 487 (= Schlumberger, "Sceaux" IV, p. 35, no. 304). Obv.: invocative monogram of Θεοτόκε βοήθει with the legend [Γρη]γορίῳ. Rev.: + - μητρο - πολιτῃ [Ν] - εω(και)σ[α]ρ - ιας. The letters και of the place name are represented on this seal by the customary abbreviation for the word καὶ.

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