The family of Ioannes 453 was wealthy (ὕπαρξις γονέων) and noble, and he once held a high office in the state before building a rich monastery with help from his relatives (ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἦρξας ἐν βασιλικοῖς πράγμασιν, ὀψώνια καὶ σιτηρέσια οὐκ ὀλίγα λαβών, καθότι καὶ ἐξ εὐγενῶν ἒφυς καὶ ἐκ συγγενῶν συνεκροτήθης καὶ πολυούσιον ἐτεκτήνω ἀσκητήριον): Theod. Stud., Ep. 268, cf. Ep. 76 (on the splendour of his monastery - καλὸν τὸ μοναστήριον ὃ συνεστήσω δὶα πολλῶν κόπων καὶ ἱδρώτων καὶ τῶν κύκλωθεν νήσων ὑπερλάμπον τῇ τε θέσει τοῦ τόπου καὶ οὐκ ὀλίγοις ἑτέροις γνωρίσμασιν). Ioannes 453 was the hegoumenos of the monastery of Chalkiton (on the island of Chalke) and the addressee of six letters from Theodoros 15 (Theodore the Stoudite), written in 816, 817 and 818 when he had been exiled as a supporter of the veneration of icons and was suffering persecution from the iconoclasts under Leo V (Leo 15); Ioannes 453 and Theodoros 15 exchanged correspondence when they could: Theod. Stud., Ep. 76 (c. 816; addressed Ἰωάννῃ ἡγουμένῳ Χαλκίτου), Epp. 197 (late 816/early 817), 268 (early 817), 298 (?c. 818), 318 (?c. 818), 320 (c. 818) (all addressed Ἰωάννῃ ἡγουμένῳ). He was separated from his monastery and his monks: Theod. Stud., Epp. 76, 268. According to Theodoros 15 his current stance made amends for his former conduct (μὴ ταῖς πρότερον συμβάσεσι μειούμενον ἀλλὰ ταῖς μετέπειτα ἐκλάμψεσι φρυκτωρούμενον): Theod. Stud., Ep. 197. He had perhaps acted as custodian of Theodoros 15 when the latter was in exile in Chalke over the Moechian issue in 809/811: Theod. Stud., Ep. 43, line 94 (c. 809/811; possibly identical with ὁ φυλακίτης μου who conveyed to Theodoros 15 a message from the patriarch of Constantinople) and cf. Fatouros, p. 189*, n. 165. He is styled ἡ ἁγιωσύνη σου, Theod. Stud., Epp. 76, 268, 298; ἡ ὁσιότης σου, Epp. 298, 318; and ἡ τιμιότης σου, Ep. 76. He is addressed as ὦ καλὲ ἀδελφέ, μᾶλλον δέ μοι πατέρων ποθεινότατε and ὦ φιλότης, Theod. Stud., Ep. 76; as πατὲρ τιμιώτατε or similar, Ep. 268; as τὸν ἐμὸν πατέρα καὶ ὁμολογητὴν Χριστοῦ and ὦ μάκαρ, Ep. 318; and is referred to as πατρὸς ἐμοῦ ὁμοῦ μὲν ἀγαπητοῦ, ὁμοῦ δὲ ὁμολογητοῦ, Ep. 320. He was still hegoumenos of Chalkiton in 826, when his death occurred shortly before that of Michael 6 of Synnada (May 23): Theod. Stud., Ep. 542 (Ἰωάννης ὁ τῆς Χαλκίτου καθηγητής), Catech. Parva 13 (unnamed hegoumenos of Chalkiton, whose recent death inspired one of Theodoros 15's sermons; Theodoros 15 was present at his deathbed and cited his last words). Possibly identical with the unnamed hegoumenos of Chalke who had to vacate his monastery with his monks when the former empress Theodosia 1 was banished there (in c. 821): Theod. Stud., Ep. 538, cf. Fatouros, p. 477*, n. 932.

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