Theophilos 15 | Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire |
| Sex | M |
| Floruit | E IX |
| Dates | 824 (taq) / 829 (tpq) |
| Religion | Christian; Iconophile |
| Locations | Ephesos; Ephesos (officeplace); Constantinople |
| Occupation | Bishop |
| Titles | Archbishop, Ephesos (office) |
| Textual Sources | Gouillard, J., "Le Synodikon de l'orthodoxie", TM 2 (1967), pp. 45-107 (liturgical); Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, Propylaeum ad AASS Novembris, ed. H. Delehaye, (Brussels, 1902) (hagiography); Theodorus Studita, Epistulae, ed. G. Fatouros, CFHB 31.1-2 (Berlin/New York, 1992) (letters); Vita Euthymii Episcopi Sardis (BHG 2145), ed. J. Gouillard, "La Vie d' Euthyme de Sardes (ob. 831), une oeuvre du patriarche Méthode", TM 10 (1987), pp. 21-89 (hagiography); Vita Nicetae Hegoumeni Medicii, Auctore Theostericto (BHG 1341), AASS April I, Appendix, pp. xviii-xxviii (hagiography) |
| Seal Sources | Dumbarton Oaks, A Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, eds., J. Nesbitt and N. Oikonomides (Washington, DC, 1991-); Laurent, V., Le corpus des sceaux de l'empire byzatin, V, 1-3, L'église (Paris, 1963-72); II, L'administration centrale (Paris, 1981); Zacos, G. and Veglery, A., Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. I (in 3 parts) (Basel, 1972). |
Theophilos 15 was the archbishop of Ephesos; he was the addressee of three letters from Theodoros 15 (Theodore the Stoudite), all written while Theophilos 15 was in exile during the reign of Leo V (Leo 15) as a supporter of the veneration of icons: Theod. Stud., Ep. 385 (c. 816), 414 (c. 816), 455 (a. 815/821) (all addressed Θεοφίλῳ τῆς Ἐφέσου). Theophilos 15 is styled πατροπάτορ or πρωτοπάτορ by Theodoros 15 (and was therefore presumably the older man): Theod. Stud., Ep. 414. Theophilos 15 wrote a letter to the Stoudite monk, Athanasios 19, in which he favoured the execution of Manichees; Theodoros 15 read the letter and wrote a reply: Theod. Stud., Ep. 455. Theophilos 15 was the archbishop of Ephesos in 824; in that year Theophilos 15 and the archbishop of Thessalonike, Ioseph 3, performed together the funeral ceremony for Niketas of Medikion (Niketas 43) (who died at Constantinople on 3 April): Vita Nicetae Medicii 48 (παρεγένοντο δὲ καὶ ἀρχιεπίσκοποι, ὁ τε ἁγιώτατος Θεόφιλος τῆς Ἐφέσου ...).
Under the emperor Theophilos 5 Theophilos 15 fled into hiding; his charitable activities caused his downfall (τὸν ὁμώνυμον καὶ τρισόσιον Θεόφιλον ἐφυγάδευσεν (sc. the emperor Theophilos 5) ἐπὶ αἰτίᾳ πτωχοτροφίας ἀναιρεθῆναι ζητούμενον): Methodius, Vita Euthym. Sard. 12 (archiepiskopos of Ephesos - δυσὶν ἑτέροις ἰσοταγέσιν ἀρχιεπισκόποις τοῖς πάνυ, Θεοφίλῳ φημὶ τῷ τῆς Ἐφέσου ...). The date was in or before 833, when the bishop of Ephesos was Markos 7.
Owner of two seals, iconic in character, dateable either to the late eighth century or the early ninth or to the mid ninth (after the restoration of icon veneration): DOSeals III 14.8 = Zacos and Veglery 1350a and b = Laurent, Corpus V 3, no. 1690A. Obv.: circular inscription reading: ἅγιε Ἰωάννη βοήθει, with bust of St John Theologos, bearded, facing, left hand holding Gospels, right hand raised in benediction. Rev.: Θεοφι - λω αρχιε - πισκοπω - Εφεσου. On possible identifictions and date, see Nesbitt and Oikonomides, DO Seals III, p. 33, note.
Theophilos 15 is included among the confessors and archbishops acclaimed for their support of icons in the Synodikon of Orthodoxy: Gouillard, "Synodikon", p. 53, line 121.
The day of Theophilos 15's death was 25 September: Synax. Eccl. Const., 77.
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