Methodius
(Μεθόδιος).
1. Surnamed the Apostle of Bohemia, enjoys great reputation in the history of the church as well as of the fine arts.
He lived in the ninth century of our era, was a native of Thessalonica, and went to Constantinople, where he entered a convent of the order of St. Basilius Cyrillus. For some time he lived in Rome, and devoted himself to painting, in which he rose to such celebrity that, after his return to Constantinople, he received an invitation from Bogoris, king of Bulgaria, to repair to his court at Nicopolis. The king being fond of pictures representing battles and the like bloody subjects, requested him to execute something more terrible for him than he had ever seen before; and upon this suggestion, Methodius painted the Last Judgment with such effect, that Bogoris, whose mind had already a turn for the Christian religion, entreated the skilful monk to baptize him forthwith, and thus enable him to find pardon with God on the day of the last judgment. This was exactly what Methodius had in view when he chose that subject. The conversion of the king was followed by that of the army; and in a short time the whole nation adopted the Christian religion. At that period Christianity was daily losing ground in Asia, where the influence of Mohammedanism became overwhelming; but the losses in the South were more than balanced by the victories of the Cross in the North, obtained through the noble zeal of the Greek clergy, among whom our Methodius and (his brother?) Cyrillus, were then the most luminous stars. Shortly after the conversion of the Bulgarians, which took place in 853 and the following years (perhaps only in 861), Methodius was sent into the countries north of the Danube, where he displayed the greatest activity among the Slavonian population of Pannonia and the adjacent countries: he resided there in the quality of archbishop of Pannonia, and he repaired thither as early as 859, or at least not later than 863. He is said to have assisted Cyrillus in inventing the Slavonian alphabet, which is the parent of the present Russian and Servian alphabets; and he was active in translating the whole of the Bible and several liturgical books into the Slavonian languages. In 878 he was summoned by pope John VIII. to come to Rome, and to show cause why he should not be punished for having translated the mass into Slavonian, and introduced it in that form into the churches of his diocese; but it appears he did not obey the summons. About 890 Methodius converted duke Borziwoi of Bohemia, who soon afterwards became king of Magna Moravia, to the Christian religion; and now all the Bohemians and Moravians, many millions in number, submitted likewise to the rite of baptism. There are, however, doubts as to the conversion of Bohemia by Methodius, respecting which the reader will find more information in the sources quoted below. The time of the death of Methodius is not exactly known, but thus much is certain, that he died after 893, and perhaps in the beginning of the tenth century, at a very advanced age. In later years he was canonised. The Greeks and Slavonians celebrate him on the 11th of May; but in the Martyrologium the day is the 9th of March. As to his proficiency in painting, Le Beau (Hist. du Bas Empire, vol. xiv. p. 362) calls him the most eminent painter of his time. It is, however, well known that his contemporaries, Modalulph in France, Tutilo in Germany, and Lazarus in Constantinople, enjoyed also a first-rate reputation as painters. Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. p. 272; Cedren. p. 489, &c.; Simeon Metaphr. Annal. p. 412, &c.; Zonar. vol. ii. p. 135, &c., in the Paris edition; Bolland, Vitae Cyrilli et Methodii; J. G. Stredowsky, Vita Method. in Sacra Moraviae Hist. Sulzbach, 1710, 4to.; Chr. Sam. Schmidt, Ward das Christenthum in Böhmen von Methud (Methodius), &c. eingeführt ? Leipzig, 1789, 8vo.
2. Confessor, patriarch of Constantinople, was called Ὁμολογέτα, or Confessor, on account of his firm adherence to the worship of images. He was a native of Syracuse, where he was born towards the close of the eighth century of our era, but went to Constantinople and took holy orders, after giving his property to the church and the poor. For some time he lived in a convent in the island of Chios. The severe measures of the emperor Leo Armenus induced him to take refuge among the orthodox in Rome, but he returned to Greece after the death of Leo, in 820. Shortly afterwards he was sent by Nicephorus, patriarch of Constantinople, as ambassador to pope Pashalis, who entrusted him with a letter to Michael, in order to persuade the emperor to behave less harshly against the orthodox. For this service poor Methodius paid very dearly. Michael, offended by the pope's letter, ordered seven hundred lashes to be inflicted upon the back of Methodius, who, half dead, was thrown into an awful dungeon in one of the islands of the Propontis, where he would have perished from want of food had not a poor fisherman accidentally discovered him, and kept him alive by occasional supplies of bread and fish. He remained there several years; but being a man of great talents and acknowledged skill in administrative affairs, he was recalled by Theophilus, son and successor of Michael, who gave him suitable apartments in his own palace. In a short time Methodius obtained great influence at the court; but his orthodox principle caused him a second flogging and a second imprisonment in his former dungeon. Again released, he returned to Constantinople and was compelled to accompany Theophilus in his campaigns against the Arabs, the emperor being in want of his talents, although he did not trust him sufficiently to leave him in the capital. His life, however, was far from being agreeable, several plots having been made to ruin him: among other charges brought forth against him was that of having committed fornication with a reputed courtisan, who declared she was pregnant by the pious bishop; but Methodius cleared himself of this imputed misdemeanour. Theophilus died in 842. He was succeeded by his widow, Theodora, who reigned for her infant son, Michael III.; and being a professed friend of images, she bestowed her powerful protection upon Methodius, and caused him to be chosen patriarch of Constantinople in the very year of his accession (842). This high office Methodius held till his death, on the 14th of June, 846, displaying constantly the greatest activity in suppressing the iconoclasts, and restoring the worship of images. Works
Methodius was a very learned man, and wrote a considerable number of works on divinity, of which several have come down to us, and have been found well worthy of publication. The most important are:-- 1. Encomium S. Dionysii Areopagitae.
The question whether, in composing this work, Methodius was guilty of plagiarism by stealing from the monk Hilduinus, who wrote on the same subject, caused a literary feud, which is largely discussed in Fabricius, to whom we refer the reader. Editions
The Greek text, Florence, 1516, 8vo.; Paris, 1562, 8vo.; Graece et Latine, in the second volume of " Opera S. Dionysii Areop.," Antwerp, 1634, fol. 2. Oratio in eos qui dicunt : Quid profuit Filus Dei Crucifixus ?. Editions
Graece et Latine, by Gretserus, in the second volume of his work, De Cruce. 3. De Cruce, De Occursu Simeonis et Annae in Templo, et de Deipara and 4. In Ramos Palnarum
two orations. Editions
Graece et Latine, in Combéfis's edition of the works of Methodius Patarensis, Paris, 1644, fol. 5. Encomium S. Agathae Virginis et Martyris Editions
a Latin version in Combéfis's Bibl. Pair.; the text, incomplete, with a Latin version, in Leo Allatius, Diatriba de Methodiis. 6. Canones Poenitentiales, &c. Editions
published with a Latin version by Gentianus Herretus. 7. Constitutio de iis qui diverso Modo, &c., ad fidem Christianam revertantur Editions
Graece et Latine, with notes, by Jac. Goar in Eucholog. Graecor. 8. Tres versus Iambici ad Theodorum et Theophanem graptos, tribus illis quos ad ipsum mriserant Responsorii Editions
in Lambecii Commentarii ad Calcem Const. Manassae Editions
Also ad Calcem Const. Manassae in the Paris edition. Further Information
Leo Allatius, Diatriba de Methodiis; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. p. 273; Cave, Hist. Lit. p. 451, &c., ed. Geneva; Baronius, Annal. ad annum 842; Theophan. Contin. 2.8, 3.24, 4.3, 6, 10; Simeon Metaphrasta, Theophil.100.23, Michael et Theodora, 100.3; Georg. Monach. Michael et Theodora, 100.1.
3. Patriarch of Constantinople in 1240, is probably the author of De Revelatione, which some attribute to Methodius Patarensis. [See No. 6.] The Greek text, with a Latin version, is contained in the first volume of the Graecia Orthodoxa, as well as in some of the Biblioth. Patr. He also wrote Acnigmata, in iambic tristichons, extant in MS. (Fabric. Bibl. Gracec. vol. vii. p. 275; Cave, p. 662, ed. Geneva.)
4. Eubulius or Eubulus. [No. 6.]
5. Monachus, lived in Constantinople during the middle and latter part of the thirteenth century. About this time the Byzantine capital was much disturbed by the coincident election of Josephus and Arsenius to the patriarchal see of Constantinople, each of them being proclaimed by his partisans as the sole legitimate patriarch. Works Συλλογὴ συνοπτική, Sylloga Compendiosa
On the coincident election of Josephus and Arsenius to the patriarchal see of Constantinople Methodius wrote a valuable treatise, entitled Συλλογὴ συνοπτική, Sylloga Compendiosa, showing that orthodox people ought not to secede from their spiritual leaders even in case their predecessor had been illegally deposed. Editions
It was published by Leo Allatius in his Diatriba de Methodiis, with a Latin translation.M. Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. p. 275; Cave, Hist. Lit. p. 642, ed. Geneva.
6. Surnamed Patarensis, and sometimes, Eubulus or Eubulius, lived in the third, and died in the beginning of the fourth century of our era. He held successively the sees of Olympus and Patara in Lycia (whence Patarensis) and Tyrus in Phoenicia. He was a Christian; and Suidas says that he died the death of a martyr, at Chalcis Ἀνατολῆς (one of the two Chalcis in Syria), during the reign of Decius (A. D. 249-251) and Valerianus. The addition of the latter name seems to be spurious, since Valerian did not reign with, but after Decius. However the original text of Suidas may be, he was wrong with regard to the time assigned by him to the death of Methodius; for there seems to be no doubt that this divine was a contemporary of Porphyry, and perhaps outlived him; and if he therefore died during one of the later persecutions of the Christians, as is asserted, it might have been in 303, as Cave thinks, or in 311, according to Fabricius. Methodius was a man of great learning and exemplary piety, who enjoyed the general esteem of his contemporaries. Works
He wrote several works, the principal of which are:-- 1. Περὶ Ἀναστάσεωος, De Resurrectione
against Origen, which was divided into two or perhaps three parts. Editions
Fragments of it are given by Epiphanius in his Panarium; in Photius, Bibliotheca; a few are contained in the works of Damascenus. 2. Περὶ τῶν γενετῶν, De Creatis
in Photius. 3. Περὶ Αὐτεξουσίον καὶ πόθεν τὰ κακὰ, De Libro Arbitrio. Editions
Leo Allatius had the complete text with a Latin version but the work, as contained in the edition of Methodius by Combéfis, is not quite complete. 4. Περὶ τῆς ἀγγελομιμήτου παρθενείας καὶ ἁγνείας, De Angelica Virginitate et Castitate,
written in the form of a dialogue. Editions
Leo Allatius published this work, Gr. et Lat., in his Diatriba de Methodiis, at Rome, 1656, 8vo. and dedicated it to Pope Alexander VII.
At the same time Petrus Possinus obtained the Greek text of this work from Lucas Holsten, at Rome; and having prepared a copy for the press, sent it, together with a Latin version, to Paris, where it was published in the following year, 1657, fol. Possinus, strangely enough, dedicated his edition to the same pope, not knowing that Leo Allatius was doing, or had just done, the same thing; nor was Allatius at all aware of Possinus being engaged in the same work at the same time as he was. It is also contained in Combéfis, Auctuar. Biblioth. Patr. Paris, 1672. Photius, quoted below, says that the work had been adulterated, and contained especially several passages tending to Arianism, of which no trace is to be found in the later editions, so that his MS. was decidedly different from those perused by Allatius and Possinus. 5. Oratio de Simeone et Anna, seu In Festum Occursus et Purificationis B. Mariae
This work is said to be the production of a later Methodius, but Allatius vindicates the authorship of Methodius Patarensis Editions
ed. Petrus Plantinus, Antwerp, 1598. 6. Λόγος περὶ Μαρτύρων, Sermo de Martyribus.
7. Εἰς τὰ Bai+/a, In Ramos PalmarumAn oration, of which Photius has extracts. The authorship of Methodius is doubtful. 8. Libri adversus Porphyrium
of which there are fragments in Damascenus. 9. De Pythonissa contra Origenem
lost. 10. Commentarii in Cantica Canticorum, fragments.
11. Ξένων.lost, &c. De Revelatione
This Methodius is said to have written a work, De Revelatione, which, however, is more justly attributed to a later Methodius. [No. 3.] Editions
The principal works of Methodius, viz., De Libro Arbitro, De Resurrectione, De Angelica Virginitate et Castitate, two homilies, and the extracts given by Photius were published by Combefis, Graece et Latine, cum notis, Paris, 1644, fol., together with the works of Amphilochus and Andreas Cretensis. Phot. Bibl. 234. 235, 236, 237; Cave, Hist. Lit, p. 96, sc. ed. Geneva; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. p. 260, &c. Further Information
This Methodius stands in the index to Fabricius as Methodius Patarensis, which is correct; but the passage where the reader finds most information on him (vol. vii. p. 260, &c.) is omitted. (Hankius, Script. Byzant.) [W.P]