Monks and State: St Theodore the Studite and his Relations to the State and Church Authorities in Byzantium

Alexey Stambolov
PhD Candidate, Sofia University

Abstract: Theodore the Studite (759-826) was a major personality in late eight and early ninth-century Byzantium and is commemorated in both East and West as a saint. He was exiled by three emperors for his refusal to yield to what for him were major matters of Church doctrine and practice. Particularly interesting are his relationship with and attitude toward the secular and ecclesiastical authorities. This article aims to prove that the difficult relations he had with most of his contemporary emperors and Patriarchs were due not to his “highly contentious personality,” but to his zeal for independent ecclesiastical policy “able to resist imperial coercion.”