New Advent
 Home   Encyclopedia   Summa   Fathers   Bible   Library 
 A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 
New Advent
Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > T > Theodorus Lector

Theodorus Lector

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

A lector attached to the Church of St. Sophia of Constantinople in the early part of the sixth century. At the request of a friend he compiled in four books his "Historia Tripartita", an epitome of the historians Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, made up of excerpts from them. An imperfect copy of this work exists in manuscript but it has never been published; Valesius used it, attaching perhaps too much importance to the readings he found in it, in his edition of the above-mentioned historians. Theodorus also composed a history in two books which carried the narrative of the "Hist. Trip." from the death of Theodosius II up to the times of Justin I. This work is unfortunately lost, but two long series of excerpts are preserved usually bearing the title Apo phones Nikephorou Kallistou which, however, is spurious (De Boor, "Zeitschrift f. Kirchengesch.", VI, 489; Preuschen in "Realenencyk. f. Prot. Theol.", s.v.); quotations also are found in the writings of St. John of Damascus and the Acts of the Seventh General Council. The history owes its value to the scantiness of our information concerning the period it treats rather than its merits. It is full of marvelous stories. The only indications of the time when Theodore lived are the date at which his history ended and his speaking of the "holy memory" of Theodoret — he would hardly have done this after the "Three Chapters" controversy.

Sources

DE BOOR, op. cit.: (Leipzig, 1907); NOLTE in Tübingen Theol. Quart. (1861), 569 sq.; SARRAZIN, De Theod. Lectore. Theophanis proecipuo fonte in Comment. philol. Jenensis, I, 163 sqq.; BARDENHEWER-SHAHAN, Patrology (St. Louis, 1908), 552. The fragments of the History were published by VALESIUS and reprinted in P.G., LXXXVI. For additional excerpts to be found in the writings of NICETAS, and CHARTOPHYLAX OF NICAEA, see DIEKAMP in Hist. Jahrb., XXIV, 553 sq.

About this page

APA citation. Bacchus, F.J. (1912). Theodorus Lector. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14577b.htm

MLA citation. Bacchus, Francis Joseph. "Theodorus Lector." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14577b.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by John D. Beetham.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.

Copyright © 2023 by New Advent LLC. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

CONTACT US | ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT