Oscar PRIETO DOMNGUEZ

SAINT THEOKLETO: A FEMALE ICONOCLAST SAINT*

The Synaxarion of Constantinople still shows some grey areas and

passages of difficult interpretation1. One of these notices deserves special
attention, since the saint commemorated is one of the few examples of a
holy woman in iconoclast times who, moreover, was not an image-wor-
shipper. This was St Theokleto the Wonder Worker2, about whom we
have only the limited data provided by a brief entry in the Synaxarion on
August 21. As this is our single source of information about her person-
ality and cult, it is worth pausing to analyze the extant text3:
. -
,

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,

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*
This article has benefited from the National Programme for Human Resources Juan de
la Cierva, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
1
On its compilation procedure and chronology see A. LUZZI, Synaxaria and the Sy-
naxarion of Constantinople, in The Ashgate Research Companion to Byzantine Hagiography.
Vol. II: Genres and Contexts, ed. St. EFTHYMIADIS, Farnham, 2014, p. 197-208.
2
On her life see AASS, Aug. t. 4, Antwerp, 1739, p. 449; Prosopographie der mittel-
byzantinischen Zeit (henceforth PmbZ), Berlin New York, 1998-2013, # 8020; R. JANIN,
Teocleta, in Bibliotheca sanctorum, vol. 12, Rome, 1969, col. 203-204.
3
Synax. CP, col. 914, 3-34. We find the same text in the edition by C. DOUKAKES, Megas
Synaxaristes, vol. 8, ed. A. KOLLARAKES N. TRIANTAFYLLOU, Athens, 1894, p. 49-50. A Mod-
ern Greek translation is available in Nicodemus the Hagiorite,
, Thessaloniki, 2005, vol. III, August 3, and in D. G. TSAMES, ,
, -
, Thessaloniki, vol. 4, 1996, p. 190-191.

Analecta Bollandiana, 134 (2016), p. 000-000.

2 O. PRIETO DOMNGUEZ

.
On the same day the memory of the holy Theokleto the Thaumaturge <is
celebrated>. She lived during the reign of Theophilos the foe of Christ and
concerning her fatherland and lineage she descended from the theme of the
Optimatoi since her ancestors. Her parents were Constantine and Anastasia.
From childhood she was educated in a way pleasing to God in order to be on her
guard. Then she was forced to join a husband of like manners and life, called
Zachary by name, giving thereafter countless and innumerable alms. Devoting
herself to the study of the word of God, she easily sought everything good, car-
rying out the counsels of the Scriptures, for she used to work during the whole
day and help in their needs the beggars who came and all those who were at
home. And when the time of her death arrived, after having invited her acquaint-
ances to it, she foretold the day of her dormition and what would be performed
on that day. It is impossible for me to commit to writing with conciseness the
wonders performed after her dormition, as I would like. However, I need add to
the narrative just one wonder that is not possible for me to omit, even if I wanted
to, since the greatness of the deed prevents me from neglecting it. On each anni-
versary the relatives of the blessed, after having raised up the most holy corpse,
change the garments she wears, dress her in new ones, comb her head hair, which
is white, and cut her fingernails and toenails. Then they say the trisagion and
deposit the honorable corpse of our mother, for it is uncorrupted.
As we can see, Theokletos cult was an intriguing one and it is a
shame that this brief entry is not much more extensive and detailed.
Nevertheless, further knowledge of her sanctity and cult can be gained by
means of a comparative study with other cults in honour of pious women4
which were also established in the 9th century. For example, a series of
provincial cults of married female saints arrived in Constantinople, such

4
On female cults in Byzantium see E. PATLAGEAN, Lhistoire de la femme dguise en
moine et lvolution de la saintet feminine Byzance, in Studi Medievali, 3a serie, 17 (1976),
p. 617-623 (reprinted in Structure sociale, famille, chrtient Byzance. IVe-XIe sicle, London,
1981, chap. XI); A. WILSON, Female Sanctity in the Greek Calendar: The Synaxarion of Con-
stantinople, in Women in Antiquity: New Assessments, ed. R. HAWLEY B. LEVICK, London
New York, 1995, p. 233-247; V. BURRUS, Life after Death: The Martyrdom of Gorgonia and
the Birth of Female Hagiography, in Gregory of Nazianzus: Images and Reflections, ed. J.
BRTNES T. HGG, Copenhagen, 2006, p. 153-170. On the situation of women during the
iconoclastic period and their models of sanctity see A. P. KAZHDAN A. M. TALBOT, Women
and Iconoclasm, in Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 84/85 (1991-1992), p. 391-408 (reprinted in A. M.
TALBOT, Women and Religious Life in Byzantium [= Variorum Collected Studies Series, CS 733],
Aldershot, 2001, chap. III); R. F. TAFT, Women at Church in Byzantium: Where, When and
Why ?, in Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 52 (1998), p. 27-87, here p. 73-74; J. HERRIN, Changing
Functions of Monasteries for Women during Byzantine Iconoclasm, in Byzantine Women: Va-
rieties of Experience, 800-1200, ed. L. GARLAND (= Publications for the Centre for Hellenic
Studies, Kings College London, 8), Aldershot, 2006, p. 1-15.
 ST THEOKLETO: A FEMALE ICONOCLAST SAINT 3

as Theoktiste, the mother of Theodore Studite5, Athanasia of Aegina6,

Theodora of Thessaloniki7, Thomas of Lesbos8 and Mary the Younger of
Bizye9, for whom we have a full-length Vita (accessible in an English
translation10), even if most of them did not have an entry in the synaxaria
or menologia. Theokleto was also a married woman of provincial origins,
whose cult either reached the capital of the Empire or, more likely, arose
there. The Synaxarion notice provides no specific data on the dates of her
birth or death. No mention is made of the monastery where the liturgy in
Theokletos honour was celebrated, but her relatives (
) are referred to as being responsible for the worship of the saint.
This evidence strongly indicates that it was a family cult11. Another fact
5
Theodore Studite, Laudatio Theoctistae (BHG 2422), ed. St. EFTHYMIADIS J. M.
FEATHERSTONE, Establishing a Holy Lineage: Theodore the Stoudites Funerary Catechism for
his Mother (BHG 2422), in Theatron: rhetorische Kultur in Sptantike und Mittelalter, ed. M.
GRNBART (= Millennium-Studien, 13), Berlin, 2007, p. 13-51; A. PIGNANI, Teodoro Studita.
Catechesi-epitafio per la madre (= Hellenica et Byzantina Neapolitana, 22), Napoli, 2007.
6
Vita Athanasiae Aeginae (BHG 180), ed. L. CARRAS, The Life of St Athanasia of Aegina.
A Critical Edition with Introduction, in Maistor: Classical, Byzantine and Renaissance Studies
for Robert Browning, ed. A. MOFFATT (= Byzantina Australiensia, 5), Canberra, 1984, p. 199-
224. See Synax CP, col. 611/614 (April 18).
7
In this case, we have more than just one Vita (BHG 1737-1741). The main one has been
edited by S. A. PASCHALIDIS, . -
(, ,
, ) (= . , 1), Thes-
saloniki, 1991, with modern Greek translation.
8
Vita Thomadis Lesbiae (BHG 2454), in AASS, Nov. t. 4, Brussels, 1925, p. 234-242.
See Synax CP, col. 367/368, 39-41 (January 3); G. DA COSTA-LOUILLET, Saints de Constan-
tinople aux VIIIe, IXe et Xe sicles, in Byzantion, 27 (1957), p. 836-839; A. LAIOU,
: , in
, ed. Ch. MALTEZOU (= National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute for
Byzantine Research. International Symposium, 1), Athens, 1989, p. 237-251; A.-M. TALBOT,
Byzantine Women, Saints Lives, and Social Welfare, in Through the Eye of a Needle: Judeo-
Christian Roots of Social Welfare, ed. E. A. HANAWALT C. LINDBERG, Kirksville [Mo], 1994,
p. 105-122. On the Constantinopolitan church where her cult was established, see Russian
Travelers to Constantinople in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, ed. G. P. MAJESKA
(= Dumbarton Oaks Studies, 19), Washington, 1984, p. 321-325.
9
Vita Mariae iunioris (BHG 1164), in AASS, Nov. t. 4, Brussels, 1925, p. 692-705. On
the new church in her honour see C. MANGO, The Byzantine Church at Vize (Bizye) in Thrace
and St. Mary the Younger, in Zbornik Radova Vizantolokog Instituta, 11 (1968), p. 9-13. See
also P. PEETERS, Une sainte armnienne oublie: sainte Marie la Jeune ( 902-903), in ID.,
Recherches dhistoire et de philologie orientales (= Subs. hag., 27), t. 1, Brussels, 1951, p. 129-
135; R. M. BARTIKJAN, Razmylenija o itii sv. Marii Novoj, in Blgarsko Srednovekovie.
Blgaro-svetski sbornik v est na 70-godininata na prof. Ivan Dujev, Sofia, 1980, p. 62-64.
10
A.-M. TALBOT, Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten Saints Lives in English Translation
(= Byzantine Saints Lives in Translation, 1), Washington, 1996, p. 137-158; p. 159-237; p. 291-
322 and p. 239-289 respectively.
11
As was the contemporaneous cult in honour of Theodora of Thessaloniki, much more
4 O. PRIETO DOMNGUEZ

providing telling evidence in this regard is the flexibility in celebrating her

memory. According to the Synax CP, her feastday was August 21, al-
though the apparatus criticus notes that Theokleto was variously celebrated
on August 20 and 2812. Thus we must conclude that it was not an official
cult, established in a monastery or supported by a religious community,
but a family tribute in memory of their saintly ancestor. As was the case
with the cults in honour of other contemporary women of piety, it was
usually their relatives that promoted their memory, whereas male saints
were generally venerated by their disciples, many times in their own mon-
astery, as was frequently the case of founders monks.
It is clear that Theokletos family cleansed her corpse annually,
prayed before it and promoted her cult, but unfortunately we do not know
much about her relatives other than the names of her parents (Constantine
and Anastasia13), her devout husband (Zachary14) and her origins (north-
western Asia Minor, theme of the Optimatoi). The families of contem-
porary female saints are well recorded: Theoktiste was born to an impor-
tant family, some of whose members (many of them being people of great
power and influence) retired to family properties in Bithynia and to the
monastery of Sakkoudion; Athanasia was born to a family of local no-
bility in Aegina; Theodora of Thessaloniki was the niece of St Antony,
bishop of Dyrrachium and metropolitan of Thessaloniki, famous for facing
the iconoclast emperor Leo V the Armenian15; and Mary the Younger hails
from Great Armenia and was married to Nikephoros, an important droun-
garios and the of Bizye16. However, the lack of data relating to

studied, see E. PATLAGEAN, Theodora de Thessalonique. Une sainte moniale et un culte citadin
(IXe-XXe sicle), in Culto dei santi, istituzioni e classi sociali in et preindustriale, ed. S.
BOESCH GAJANO L. SEBASTIANI (= Collana di studi storici, 1), LAquila Rome, 1984, p. 37-
67; A.-M. TALBOT, Family Cults in Byzantium: The Case of St Theodora of Thessalonike, in
. Studies Presented to Lennart Rydn on His Sixty-Fifth Birthday, ed. J. O. ROSENQVIST
(= Studia Byzantina Upsaliensia, 6), Uppsala, 1996, p. 49-69; M. KAPLAN, La Vie de Thodora
de Thessalonique, un crit familial, in Approaches to the Byzantine Family, ed. L. BRUBAKER
S. TOUGHER (= Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies, 14), Aldershot, 2013, p. 285-301.
12
Synax. CP, col. 909/910, 49 and col. 911/912, 46-48 (August 20); col. 929/930, 52
(August 28). Perhaps this is due in part to the difficulties her relatives had in getting together
yearly and their decision to pay homage to Theokleto on the nearest Sunday.
13
PmbZ, # 3947 and # 232.
14
PmbZ, # 8630.
15
After suffering for his faith in icons and becoming a Confessor, Antony was appointed
metropolitan of Thessaloniki in 843, when Leo the Mathematician was deposed, charged with
being an iconoclast, see S. A. PASCHALIDIS, -
( 844), in , 17 (1994), p. 189-216.
16
PmbZ, # 25558.
 ST THEOKLETO: A FEMALE ICONOCLAST SAINT 5

Theokletos relatives leads one to suspect that they were not among the
winners in the iconoclast controversy, namely those who restored the
images and their veneration. In this sense, it is significant that no mention
is made of Theokletos attitude toward icons in the Synax. CP and that her
cult was not supported by any nunnery or ecclesiastical group after the res-
toration of the icons.
Finally, a comparison with the other female saints of the period high-
lights the singularity of Theokleto: Athanasia of Aegina and Thomas of
Lesbos performed miracles during their lifetime, while Theokletos thau-
maturgy is posthumous. The relation between all the other holy married
women and the coenobitic life is very close: from her youth, Athanasia
yearned to take the monastic habit and she fullfilled this dream with the
acquiescence of her second husband; Theodora of Thessaloniki pursued a
monastic career as a widow for 55 years; Mary the Younger was assiduous
in her personal devotions and maintained an ascetic regimen at home;
under the influence of Theoktiste, the whole family took monastic vows
simultaneously17. Following their deaths, their relics were deposited in a
nunnery or church (Athanasia in her foundations, Theodora in St. Stephen,
Thomas in the monastery , Mary in the Church of Hagia
Sophia in Bizye, while Theoktistes holy commemoration was held within
the Stoudite federation), where each cult was launched. Although in their
Vitae no mention is made of their attitude toward icons18, there is no evi-
dence indicating that these married women were iconoclasts. Further-
more, these narratives strongly link the cults of these saints to the main
hagiographical trends of iconodule hagiography in the vein of Theodore of
Stoudios, such as the importance of cenobitic monasticism and asceticism
in order to achieve sanctity19. Thus we may assume that the type of clearly

17
On female asceticism within marriage see D. ABRAHAMSE, Womens Monasticism in
the Middle Byzantine Period: Problems and Prospects, in Byzantinische Forschungen, 9 (1985),
p. 35-58, here 53-54; S. CONSTANTINOU, Female Corporeal Performances. Reading the Body in
Byzantine Passions and Lives of Holy Women (= Studia Byzantina Upsaliensia, 9), Uppsala,
2005; A. P. ALWIS, Celibate Marriages in Late Antique and Byzantine Hagiography: The Lives
of Saints Julian and Basilissa, Andronikos and Athanasia, and Galaktion and Episteme,
London, 2011.
18
Maybe this is just a convention of post-iconoclast hagiography, given that Vitae in
honour of women present their saints in a different way from their masculine counterparts,
whose virtues are also different, see KAZHDAN TALBOT, Women and Iconoclasm (see above
n. 4), p. 394ff.; N. DELIERNEUX, The Literary Portrait of Byzantine Female Saints, in The
Ashgate Research Companion to Byzantine Hagiography (see above n. 1), p. 363-386.
19
A. KAZHDAN, Hermitic and Secular Ideas in Byzantine Hagiography of the Ninth
through the Twelfth Centuries, in Greek Orthodox Theological Review, 30 (1985), p. 473-487;
B. FLUSIN, Lhagiographie monastique Byzance au IXe et au Xe sicle. Modles anciens et
6 O. PRIETO DOMNGUEZ

iconodule sanctity of these holy women is different, and even opposed to,
that of Theokleto, more likely modelled on the basis of the non-iconodule
saints. If this is true, it would be illustrative to compare the information
we have about her with a representative example of this different type of
sanctity. The best known case is St Eudokimos ( ca. 842), for whom a
full-length Vita is preserved20.
Eudokimos21 was a native of Cappadocia who lived during the reign
of Emperor Theophilos. Having made a vow to remain unmarried and
chaste, Eudokimos used to speak only with his mother. During his mili-
tary career at court, the emperor appointed him governor of Charsianon in
Cappadocia after his important victories against the Arabs on the border.
In Charsianon he died at the age of 33. When his mother Eudokia came
from Constantinople to venerate his relics, it was revealed that the corpse
was untouched by decay. Those present dressed the saint in new clothes
and his mother decided to transfer the remains to the capital. There they
were placed in the church of the Theotokos, built by Eudokimos parents22.
His family, rich aristocrats from Asia Minor, promoted his cult success-
fully23. The fact that the Arab border was attended to at this very moment

tendances contemporaines, in Revue Bndictine, 103 (1993), p. 31-50. On Theodore see T.

PRATSCH, Theodoros Studites (759-826) zwischen Dogma und Pragma. Der Abt des Studios-
klosters in Konstantinopel im Spannungsfeld von Patriarch, Kaiser und eigenem Anspruch
(= Berliner Byzantinische Studien, 4), Bern, 1998; R. CHOLIJ, Theodore the Stoudite. The Or-
dering of Holiness (= Oxford Theological Monographs), Oxford, 2002.
20
Vita Eudocimi (BHG 607), ed. Ch. LOPAREV, , in
Pamjatniki drevnej pismennosti, 96 (1893), p. 1-23. See Synax CP, col. 857, 2-26 (July 31).
Later (13th cent.) is the encomium by Constantine Akropolites: Lloge de saint Eudocime par
Constantin Acropolite (BHG 606), ed. I. TAXIDIS, in Parekbolai, 3 (2013), p. 5-44. On the icono-
clast text that gave rise to the metaphrastic Life, see I. EVENKO, Hagiography of the Icono-
clast Period, in Iconoclasm, ed. A. A. BRYER J. HERRIN, Birmingham, 1977 (reprinted in I.
EVENKO, Ideology, Letters and Culture in the Byzantine World, London, 1982, chap. V), p.
113-131, here p. 116-117 and 127.
21
PmbZ, # 1640; DA COSTA-LOUILLET, Saints de Constantinople (see above n. 8), p.
783-788; I. THEODORAKOPOULOS, , in
The Heroes of the Orthodox Church. The New Saints, 8th-16th c., ed. E. KOUNTOURA-GALAKE
(= National Hellenic Research Foundation. Institute for Byzantine Research. International Sym-
posium, 15), Athens, 2004, p. 123-144.
22
R. JANIN, La gographie ecclsiastique de lempire byzantin. Premire partie: Le sige
de Constantinople et le patriarcat cumnique. Vol. III: Les glises et les monastres (= Pu-
blications de lInstitut franais dtudes byzantines), 2nd ed., Paris 1969, p. 177-178; Russian
Travelers, ed. MAJESKA (see above n. 8), p. 316-318.
23
S. MTIVIER, Aristocrate et saint: le cas dEudokimos, in Les rseaux familiaux. Anti-
quit tardive et Moyen ge. In memoriam A. Laiou et . Patlagean, ed. B. CASEAU (= Collge
de France CNRS. Centre de recherche dhistoire et civilisation de Byzance, Monographies,
37), Paris, 2012, p. 95-112.
 ST THEOKLETO: A FEMALE ICONOCLAST SAINT 7

and that the area achieved administrative emancipation as an autonomous

theme24 would appear to be no small coincidence. Quite the opposite, his
relatives wanted to give visibility to the sanctity of Eudokimos in Con-
stantinople in order to legitimate their positions in their home province,
where they had substantial interests25.
In the case of Theokleto, we do not know if her family had more than
religious reasons to promote her cult, but it is noteworthy that their type of
sanctity is almost the same. Although Eudokimos was a military saint and
Theokleto a housewife, both lived under Theophilos without defending
the veneration of images or suffering on account of their beliefs. As far as
we know, neither of them was related to any monastic community, but
died as laypeople. From the Synaxarion notice, we learn that Theokleto
stood out because of her great mercy in helping the poor in need (
[]

), just as Eudokimos was famous for his almsgiving
and for being devoted to serving his neighbour, since he was always per-
sonally committed to the unfortunate, as well as orphans and widows.
Moreover, neither of these saints, whose bodies have remained incorrupt,
performed any miracle during their lifetime, but their thaumaturgical ac-
tivity (in Eudokimos case notable healings) began right after their death.
In addition, the set of features justifying Theokletos sanctity is the same
one used by the hagiographers of the iconoclast period for non-iconodule
saints such as Philaretos the Merciful26, Leo of Catania27 and George of
Amastris28.

24
N. OIKONOMIDS, Les listes de prsance byzantines des IXe et Xe sicles (= Le Monde
Byzantin), Paris, 1972, p. 55; S. MTIVIER, Lorganisation de la frontire arabo-byzantine en
Cappadoce (VIIIe-IXe sicle), in Puer Apuliae. Mlanges offerts Jean-Marie Martin, ed. E.
CUOZZO V. DROCHE A. PETERS-CUSTOT V. PRIGENT (= Collge de France CNRS.
Centre de recherche dhistoire et civilisation de Byzance, Monographies, 30), Paris, 2008, vol.
2, p. 433-454, here p. 448-451.
25
Not surprisingly, Eudokimos father, the patrikios Basil, was strategos of Charsianon
and is mentioned as an emissary of Theophilos by Syriac sources. According to them, in 838
Basil appeared before the caliph al-Mutaim with a mandate to negotiate the release of the
Amorion prisoners, see Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, ed. and transl. J. B. CHABOT, Paris, 1901,
vol. 2, p. 501; Bar Hebraeus, Chronography, transl. E. A. WALLIS BUDGE, vol. 1, London, 1932,
p. 138; A. A. VASILIEV, Byzance et les Arabes. T. 1: La dynastie dAmorium (820-867), ed. H.
GRGOIRE M. CANARD (= Corpus Bruxellense historiae byzantinae, 1), Brussels, 1935, p. 174-
175; PmbZ, # 937 and # 932. His identification with the emissary was dued to D. POTACHE, Le
thme et la forteresse de Charsianon: recherches dans la rgion dAkdagmadeni, in Geogra-
phica Byzantina, ed. H. AHRWEILER (= Byzantina Sorbonensia, 3), Paris, 1981, p. 110, n. 2.
26
Vita Philareti eleemosynarii (BHG 1511z-1512b), ed. L. RYDN, The Life of St Phila-
retos the Merciful Written by his Grandson Niketas (= Studia Byzantina Upsaliensia, 8),
8 O. PRIETO DOMNGUEZ

In his study on the Vitae of the iconoclast period, evenko had iden-
tified some common characteristics in these texts which differ from icono-
dule tradition29. Some years later, Auzpy corroborated that this group of
hagiographies was consistent and celebrated iconoclast saints30. Among
the particularities pointed out by the French scholar, the following can be
highlighted: a complete absence of icons; no mention of the iconoclast con-
troversy; consideration and valuation of the saint within the community;
the holy person achieved sanctity not for who he was, but for what he did;
there was a social dimension to his exploits (not only wonders, but also
almsgiving, mercy, compassion, etc); the saints good deeds have a
beneficial effect on all members of the community; the importance of the
Scriptures and knowledge of them; emphasis on Biblical types of sanctity
(especially borrowed from the Old Testament) at the expense of later saints
and new traditions of the Church, etc.
As we can see, the characterization of Theokletos sanctity forms part
of this iconoclast hagiographical model. This is further confirmed by an-
other virtue of the holy woman: her decision willingly to devote herself to
the study of the Scriptures and their implementation (

Uppsala, 2002, which includes a comprehensive bibliography. For a literary analysis see A.
KAZHDAN, A History of Byzantine Literature (650-850) (= The National Hellenic Research
Foundation. Institute for Byzantine Research. Research Series, 2), Athens, 1999, p. 281-291,
who considers this Vita as a semi-secular hagiography. See also PmbZ, # 6136; Synax. CP, col.
269, 28-270, 33; col. 269/270, 43-45 (December 1); col. 271/272, 40-43 (December 2); M.-F.
AUZPY, De Philarte, de sa famille et de certains monastres de Constantinople, in Les saints
et leur sanctuaire Byzance. Textes, images et monuments, ed. C. JOLIVET-LVY M. KAPLAN
J.-P. SODINI (= Byzantina Sorbonensia, 11), Paris, 1993, p. 117-135.
27
Vita Leonis ep. Cataniae (BHG 981b), ed. A. G. ALEXAKIS, The Greek Life of St. Leo
Bishop of Catania (transl. by S. WESSEL) (= Subs. hag., 91), Brussels, 2011, with a full biblio-
graphy and the current state of the arts. On historical Leo see PmbZ, # 4257.
28
Vita Georgii ep. Amastridos (BHG 668), ed. V. VASILEVSKIJ, Russko-vizantijskija izsl-
dovanija, vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1893, p. 1-73 (reprinted in ID., Trudy, 3 [1915], p. 1-71). See I.
EVENKO, Lagiografia bizantina dal IV al IX secolo, in La civilt bizantina dal IV al IX secolo.
Aspetti e problemi (= Universit degli studi di Bari. Centro studi bizantini. Corsi di studi, 5),
Bari, 1977, p. 87-173, here p. 150-173; A. MARKOPOULOS, La Vie de saint Georges dAmastris
et Photius, in Jahrbuch der sterreichischen Byzantinistik, 28 (1979), p. 75-82; S. EFTHYMIADIS,
On the Hagiographical Work of Ignatius the Deacon, ibid., 41 (1991), p. 73-83.
29
EVENKO, Hagiography of the Iconoclast Period (see above n. 20), p. 127-129. He
also counted the Enkomion of St. Nicholas (BHG 1352y) by the future patriarch Methodios
among these non-iconodule texts (see p. 125-126). On this enkomion see Methodii ad Theo-
dorum in vitam et reliquias sancti Nicolai Myrensis, in Hagios Nikolaos, der heilige Nikolaos
in der griechischen Kirche, ed. G. ANRICH, vol. I (= Texte und Untersuchungen), Leipzig
Berlin, 1913, p. 140-150.
30
M.-F. AUZPY, Lanalyse littraire et lhistorien: lexemple des Vies de saints icono-
clastes, in Byzantinoslavica, 53 (1992), p. 57-67 (reprinted in M.-F. AUZPY, Lhistoire des
iconoclastes [= Bilans de recherches, 2], Paris, 2007, p. 329-340).
 ST THEOKLETO: A FEMALE ICONOCLAST SAINT 9

,
). Furthermore, her type of sanctity
is also borrowed from the Old Testament. The Bible presents only two
women that excelled in mercy and almsgiving: the widow at Zarephath (1
Kings 17:7-16) and the widow of the two mites (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:
1-4). With respect to the latter, we only learn that she was a poor widow
who showed incredible generosity. As for the former, we are much better
informed: she and her son were dying of starvation. When the prophet
Elijah found her, he asked her to bring him water and food, even though
neither the mother nor her son had anything to eat. Miraculously, they had
food for many days and Elijah lived in the widows household until the
end of the famine. Therefore, she was a model of a housewife and a
mother, but also a model of almsgiving and mercy in all her dealings. In
addition, the biblical text affords us a reason for the rite reenacted yearly
by Theokletos relatives involving her corpse. The widows son got sick
and died after the famine, but he was brought back to life by Elijah, who
took his body, carried it up into a loft, laid it upon his own bed and prayed
three times unto the Lord (1 Kings 17:17-24). It is not difficult to consider
that the canonization of Theokleto followed the Old Testament model of a
female almsgiver personified by the widow at Zarephath.
The cult of relics was a common practice during the iconoclast period
and we must assume that this form of worship was not limited to the
iconodules. Quite the opposite, modern scholars have demonstrated that
the anti-relic policy attributed to the iconoclasts was simply the propaganda
spread by iconophile authors31. In contrast to icons, officially condemned
and destroyed, relics were not rejected by the iconoclast synod of 754 at
Hiereia32. Although iconodule sources report the ferocity of Constantine V
in his support of iconoclasm and that he also promoted the destruction of
relics, including tossing the sarcophagus of St Euphemia into the sea, these
were extreme and isolated acts33. Moreover, this attitude was limited to

31
L. BRUBAKER J. HALDON, Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era, c. 680-850: A History,
Cambridge, 2011, p. 138; L. BRUBAKER, Inventing Byzantine Iconoclasm (= Studies in Early
Medieval History), London, 2012, p. 10-11 and p. 32-34.
32
While it is true that, under the Isaurians, relics were set aside from the altar area, which
was dedicated exclusively to the Eucharist, they were rarely destroyed, see M.-F. AUZPY, Les
Isauriens et lespace sacr: lglise et les reliques, in Le sacr et son inscription dans lespace
Byzance et en Occident, ed. M. KAPLAN (= Byzantina Sorbonensia, 18), Paris, 2001, p. 13-24
(reprinted in AUZPY, Lhistoire des iconoclastes [see above n. 30], p. 341-352).
33
S. GERO, Byzantine Iconoclasm during the Reign of Constantine V, with Particular
Attention to the Oriental Sources (= Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 384; Sub-
sidia, 52), Louvain, 1977, p. 152-165; J. WORTLEY, Iconoclasm and Leipsanoclasm: Leo III,
10 O. PRIETO DOMNGUEZ

the Isaurian emperors and no evidence indicates that it was accepted by

ordinary people in everyday life. Finally, anti-relic accounts concern ex-
clusively the First Iconoclasm (730-787) which differs considerably both
in intensity and in many political and theological aspects from the Second
Iconoclasm (814-842), when St Theokleto lived.
If the Synaxarion notice represents a summary of a more extensive
Vita, now lost, we may assume that this hypothetical hagiography was an
iconoclast text according to our data. Perhaps Theokleto died before 842,
when Theophilos death marked the official end of Iconoclasm. Or maybe
she died shortly after, when the Triumph of Orthodoxy had just restored
images, and her relatives initiated a process of sanctification in accordance
with the iconoclast model. In any case, Theokletos type of sanctity and
the hagiographical criteria of the Synaxarion notice do not match icono-
dule conventions. Therefore, we might conclude that she achieved sanctity
according to iconoclast principles and, as a consequence, might have been
a female iconoclast saint. This conclusion would oblige us to add her
name to the small group of iconoclast saints known to date: Eudokimos,
Philaretos the Merciful, Leo of Catania and George of Amastris. Interes-
tingly, the only woman in this group would be precisely Theokleto.

Salamanca Oscar Prieto DOMNGUEZ

Dpto. de Filologa Clsica e Indoeuropeo

Universidad de Salamanca
Plaza de Anaya s/n
E 37008 Salamanca

Rsum. (6 lignes maximum).

Constantine V and the Relics, in Byzantinische Forschungen, 8 (1982), p. 253-279 (reprinted in

his Studies on the Cult of Relics in Byzantium up to 1204, Farnham, 2009, chap. VII).