Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1058

Rh 1046 THEODORUS. Latin emperor at Constantinople, and the successor of Baldwin, over whom he gained several victories ; and it is no small proof of his abilities, that although surrounded by so many enemies, he gra- dually extended his dominions, and increased his power. For the history of his war with the Latins, see Hknricus. In 1210 a new enemy appeared. In this year his father-in-law, Alexis, who had escaped from captivity, claimed the throne, and was supported in his claims by Gayath-ed-din, the powerful sultan of Koniah. As Theodore re- fused to surrender the crown to his father-in-law, the sultan marched against him at the head of a powerful array, but was defeated and slain in battle. Alexis fell into the hands of Theodore, who kept him in confinement in a monastery, where he died some years afterwards. Theodore spent the latter years of his reign in peace. He died in 1222, a little more than 45 years of age, and in the 18th year of his reign, computing from the time that he first became master of Nicaea, but in the 1 6 th year from the date of his corona- tion. He left no male offspring, and was succeeded by his son-in-law Joannes Vatatzes, who had mar- ried his daughter Irene [Joannes III.]. Theo- dore was married thrice. I. To Anna Comnena, the daughter of Alexis III. 2. To Philippa, an Armenian princess, Avhom he divorced. 3. To Maria, the daughter of Peter of Courtenay, em- peror of Constantinople. (Nicetas, Alex. Covin. and Balduinus ; Acropolita, cc. 6, 14, ^5^ 18 ; Du Cange, Familiae Byzantmae, p. 219.) THEODO'RUS II. LA'SCARIS, Greek em- peror of Nicaea, a. d. 1255 — 1259, was the son of Joannes Vatatzes and of Irene, the daughter of Theodoras I. Lascaris, from whom he derived the surname of Lascaris. His short reign presents nothing worthy of record. He died in August, 1259, in the 36th or 37th year of his age, and was succeeded by his son Joannes Lascaris. [Joan- nes IV.] (Du Cange, Familiae Byzantinac, p. 223.) THEODO'RUS A'NGELUS, the Greek em- peror of Thessalonica, a. d. 1222 — 1230, was de- scended from a noble family, being the son of Joannes Angelus, also called Comneuus, and the grandson of Constantinus Angelus. After the overthrow of the Greek empire by the Latins in 1204, Theodore Angelus served for some time under Theodore Lascaris, the emperor of Nicaea, but afterwards passed over to Europe to join his bastard brother Michael, who had established an independent principality in Epeirus. On the death of Michael he succeeded to his dominions, which he greatly enlarged by the conquest of Thessaly, Macedonia, and other surrounding countries. He took Peter of Courtenay prisoner, who had been elected emperor of Constantinople, as he was tra- velling through Epeirus to the imperial city, and kept him in captivity till his death [Petrijs]. Elated by his numerous successes, Theodore as- sumed the title of Emperor of the Romans, and was crowned at Thessalonica in 1222, in the same year that Joannes Vatatzes succeeded to the im- perial title at Nicaea, and Andronicus at Trebi- zond. He carried on war with success against the Latins, took Adrianople, and advanced as far as the walls of Constantinople. He was, however, recalled to the defence of his own dominions by an invasion of Asan, king of the Bulgarians, who defeated him in battle, took him prisoner, and THEODORUS. deprived him of his eyes, in 1230. During his captivity among the Bulgarians, his brother Ma- nuel had seized his dominions and assumed the title of emperor ; but Theodore having obtained his liberty, gained possession of Thessalonica by stratagem, and deposed his brother. In conse- quence of the loss of his sight, he conferred the title of emperor upon his son Joannes ; but the latter was subsequently conquered in the life- time of his father by Joannes Vatatzes, the emperor of Nicaea, who compelled him to renounce the im- perial dignity, and to content himself with the rank of despot. [Joannes III.] (Acropolita, cc. 14, 21, 25, 26, 38, 40, 42 ; Du Cange, Fami- liae Byzantinae., p. 207.) THEODO'RUS (©eoSa'pos), literary and eccle- siastical. 1. Abbas et Philosophus, a learned Greek ecclesiastic of the latter part of the sixth or the beginning of the seventh century, from whom it is commonly supposed that Leontius of Byzan- tium [Leontius, No. 5] derived the materials of his work De Sed/s. (Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. i. p. 538, ed. Oxford, 1740—1743 ; Fabric. BiU. Grate. vol. viii. p. 310.) 2. Abucara {'ASovKapa, an Arabic name signi- fying " Father {sc. bishop) of Cara ; " derived from the city of which Theodore was bishop), a Greek ecclesiastical writer. He flourished, at the latest, in the beginning of the ninth century, and is to be carefully distinguished from Theodoras, bishop of Caria in Thrace [No. 20], the contemporary of Photius ; from Theodore of Rhaithu [No. 65], and from Theodore of Antioch, otherwise Theodore Ha- giopolita [No. 11], Avith each of whom he appears to have been, by various writers, improperly con- founded. Very little is known of him. The time at which he lived is ascertained by the inscription to a piece published among his works, from which it appears that he was contemporary with the pa- triarch Thomas of Jerusalem, probably Thomas I., whose patriarchate extended from A. D. 807, or earlier, to somewhere between A. D. 821 and 829. (Comp. Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, vol. iii. col. 356.) Of what place Abucara was bishop has been much disputed, but it appears probable that it was a village called Cara or Charran in Coele- Syria. The pieces published under the name of Theo- dore Abucara are forty-three in number, and are almost entirely on polemical divinity. They are chiefly directed against the Mahometans, and against the Jacobites and Nestorians, the predo- minant heretical sects of the East. It is to be ob- served that in the Latin versions of two of his pieces by Turrianus (Nos. 26 and 27 in Gretser), he is called " Theodoras Monachus," and " Theo- dorus Hagiopolita : " presuming that these desig- nations were found in the originals employed by Turrianus, it would appear, either that Theodore had been a monk at Jerusalem before he was bishop, or that his works have been confounded with those of another Theodore [No. 11]. Many of the pieces are in the form of a dialogue, and it is not impossible, from the great brevity of some, that they may be accounts of actual discussions in which Theodore was engaged, and which were reported by John, a disciple of Theodore, or some other person. The first published were fifteen, in the Latin version of GilbertusGenebrardus(Nos. 1, 3, 7, 11, 13, 14, 16, 23, 25, 31, 33, in Gretser, whose arrangement differs much from that of Genebrardus). They were given in vol. v. of the Biblioiheca Pairum of