1001 



THEODORUS. 



TIIEODOHUS LASCARIS. 



ioei 



Physica,' fol., Argeiitor., 1533. It first appeared in a separate form at 

 Hallo, 1632, 8vo, edited by G. E. Schreiner, and was afterwards 

 inserted in Rivinus's collection of ancient physicians, 8vo, Leipzig, 

 1654. (Haller, Biblioth. Medic. Pract. ; Spreugel, Hist. delaMtd.; 

 Choulant, Ifandbuch der BucherTcundefur dieAeltere Medicin.) 



THEODO'RUS, or DIODO'RUS, OF TARSUS, of a noble and very 

 distinguished family, lived in the fourth century of our era, and was 

 most probably born at Antioch. He studied under Sylvanus Tar- 

 sensis ; and after having taken orders, he first became priest, and then 

 Archimandrita at Antioch. The Catholic churches of this town 

 having been shut up by order of the Emperor Valens (A.D. 364-378), 

 who was an adherent of Arianisin, Theodorus preached in the fields 

 round the town, and he was always surrounded by a numerous con- 

 gregation of Catholics. He also defended the orthodox faith with 

 great intrepidity against the attacks of the Arians and the tyranny of 

 Valeus. Immediately after the death of Valens, he was appointed 

 bishop of Tarsus (A.D. 378), Gratianus, the successor of Valens, being 

 a zealous Catholic. In A.D. 381 Theodorus was at the Council of 

 Constantinople. The year of his death is not known, but as Phalerius 

 was chosen bishop of Tarsus in A.D. 394, it is probable that he died in 

 this year. Theodorus was much esteemed by his contemporaries for 

 his plain and lucid eloquence, but though he was known as the most 

 zealous defender of the Catholic faith, he was accused of having shown 

 himself favourable to the heretical doctrines of Nestorius. The same 

 charge was made against his contemporary Theodorus of Mopsuestia. 

 Theodorus of Tarsus wrote numerous works on theology and morals, 

 none of which have come down to us. It is said however that one of 

 his works on Politics, which Fabricius believes to be identical with 

 another work on Providence, exists in a Syriac translation. 



(Cave, Script. Ecdes. Historia Literaria, vol. ii., p. 266, 267, Fabri- 

 cius, BibL Grceca, p. 380, 381.) 



THEODORUS I., a native of Greece, and son of Theodorus, patriarch 

 of Jerusalem, was elected bishop of Rome after the death of John IV., 

 A.D. 641. Constans II. was then emperor of Constantinople, and 

 Rotaris was king of the Longobards in Italy. The heresy of the 

 Mouothelites was disturbing the church, and it was supported by the 

 Emperor Constans, and by Paulus, patriarch of Constantinople. Theo- 

 dorus held a council at Rome in A.D. 648, in which Paulus was excom- 

 municated. It does not seem proved however that Theodorus 

 condemned, as some have asserted, the typus or edict of the Emperor 

 Constans, in which he forbade all his clergy from disputing on the 

 subject of the two wills in Christ, the Monothelites asserting that 

 there was only one will in him. [EuiTCHES.] Theodorus built several 

 churches at Rome. He died A.D. 649, and was succeeded by Martin I. 

 (Muratori, Annali d' Italia; Panvinio, Vite dei Pontefici.) 



THEODORUS II., a native of Rome, was elected pope after the 

 death of Romanus, in August 897, and died three weeks after his 

 election, and was succeded by John IX. 



THEODO'RUS LA'SCARIS, emperor of Nicsea, was descended 

 from an ancient and noble Byzantine family, the early history of which 

 is unknown. In 1198 he married Anna Augela-Comnena, the widow 

 of Isaac Comnenus Sebastocrator, and the second daughter of the 

 emperor Alexis III., Angelus-Comnenus, who usurped the throne of 

 Constantinople, after having blinded and thrown into prison the 

 emperor Isaac Angelus (1195). Alexis, the son of Isaac, fled to Italy 

 and implored the protection of the Western princes, who, in 1203, 

 were assembled at Venice for the purpose of a new crusade. They 

 promised him assistance, and sailed to Constantinople with a powerful 

 fleet, commanded by Dandolo, the doge of Venice. They laid siege 

 to Constantinople, but although Theodore Lascaris prepared a vigorous 

 resistance, Alexis III., who was of a mean and cowardly character, 

 secretly left his capital and fled to Conrad, Marquis of Monteferrato, 

 in Italy, who had married his sister Theodora. Assailed by bold" and 

 experienced troops, and abandoned by their emperor, the Greeks were 

 struck with alarm ; they surrendered their capital, and did homage 

 to the blind Isaac and his son Alexis IV. (19th of July and 1st of 

 August 1203), who reigned together under the protection of the Latin 

 princes. However, Alexis Ducas Murzuphlus had made a party among 

 the Greeks, who were enraged at the haughtiness of their foreign pro 

 tectors. He murdered Alexis IV., Isaac died of grief, and Murzuphlus 

 was proclaimed emperor under the name of Alexis V. (28th of Jan- 

 uary and 8th of February 1204). The Latins immediately laid siege 

 to Constantinople, to avenge the murder of their ally and friend ; and 

 although the new emperor, assisted by Theodore Lascaris, defended 

 the capital with skill and energy, the fall of this city became imminent. 

 Suddenly Alexis V. fled with his treasures (April 1204), and the con- 

 sternation which had reigned after the flight of Alexis- III. once more 

 discouraged the Greeks, and led to anarchy. During a period of six 

 months, four, or as Isaac reigned twice, five emperors successively 

 occupied the throne ; and such was the passion for ruling among the 

 Greek nobles, that in this critical moment, when the very existence of 

 the empire was at stake, two candidates presented themselves to the 

 people for the purpose of obtaining the crown. 



These candidates were Theodore Lascaris and Theodore Ducas, who 

 was of Imperial descent. Lascaris was proclaimed emperor, but fearing 

 some sudden opposition from the adherents of the fugitive emperors, 

 he declined the Imperial title, and declared he would content himsel] 

 with that j>f ' despote ' until he had re-established tranquillity. 



however, while ho encouraged the people to resist the besiegers, the 

 jatins made on assault and succeeded in taking the town, the Greeks 

 laving in a cowardly manner abandoned their posts. During the con- 

 'usion of plunder and violence, Theodore Lascaris escaped with his 

 wife Anna, and fled to the opposite shore of Asia. The Latins chose 

 Baldwin, Count of Flaudera, Emperor of Constantinople, and gave him 

 the capital and one-fourth of the empire ; the remaining three-fourths 

 were divided between Venice and the Prankish barons. 



Meanwhile Theodore succeeded in raising troops in Asia, and, 

 assisted by the Turks of Eoniah, or Iconium, he made himself 

 master of the important town of Nicaoa and the greater part of 

 Bithynia, proclaiming that he acted only as despote, and in the name 

 of hia father-in-law, the fugitive emperor Alexis III. (Autumn 1204). 

 His conquests were soon taken from him by Louis, Count of Blois, 

 who, in the division of the empire, had received Bithynia, and who 

 defeated Theodore at Paemanene, on the frontiers of Mysia and 

 Bithynia (6th of December 1204). Theodore retired to Brusa, one of 

 the few towns which had not fallen into the hands of the Count of 

 Blois ; but he was pursued and obliged to fight with Henry, Count of 

 Flanders, the brother of the Emperor Baldwin, who defeated him. 



Theodore would have been ruined but for the victories of the King 

 of the Bulgarians and the revolted Greeks over the troops of the 

 emperor, who was obliged to call for the assistance of the Count of 

 Blois and the Latin troops in Bithynia. Theodore again became 

 master of this country, and his father-in-law, Alexis III., being then 

 kept a prisoner by the Marquis of Monteferrato, he himself assumed 

 the title of emperor. He styled himself BownXi/s K<d AinoKpdrup 

 'P(ap.ai<w, which was the title of the Emperors of Constantinople, and 

 he thus showed t . lat he considered himself as the only legitimate 

 emperor of the East, having a right to the crown by his wife Anna, 

 the daughter of Alexis III., who was prevented from ruling on account 

 of his captivity, and all the other emperors of Greek extraction being 

 then dead. In order to solemnise his accession to the Imperial throne, 

 Theodore convoked a general assembly of the Greek bishops, who met 

 at Nicsea. The president was the new patriarch, Michael Autorianus, 

 who had been chosen patriarch for the special purpose of crowning 

 Theodore, the patriarch Didymoticus having resigned. 



Meanwhile several Greek nobles, profiting by the deep hatred of the 

 Greeks against the Latin conquerors, had made themselves independ- 

 ent in Asia. Theodore, called Morotheodorus, reigned at Philadelphia, 

 and Manuel Maurozomus, supported by Ghaiyath-ed-din, sultan of 

 Koniah, became powerful in Phrygia ; but they were both defeated by 

 the Emperor of Nicsea, as Theodore Lascaris is generally called. A 

 third and more dangerous adversary was Alexis Comnenus, who had 

 reigned as emperor at Trebizond from the year 1204, and whose 

 brother David overran Asia Minor as far as the Propontis and the 

 Ionian Sea. Theodore and David were equal in military skill, in 

 activity, and in perseverance : neither of them was discouraged by 

 defeats, nor made less vigilant by sudden success. After their first 

 encounter, David, appreciating the character of his adversary, con- 

 cluded an alliance with Henry of Flanders, emperor of Constantinople, 

 who had succeeded his brother Baldwin. Theodore however defeated 

 them both, and some time afterwards David was again completely 

 beaten by Guido Andronicus, the general of the Emperor of Nicsea. 

 After the truce between Theodore and Henry in 1210, David, who had 

 hitherto carried on the war with various results, was compelled to 

 give up all hope of keeping the field any longer. He lost all his 

 conquests, and his brother Alexis was obliged to cede them to 

 Theodore (1214), who thus became master of the greater part of 

 Paphlagonia. 



The truce between Theodore and Henry was the consequence of 

 various victories obtained by Theodore over the troops of Henry. In 

 1207 the Emperor of Nicsea was besieged by the Franks in Nicomedia, 

 but in a sally he made prisoner Count Thierry de Los, or more correctly 

 Diedrik van Looz, a powerful baron from the Low Countries, and a 

 descendant of the first Dukes of Lower Lorraine. Henry ransomed 

 the count by surrendering several fortified towns to the Emperor of 

 Nicsoa, and arrangements were made which led to the truce of 1210. 

 In this year the old Emperor Alexis III., who had escaped from the 

 Marquis of Monteferrato, fled to Asia, to the court of Sultan 

 Ghaiydth-ed-din, and persuaded him to support his claims to the 

 throne of Nicsea, or of any other part of the Eastern empire. The 

 Sultan summoned Theodore to restore his father-in-law to the throne, 

 and left Koniah at the head of 20,000 men. He was attacked in the 

 neighbourhood of Antioch by Theodore, who had only 2000 men, but 

 who charged the Turks with such impetuosity that their lines were 

 broken, and they were entirely defeated. Gha'iya"th-ed-diu himself 

 was killed by Theodore, and old Alexis was made a prisoner (1210). 

 He was confined to a monastery at Nicaea, where he died some years 

 afterwards. Although Theodore had acted in his father-in-law's name 

 while he was only despote, he had ascended the throne in his own 

 name and at his own risk. Theodore's wife, Anna, the daughter of 

 Alexis, was then dead. 



It is said that in 1214 Theodore fell into the hands of Az-ed-dm 

 Key-kaus, the successor of Ghaiydth-ed-din : but this is an error, and 

 Falmerayer, in his work cited below, haa shown that it was Alexis of 

 Trebizond who was made prisoner by the Sultan. Except one short 

 campaign against Henry in 1213, which was followed by a truce in 



