THE 



THE 



Greece, where ho had remained concealed, to Alia, and im- 

 plored the affiftanee of the fultan of Iconium in recovering 

 that part of liis dominions of whicii Theodore had taken pol- 

 feflion ; and having induced him to march with 20,000 men, 

 he laid iiegc to Antioch on the Meander. Theodore, at the 

 head of 2000 men, marched to its relief, and routed the be- 

 fiegers. Tiie fultan renewed the contell, and fingling out 

 Theodore, beat him off his horfe ; but the emperor recover- 

 ing himfelf, unhorfed the fultan, cut off his head, and plac- 

 ing it on a pole, terrified his enemies, fo that they all fled. 

 Alexius was carried, as a prifoner, to Nice, where he was 

 confined. Theodore, having made peace with the Turks, 

 formed a treaty with the Latin emperor of Conflantinople, 

 and fpent the remaining eighteen years of his reign, in fe- 

 curing his newly-founded empire, which he tranfmitted to 

 his defcendants ; bequeathing it, at his death, to his fon-in- 

 law, John Ducas Vataces. Tlie Nicscan empire terminated 

 about fifty-feven years after its ellabliflmient by the elevation 

 of its pofTeffor, Michael Palxologus, to tiie throne of Con- 

 llantinople. Anc. Un. Hill. Gibbon. Gen. Biog. 



Thf.odoke, bifliop of Mopfuellia in Cilicia, was prieft, and 

 probably native, of Antioch, a difciple of Diodorus, and 

 an intimate friend of John Chryfoftoni. He was ordained 

 bifliop in 392 or 394, and died in 428 or 429.- Sozomen 

 fays, that he was well flvilled in the facred fcriptures, and in 

 the liberal fciences of the rhetoricians and philofophers : and 

 Theodoret calls him the dodlor of the whole church, faying 

 that he was bifhop thirty-fix years, and that he wrote againll 

 all herefics, particularly thofe of Arius, Eunomius, and 

 Apollinarius. He wrote commentaries probably upon all 

 the books of the Old and New Teflament, though two or 

 three of them are not pai'ticularly mentioned : and in thefe 

 commentaries, as Photius fays, he avoided all allegorical in- 

 terpretations, and confined himfelf to the hiftorical and lite- 

 ral fenfe. He defended this mode in a work concerning 

 allegory an! hiftory againfl Origen. Some have charged him 

 with treating the book of Job, tlie Canticles, and the Pfalms, 

 with difrefpcft ; but thefe are the accufations of his enemies, 

 and perhaps founded in error, as he aftually wrote com- 

 ments on fome of thefe books. The book of Job he is faid 

 to have reprefented as written in a fabulous manner, though 

 founded on truth ; the Canticles he is faid to have confidered 

 as a nuptial poem, and the Pfalms as chiefly referring to the 

 hiflory of -the times. His other works were numerous, and 

 related to the controverfies of his times, and to various theo- 

 logical doftrines. Moft of Theodore's works are now loft, 

 but fome fragments of them may be found, chiefly in Latin, 

 and perhaps not fairly reprefented, in the Afts of the fecond 

 general council of Conftantinople, or the fifth general coun- 

 cil, held in 553, and alfo in Facundus, and in the Greek 

 Chains. Fabricms affures us, that his commentary upon the 

 Twelve Prophets is flill extant in manulcript in the empe- 

 ror's library at Vienna ; and Montfaucon fpeaks of its being 

 in the hbrary of St. Mark at Venice, as well as in the library 

 at Vienna, and in the Vatican. 



Theodore was no lefs celebrated as a preacher, than as a 

 copnmentator and general writer : under the former charac- 

 ter he was admired at Antioch, at Conftantinople, and all 

 over the Eatl. Diftinguifhcd by his learning and liberality, 

 confidering the time in which he lived, he has been charged 

 with adopting the fentimentsof Neftorius and Pe'.agius ; and 

 fome moderns have called him the parent both of Pelagianifm 

 and Neftoriaiiifm ; whilft others allow, that he held the Pe- 

 lagian principle, but are of opinion that the charge of Nef- 

 torianifm is not fo clear. The above-mentioned council de- 

 voted a conference to the examination of Theodore's writ- 

 ings ; and began with reading a creed attributed to him : 



upon wiiii li the bilhops clamoured for an analhima againll 

 his books and his perfon, and againft all who did not join in 

 'that analliema. Several bifliops, however, rofe in liis de- 

 fence, and rcfufed to concur in the anathema. Some learned 

 moderns have charged him with adopting fentiments con- 

 cerning the perfon of Chrill fimilar to thofe of the prefent 

 Unitarians ; but of this fadl there is no fatisfaftory evidence. 

 Moflicim. Lardner. 



Theodore ofTarfus, a monk of that city, was ordained 

 bilhop by pope Vitalian, and being fent into England in the 

 year 668, at the defire of king Egbert, was appointed to 

 govern the churcii of Canterbury. In this high ftatiun he 

 afTiduoufly employed himfelf in fettling the faith and eccle- 

 fiallical difciplinc of England ; and after having fpent 

 twenty years in the performance of various important and 

 ufeful fervices, he died in 690, at the age of eighty-eight 

 years. With a view to the rilloration of the neglected 

 difcipline of penance, he pubhflicd a book of canons, under 

 the title of " Penitential." In this book, fins were dillri- 

 buted into various claffes, according to their refpeftive na- 

 ture and aggravation ; and various kinds of penance were 

 afTigned to them ; forms of confolation, exhortation, and ab- 

 folution were prefcribed, and other fuch matters refpefting 

 difcipline were regulated. This Penitential paffed from 

 Britain to other countries, and became tlie model of fimilar 

 works. It is ftill extant, in an imperfeft (late ; and an 

 edition of it was publifhed at Paris by Petit, in 1 679, 410. 

 with notes and dilTertations. Duptn. Mofheim. 



Theodore Stodita, an eminent ecclefiaftic of the ninth 

 century, was educated under Plato, head of the monaftery 

 upon mount Olympus, the government of which was com- 

 mitted to him in the year 795. By avowing his oppofition 

 to the marriage of Conltantine Copronymus to one of the 

 maids of honour of his wife, whom he had compelled for 

 this purpofe to take the religious vows, and by his fcpara- 

 tion from the communion of the patriarch of Conftantinople, 

 Theodore incurred banifhment ; but at the death of tlie em- 

 peror he returned, and was .appointed abbot of the monaf- 

 tery of Studa, in the fuburbs of Conftantinople. On ac- 

 count of his difapprobatioii of the decifion of a fynod 

 which declared the fecond marriage of Conftantiue lawful, 

 he was banifhed a fecond time. After the death of the em- 

 peror Nicephorus, in 81 1, he returned from banifhment, and 

 was reconciled to the patriarch. For his zealous defence of 

 image-worfhip in the reign ef Leo, he was banifhed a third 

 time, and treated by the emperor with great feverity. In 

 821 the emperor Michael allowed him to return to Conftan- 

 tinople, where he indulged a freedom of fpeech that obliged 

 him to withdraw. He died in the year 826, in his fixty- 

 feventh year. He was a man of learning, and author of 

 many works, which were pubhfhed by Sirmond, in Greek 

 and Latin, at the end of his own works. Dupin. Mofheim. 

 Gen. Biog. 



THEODORET, a learned prelate of the Greek church, 

 was born at Antioch about the year 386, and placed at the 

 age of feven in the monaftery of St. Euprepius. He was 

 educated under Theodore of Mopfuellia and John Chry- 

 foftom, and from his youth addifted himfelf to all the auf- 

 lerities and exercifes of a inonaftic life. Upon the death of 

 his parents, he diftributed his whole property among the 

 poor. In the year 420, or 423, he was confecrated, againft 

 his own inclination, bifliop of Cyrus in Syria, in the Eu- 

 phratenfian province, the inhabitants of which were ignorant 

 and barbarous, and notorious for their fuperllitious praftices 

 and heretical errors. Theodoret laboured indultrioufly and 

 fuccefsfully in enlightening and reforming them. In his 

 own condiitt he was an exemplary paftor ; and in every 



thing 



