St theodore the studite

Byzantine monk, abbot, and scholar

Theodore the Studite (Medieval Greek: Θεόδωρος ὁ Στουδίτης; –), also known as Theodorus Studita and Saint Theodore of Stoudios/Studium, was a Byzantine Greekmonk and abbot of the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantine monasticism and of classical literary genres in Byzantium. He is known as a zealous opponent of iconoclasm, one of several conflicts that set him at odds with both emperor and patriarch. Throughout his life he maintained letter correspondences with many important political and cultural figures of the Byzantine empire; this included many women, such as the composer and nun Kassia, who was much influenced by his teachings.

Biography

Family and childhood

Theodore was born in Constantinople in He was the oldest son of Photeinos, an important financial official in the palace bureaucracy,^[5] and Theoktiste, herself the offspring of a di