Theodore Meliteniotes
Theodore Meliteniotes (Constantinople, c. 1320 - 8 March 1393) was a Byzantine Greek astronomer, a sakellarios (treasurer) in the Byzantine bureaucracy, a supporter of Gregory Palamas and an opponent of the reunion with the Catholic Church. He became didaskalos ton didaskalon, i.e. the director of the Patriarchal School in 1360.
Also recorded as Theodorus of Melitene · Theodōros Melitēniōtēs
Theodore Meliteniotes
- Born
- 1320 · Constantinople.
- Died
- 1393 · Constantinople.
- Nationality
- Byzantine Empire
- Occupation
- astronomer · astrologer · teacher · writer · exegete
- Languages
- medieval Greek
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Documentary summary
Theodore Meliteniotes (Constantinople, c. 1320 - 8 March 1393) was a Byzantine Greek astronomer, a sakellarios (treasurer) in the Byzantine bureaucracy, a supporter of Gregory Palamas and an opponent of the reunion with the Catholic Church. He became didaskalos ton didaskalon, i.e. the director of the Patriarchal School in 1360.
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Works
Theodore wrote an exegesis on the Gospels and a poem on Sôphrosynè (Temperance) which may be attributed to him.
Tribiblos
Tribiblos
Theodore's main work is his Astronomical Tribiblos, in three books, whose autograph manuscript is preserved (Vaticanus gr. 792), was composed before 1352. The work deals with an assortment of mathematical and astronomical issues and draws from some earlier Greek authors like George Pachymeres and Theodore Metochites. The second book is devoted to Ptolemy, whose calculations he explained in the manner of Theon of Alexandria. Finally, in book 3 he devotes himself to Persian astronomy, drawing especially from George Chrysokokkes, whose work he corrected in many places. In all of them, he explicitly condemns Astrology, dissociating his Astronomy from the Persian tradition represented by Chrysokokkes. The pedagogical character of the Tribiblos is obvious and it may have been used to give senior astronomy training to the Byzantine clergy.
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Grégoire Choniadès, un médecin de Trébizonde, avait fait un long séjour à Maragha à la fin du , y recevant notamment l'enseignement de l'astronome Shams al-Boukhari, et avait traduit les Tables ilkhaniennes et d'autres textes en grec. Georges Chrysococcès donna une édition commentée de ces Tables en 1346. Méliténiotès connaissait cette édition, mais n'en dépend pas : il en corrige plusieurs erreurs, et d'autre part transcrit différemment les mots persans. Un manuscrit contenant la traduction grecque des enseignements de Shams al-Boukhari (Laurentianus 28/17) est de la main de Méliténiotès ; cette traduction, datée de 1322, est anonyme.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 4
- Charles Astruc, « Le livre III retrouvé du commentaire de Théodore Méliténiotès sur les Évangiles (Paris. gr. 180) », dans Travaux et mémoires 4 (1970), 411-429.
- Franz Dölger, « Die Abfassungzeit des Gedichtes des Meliteniotes auf die Enthaltsamkeit », dans Annuaire de l'Institut de philologie et d'histoire orientales 2 (1934), 315-330.
- Régine Leurquin, « La Tribiblos astronomique de Théodore Méliténiote (Vat. gr. 792) », dans Janus 72, 4 (1985), 257-282.
- Anne Tihon, « L'astronomie byzantine à l'aube de la Renaissance (de 1352 à la fin du ) », dans Byzantion 66 (1996), 244-280.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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- Theodore Newman KaufmanAuthor
- Theodore O'HaraAuthor
- Theodore of MopsuestiaAuthor
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