Theodosia of Constantinople

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Saint Theodosia of Constantinople (Greek: Άγια Θεοδοσία ή Κωνσταντινούπολιτισσα, Hagia Theodosia hē Konstantinoupolitissa) is an Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Saint and Martyr who lived in the seventh and eight centuries.

Theodosia was a nun living at a monastery in Constantinople. On January 19th, 729, at the very beginning of the iconoclastic persecutions, theEmperor Leo III ordered that an icon of Christ which stood over the Chalkè Gate of the imperial palace be removed.^{[1] [2]} While an officer was executing the order, a group of women gathered to prevent the operation. Among them was Theodosia, who shook the ladder strongly until the officer fell from it. The man died from his injuries, and Theodosia was arrested and brought to the Forum Bous, where she was executed by having a ram's horn hammered through her neck. ^[3]

Following the Triumph of Orthodoxy over iconoclasm she was recognized as a martyr and saint, and her body was kept and venerated in the church of Hagia Euphemia en to Petrio, in the quarter named Dexiokratianai, named after the houses owned here by one Dexiokrates. ^[4] It corresponds to the modern neighborhood of Ayakapi, along the Golden Horn. After the beginning of the fourteenth century, the church was named after her. It corresponds possibly to the mosque of Gül. Also a gate in the sea walls of Constantinople, the Gate of Haghia Theodosia (Turkish: Ayakapi) was named after her church.

Hagia Theodosia became one among the most venerated saints in Constantinople, being invoked particularly by the infirm. The fame of the saint was increased by the recovery of a deaf-mute in 1306. ^[4]

The Roman Catholic church celebrates the feast's day on the 18th of July, which was the date of her original feast day. The Orthodox church moved her commemoration to the 29th of May.

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[edit] References

• Van Millingen, Alexander (1912). Byzantine Churches of Constantinople. London: MacMillan & Co. 

• Mamboury, Ernest (1953). The Tourists' Istanbul. Istanbul: Çituri Biraderler Basımevi. 

• Janin, Raymond (1953). La Géographie ecclésiastique de l'Empire byzantin. 1. Part: Le Siège de Constantinople et le patriarcat oecuménique. 3rd Vol. : Les Églises et les monastères. Paris: Institut français d'etudes byzantines. 

• Schäfer, Hartmut (1973). Die Gül Camii in Istanbul. Tübingen: Wasmuth.