Petros 49

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitE IX
Dates815 (taq) / 821 (tpq)
PmbZ No.6067
ReligionChristian;
Iconophile
LocationsNikaia (officeplace);
Nikaia (residence);
Constantinople;
Nikaia;
Hagios Elias (Metochion of)
OccupationBishop
TitlesMetropolitan, Nikaia (Bithynia) (office)
Textual SourcesGouillard, J., "Le Synodikon de l'orthodoxie", TM 2 (1967), pp. 45-107 (liturgical);
Theodorus Studita, Epistulae, ed. G. Fatouros, CFHB 31.1-2 (Berlin/New York, 1992) (letters);
Vita Ioannicii, by Petrus the monk (BHG 936), AASS November II 1, pp. 384-435 (hagiography);
Vita Ioannicii, by Sabas the monk (BHG 935), AASSNovember II 1, pp. 332-383 (hagiography);
Vita Nicetae Hegoumeni Medicii, Auctore Theostericto (BHG 1341), AASS April I, Appendix, pp. xviii-xxviii (hagiography)
Seal SourcesLaurent, V., Le corpus des sceaux de l'empire byzatin, V, 1-3, L'église (Paris, 1963-72); II, L'administration centrale (Paris, 1981);
Schlumberger, G. Sigillographie de l'empire byzantin (Paris, 1884)

Petros 49 was bishop of Nikaia (Πέτρος ὁ Νικαίας ἐπίσκοπος); in 815 he defended the veneration of icons at a meeting with the emperor Leo V (Leo 15) in the imperial palace: Vita Nicetae Medicii (AASS April I) 34. Metropolitan bishop of Nikaia; probably during the reign of Michael II (Michael 10) (certainly before 826, and possibly in 821, see Ioannikios 2 and Theodoros 15) he was one of a number of bishops and hegoumenoi who assembled at a metochion belonging to the monastery of the Agauroi (near Prousa), where was a church of St Elias; they were visited there by Ioannikios 2: Sabas, Vita Ioannicii 28 (Πέτρος Νικαίας, sc. μητροπολίτης), Petrus, Vita Ioannicii 36 (Πετρός, ὁ ἁγιώτατος μητροπολίτης Νικαίας).

Petros 49 was the bishop of Nikaia and the addressee of six surviving letters from Theodore the Stoudite (Theodoros 15), written between 815 and 826: Theod. Stud., Epp. 82, p. 203; 158, p. 280; 313, pp. 455-456; 442, pp. 622-623; 475, pp. 683-685; 533, pp. 804-806 (addressed Πέτρῳ Νικαίας). He is mentioned in six other letters of Theodoros 15: Theod. Stud., Epp. 116, p. 235; 177, pp. 298- 300; 222, pp. 349-350; 230, pp. 362-364; 333, pp. 474-475; 544, p. 821- 823. Metropolitan bishop of Nikaia, he died during the persecution: Theod. Stud., Catech. Parva 26. He is included among the metropolitans acclaimed for their support of icons in the Synodikon of Orthodoxy: Gouillard, "Synodikon", p. 53, line 123.

Probably identical with Petros, metropolitan bishop of Nikaia and owner of a seal dateable to the first half of the ninth century: Laurent, Corpus V 1, no. 391 = Schlumberger, Sig., p. 250, no. 1. Obv.: Virgin holding medallion of Child, with the invocative formula Δέσ[ποινα Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ]. Rev.: + Πετρ - [ω] μιτρο - <π>ολιτι Ν - [ι]<και>ας. Possibly to be identified with the unnamed bishop of Nikaia recorded under the emperor Michael I (Michael 7) in c. 812 (see Anonymus 23).

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