Theophylact of Ohrid

Life[edit]

Theophylact was born in the mid-11th century at Euripus (Chalcis) in Euboea, at the time part of the Byzantine Empire (now Greece). He became a deacon at Constantinople, attained a high reputation as a scholar, and became the tutor of Constantine Doukas, son of the Emperor Michael VII, for whom he wrote The Education of Princes.^[2] In about 1078 he moved to the Province of Bulgaria where he became the archbishop of Achrida (modern Ohrid).


Ohrid was one of the capital cities of Bulgaria that had been re-conquered by the Byzantines sixty years earlier. In this demanding position in a conquered territory on the outskirts of the Byzantine Empire, he conscientiously and energetically carried out his pastoral duties over the course of the next twenty years. Although a Byzantine by upbringing and outlook, he was a diligent archpastor of the Bulgarian Church, defending its interests and autonomy (i.e. its independence from the Patriarchate of Constantinople). He acted vigorously to protect his archbishopric from the teachings of the Paulicians and Bogomils (considered heretics by the Eastern Orthodox Church). He won the respect and love of the Bulgarian people who witnessed his labors on their behalf.^[3]


In his Letters he complains much about the rude manners of the Bulgarians, and he sought to be relieved of his office, but apparently without success.^[2] "His letters from Ohrid are a valuable source for the economic, social, and political history of Bulgaria as well as Byzantine prosopography. They are filled with conventional complaints concerning Theophylact's 'barbarian' surroundings, whereas in fact he was deeply involved in local cultural development, producing an encomium of 15 martyrs of Tiberioupolis and a vita of Clement of Ohrid."^[4] He also wrote (in his Letters) accounts of how the constant wars between the Byzantine Empire and the Pechenegs, Magyars and Normans had destroyed most of the food of the land and caused many people to flee to the forests from the towns.


In the 11th century, archbishop Theophylact of Ohrid wrote the following about Pechenegs: "Their advance is like a strike of a lightning, the retreat is both tough and light: It is tough because of the war trophies that they carry, and light since it is so fast. […] They rob other countries since they do not have their own. Peaceful life is a misfortune for them, they are happy when they have a pretext for war. [..] Their number is countless."


His death took place after 1107.


The present day Eastern Orthodox Churches of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Russia consider him to be a saint, and commemorate him on December 31 as Theophylact of Ohrid (Greek: Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Теофилакт Охридски).^[5]