Euroea (Epirus)
Euroea or Euroia (Ancient Greek: Εὔροια; also transcribed as Eurœa) was a city in Epirus, in western Greece, during late antiquity. It was abandoned in the early 7th century due to Slavic invasions. During the 4th–8th centuries, it was a bishopric. Since the 18th century, it has also been a titular see of the Catholic Church.
History
St. Donatus, bishop of Euroea, lived under Theodosius I (r. 379–395) and performed miracles, including providing a local settlement with abundant watersources (likely connected to the name "Euroea", "well-flowing").[1][2] A church dedicated to St. Donatus was erected, probably on the site of an ancient pagan temple (Omphalion).[1] The town belonged to the Roman province of Epirus vetus.[3]
Bishops of Euroea are attested at councils in the 5th and 6th centuries,[1] and the city is mentioned by Hierocles.[4] According to Procopius, Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) resettled the inhabitants of Euroea to an islet in a neighbouring lake and built there a strong city,[5] commonly thought to be on the site of Ioannina.[1]
As a result of the Slavic invasions, in 603 the Bishop of Euroea and the inhabitants, taking the relics of St. Donatus with them, fled to Kassiopi on Corfu.[1] The original site of Euroea is unclear: Michel Le Quien identified it with modern Paramythia, others with the nearby ancient settlement of Photice.[2] It is now tentatively located near the village of Glyky.[1][6][7]
Bishopric
The first (and only) mention of the bishopric in one of the Notitiae Episcopatuum is in the so-called "iconoclast notitia" (compiled some time after 787), where it is listed (as Εὐρόσου) as the second among the suffragans of the Metropolis of Nicopolis.[8]
The known bishops are:[3]
- St. Donatus, under Theodosius I (r. 379–395)
- Mark, participant in the Second Council of Ephesus in 449 and the Council of Chalcedon in 451
- Eugenius, signatory of a letter by the synod of Epirus vetus on the Council of Chalcedon and the murder of Proterius of Alexandria to Emperor Leo I the Thracian
- Theodotus, attended the 536 council under Patriarch Menas of Constantinople
- John I, mentioned by Procopius
- John II, mentioned in a letter by Pope Gregory the Great; he presided over the flight of the Euroeans to Corfu
Catholic titular see
The Roman Catholic Church has established "Eurœa" (since 1933: "Eurœa in Epiro") as a titular see. Its incumbents are:[9]
- Bishop Jean de Brunet de Pujols de Castelpers de Panat (1739.09.30 – ?)
- Bishop Joachin Salvetti (艾若亞敬), O.F.M. (1815.02.21 – 1843.09.21)
- Bishop Gabriel Grioglio, O.F.M. (1844.03.02 – 1891.01.09)
- Bishop Salvatore di Pietro, S.J. (1893.01.03 – 1898.08.23)
- Bishop Jean-Baptiste-Marie Budes de Guébriant (光若翰), M.E.P. (later Archbishop) (1910.08.12 – 1921.12.11)
- Bishop Giovanni Battista Peruzzo, C.P. (later Archbishop) (1924.01.18 – 1928.10.19)
- Bishop Pedro Dionisio Tibiletti (1929.01.25 – 1934.09.13)
- Blessed Bishop Florentino Asensio Barroso (1935.11.11 – 1936.08.09)
- Bishop Alfredo Del Tomba (1937.07.10 – 1944.08.10)
- Bishop Ezio Barbieri (1945.07.21 – 1949.08.02)
- Bishop Policarpo da Costa Vaz (高德華) (1950.04.17 – 1954.01.29)
- Bishop João Pereira Venâncio, O.R.C. (1954.09.30 – 1958.09.13)
- Bishop Alfonso Niehues (later Archbishop) (1959.01.08 – 1965.08.03)
References
- Soustal, Peter; Koder, Johannes (1981). Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 3: Nikopolis und Kephallēnia (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. p. 158. ISBN 978-3-7001-0399-8.
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Euroea". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Le Quien, Michel (1740). Oriens Christianus, in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus: quo exhibentur ecclesiæ, patriarchæ, cæterique præsules totius Orientis. Tomus secundus, in quo Illyricum Orientale ad Patriarchatum Constantinopolitanum pertinens, Patriarchatus Alexandrinus & Antiochenus, magnæque Chaldæorum & Jacobitarum Diœceses exponuntur (in Latin). Paris: Ex Typographia Regia. coll. 143–146. OCLC 955922747.
- Synecdemus, 651, 6.
- Procopius, De aedificiis, IV.1
- Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 54, and directory notes accompanying.
- Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
- Darrouzès, Jean (1981). Notitiae episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae: texte critique, introduction et notes. La Geographie ecclesiastique de l’Empire byzantin (in French). Paris: Institut français d'études byzantines. pp. 32, 236.
- "Titular Episcopal See of Eurœa in Epiro". GCatholic.org. Retrieved 21 December 2018.