105:, both in the hills south of Rethymno. He usually left his churches in the care of a monk ordained as a priest. When he returned to Myriokephala after his foundations to Saint George, he found the monks in poor shape. He established a church dedicated to
157:. His autobiography records no more of his life, but tradition relates that he stayed for some time in the village of Spelia, where an oratory was dedicated to him. He is said to have been buried in the
194:
is not a very informative biography, but it represents a revival of the autobiographical genre in
Byzantium. Because, to support his churches, John acquired land, orchards and economic privileges, his
62:. The scribe of the Codex Cisamensis places his birth in the year 970. For a time he travelled alone throughout western Crete, "from mountain to mountain" in his words. He founded his first church at
138:
exempting
Myriokephala from ecclesiastical taxes and episcopal oversight. The Bodleian manuscript does not mention the patriarch and does not name Romanos III, but refers to "our orthodox emperors".
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as a dependency of
Myriokephala with responsibility for overseeing its agricultural lands located at some distance from the monastery. In all, Myriokephala could support twelve monks.
67:
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178:(976–1025) that allowed proprietary churches to be transferred by the government. For the protection of his churches, John relied on the chrysobull and the
50:
and the manuscript known as the Codex
Cisamensis, copied in Crete in 1703. The Codex Cisamensis also contains a copy of John's will and testament.
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and as a unit. He places all his various foundations under the authority of
Myriokephala. He was anxious to protect his churches from the
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418:
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near
Aigialos and a sanctuary of Saint George in Nazogeraia. These places lay near the present-day village of Azogyres inland from
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is also important as a source of information on agriculture and taxpaying in 11th-century Crete, helping to define terms like
413:
408:
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John's testament, which he drew up after his return from
Constantinople, treats all of his ecclesiastical foundation as
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granting an annual subvention to
Myriokephala and gifted John with a dozen sets of monastic vestments. The Patriarch
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John's life is known primarily through his autobiography, which survives in a 15th-century manuscript now in the
141:
Returning from
Constantinople, John shifted his activity northwest. He founded a church of the Mother of God at
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differ in the details of his
Constantinopolitan mission. The Codex Cisamensis states that the Emperor
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70:. It was the first of several churches he built in honour of these saints. After a vision of the
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Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents: A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founders'
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8:
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83:. This monastery still exists and some early 11th-century wall paintings are preserved.
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of Myriokephala on Crete". In John Philip Thomas; Angela Constantinides Hero (eds.).
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John was born to wealthy family at Siba, probably the modern village of Sivas on the
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to obtain imperial privileges for his churches. The two preserved versions of his
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309:. Vol. 1. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. pp. 143–147.
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with agricultural land and a vineyard. He set up an oratory dedicated to
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297:(2000). "Testament of John Xenos for the Monastery of the Mother of God
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Byzantine Crete: From the 5th Century to the Venetian Conquest
35:, Christian saint and founder of churches and monasteries on
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in obedience to a vision he received from the Cretan saints
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The Life of loannes Xenos: Critical Edition and Commentary
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After his foundations to Saint George, John travelled to
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363:. Athens: Historical Publications St. D. Basilopoulos.
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153:. Seeking solitude, he continued west and settled in
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330:. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
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86:After Myriokephala, he founded the churches of
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354:(Ph.D. dissertation). University of London.
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39:. He wrote an autobiography in Greek,
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327:The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
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419:Founders of Christian monasteries
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359:Tsougarakis, Dimitris (1988).
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414:11th-century Byzantine monks
409:10th-century Byzantine monks
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314:Kazhdan, Alexander (1991).
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79:, he built the mountaintop
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345:Oikonomou, Sophia (1999).
81:monastery of Myriokephala
68:Eutychios and Eutychianos
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389:People of medieval Crete
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159:monastery of Gouverneto
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295:Fiaccadori, Gianfranco
214:, some sermons on the
132:(1025–1043) issued a
124:(1028–1034) issued a
384:11th-century deaths
31:, was an itinerant
322:Kazhdan, Alexander
217:Gospel of Matthew
192:Bios kai politeia
97:and Saint George
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379:970 births
373:Categories
207:choraphion
147:Saint Paul
126:chrysobull
17:John Xenos
201:zeugarion
91:Doubrikas
227:stichera
186:Writings
176:Basil II
95:Roustika
64:Rethymno
324:(ed.).
155:Kisamos
33:ascetic
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305:Typika
222:canons
143:Koufos
352:(PDF)
320:. In
234:Notes
101:near
93:near
21:Greek
332:ISBN
224:and
212:Bios
204:and
196:Bios
190:The
118:Bios
54:Life
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