Agathonicea

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Agathonice (Greek: Ἀγαθονίκη, romanizedAgathonikē) or Agathonicea (Greek: Ἀγαθονίκεια, romanizedAgathonikeia) was a town and bishopric in Thrace during the Middle Ages. It remains a titular see of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and of the Roman Catholic Church.

History

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Agathonice is most likely to be identified with the modern settlement of Oryahovo in southern Bulgaria.[1]

It is first mentioned in the Suleymanskyoy Inscription, which lists the terms of the Byzantine–Bulgarian treaty of 815, among the border towns between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgar Khanate.[1]

In 1095, during his campaign against the Cumans, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos came to the town.[1]

Orthodox see

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The town is attested as a bishopric, as the first among the suffragan sees of the metropolitan see of Philippopolis, in the Notitiae Episcopatuum of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the 10th to the 12th century.[2] Only one bishop, Basil, is known, from the second half of the 11th century.[1]

Agathonicea remains a titular see of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.[3] Until 1860, it was often a title given to an auxiliary bishop to the Metropolitan of Philippopolis, who resided at the town of Tatar Pazardzhik.[4] The most recent incumbents were:[3]

In the 20th century, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church also began appointing titular bishops of Agathonicea:[5]

Catholic titular see

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The diocese was nominally restored as a Roman Catholic titular bishopric in the 18th century.[6] Its incumbents were:[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Soustal, Peter (1991). "Agathonikeia". Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 6: Thrakien (Thrakē, Rodopē und Haimimontos) (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. p. 168. ISBN 3-7001-1898-8.
  2. ^ 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. 285, 304, 328, 363.
  3. ^ a b "ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΟ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΕΙΟ: ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΗ ΑΓΑΘΟΝΙΚΕΙΑΣ (Επισκοπή Τιτουλαρίων και Βοηθών Επισκόπων)" (in Greek). Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  4. ^ Pétridès, S. (1909). "Agathoniceia". Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques (in French). Vol. I. Paris. col. 921.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ "ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΕΙΟ ΒΟΥΛΓΑΡΙΑΣ: ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΗ ΑΓΑΘΟΝΙΚΕΙΑΣ (Επισκοπή Τιτουλαρίων και Βοηθών Επισκόπων)" (in Greek). Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Titular Episcopal See of Agathonice". GCatholic.org. Retrieved 25 December 2018.