Joannes (520)

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Joannes (520), monk and author

Joannes (520), surnamed Moschusand Eucratas (also Everatas and Eviratus, corruptions of Eucratas as Fabricius remarks), a monk, author of Pratum Spirituale, c. 620. The materials of his Life are to be collected from his book (which exhibits no historical arrangement), a brief notice by Photius (Cod. 199) and a Greek Vatican MS. of which Mignehas printed a Latin version entitled ElogiumAuctoris. This document extends the chronological material, and purports to have beencomposed while the Laura of St. Sabas inPalestine was standing.

Photius states that Moschus commenced therecluse life in the monastery of St. Theodosius,perhaps c. 575. In the Pratum Moschus isfound at two monasteries named after twoTheodosii, near Antioch and Jerusalem respectively. The one intended by Photius is a Laura founded c. 451 by the younger St. Theodosius a little E. of Jerusalem (Boll. Acta SS.Jan. i. 683). The Pratum (c. 92) shews Moschusat this spot, described as "in the desert of theholy city," Gregory being archimandrite. In thereign of Tiberius (Prat. 112) John Moschus wassent by his superior on monastic business witha companion, Sophronius Sophista (said tohave been afterwards patriarch of Jerusalem),to Egypt and Oasis. This circumstance, unnoticed by Photius, is assigned by the Elogiumto the beginning of the reign of Tiberius (i.e.578). The absence was perhaps temporary,and Moschus's more protracted wanderings inEgypt may be assigned to a much later day.His Palestine life lasted more than 25 years,and Sophronius Sophista is frequently mentioned as his companion, once with a remarkthat it was "before he renounced the world."Photius states that he began monastic life atSt. Theodosius, he afterwards resided with569the monks of the Jordan desert and in thenew laura of St. Sabas. The Pratum fills upthis outline. The laura of Pharon(Φαρών [acute accent on the alpha], Φαρῶν [circumflex accent on the omega],Φαρᾶ, Pharan in the Latin version)was his residence for ten years (40). It waswithin burying distance of Jerusalem (42),and near the laura of Calamon and that ofthe Towers of Jordan (40). The laura ofCalamon where Moschus visited was nearJordan (157, 163). Another ten years (67) heresided at the laura of Aeliotae. This alsowas near Jordan (134) and still under the ruleof its founder Antonius (66). Moschus was atJerusalem at the consecration of the patriarchAmos (149), probably therefore A.D. 594 (LeQuien, Or. Chr. iii. 246); he records havingascended from "holy Gethsemane" to the"holy mount of Olives" (187). He residedat the laura of St. Sabas, called New Laura(3,128) near the Dead Sea (53), and a few milesE. of St. Theodosius (Boll. u.s.). He visitedthe μονή of the eunuchs near "holy Jordan"(135–137), the xenodochium of the fathers atAscalon (189), and Scythopolis (50). That he held the office of aκανόναρχοςis a mistake of Fabricius, citing Prat. 50, where it is anarrator, not Moschus, who thus describes himself.>From the wilderness of Jordan andthe New Laura, says Photius, John went toAntioch and its neighbourhood, the Elogiumadding that this occurred when the Persiansattacked the Romans because of the murder(Nov. 27, 602) of the emperor Maurice andhis children. In 603 Chosroes declared waragainst Phocas. The Pratum shews Moschusat Antioch or Theopolis (88, 89) and atSeleucia while Theodorus was bp. (79);but as this bp. is not otherwise knownwe get no date (Le Quien, Or. Chr. ii. 780). He visited theμοναστήριον (also μονή)of the elder St. Theodosius, on the Rhosicus Scopulus,a mountain promontory between Rhosusin the gulf of Issus and Seleucia (80–86, 95,99). At a village six miles from Rhosus, inthe seventh indiction (i.e. between Sept. 1,604, and Aug. 31, 605), he heard the story ofJoannes Humilis. From those parts, saysPhotius, he went to Alexandria and Oasis andthe neighbouring deserts. This was his principalvisit to Egypt, the only one noticed byPhotius and the most prominent one in theElogium, which states his reason for leavingSyria to have been the invasion of the empireby the Persians, i.e. when Chosroes overranN. Syria in and after 605 (as detailed byRawlinson, Seventh Monarchy, 501, 502). AtAlexandria Moschus remained eight years (as the Latin version rendersνρόνους ὁκτώ, Prat. 13 fin.)in the μοναστήριον of Palladius (69–73).The names of monastic localities in and aboutAlexandria occur in Prat. 60, 105, 110, 111,145, 146, 162, 177, 184, 195. There are recordedalso visits to the Thebaid cities ofAntinous and Lycus (44, 143, 161), to thelaura of Raythu (115, 116, 119) on the RedSea shore (120, 121), and to Mount Sinai (122,123). Photius states that from Egypt Moschuswent to Rome, touching at some islandsen route, and at Rome composed his book.What drove him from Egypt appears in theElogium. The holy places had falleninto the hands of the: enemy and the subjectsof the empire were terror-stricken. This againassists the chronology; for as the Persiansobtained possession of Jerusalem in 615 andin 616 advanced from Palestine and tookAlexandria (Rawl. 503, 504), the rumour oftheir approach would cause the retirement ofMoschus in one of those years. The Pratum(185) records a visit to Samos. The Elogiumrelates how on his deathbed at Rome hedelivered his book to Sophronius, requestingto be buried if possible at Mount Sinai or atthe laura of St. Theodosius. Sophronius and12 fellow-disciples sailed with the body toPalestine, but, hearing at Ascalon that Sinaiwas beset by Arabs, took it up to Jerusalem(in the beginning of the eighth indiction, e.g.c. Sept. 1, 620) and buried it in the cemeteryof St. Theodosius.

The work of Moschus consists of anecdotesand sayings collected in the various monasterieshe visited, usually of eminent anchoretsof his own time, as he states in his dedicatoryaddress to Sophronius; but some whosestories were related belonged to an earlierperiod, e.g. John of Sapsas. The work is nowdistributed in 219 chapters, but was originallycomprised, says Photius, in 304 narrations(διηγήματα). The discrepancy may be partlydue to arrangement, as some chaps. (e.g. 5, 55,92, 95, 105) contain 2 or even 3 distinct narrations,introduced by the very word διήγημα.Moschus (To Sophron.) compares the characterof his worthies to various flowers in a springmeadow, and names his work accordinglyΛειμών (Pratum). In the time of Photiussome called it Νέον Παραδείσιον (Hortulus Novus), and it has since been named Viridarium,Νέοσ Παράδεισος (Novus Paradisus) andΛειμωναριον. The title Pratum Spiritualeapparently originated with the first Latin translator, said by Possevinusto have been Ambrosias Camaldulensis (ob. 1439) who translatednumerous works of the Greek Fathers(Oudin. iii. 2437). The Pratum in this versionforms lib. x. of Rosweyd's Vitae Patrum(1615), which Migne reprinted in 1850 (Pat.Lat. lxxiv.), prefixing to the Pratum the Elogium Auctorisalready described. In 1624 an incomplete Greek text made its appearance,accompanying the Latin, furnished by FrontoDucaeus in vol. ii. of the Auctarium to the4th ed. of La Bigne's Magna Bibliotheca Patrum. In La Bigne's ed. of 1654 it stands invol. xiii. p. 1057. In 1681 Cotelier (Eccles.Gr. Mon. ii. 341) supplied more of the Greekand gave an independent Latin translation ofsome parts. In 1860 Migne (Pat. Gk. lxxxvii.2814) reprinted the thus augmented Greek,leaving a gap of only three chaps. (121, 122,132), retaining the Latin of Ambrosias throughout.Other bibliographical particulars, includingan account of the Italian and Frenchversions, will be found in Fabricius (Bibl. Gr.x. 124, ed. Harles). The authorship of thePratum used sometimes to be attributed toSophronius, in whose name it is cited by Johnof Damascus (de Imagin. orat. i. 328, ii. 344,iii. 352 in Patr. Gk. xciv. 1279, 1315, 1335) andlikewise in actio iv. of the seventh synod in787 (Mansi, xiii. 59). John Moschus and hisbook are treated by Cave (i. 581) and morefully by Ceillier (xi. 700). Dupin gives ananalysis of the Pratum for illustrations ofchurch discipline (Eng. trans. 1722, t. ii. p. 11).570Cf. S. Vailhé, St. Jean Mosch. in Echosd᾿orient, 1901.