Matthew Blastares
Matthew Blastares ({{langx|el|Ματθαῖος Βλαστάρης or Βλάσταρις|Matthaios Blastares/Blastaris}}; {{fl.|1240-1360}}) was a 14th-century Byzantine Greek monk in Thessalonica and early scholarly opponent of reconciliation with Rome. He was also the writer of the Syntagma Canonum.
Life
Blastares was a hieromonk in the monastery of Kyr Isaac in Thessalonica, where he died after 1346.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=295}}{{sfn|PLP|loc=2808. Βλαστάρης Ματθαῖος}}
Works
He is best known for his Syntagma kata stoicheion ({{lit.|Alphabetical Treatise}}), completed in 1335.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=295}} The chief innovation of the Syntagma was Blastares' ambition was to reconcile canon law with civil law, whereas previous treatises had focused on one of the two, ignoring the other.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=295}}
The Syntagma is subdivided into 24 sections, each on a specific legal topic, and usually further subdivided into chapters.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=295}} It became very popular even outside the Byzantine Empire, and was translated into Serbian during the Serbian Empire of Stephen Dushan.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=295}}
Apart from the Syntagma, Blastares was also the author of a number of other legal works, including a lexicon of Latin legal terms, and summaries of the nomocanons of Niketas of Heraclea, patriarchs Nikephoros I and John Nesteutes.{{sfn|PLP|loc=2808. Βλαστάρης Ματθαῖος}} His further work includes a poem on the offices and titles of the Byzantine court, a synopsis of rhetoric; theological treatises against the Latin Church, azymes, the Jews, and Palamism; a work on Divine Grace; a letter to Constantine II Lusignan on the Holy Spirit; as well as liturgical hymns and epigrams.{{sfn|PLP|loc=2808. Βλαστάρης Ματθαῖος}}
References
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Sources
- {{ODB|last=Kazhdan|first=Alexander|authorlink=Alexander Kazhdan|title=Blastares, Matthew|page=295}}
- {{Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit}}
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Category:14th-century Byzantine monks
Category:14th-century Byzantine writers
Category:Byzantine Thessalonian writers
Category:Canon law of the Eastern Orthodox Church
Category:Greek Christian monks