John of Ephesus

1. Biography

John of Ephesus (or Asia) was born ca. 507 near Amida (mod. Diyarbakır) in Upper Mesopotamia and died at the age of 80, possibly in 588, in Chalcedon.1 He was of Syrian descent. From early on he turned to monastic life before he became a passionate follower and defender of Monophysitism. In 529 he was ordained deacon at the monastery of St. John in Amida. Later on, perhaps due to persecutions against the Monophysites, he made long pilgrimages, with intermediate stops at Antioch (532), Egypt and Palestine (534) and finally Constantinople (535), where he was connected with key figures of the Monophysite community, such as the architect and founder of the Church of the Syro-Jacobite Monophysites, Jacob Baradaeus.2

Around 539, possibly because of the bitter conflict that broke out between the Orthodox followers of the Chalcedonian doctrine and the opposing Monophysites, John and other people of his sect left for Syria. He visited for a second time Palestine and Egypt (541), where the Monophysites had consolidated their position, before he returned to Constantinople shortly later. In the capital he was highly esteemed and favoured by Augusta Theodora and Emperor Justinian I, who considered the fervent Christian and Monophysite a trusty partner. John became the leader of the Monophysites in Constantinople. He was then involved actively in the religious policy of Justinian I, which aimed at eliminating idolatry as part of an attempt to homogenize the empire.

Shortly after, in 542, he undertook and organised a mission of Christianising the heathens in the area of Ephesus and the districts of Phrygia, Lydia and Caria. Considering its aims, the mission was very successful. According to information provided by John’s historical work, approximately 70,000 heathens were converted to Christianity, while 12 monasteries were founded and 96 churches were built. John was given the name “teacher of heathens” and “idolbreaker”.3

After he returned to Constantinople, he continued offering his services to the emperor. Around 546 he participated in and contributed to hunting down and arresting idolaters in the capital and the countryside. In 558 he was confiscated bishop of Ephesus by the archpriest of the Monophysites, Jacob Baradaeus. However, he remained in Constantinople and discharged his clerical duties from a distance.

John’s brilliant career was interrupted when Justinian I died (565) and the dispute over the natures of Jesus was escalated within the Church. This time the supporters of the decisions taken by the fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451) were favoured by the attitude of the new emperor. Justin II (565-578), for political reasons and aiming at uniting the Orthodox and the Monophysites, issued in 571 an official declaration of faith, the Enotikon. However, the conflicting parties were lost in fruitless theological discussions and Justin II took strict measures under the influence of Patriarch John Scholarios (565-577). The Monophysites were dethroned and arrested. John of Ephesus was temporarily imprisoned in Constantinople before he was led to the Princess Islands of the Propontis. In 580 he was summoned to Constantinople to participate in a peace council along with representatives of the Monophysite Churches. John provides an account of the council in the Ecclesiastical History he was writing at the time. In the last years of his life the active opponent of the Chalcedonian doctrine was imprisoned in Chalcedon, where he died around 588.

2. Writings

John of Ephesus was a remarkable writer. He wrote in Syrian and should be considered the first Syrian historian. Most of his works have been preserved. A quite complete picture of the lost parts is provided by subsequent chronicles. His major treatises are The Lives of the Eastern Saints and Ecclesiastical History.

2.1. The Lives of the Eastern Saints

Τhis book provided a long chronicle of the Monophysite Church in the years of Justinian I. The work has been structured in the form of a hagiographic collection and was written in the Syrian language.4 It consisted of 58 brief biographies of holy men and women, who were contemporary with and familiar to the writer, coming mainly from the area of Amida and belonging to the Monophysite Syriac-speaking population. The Lives were written around 566/68 in Constantinople.

Τhe work, apart from being a rare example of hagiographic collection, is also a valuable source and direct evidence about the doctrine, the history and the activity of the Monophysite sect. It largely deals with the history of the Monophysitic Church. A wealth of important historical information is provided, while a number of figures, such as Jacob Baradaeus, are reported. In his Lives John of Ephesus gives a detailed account of the daily time of his era. The narration is focused on the Monophysite community in the eastern provinces of the empire, while the hardships afflicting the people, the persecutions against the Monophysites after the predominance of the Chalcedonians, the epidemics of bubonic plague, the disasters and the earthquakes are vividly described.

On the whole, the Lives have a moral-instructive character. A typical example is the account connected with the Armenian presbyter Aaron, who was a close collaborator of John of Ephesus for more than thirty years. The account of the disease and cure of Aaron outlines the character of a man considered a saint, while important information is provided about the level of medical knowledge gained at the time.

2.2. Ecclesiastical History

Of great historical importance is also the second work of John of Ephesus titled Ecclesiastical History.5 Written in Syriac, it is a purely Monophysitic work. It is divided in six books covering the period from Julius Caesar to emperor Maurice, more specifically until 585.

Τhe work is divided in three parts, with the two first having unfortunately been preserved in pieces in subsequent Syriac chronicles.6 Τhe first part started from Julius Caesar and reached until the death of Theodosius II (in 449). Excerpts of this part were included and preserved in the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian. The second part covered the period 449-571 and was used as the major source of historical information by subsequent Syrian chronicles, such as the Chronicle of Zuqnin (9th c.), the Chronicle wrongly attributed to Dionysius of Tell-Mahre (9th c.) and Elias bar Shinaya.7 Τhe third part of the Ecclesiastical History describes the historical events that took place between 571 and 585. This part has been entirely preserved and is a remarkable historical source of the said period.

The writer was largely based on personal experiences and oral testimonies of eyewitnesses. The narration is prejudiced, sometimes wordy, lacking sufficient chronological evidence. However, it is considered very important thanks to the exclusive information about political developments, military events and religious conflicts mainly between the Orthodox (Chalcedonians) and the Monophysites (anti-Chalcedonians), as well as about the adverse conditions of living that prevailed in the empire after Justinian I.8 Moreover, the writer provides an amount of general information. For example, it describes some natural phenomena and outlines the character of Augusta Theodora, emphasising her advantages and virtues despite rumours about her vague past.

The siege of Dara and the destructions caused by the Persian raids in the wider area in November 573 are vividly described. The chronicler reports that Chosroes chose 2,000 beautiful captive virgins, whom he sent to the khan as a gift in an attempt to restore their relations. It is worth mentioning that this reference is among the first connected with the presence of Turkish tribes in Asia Minor. The text also includes one of the earliest testimonies about the Slav raids in the northern Balkan peninsula towards the late 6th c.9

Some accounts of historical events included in subsequent Syrian sources have been attributed to John of Ephesus, possibly forming inextricable pieces of the lost parts of the Ecclesiastical History.10 They are mainly references to the persecutions against the Monophysites, which took place in the years of Justin I (518-527) and Justinian I, as well as an account of the famine that broke out in 542.



1. There is no clear evidence about the end of John’s life, while 506 and 507 have been suggested as the most possible dates of his birth. Researchers associate his death with the last events described in his Εκκλησιαστική Ιστορία (see Allen, P., “A New Date for the Last Events in John of Ephesus' Historia Ecclesiastica”, in Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica 10 (1979), pp. 251-254). According to earlier research, John of Ephesus lived between 505 and 585. About the revised chronology, see Brakmann, H. – Harvey, S.A., “Johannes v. Ephesus”, in Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum 18 (1998), p. 553.

2. Jacob Baradaeus, born in Tella Oshroene around 500, was the bishop of Edessa (542/3). He organised the Monophysite Church, later named Jacobite after him. The epithet ”Baradaeus” in Syrian means “a man dressed in rags” (Burde’ana); it is connected with the disguises and movements of the Monophysite bishop due to continuous persecutions by Justinian I and Justin II. Baradaeus was supported and aided by the Arab caliph Harith ibn-Jabala (Arethas) and Augusta Theodora. Baradaeus was very efficient in his apostolic and christening missions in the hinterland and coasts of Asia Minor and appointed Monophysite bishops in several cities, such as Chios, Ephesus and Antioch. He died on July 30, 578.

3. Such designations occur in Syrian in John’s Εκκλησιαστική Ιστορία (Ecclesiastical History), 3,2,4 [CSCO 16/Syr. 55, 41].

4. Today known under the Latin title Commentarii de Beatis Orientalibus or in the English translation Lives of Eastern Saints; see relevant publications.

5. The most important study on the historiographic work of John of Ephesus has been carried out by the Russian historian Djakonov, A., Ioann Efeskij i ego cerkovnoistoričeskie trudy (S. Petersburg 1908).

6. The historians and students of that period widely accept the German translation of the Ecclesiastical History published by Schönfelder, J.M., Die Kirchengeschichte des Johannes von Ephesos aus dem Syrischen übers. Mit einer Abhandlung über die Tritheiten (München 1862) as well as the English translation of the third part; see Payne Smith, R., The Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John Bishop of Ephesus (Oxford 1860).

7. Τhe preserved excerpts attributed to John have been collected in the book Land, J.P.N., Anecdota Syriaca ΙΙ (Leiden 1868), pp. 289-330, 385-92. See Harvey, S.Α., “Physicians and Ascetics in John of Ephesus. An expedient alliance”, in Dumbarton Oaks Papers 38 (1984), p. 87, note 3.

8. It should be noted that John of Ephesus, when referring to the period of Justin II, talks about the forthcoming end of the world; see Joh. Ephes., Hist. eccl., 1, 3.

9. See the relevant article on the exploitation of this information in Djakonov, A., Vestnik Drevnej Istorii 1 (1946), pp. 20-34.

10. See Brakmann, H. – Harvey, S.A., “Johannes v. Ephesus”, in Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum 18 (1998), p. 556, where some views on the writer of the texts are reconsidered.