1. Early Byzantine period

The church of Sardis is one of the seven churches in Asia Minor mentioned in the Apocalypse of John. Clement of Sardis, probably one of the first “επισκόπους” (bishops), is mentioned in the Synaxarion of Constantinople. The martyrdoms of martyrs Therapon and Apollonius, also included in the Synaxarion, reveal that the Christian community of Sardis flourished during the early Christian period (probably as early as the 2^nd century). Meliton, an apologist of Christianity and a voluminous writer, lived in Sardis in the 2^nd century. The fact that he maintained that the celebration of Easter must coincide with the Jewish Passover was the reason why the work of Meliton was not included in the ecclesiastical canon and was lost forever. His views were considered heretical and were persecuted by patriarch John Chrysostom (398-404).

On the other hand, it seemed that the pagan community declined. The temple of Artemis, worshipped in Sardis throughout the antiquity, was abandoned in the 3^rd century despite the efforts of emperor Julian (361-363), who appointed his teacher Chrysanthios “αρχιερέα” (high priest) of Lydia. The revival of the pagan religions was temporary. Pagans lived in Lydia until the 6^th century, when John of Ephesus commenced his missionary activity. According to an inscription dating after 539, the pagans of Sardis were exiled or imprisoned. There were also flourishing communities of Jews and Monophysite Christians in Sardis. The majestic synagogue of the Jewish community was situated in the centre of the city. The coexistence of Christians and Jews was peaceful and it seemed that the Jews were fully incorporated in the local society.

On the contrary, the coexistence of Orthodox and Monophysite Christians, whose communities had a different religious leader, was problematic due to the dogmatic disputes of the 5^th and 6^th century. In the 5^th century the metropolitan of Sardis was involved in a dispute on Monophysitism with the bishops of Yrkanis and Hierocaesarea of Lydia. The spread of Monophysitism in the province was such that in 457, following the condemnation of Monophysitism at the Fourth Ecumenical Council (Chalcedon, 451), a council of the bishops of the province of Lydia, ordered by emperor Zeno (474-475/476-491), was held in Sardis, condemning the Monophysite dogma anew. The missionary activity of John of Ephesus (6^th century), however, resulted in the conversion of many pagans to Monophysitism. The community of Monophysites survived until 571, when the Monophysite bishop of Sardis Elisaios was imprisoned in Constantinople, following a greater persecution against the Monophysites.

2. Middle Byzantine period

The metropolitans of Sardis acquired great prestige during the middle Byzantine period and were actively involved in the ecclesiastical disputes. The most noted metropolitan of Sardis during that period was Euthymios, who participated in the Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicaea, 787).¹Euthymios was persecuted for his iconolatric beliefs and was exiled at the time of Nikephoros I (802-813). He did not return to Sardis ever since. According to the letters of Theodore of Stoudios, the successor of Euthymios was also an iconodule, who was finally beheaded.² Apart from the disputes on iconoclasm of the 8^th and 9^th century, the metropolitans of Sardis were also involved in thePhotian schism as supporters of patriarch Photios and in the dispute over the fourth marriage of Emperor Leo VI (886-912). Metropolitan Peter was considered one of the main associates of Photios. In 869 he was sent on an embassy to Rome. A metropolitan with the same name was a supporter of patriarch Euthymios (907-912) and was defrocked soon after the defrocking of the patriarch.

3. Late Byzantine period

At the beginning of the 13^th century, Nikephoros Chrysoberges, the former master of the rhetors and a well-known writer, was the metropolitan of Sardis. During the 2^nd half of the 13^th century, the metropolis of Sardis was an object of dispute between the supporters of emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259-1282) and the supporters of patriarch Arsenios I Autoreianos (1254-1259, 1261-1265). The metropolitans were either in favour of the official imperial policy or against it but the metropolitan throne of the city remained under imperial control, either that of Michael VIII or Andronikos II Palaiologos. In 1285 the metropolis of Sardis was temporarily administered by the metropolitan of Corfu Gerasimos. In the records of the Second Council of Blachernai (1285), metropolitan Gerasimos also signed as metropolitan of Sardis (“πρόεδρος Σάρδεων” [sic]).³

It seems that the arrival of the Ottomans and the subsequent turmoil in the provinces of Asia Minor affected the church of Sardis. At the end of the 13^th and the beginning of the 14^th century, metropolitan Kyrillos of Sardis moved to Constantinople and took action against patriarch Athanasios I (1289-1293, 1303-1309) by forbidding the mention of the name of the patriarch during mass in the parishes under his jurisdiction. The patriarch often mentions the metropolitan of Sardis in his letters and blames him for acquiring a fortune in Constantinople and being away from his flock. It is possible that Athanasios I managed to banish the metropolitan of Sardis from the capital. A little later, however, the metropolitan of Sardis assumed the archbishopric of Methymna by service (kat epidosin), and returned to his seat. Following the conquest of the city by the Ottomans some time between 1310 and 1320, the church of Sardis soon declined. The last known metropolitan of Sardis was Gregory.

The metropolitan of Philadelphia assumed the administration of the metropolis of Sardis prior to 1365, although the official synodic order dates from 1369. In that document, it was decreed that the “ενορία των Σάρδεων” (parish of Sardis) came under the jurisdiction of the metropolis of Philadelphia and that the metropolis of Philadelphia assumed the place and jurisdiction of the metropolis of Sardis. In the same document, the metropolitan of Philadelphia bears the titles of “hypertimos” (most honoured) and “exarch of the whole Lydia”, which until then were conferred to the metropolitan of Sardis.⁴

4. The arsenite schism and the metropolitans of Sardis

The most noted metropolitan of Sardis during the 2^nd half of the 13^th century was undoubtedly Andronikos, whose activity was associated with the arsenite schism since he was a supporter of patriarch Arsenios I Autoreianos (1254-1259, 1261-1265). Andronikos was one of the first metropolitans who disagreed with the policy of emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259-1282) and was forced to resign (1259). Patriarch Arsenios I, despite his attempts, failed to restore him to the metropolis of Sardis during his second term as a patriarch. The metropolitan throne of Sardis was occupied by Iakovos Chalazas. Chalazas was not accepted by the arsenites but managed to exercise his authority due to the imperial support. He acted as a representative of the emperor in all ecclesiastical issues and tried to convince patriarch Germanos III (1265-1266) to resign. Former metropolitan Andronikos managed to return to the metropolitan throne of Sardis in 1283 and became the leader of the arsenite and anti-unionist party of priests and monks. Nevertheless, his cruelty, a result of the persecutions against him, finally isolated him. He was accused of lese majesty (a crime against the state), defrocked and even abused by his opponents.

5. Administrative issues

Following the administrative reformation by emperor Diocletian (284-305), Sardis became the administrative centre of the newly established province of Lydia and its church became the metropolis of the bishoprics of the province. No less than eight bishoprics of the province of Lydia were under the jurisdiction of the metropolis of Sardis by the time of the First Ecumenical Council (Nicaea, 325). According to the notitiae episcopatuum (notitia episcopatuum) of the middle and late Byzantine period, however, no less than 25 to 28 bishoprics were under the jurisdiction of the metropolis of Sardis or Sarde. 26, 27 and 25 bishoprics were cited in Notitiae 6, 8 and 14 respectively. The metropolis of Sardis constantly occupied the sixth place among the metropolises under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the ecclesiastical taktika throughout the Byzantine period. Only in Notitia 3 (9^th century) did the metropolis occupy the seventh place. Some changes occurred in the 14^th century, following the conquest of the city of Sardis by the Ottomans. In Notitia 19, dating from the 14^th century and the time of Andronikos III Palaiologos, the metropolis of Sardis and the metropolis of Philadelphia occupied the sixth place simultaneously. In Notitia 20 (14^th century), however, the metropolis of Philadelphia has replaced the metropolis of Sardis and assumes jurisdiction on the bishoprics of the metropolis of Sardis and its place in the ecclesiastical hierarchy.⁵