15
FEM A LE CHURCH FOUNDERS:
THE AGENCY OF THE V ILL AGE W IDOW
IN L ATE BYZ A NTIUM
Sharon E. J. Gerstel and Sophia Kalopissi-Verti
A
round the year 890 the Byzantine emperor Leo VI inherited vast properties in the
northern Peloponnese. The contents of the bequest , which were inventoried by an imperial official , included gold coins , silver and gold vessels ,
copper objects , textiles , flocks of sheep , landed
properties , and more than three thousand slaves.1
Economic historians have analyzed this bequest
in order to discuss issues of land ownership , cloth
production , and slavery in the middle Byzantine
period , particularly in the Empire’s hinterlands.2
But the inheritance – as a legal transaction – raises other questions that are of immediate concern
for this volume , for the testator was a woman
who had disinherited her own grandson in favor
of the ruling emperor.3 The seemingly independent financial position of women such as the Peloponnesian Danelis is at odds with the cliché of
the impoverished widow , best exemplified by the
Gospel story of the widow’s mite ,4 a tale that was
picked up by Byzantine authors including John
Moschos.5 Yet , as the story of Danelis illustrates ,
widows were in a legal position to control their
own property and wealth , which in some cases
was substantial. This aspect of the story , which
has been ignored by scholars , is the focus of this
contribution.
This paper examines the involvement of widows in the construction or renovation of churches and monasteries , either as primary benefactors
or as more modest contributors to village foundations. Owing to the uneven preservation of
sources , both written and material , our focus will
necessarily fall on late Byzantium , evoking comparisons from the middle Byzantine period when
available. The ability of widows to participate in
church foundation , as we shall see , reflected the
strong juridical rites of widows in Byzantium and
their critical position within families where they
served , on occasion , as heads of household. As
1Ed. I. Bekker , Theophanes Continuatus , Chronographia , Bonn 1838 , pp. 320–321.
2 M. Hendy , Coinage and Money in the Byzantine Empire , 1081–1261 , Washington , DC 1969 , pp. 206–207 ; S. Runciman , The Widow Danelis , in : K. Varvaressos ( ed. ), Études dédiées à la mémoire d’André M. Andréadès , Athens
1940 , pp. 425–431 ; M. Kaplan , L’aristocrate byzantine et sa fortune , in : S. Lebecq / A. Dierkens / R. Le Jan / J.-M.
Sansterre ( ed. ), Femmes et pouvoirs des femmes à Byzance et en Occident ( VIe–Xe siècles ), Lille 1999 , pp. 205–
226 ; K. Kourelis , Fabrics and Rubble Walls : The Archaeology of Danielis’ Gifts , in : Byzantine Studies Conference
Abstracts , 30 , 2004 , pp. 26–28.
3 The Chronicle of Skylitzes succinctly notes : During the reign of Leo VI , the son of Basil I , Danelis again visited Constantinople and offered the emperor similar presents. She appointed him her heir and died after a while. ed. I. Thurn ,
Ioannis Scylitzae Synopsis Historiarum ( Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae , 5 ), Berlin / New York 1973 , p. 161 :
94–98 ; V. Tsamakda , The Illustrated Chronicle of Ioannes Skylitzes in Madrid , Leiden 2002 , p. 137, fig. 230.
4 Mark 12 :42–44 ; Luke 21 :2–4.
5 Tale 127 tells the story of a widow of about 80 years of age who distributes two lepta to each person entering the
church of Sts Kosmas and Damianos , text in PG 88.3 , see tr. J. Wortley , John Moschos , The Spiritual Meadow
( Pratum Spirituale ), Kalamazoo , MI 1992 , pp. 104–105.
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Sharon E. J. Gerstel and Sophia Kalopissi-Verti
we shall suggest , the increased involvement of
widows – even humble women of the Byzantine
village – in the foundation of churches in the late
Byzantine period , appears to benefit from changes in attitude toward the alienation of dowry
properties in the last centuries of imperial rule.
Although scholars often note the marital status of female founders , the very agency provided
by their widowhood has not received sufficient
attention. Yet , an understanding of their legal
and economic status is critical to any discussion
of women and their ability to found churches.
Laws regulating the distribution of property following the death of a spouse are included in the
Ecloga , which were enacted by the Isaurian rulers
in the year 726.6 The second chapter of the Ecloga
states : If the husband predeceases the wife and there
are children of the marriage , the wife being their
mother , she shall control her marriage portion and
all her husband’s property as becomes the head of
the family and household.7 Critical to the code ,
therefore , and to the issue of female agency , is
the widow’s assumption of the position of head
of the family and her legal control of her dowry
properties and funds. These laws , which gov-
erned inheritance and the guardianship of children , remained largely unchanged through the
last days of the empire , although specific cases
were brought before local magistrates when questions of dowry or guardianship of minor children
were under dispute. Novels issued in the late
Byzantine period also offered minor refinements
to the earlier law code.8
Following a husband’s death , the restoration of the dowry superseded other financial
obligations of the estate , including debts to the
State or to creditors.9 According to Byzantine
law , the dowry had to be inventoried within
three months of the death of the spouse.10 Thus
the dowry of Maria , the widow of Manuel Doblytzenos , was inventoried in August 1384 shortly
after her husband’s death at the Battle of Chortaites.11 Although her marriage share had been
assessed at 1585 hyperpyra , a portion had diminished in value. Manuel’s estate was duly required
to provide supplemental funds ( or gifts in kind )
to make up the shortfall ; these included seven
icons ( valued at 32 hyperpyra ), jewelry ( valued
at 87 ½ hyperpyra ), horses ( valued at 20 hyperpyra ), properties , etc.12
6Ed. L. Burgmann , Ecloga. Das Gesetzbuch Leons III. und Konstantinos’ V. , Frankfurt am Main 1983. For earlier legislation see D. White , Property Rights of Women : The Changes in the Justinian Legislation Regarding the Dowry
and the Parapherna , in : Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik , 32.2 , 1982 , pp. 539–548.
7 Εἰ δὲ παίδων ὑπόντων ὁ ἀνὴρ πρὸ τῆς ἰδίας γαμετῆς τελευτήσει, τὴν γυναῖκα ἤγουν τὴν τῶν αὐτῶν τέκνων μητέρα
ἐγκάτοχον τῆς τε προικὸς αὐτῆς καὶ ἀνδρῴας ἁπάσης ὑπάρξεως εἶναι, καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν πᾶσαν τοῦ οἴκου ποιεῖσθαι
φροντίδα τε καὶ διοίκησιν … Burgmann , Ecloga ( cit. n. 6 ), 2. 5. 1 , tr. E. Freshfield , A Revised Manual of Roman
Law Founded upon the Ecloga of Leo III and Constantine V , of Isauria , Ecloga privata aucta , Cambridge 1926 , p.
28 ; G. Buckler , Women in Byzantine Law about 1100 A.D. , in : Byzantion , 11 , 1936 , p. 410.
8 For inheritance disputes concerning the dowry see J. Beaucamp / G. Dagron ( ed. ), La transmission du patrimoine :
Byzance et l’aire méditerranéenne , Paris 1998. See also R. Macrides , Dowry and Inheritance in the Late Period :
Some Cases from the Patriarchal Register , in : D. Simon ( ed. ), Eherecht und Familiengut in Antike und Mittelalter ,
Munich 1992 , pp. 89–98.
9 After examining the more than 80 cases concerning dowry or other family property that were brought before the
patriarchal court between the 1315 and 1402 , Ruth Macrides noted that “certainly one generalization is possible : the
protection of the woman’s dowry is the most common outcome of the patriarchal decisions throughout the register”.
Macrides , Dowry ( cit. n. 8 ), p. 94.
10 N. Matses , Τὸ οικογενειακὸν δίκαιον κατὰ τὴν νομολογίαν τοῦ Πατριαρχείου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τῶν ἐτῶν 1315–
1401 , Athens 1962 , pp. 157–163.
11 N. Oikonomides ( ed. ), Actes de Docheiariou ( Archives de l’Athos , 13 ), Paris 1984 , pp. 258–265.
12 For an interesting comparable case and especially on the required time to inventory the holdings see C. Maltezou ,
Encore sur l’histoire des femmes : la dot d’une veuve grecque mariée à Durazzo , in : B. Doumerc / C. Picard ( ed. ),
Byzance et ses périphéries : Hommage à Alain Ducellier , Toulouse 2004 , pp. 255–262.
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15 Female Church Founders
As Angeliki Laiou has noted , the highly protected nature and intended purpose of the dowry
placed limitations upon its economic use.13 But ,
while the laws that safeguarded the dowry remained largely unaltered , its use and function
changed , suggesting a relaxation in societal views
about the administration of inherited properties ,
especially in times of economic hardship or political instability. In the middle Byzantine period , the
alienation of dowry goods was restricted ; by the
later period , based on an analysis of property transactions , these assets could be used in more flexible
ways. The increased number of sales or donations
made by women to monasteries in the late Byzantine period may provide evidence for a changing
approach to the alienation of dowry properties ,
which could be substantial when supplemented by
other inherited or purchased properties.
The involvement of widows in church foundation is most easily documented in the lavish
churches of Constantinople and in Byzantium’s
smaller urban centers. Among these , a number
were renovated or newly constructed by imperial and upper class widows as pious offerings but
also , more practically , as nunneries that could
support them through infirmities and in old
age. Such foundations , furthermore , housed the
tombs of deceased husbands , members of their
197
extended family , and the women themselves.14
The dowager empress Theodora , widow of Michael VIII Palaiologos , for example , reconstructed and endowed the Lips monastery , the convent
of the Holy Anargyroi , and , perhaps , the convent of the Theotokos ta Mikra Romaiou.15 As is
well known , the bodies of Theodora , her family ,
and her descendants were entombed within the
south church and ambulatory of the Lips monastery ;16 their eternal memories were recalled in
services , as mandated by the institution’s foundation document. At the convent of the Holy
Anargyroi , according to its charter , commemorations were to be made for Theodora’s ancestors
and her descendants , in the same manner as at
Lips , but simply , and not with such great expense ,
but such as would not be onerous for the convent.17
The vast properties given to support the Lips
monastery , as Alice-Mary Talbot has shown , derived from Theodora’s own inheritance and from
gifts from her son , importantly not from her late
husband’s estate.18 Theodora is but one example
of a large number of female founders – almost all
of them widows – related by blood or marriage
to the emperor Andronikos II.19
Involvement in church foundation in Byzantium’s cities , however , was not limited to
imperial women. Maria-Martha , widow of
13 A. E. Laiou , The Role of Women in Byzantine Society , in : Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik , 31.1 , 1981 ,
pp. 236–241.
14 A.-M. Talbot , Building Activity in Constantinople under Andronikos II : The Role of Women Patrons in the Construction and Restoration of Monasteries , in : N. Necipoğlu ( ed. ), Byzantine Constantinople : Monuments , Topography and Everyday Life , Leiden 2001 , pp. 329–343 ; V. Kidonopoulos , Bauten in Konstantinopel 1204–1328 :
Verfall und Zerstörung , Restaurierung , Umbau und Neubau von Profan- und Sakralbauten , Wiesbaden 1994.
15 A.-M. Talbot , Empress Theodora Palaiologina , Wife of Michael VIII , in : Dumbarton Oaks Papers , 46 , 1992 ,
pp. 295–303. On the evidence for widows entering convents in the middle Byzantine period see D. Abrahamse ,
Women’s Monasticism in the middle Byzantine Period : Problems and Prospects , in : Byzantinische Forschungen , 9 ,
1985 , pp. 50–51.
16 T. Macridy , The Monastery of Lips and the Burials of the Palaeologi , in : Dumbarton Oaks Papers , 18 , 1964 ,
pp. 253–277 ; C. Mango / E. J. W. Hawkins , Additional Notes , in : Dumbarton Oaks Papers , 18 , 1964 , pp. 299–315.
17 BMFD , III , p. 1292.
18 For an inventory of these properties see ibid. , pp. 1279–1280.
19See A. Constantinides Hero , Irene-Eulogia Choumnaina Palaiologina : Abbess of the Convent of Philanthropos
Soter in Constantinople , in : Byzantinische Forschungen , 9 , 1985 , pp. 119–147 ; Talbot , Building Activity ( cit. n. 14 ),
pp. 329–343.
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1: Berroia, church of the Resurrection, west wall, 1314/15
­ ichael Glabas Tarchaneiotes , erected the fuM
nerary chapel of the Pammakaristos monastery
in Constantinople shortly after 1310.20 The small
church of the Resurrection of Christ in Berroia
was completed in 1314 / 15 through the patronage
of Euphrosyne , widow of Xenos Psalidas , who
is named in an inscription on its west wall ( Fig.
1 ).21 Urban women , including widows , also presented monasteries with manuscripts , liturgical
vessels , icons , and textiles used for a variety of
church services , suggesting patterns of donation
at a more modest level.22
Based on information published to date ,
one might presume that the ability of widows to
found or support ecclesiastical institutions was
restricted to members of the economic and social
elite. Connected with standing monuments of
historical import and churches that still preserve
impressive mosaic or fresco cycles , these female
founders are well known in the field of Byzantine studies. Yet , even below the ranks of these
women and far from Byzantium’s urban centers , widows were involved in church foundation ,
suggesting a wider cultural pattern and , indeed ,
one that permeated all levels of Byzantine society.
The peasant widowhood in Byzantium has
not yet been the subject of a comprehensive investigation.23 Studies of rural widows in the me-
20 H. Belting / C. Mango / D. Mouriki , The Mosaics and Frescoes of St Mary Pammakaristos , Washington , DC
1979. On the metrical inscription in the apse see recently A. Rhoby , Byzantinische Epigramme auf Fresken und
Mosaiken. Byzantinische Epigramme in inschriftlicher Überlieferung , I , Vienna 2009 , pp. 402–403.
21 S. Pelekanides , Καλλιέργης ὅλης Θετταλίας ἄριστος ζωγράφος , Athens 1973 ; Rhoby , Byzantinische Epigramme
( cit. n. 20 ), pp. 157–160 ( with earlier bibliography ).
22 See the paper by Alice-Mary Talbot in this volume.
23 A. M. Konidares , Η θέση της χήρας στη βυζαντινή κοινωνία , in : Βυζαντινά , 16 , 1991 , pp. 35–42. For information
on widows in middle Byzantine hagiographical texts see K. Nikolaou , Η γυναίκα στη μέση βυζαντινή εποχή. Κοινωνικά πρότυπα και καθημερινός βίος στα αγιολογικά κείμενα , Athens 2005 , pp. 172–182. For dowry and inheritance
in traditional ( modern ) villages in Greece and Cyprus see C. Piault ( ed. ), Familles et biens en Grèce et à Chypre ,
Paris 1985.
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15 Female Church Founders
dieval West , however , are numerous , and these
have much to offer , both in terms of methodology and comparative data.24 Demographic analyses of the medieval population tell us that widows formed a large part of the rural community ,
one that likely increased substantially in times of
war.25 Their presence in the village can be tracked
in tax registers , where they are listed as head of
household or , less frequently , as living in the
households of adult children. In the late medieval West , the percentage of widow-headed households on manorial estates has been estimated at
10–14 percent.26 The number has been shown to
be even higher – 17–22 percent – in Byzantine
villages for the same period.27 On occasion , the
percentage could rise beyond these numbers. In
1262 , for example , tax collectors assessed the land
holdings of the Iviron monastery in the village
of Ieressos in northern Greece. Of the 79 households listed in the praktikon , nineteen – roughly
one-quarter – were headed by widows. Listed
199
as χήρα at the beginning of each entry , widows
such as Irene , Zoe , Kale , Photeine , and Anna ,
were responsible for raising their children or ,
in some cases , grandchildren , maintaining the
household and livestock , and paying rent or taxes.28 The holdings of the female heads of household do not differ substantially from those of the
male villagers who supported wives and children.
The measured land , teams of oxen , mules , pigs ,
etc. , are roughly similar to those of other villagers , as were the concomitant fiscal obligations. In
composition , however , the families of the widows might be seen to present certain differences.
Nearly all of the widows listed as head of household also had at least one son or grandson living
at home. The demographics of such households ,
of course , speak to the intense agricultural labor
that was necessary to maintain the land in order
to support family and community , labor that
is manifested in the skeletons of villagers , both
male and female.29 Widows who are not listed as
24 See , for example , J. M. Bennett , Widows in the Medieval English Countryside , in : L. Mirrer ( ed. ), Upon My
Husband’s Death. Widows in the Literature and Histories of Medieval Europe , Ann Arbor , MI 1992 ; J. M. Bennett , Women in the Medieval English Countryside : Gender and Household in Brigstock before the Plague , New
York 1987 ; L. A. Gates , Widows , Property , and Remarriage : Lessons from Glastonbury’s Deverill Manors , in : Albion : A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies , 28 , 1996 , pp. 19–35.
25 A. E. Laiou-Thomadakis , Peasant Society in the Late Byzantine Empire. A Social and Demographic Study , Princeton 1977, pp. 89–94.
26 For an analysis of the position of widows in tax registers in the medieval West see P. Franklin , Peasant Widows’ “Liberation” and Remarriage before the Black Death , in : The Economic History Review , n.s. , 39.2 , 1986 , pp. 186–204.
27 Laiou-Thomadakis , Peasant Society ( cit. n. 25 ) ; A. E. Laiou , Family Structure and the Transmission of Property ,
in : J. Haldon ( ed. ), The Social History of Byzantium , West Sussex 2009 , pp. 51–75.
28 For the Practicum Nicolai Campani and Demetrii Sparteni of 1262 see V. Kravari / J. Lefort / H. Métrévéli / N.
Oikonomidès / D. Papachryssanthou ( ed. ), Actes d’Iviron , III , de 1204 à 1328 ( Archives de l’Athos , 18 ), Paris
1994 , pp. 97–99. An additional two widows in the village , Maria and Photeine , were not heads of household. The
number of widows in this village seems particularly high. See the population estimates in Laiou-Thomadakis ,
Peasant Society ( cit. n. 25 ), pp. 89–90 ; eadem , The Role of Women ( cit. n. 13 ), p. 247 ; eadem , The Byzantine Village
( 5th–14th Century ), in : C. Morrisson / J. Lefort / J.-P. Sodini ( ed. ), Les villages dans l’Empire byzantin ( IVe–XVe
siècle ) ( Réalités byzantines , 11 ), Paris 2006 , p. 32. In looking at the eleventh-century Cadaster of Thebes , Charles
Brand found that 19.4 percent of the stoichoi recorded women as the heads of household. C. M. Brand , Some Byzantine Women of Thebes – and Elsewhere , in : J. S. Langdon / S. W. Reinert / J. S. Allen / C. P. Ioannides ( ed. ),
ΤΟ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟΝ : Studies in Honor of Speros Vryonis , Jr. , I , Hellenic Antiquity and Byzantium , New Rochelle ,
NY 1993 , pp. 59–68. For the mention of women in the Cadaster of Thebes see also L. Neville , Taxing Sophronia’s
Son-in-Law : Representations of Women in Provincial Documents , in : L. Garland ( ed. ), Byzantine Women : Varieties of Experience , 800–1200 , Aldershot 2006 , pp. 77–89.
29See S. E. J. Gerstel et al. , A Late Medieval Settlement at Panakton , in : Hesperia , 72 , 2003 , pp. 202–204 , for a discussion of osteological traces of agricultural labor. For similar conclusions derived from analysis of a large group of
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Sharon E. J. Gerstel and Sophia Kalopissi-Verti
head of household found a home with other relatives , indicating , in all likelihood , their inability – financially or physically – to administer their
own estates.
Given their substantial numbers , village widows must have constituted a visible minority
within small communities. In her groundbreaking study of the late medieval village of Brigstock ,
England , Judith Bennett concluded that “widows ,
although certainly not liberated , were nevertheless
the most publicly active of all women in the medieval countryside”.30 The evidence suggests that
peasant widows in late Byzantium were equally
active , both as heads of household and as church
patrons. The evidence for this activity derives
from written , archaeological and artistic sources –
all documenting female involvement in church
foundation at the village level.
The acts of Athos and monastic institutions
in other parts of the Byzantine world record numerous land transactions between widows and
churches or monasteries ; these suggest widespread societal involvement of widows with ,
most often but not exclusively , local churches.31
The records of sale ( as demanded by law ) carefully trace the lines of ownership so that the
transactions would not be disputed. The records
often stipulate that the transaction was made of
free will and without coercion. Control of their
inheritance or their dowry – their γονικόν , their
30
31
32
33
34
35
θεώρητρον , their ὑπόβολον , their πατρικόν , and
their legal right to alienate inherited or dowry
properties , placed widows in a powerful , but
also vulnerable , position.32 In an act of sale of
1007, for example , the nun Maria , a widow and
mother of three children , Kale , Niketas and Styliane , sold a small piece of property for six nomismata. The act specifies that the property was
part of Maria’s inheritance from her father , the
priest Niketas Sidirokausites.33 In 1010 , the widow Kalida , mother of Basili and Zoe , sold properties inherited from her grandfather and uncle ,
to the abbot of a neighboring monastery for the
price of fifteen nomismata.34 A perusal of the acts
contained in the Athos archives suggests that the
number of widows involved in donating or selling property to the peninsula’s monasteries increased in the late Byzantine period. In ca. 1290 ,
for example , Irene Panagiotou and her daughter , Maria , sold a field measuring three strem­
mata ( γ ονικὸν ἡμῶν τριμοδιαίον χωράφιον ) to the
Lavra monastery for the price of a cow and its
calf.35 Keladene and her son , Demetrios , are listed within a series of transactions that record the
names of villagers who donated or sold property
to the Xeropotamou monastery in the early fourteenth century. She is the only woman to appear
without a husband and to sign a property transaction in her own right. Listed without the name
of a husband and likely , therefore , a w
­ idow ,
skeletons of the late tenth / early eleventh century see C. Papageorgiou / N. I. Xirotiris , Anthropological Research
on a Byzantine Population from Korytiani , West Greece , in : L. A. Schepartz / S. C. Fox / C. Bourbou ( ed. ), New
Directions in the Skeletal Biology of Greece ( Hesperia Supplement , 43 ), Athens 2009 , pp. 193–221.
Bennett , Widows ( cit. n. 24 ), p. 103.
A.-M. Talbot , Women and Mount Athos , in : A. Bryer / M. Cunningham ( ed. ), Mount Athos and Byzantine
Monasticism , Aldershot 1996 , pp. 67–79.
On the θεώρητρον and the ὑπόβολον , the financial contribution of the husband in marriage ( the equivalent of the
dowry offered by the wife ), see S. Perentides , Πώς μια συνήθεια μπορεί να εξελιχθεί σε θεσμό ; Η περίπτωση του
“θεωρήτρου”, in : Αφιέρωμα στον Νίκο Σβορώνο , II , Rhethymno 1986 , pp. 476–485 ; A. Kiousopoulou , Ο θεσμός
της οικογένειας στην πειρο κατά τον 13ο αιώνα , Athens 1990 , pp. 56–59.
J. Lefort / N. Oikonomides / D. Papachryssanthou / H. Metreveli ( ed. ), Actes d’Iviron , I ( Archives de l’Athos ,
14 ), Paris 1985 , pp. 179–182.
Ibid. , pp. 190–193.
P. Lemerle / A. Guillou / N. Svoronos / D. Papachryssanthou ( ed. ), Actes de Lavra , II , De 1204 à 1328 ( Archives
de l’Athos , 8 ), Paris 1977, pp. 67–68.
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15 Female Church Founders
­ eladene sold fields of six stremmata to the monK
astery in 1312 and donated additional fields for
the salvation of her soul and the commemoration
of her memory and that of her son.36
The reasons for the sale or donation of properties were both economic and spiritual. Some
sales were surely generated by economic hardship. The stated motivation for many independent widows ( those who kept their deceased husbands’ land holdings and did not remarry ) to
donate properties to the church stemmed from
the desire to care and sustain themselves in old
age through the sale of property to a monastery
( the so-called adelphaton ).37 A southern Italian
document of 1189 records the intent of Basile ,
the widow of Nicholas Mantellos , to donate her
property , including a large number of sheep and
goats , to the convent of the Virgin of Messene ,
which she had entered as a nun. Upon her death ,
the transfer of all goods would be complete and
she would be buried in a tomb within the convent.38 Yet many of the donations appear to reflect the simple desire to memorialize one’s self
or one’s family members in perpetuity through a
single charitable action – a contractual donation
of a sacred type – the ψυχικόν or ψυχική δωρεά –
that is paralleled in the language used in commemorative inscriptions painted on the walls of
many small churches. Although earlier in date ,
201
an eleventh-century will of the South Italian widow Gemma ( Γέμμα ) makes the timing and motivation of the bequest manifest : I , Gemma , called
by name the wife of Nikephoros of blessed memory … oppressed by grievous sickness , lying on my bed
and having understood clearly as never before the
power of death , make my will while my senses are
clear and I am in my right mind. She gives to the
church as a gift and a freehold a garden , the surrounding estate and grottoes , and asks that every­
one who in the future offers the bloodless sacrifice
shall remember me in the prayers that are made to
God.39 In an act of 1482 from the Vazelon monastery , the nun Kataphyge Skoularopoulos donated her γονικόν and πατρικόν properties40 to
the monastery on behalf of her spiritual salvation
and the remission of her sins as well as those of
her son and parents.41 In other cases , the women
ask to have their names inscribed in the diptychs
of the church , along with those of their husbands
and parents.42 Ierakina , the daughter of John
Migidotos , donated a vineyard and the grapes
harvested from the vines to the Xenophon monastery in 1348 in exchange for the commemoration of the memories of her parents in liturgical
services and the inscription of their names in the
holy brebion.43
The inscription of votive prayers in surviving
chapels mirrors the spiritual transaction d­ escribed
36 J. Bompaire ( ed. ), Actes de Xèropotamou ( Archives de l’Athos , 3 ), Paris 1964 , pp. 117, 126.
37See Talbot , Women and Mount Athos ( cit. n. 31 ), pp. 76–77, for additional examples.
38 A. Guillou , Les actes grecs de S. Maria di Messina , Palermo 1963 , pp. 118–121.
39 G. Robinson , History and Cartulary of the Greek Monastery of St Elias and St Anastasius of Carbone ( Orientalia
Christiana , 15.2 = 53 ), Rome 1929 , pp. 150–151. The Greek documents collected in the monastery of Sts Elias and
Anastasios of Carbone in Southern Italy record a number of exchanges initiated by widows on behalf of local churches or monasteries. For a discussion of these documents as a source on Byzantine women see J. Herrin , In Search
of Byzantine Women : Three Avenues of Approach , in : A. Cameron / A. Kuhrt ( ed. ), Images of Women in Antiquity , London / Canberra 1983 , pp. 167–189.
40 On the occasional ambiguity of terminology see A. E. Laiou , Marriage Prohibitions , Marriage Strategies and the
Dowry in Thirteenth-Century Byzantium , in : Beaucamp / Dagron , La transmission ( cit. n. 8 ), p. 138.
41 T. Ouspensky / V. Bénéchévitch , Actes de Vazélon : Matériaux pour servir à l’histoire de la propriété rurale et monastique à Byzance aux XIII–XV siècles , Leningrad 1927, no. 7.
42 Ibid. , no. 76.
43 The property transaction is in the name of the woman who may be a widow. D. Papachryssanthou ( ed. ), Actes de
Xénophon ( Archives de l’Athos , 15 ), Paris 1986 , pp. 204–207.
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Sharon E. J. Gerstel and Sophia Kalopissi-Verti
in the texts. In a male hermitage located in the
cliffs above the monastery of the Holy Forty Martyrs near Sparta , for example , is inscribed the
name of the servants of God Kyriake and Kale.44 An
inscription in a hermitage dedicated to St John
near Zoupena ( Hagioi Anargyroi ), close to Geraki , asks the Lord to remember the soul of your servant , the nun Euphrosyne Glyka , and to forgive her
on the Day of Judgment.45 Although it is impossible to know whether or not these women were
widows , the absence of the name of a husband
is suggestive. Like the recording of properties donated to male monasteries in institutional acts ,
the inscription of the name recalled the involvement of women in donating properties , finances ,
fields or vineyards for the sustenance of the hermitage ; the inscribed text , used as a prompt by
the monk , signaled the counter-gift , the offered
prayers on behalf of the named supplicant.
Aside from mentions in texts such as wills ,
acts , and property assessments , there are also material remains that witness the participation of
village widows in the foundation or renovation
of local churches. Archaeological evidence from
village sites or churches and painted inscriptions
within humble churches provide important evidence that allows us , for the first time , to connect
widows directly to modest foundations in late
Byzantine villages and to conjecture about their
role in the construction , furnishing , and support
of churches used for family worship and burial.
Clearly , it is difficult to interpret the skeletal data.
However , widows can be identified in multi-burial graves where the female skeleton is the second
to be placed in the tomb together with the disarticulated bones of a male adult. In such cases , the
bones of the first adult are gathered in a corner
of the grave – most often adjacent to the head of
the later body ; on occasion , the long bones are
placed over the body of the recently deceased.
Many of the graves also include the bones of children , which are generally included with those of
the parent. Such graves are common in Byzantium , although they have yet to be collected or
studied. One site – Panakton – provides the kind
of information that might be useful to considering familial relationships and church patronage
through the location and analysis of skeletal remains. This gendered reading of the skeletal remains produces more meaning than the information included in a simple archaeological report.46
Excavations in 1991 and 1992 unearthed the remains of a small , hilltop village that subsisted in
the fourteenth and fifteenth century , a period
when the lands between Athens and Thebes saw
political and military unrest.47 In the late fourteenth century , a narthex housing two tombs
was added to the settlement’s central church.
The tomb , located in the northeast corner of the
narthex , housed three skeletons , including the
remains of a woman who died at the approximate age of forty-five. Buried ca. 1400 , hers was
the last of three bodies to be placed in the tomb
and covered by a marble slab. When she was buried , the skulls of two males who had preceded her
in death were stacked in the corner of the tomb
next to her head ; their long bones were scattered
over the lower portion of her body. Based on the
shape of the skulls ( the male crania were long
and ovoid ; that of the woman was a broad pentagonoid ), the skeletons with which she shared a
tomb belonged to her husband and another male ,
perhaps an adult son ( Fig. 2 ). Burial within the
church narthex suggests that the woman and her
44 N. B. Drandakes , Τό Παλιομονάστηρο τῶν Aγίων Σαράντα στή Λακεδαίμονα καὶ τό ασκηταριό του , in : Δελτίον
της Χριστιανικής Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας , 16 , 1991–1992 , p. 135.
45S. Kalopissi-Verti , Dedicatory Inscriptions and Donor Portraits in Thirteenth-Century Churches of Greece , Vienna 1992 , p. 107.
46 J. R. Sofaer , Gender , Bioarchaeology and Human Ontogeny , in : R. Gowland / C. Knüsel ( ed. ), Social Archaeology of Funerary Remains , Oxford 2006 , pp. 155–167.
47 Gerstel et al. , A Late Medieval Settlement ( cit. n. 29 ), pp. 199–204.
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2: Panakton, skulls from northeast tomb of church, ca. 1400
husband were involved in the construction of this
addition to the church or in charitable donations
that would sustain the building. It is not impossible that the skeletons are the remains of the village priest and his family. As the last member of
her immediate family to be buried within the
tomb , it would have fallen to this widow to recall the memories of her husband and son , both
financially , through donations to the church or
the purchase of lamps to light over the tomb , and
spiritually , through prayers offered over the grave.
Indeed , the discovery of glass lamp fragments and
ceramic bowls within the fill demonstrates that
such commemorative practices did take place at
this tomb.48 Further evidence for the burial of a
widow and her deceased husband within or adjacent to a church can be seen at a small church
near Psinthos on the island of Rhodes. A female
skeleton was revealed within a cist grave built
against the south exterior wall of the church. The
bones of a second skeleton , perhaps the remains
of her husband , were stacked next to her head.
In all likelihood , the bones are the remains of the
widowed founder of the church and of her husband.49
The most abundant artistic source for the
study of the late Byzantine village is the painted
church. Many of the programs of village churches have been studied and their inscriptions have
been collected in corpora.50 In the absence of
well-studied archaeological data , the inscriptions
within painted churches form the most important source for the study of the peasant widow
as founder. Collected from numerous churches
in Greece and Cyprus , monumental inscriptions
provide a large enough body of evidence to ena-
48 Ibid. , p. 188.
49I. Volanakes , Ναός Αγίας Τριάδας Ψίνθου , in : Αρχαιολογικόν Δελτίον , 50 , 1995 , B2 , pp. 825–826 ; T. Archontopoulos / H. K. Papavasileiou , Ρόδος : Πληροφορίες για την ιστορία του τόπου μέσα από το γεγονός του θανάτου.
Ταφική τοπογραφία του νησιού από τον 4ο αι. μ. Χ. έως τις αρχές του 16ου αιώνα , in : Αρχαιολογικά Ανάλεκτα εξ
Αθηνών , 39 , 2006 , p. 209 , no. 53. There is no explicit mention in the bibliography as to whether the second skeleton
belonged to a man or a woman , although the taphonomy suggests the former.
50 See , for example , Kalopissi-Verti , Dedicatory Inscriptions ( cit. n. 45 ) ; G. Gerola , Monumenti Veneti dell’isola di
Creta , IV , Venice 1932 ; A. Stylianou / J. Stylianou , Donors and Dedicatory Inscriptions , Supplicants and Suppli-
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Sharon E. J. Gerstel and Sophia Kalopissi-Verti
ble us to assess the role of widows as a sub-group
of donors within the general population. The inscriptions , primarily dated to the late Byzantine
period , list the names of those who contributed
modest amounts to support the construction ,
renovation , or decoration of local churches located either in provinces belonging to Byzantium
or in rural areas that were nominally under Venetian or Latin rule. In addition to serving the liturgical needs of the named families , many of the
churches were surrounded by graves , indicating
that they were also intended for commemorative
rituals. The inscribing of names in the building ,
therefore , had a double function , i. e. , to record
the donation , but also to recall the donor. Supplementary information is derived from votive
portraits or inscriptions that appear in a number
of rural churches , many requesting the viewer to
remember the person depicted or named.
According to the inscriptions women frequently participated in church foundation or
renovation together with their husbands and children. The women , however , are most often listed
as “wife” rather than by individual name. For example , in the late thirteenth-century church of the
Savior in Alepochori , Megara , Leon Kokalakes ,
the priest , is listed as the patron , ἁμα σιμβύου κ( αὶ )
τ[ έ ]κν[ οι ]ς κ( αὶ ) τῆς μ( ητ )ρ( ὸ )ς αὐτου.51 The anonymity of Leon’s wife and mother demonstrates
that it is the male who is the primary agent. Although a number of examples do exist where the
name of the wife is included together with that of
her spouse , individual names of the children are
rarely cited. The vast majority of inscriptions follow this pattern. There are , however , a small num-
51
52
53
54
ber of inscriptions that list women , together with
their children , without the names of their husbands. In these cases one can safely identify these
women as widows , i. e. , female heads of household , who are able , through their own financial
means , to support the foundation and decoration
of modest churches. The church inscriptions thus
complement the information gleaned from property and tax inventories about village demographics and help us to extend the written source into
the realm of the material world.
According to the evidence from church painting , widows were involved in church construction
and decoration both as primary founders and as
participants in collective family or village sponsorship. In three churches , widows are mentioned or
represented as the primary founders. The donors’
inscription in the church of the Transfiguration in
Pyrgi , Euboia ( 1296 ), lists the name of Kale Meledone followed by those of her two sons , George
the priest and Demetrios , and their unnamed
wives and children. There is no mention of Kale’s
husband , suggesting that she was a widow.52 Like
Kale , Maria he Galatou , the primary sponsor of
the painted decoration of the sanctuary in the
church of St George at Maratho ( 1285 / 86 ) on the
island of Naxos , is listed first in the dedicatory inscription. She is presented as the head of her family , which includes two generations : her two sons
and their wives as well as her grandchildren.53 The
foundation and decoration of the church of Hagia Triada near Psinthos on the island of Rhodes
( 1407 / 08 ) is credited , according to the dedicatory
inscription , to the initiative of the nun Kataphyge
Alexena and her children.54 Set against a white
cations in the Painted Churches of Cyprus , in : Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinischen Gesellschaft , 9 , 1960 ,
pp. 97–128.
Kalopissi-Verti , Dedicatory Inscriptions ( cit. n. 45 ), p. 63.
Kalopissi-Verti , Dedicatory Inscriptions ( cit. n. 45 ), pp. 83–84 , no. 31 ; A. Koumoussi , Les peintures murales de la
Transfiguration de Pyrgi et de Sainte-Thècle en Eubée ( Rapports avec l’art occidental ), Athens 1987, pp. 13–15.
A. Metsane ,  χορηγία στὶς Κυκλάδες ἀπὸ τὸν 6ο μέχρι τὸν 14ο αι.  μαρτυρία τῶν ἐπιγραφῶν , in : πετηρὶς τῆς
ταιρείας Βυζαντινῶν Σπουδῶν , 52 , 2004–2006 , p. 425 , no. 35.
I. Christoforaki , Χορηγικές μαρτυρίες στους ναούς της μεσαιωνικής Ρόδου ( 1204–1522 ), in : Ρόδος 2400 χρόνια ,
Athens 2000 , pp. 460–461 , pl. 181a ; I. Bitha , Ενδυματολογικές μαρτυρίες στις τοιχογραφίες της μεσαιωνικής Ρόδου
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3: Rhodes, Psinthos, Hagia Triada, portrait of the nun Kataphyge Alexena, 1407–
1408
background decorated with the flowering plants
of paradise , the widow Kataphyge is memorialized as a nun , who offers a model of her church to
Christ ( Fig. 3 ). As mentioned above , a cist grave
built outside the church may have contained the
bodies of the founder and her husband.55 It appears that Kataphyge , following the death of her
spouse , built the church to house her grave and
that of her husband. When her body was placed
in the tomb , her husband’s bones were stacked in
its northeast corner , as was the case at Panakton.
Alternatively , the bones of the husband may have
been translated from his initial tomb to be joined
with those of his wife.
There is also evidence that village widows
completed and embellished churches that had
been begun by their husbands , like the widows
who completed the Virgin Pammakaristos in
Constantinople and the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Berroia. The foundation inscription painted over the entrance lintel of the
church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel
at Blachiana Malevisiou in Crete states that the
church was erected from the foundations and
painted through the expenses of the late priest
Michael Marmaras and his wife Stamatia in the
year 1447.56
( 14ος αι.–1523 ). Μία πρώτη προσέγγιση , in : Ρόδος 2400 χρόνια , Athens 2000 , pp. 435 , 445 , fig. 2 :ια , pl. 171γ ; S. E. J.
Gerstel / A.-M. Talbot , Nuns in the Byzantine Countryside , in : Δελτίον της Χριστιανικής Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας ,
27, 2006 , p. 486.
55 Volanakes , Ναός Αγίας Τριάδας Ψίνθου ( cit. n. 49 ), pp. 825–826 ; Archontopoulos / Papavasileiou , Ρόδος : Πληροφορίες για την ιστορία του τόπου ( cit. n. 49 ), p. 209 , no. 53.
56 Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), pp. 504–505 , no. 11 : …( δι’ ἐξόδου τοῦ ἐν μακαρίᾳ τῇ ) λήξει γενο( μ ένου παπᾶ
Μιχαή )λ τοῦ Μαρμαρᾶ καὶ τῆς ( σ υμβίου αὐτοῦ ) Στα( ματίας ) ….. A modern cement floor prohibits the investigation
of any medieval graves dug below it.
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One of the most important changes in patterns of ecclesiastical foundation in the late Byzantine period is the increase in collective sponsorship of church construction and decoration in
rural communities.57 In inscriptions recording collective sponsorship , widows are listed as heads of
household together with men who represent families. Five churches on the island of Crete reveal the
involvement of widows in collective sponsorship.
The large number of families listed on the north ,
west and south walls of St George at Troula in
Hagios Theodoros Selinou ( thirteenth–fourteenth
century ), includes that of Irene Sarakenoudena ,
likely a widow of the Sarakenos family , who is
registered together with her children.58 The inscription in the church of St George at Kometades
in Sphakia ( 1313 / 14 ) includes two nuclear families ,
a single layman , two monks , other people whose
name God knows ( καὶ ἑτερων ἀνθρώπων ὧν Κύριος
γηνώσκει τὰ ὀνόματα αὐτῶν ), and three widows
with their children : kyra Kale Blastoudena , Anna Tzenaropole , and a third whose name has not
been preserved.59 The donor inscription in the
church of St George at Anydroi Selinou ( 1323 ) testifies to the initiative of a protopapas and a monk ,
who are mentioned first , and to the participation
of twenty-two additional donors , mostly nuclear
families , but also men with their children ( probably widowers ), single men ( unmarried or widowers ), a nun , and Irene he Anyphantou , evidently a
widow , and her children ( Fig. 4 ).60 Furthermore ,
the church of St George at Galata in Hagia Triada , Pyrgiotissa ( 1302 ) was founded or renovated
and painted through the labor and expenses of a
layman , a nun , and the nun Kataphyge , clearly a
widow , along with her children.61 The inscription
in the church of the Virgin at Kakodiki Selinou
( 1331 / 32 ) includes a widow , he Sgourogeanou ,
with her hetaireia and her children among a protopapas and a priest and notary ( nomikos ) who took
the initiative for the renovation of the church.
The priests are mentioned first , as usual , and are
followed by twenty-seven other donors mostly
from nuclear families as well as single laymen ,
men with their children ( widowers ? ), and families
with their hetaireia.62 The word hetaireia , men-
57 On this topic see Kalopissi-Verti , Dedicatory Inscriptions ( cit. n. 45 ), pp. 35–37 ; eadem , Church Foundations by
Entire Villages ( 13th–16th c. ) : A Short Note , in : Zbornik Radova Vizantinološkog Instituta , 44 , 2007, pp. 333–339.
58 Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), pp. 441–443 , no. 14 : Οἱ ρίνη ἡ Σαρακηνουδένα καὶ τõν τέκνον. Graves inside
the church have been excavated. We wish to thank the archaeologists of the 28th and the 13th Ephorates of Byzantine Antiquities in Crete , especially Nikoletta Pyrrou , for their information on unpublished material regarding burials
within the churches mentioned in this paper.
59 Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), pp. 472–473 , no. 2 : … κυρὰ Καλῆς ( τ ῆς ) Βλαστούδενας καὶ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς,
ννης τῆς Τζηναρωπόλης καὶ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς, ….πούλας κὲ τõν τέκ( νων ) αὐτῆς , pp. 17–18 , 32–33 ; I. Spatharakis ,
Dated Byzantine Wall Paintings of Crete , Leiden 2001 , pp. 33–35 ( with previous bibliography ).
60 Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), pp. 443–444 , no. 15 : … ρήνης τῆς νηφατοῦς κὲ τõν τέκνο αὐτῆς ; A. Sucrow , Die Wandmalereien des Johannes Pagomenos in Kirchen der ersten Hälfte des 14. Jahrhunderts auf Kreta ,
PhD Thesis , Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn 1994 , pp. 22–24 , 34–35 ; Spatharakis , Dated Byzantine Wall
Paintings ( cit. n. 59 ), pp. 63–66 ( with complete bibliography ).
61 Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), pp. 536–537, no. 5 : …κὲ Καταφηγῆς μοναχῆς κὲ τõ τέκνο … ; Spatharakis ,
Dated Byzantine Wall Paintings ( cit. n. 59 ), pp. 22–23. Two arcosolia , probably of later date , are attached on the
north and south side of the exterior. See also Gerstel / Talbot , Nuns ( cit. n. 54 ), p. 488. Similar in context is the
dedicatory inscription of the church of St Onouphrios at Kampanou Selinou painted by George Probatopoulos at
the end of the fifteenth / beginning of the sixteenth century , in which a widow and her children are listed among
four nuclear families headed by men , Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), pp. 468–469 , no. 49 : …καὶ Σταμάτας
τῆς Μαλο( ράχενας ) ….αὐτῆς , probably to be completed ( καὶ τῶν τέκνων ) αὐτῆς.
62 Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), pp. 462–463 , no. 41 : …ἡ Σγουρογηανοῦ μὲ τὴν ἑτερήα τῆς κὲ μὲ τὰ πεδηά
τ( ης ) ; Sucrow , Die Wandmalereien des Johannes Pagomenos ( cit. n. 60 ), pp. 28–30 , 37 ; Spatharakis , Dated Byzantine Wall Paintings ( cit. n. 59 ), pp. 82–84 ( with bibliography ) ; V. Tsamakda , Die Panagia-Kirche und die Erzengelkirche in Kakodiki , Vienna 2012 , pp. 37–144. A cemetery of uncertain date surrounds the church , Sucrow , p. 28.
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4: Crete, Anydroi Selinou, St George, dedicatory inscription, 1323
tioned four times in this inscription , is unknown
in Greek sources and should probably be related to the societas ( σ υντροφία ) recorded in fourteenth-century Venetian notarial documents. 63
The term seems to allude to a co-operative association aimed at the cultivation of agrarian products or at breeding animals. By sharing the costs
and means of cultivation , such as land , working
animals , seeds , personal labor etc. , as well as the
products , the partners could cultivate lands that
were not exploitable on an individual basis. The
term has also been related to the fraterna societas
of the Venetian law according to which paternal
property was inherited undivided mainly to the
male descendants in order to secure an efficient
cultivation of lands.64 What is important for this
study is the mention of a widow as the head of
an hetaireia , essentially equal in status to men. In
fact , thirteenth- and fourteenth-century notarial
documents in Venetian Crete attest to the widows’
rights to associate with other partners , to invest
money , to incur debts , and to establish transactions of purchase and sale.65
In a number of churches in the late Byzantine
period , short supplications are written alongside
saints on behalf of members of the community.
These short votive inscriptions , which are scattered among the wall paintings of a church , usually replace the long dedicatory inscriptions that
record all of the donors in a single list. Two characteristic examples that testify to the participation
of widows are found in churches on the island of
Naxos. In Panagia stes Yiallous ( 1288 ), in the region of Hagiassos , one of the six votive inscrip-
63C. Gasparis , Η γη και οι αγρότες στη μεσαιωνική Κρήτη, 13ος–14ος αι. , Athens 1997, pp. 168–175. For examples of
fourteenth-century contracts see pp. 388–395. We wish to thank C. Gasparis for his suggestions.
64 T. Xanthake , Ο ναΐσκος του Ευαγγελισμού στο Κακοδίκι Σελίνου : Οι τοιχογραφίες και η κτητορική επιγραφή , in :
Δελτίον της Χριστιανικής Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας , 32 , 2011 , pp. 65–84.
65 C. Maltezou ,  παρουσία τῆς γυναίκας στὶς νοταριακὲς πράξεις τῆς περιόδου τῆς Βενετοκρατίας , in : Κρητολογία ,
16–19 , 1983–1984 , pp. 62–79 , especially pp. 66 , 73 , 75–76 , 79.
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5: Naxos, Hagiassos, Panagia stes Yiallous, votive inscriptions in north blind arch, 1288
tions found in the building records the name of
Anna Koutenou and her son , referring , evidently ,
to a widow ( Fig. 5 ).66 The inscription is found between the portraits of the Virgin and St Kyriake.
The discovery of burials adjacent to the church
suggests that this isolated building served a commemorative function for those whose names were
inscribed within.67 Another widow , Kale Philotitisa , and her children are mentioned in a short
invocation along with two other votive inscriptions in the church of St John the Theologian in
Apeiranthos , Naxos ( 1309 ).68 These short inscriptions are written next to a painted figure of the
Virgin or a saint and they likely indicate that the
named supplicant offered the expenses for the execution of a single painting.
These inscriptions demonstrate that widows in
a rural milieu are regularly named in foundation
inscriptions and in short invocations that record
the active participation of a large number of inhabitants of an agrarian community in founding ,
renovating , or decorating a village church. Placed
among the other members of the village community , widows are listed by name together with
their children as equal to families headed by men.
The evidence from the inscriptions reflects the
Byzantine inheritance laws outlined above. Laws
mandating the widow’s assumption of head of
household following the death of her spouse were
also common in Venetian Crete. According to
thirteenth- and fourteenth-century notarial deeds
on the island , once widowed , women took over
the duties and privileges of their husband as head
of the family and disposed freely of their property.
The consideration of church inscriptions
that include widows as relatives – mainly moth-
66 Kalopissi-Verti , Dedicatory Inscriptions ( cit. n. 45 ), pp. 89–90 , no. 38 ; Metsane ,  χορηγία ( cit. n. 53 ), p. 426 ,
no. 37.
67 We thank C. Pennas for information on the burials found outside the church.
68 Metsane ,  χορηγία ( cit. n. 53 ), p. 428 , no. 42.
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15 Female Church Founders
ers or sisters – of the primary sponsors substantially augments the number of widows that can
be found in the village. In this case it is not always possible to determine whether these widows had a share in funding the construction
or renovation of the church ; it is probable that
they were mentioned in the inscriptions in order to be recalled in commemorative services.69
The church of St George at Longanikos in Lakonia , dated 1374 / 75 , was founded and painted
through the collaboration and expenditure of
two eminent members of the community : the
tzaousios George Pelekases and his family , and
the priest and notary ( nomikos ) Basil Kourteses ,
together with his mother , the nun Martha , his
wife Anna , his children and his sister , the nun
Magdalena ( Fig. 6 ).70 The nun Martha , the
mother of one of the co-founders , was certainly
a widow who took monastic vows later in life
or following the death of her husband. It is not
clear , however , whether the nun sold or donated
any property to support the church. Similarly ,
the church of St Marina at Mournes , Hagios Basileios ( ca. 1300 ) in Crete was founded or renovated and decorated by three brothers and their
mother , the nun Eugenia.71 Two additional inscriptions in Orthodox churches in Venetianruled Crete also present evidence of widows
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participating in family foundations. The church
of St Pelagia at Plaka in Apano Biannos , Belvedere ( 1360 ) was renovated and painted through
the labor of two brothers with their families
and their mother , Eudokia.72 The church of the
Virgin at Briomeni , Hierapetra ( 1401 / 02 ), was
renovated through the expenses and labor of a
monk and his mother , Paraskeve , and of his sister , the nun Sophrosyne.73
Church inscriptions also note spiritual relationships between donors , some of these involving widows. The church of St George at
Phatreliana in Koxares , Hagios Basileios in Crete
( fourteenth / fifteenth century ) was renovated
and painted through the expenses and labor of
a hieromonk Theodosios and his spiritual sister
Anna with her children. In this case Anna is obviously a widow. The word used in the inscription to describe the relationship between the primary donor and the widow is συναδέλφη. The
same godparents probably baptized Theodosios
and his spiritual sister , Anna.74
As the collected examples show , widows were
deeply involved in founding or co-founding
churches in Byzantium , both in urban and rural settings. Their ability to contribute financially
to such enterprises reflects Byzantine inheritance
laws , which guaranteed widows a certain degree
69 Gerstel / Talbot , Nuns ( cit. n. 54 ), pp. 481–490.
70 D. Feissel / A. Philippidis-Braat , Inventaires en vue d’un recueil des inscriptions historiques de Byzance , III.
Inscriptions du Péloponnèse ( à l’exception de Mistra ), in : Travaux et mémoires , 9 , 1985 , pp. 339–340 , no. 78 ; O.
Chassoura , Les peintures murales byzantines des églises de Longanikos , Laconie , Athens 2002 , p. 19 : …καὶ τῆς
μ( ητ )ρ( ὸ )ς αὐτοῦ Μάρθας μοναχῆς. It is interesting to note that the name of the donor’s mother precedes that of his
wife. See also Gerstel / Talbot , Nuns ( cit. n. 54 ), p. 484 , fig. 3.
71 Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), pp. 490–491 , no. 3 : …καὶ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῶν Εὐγενίας μοναχῆς ; J. Albani , Οι
τοιχογραφίες του ναού της Αγίας Μαρίνας στον Μουρνέ της Κρήτης. νας άγνωστος βιογραφικός κύκλος της αγίας
Μαρίνας , in : Δελτίον της Χριστιανικής Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας , 17, 1993–1994 , pp. 211–222 , esp. p. 212 ; Gerstel / Talbot , Nuns ( cit. n. 54 ), p. 484.
72 Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), pp. 574–575 , no. 5 : …καὶ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῶν Εὐδωκίας.
73 Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), p. 581 , no. 6 : …καὶ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ Παρασκεβῆ( ς ). At least two graves have
been located within the church. On the frescoes see S. Maderakes , Βυζαντινή ζωγραφική από την Κρήτη στα πρώτα
χρόνια του 15ου αιώνα , in : Πεπραγμένα του ΣΤ´ Διεθνούς Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου , II , Chania 1991 , pp. 265–315 ,
passim , pls. 93–98.
74 Gerola , Monumenti , IV ( cit. n. 50 ), p. 490 , no. 2 : …διὰ σηνδρομῆς ἐξόδου καὶ κόπου ὑερομωνάχου Θεοδοσίου τοῦ
Ζαγραμᾶ καὶ τῆς σηναδέ[ λ ]φης ( αὐ )τοῦ νης καὶ τ( ῶ )ν <τ>τέκνον αὐ( τ ῆς ).
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210
Sharon E. J. Gerstel and Sophia Kalopissi-Verti
6: Lakonia, Longanikos, St. George, dedicatory inscription, 1374/75
of financial independence following the death of
their husbands. The relaxation of societal views
on the alienation of dowry goods may have enabled many widows to participate more fully in
church foundation in late Byzantium , a period
that saw a dramatic increase in the construction
of burial chapels. The same law codes frowned on
re-marriage , thus keeping the dowry and inheritance intact and in the hands of the independent
widow as guardian of her children. That Byzantine law protected the property rights of widows , whether laywomen with minor children ,
or widows whose children were grown , enabled
these women – this relatively large percent of the
population – to participate in founding churches , either with their families or with other members of the village. And , ironically , legal admonitions against re-marriage may have facilitated
church foundation by keeping the primary estate intact and allowing women to alienate parts
of the dowry which , in the case of re-marriage ,
would have been partially forfeited or assigned
to support children from the first marriage. As
caretakers of family resources and as the principal supplicants for the salvation of deceased parents , spouses , and children , it is easy to imagine
why and how widows played such a large role
in founding or contributing to religious institutions.75 It is not by chance that so many of the
buildings founded by widows were also intended to house family tombs and to accommodate
commemorative services.
Not every widow was a potential founder. A
number of texts suggest that for many women ,
especially for those without children , widowhood meant financial and social hardship.76 And ,
75 On the role of female mourners see S. E. J. Gerstel , Painted Sources for Female Piety in Medieval Byzantium , in :
Dumbarton Oaks Papers , 52 , 1988 , pp. 89–111.
76 A. E. Laiou , Observations on the Life and Ideology of Byzantine Women , in : Byzantinische Forschungen , 9 , 1985 ,
pp. 66–67, repr. in : A. E. Laiou , Gender , Society and Economic Life in Byzantium , Hampshire and Brookfield , VT
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15 Female Church Founders
indeed , as we have suggested , inscriptions mentioning widows form only a fraction of the overall number collected from village churches. The
relatively small number of surviving inscriptions
suggests that most widows were not in a financial position to found , co-found , or support even
modest chapels. Yet even the small number of
widow founders in the village opens a window
into a part of the rural population that has remained , for the most part , invisible.
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Illustration credits : Figs. 1 , 4 , 5 : S. Gerstel. – Fig. 2 :
E. Barnes. – Fig. 6 : S. Kalopissi-Verti. – Fig 3 : Research
Centre for the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Art of the
Academy of Athens , research program “Corpus of the
Byzantine Wall-Paintings of Greece” ( photographer : N.
Kasseris , 2005 ).
1992 , II. As many have noted , women – particularly unlettered women – were susceptible to fraud and clauses were
inserted into contracts to protect those who were perceived to be most vulnerable. See H. Saradi-Mendelovici , A
Contribution to the Study of the Byzantine Notarial Formulas : The Infirmitas Sexus of Women and the Sc. Velleianum , in : Byzantinische Zeitschrift , 83 , 1990 , pp. 72–90.
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