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Matthew of Myra's Teachings to Alexandru Iliaș: Themes, Rhetoric, Language

Article based on: Anca Mihaela Sapovici, "Sfaturile lui Matei al Mirelor către Alexandru Iliaș: Tematică, Retorică, Limbaj," Revista de Istorie a Limbii Române (RITL), nr. 1–4, pp. 171–178, București, 2018.

Overview

Matthew of Myra's Advices to Alexandru Iliaș (Sfaturile lui Matei al Mirelor către Alexandru Iliaș) is a parenetic (admonitory) work written at the beginning of the 17th century by the Epirot abbot Matthew (Matei al Mirelor), Honorary Metropolitan of Myra in Asia Minor. Addressed to Alexandru Iliaș, Prince of Wallachia (1616–1618) and also of Moldavia (1620–1621, 1631–1633), the work represents the second major literary success of the parenetic genre in the Romanian space, following The Teachings of Neagoe Basarab to His Son Theodosius.

Matthew composed the Advices while serving as egumen (abbot) of Dealu Monastery near Târgoviște, under the patronage of Prince Radu Șerban. He held this position between approximately 1607–1609 and 1624, the year of his death.

Author: Matthew of Myra

Matthew was a highly educated churchman with a cosmopolitan biography:

  • Studied in Constantinople, then appointed protosyngel (first secretary) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
  • Sent on diplomatic-missionary trips to Moscow (1596–1597) and Lwow (1599), where he copied and illuminated numerous manuscripts now held in libraries worldwide
  • Appointed abbot of the Great Church of Constantinople in 1600
  • Made Hononary Metropolitan of Myra (Lychia, Asia Minor) in 1605
  • Resided in Iași, Moldavia (1606–1607), then Craiova, and finally at Dealu Monastery near Târgoviște from roughly 1607–1609 onward

Beyond the Advices, Matthew is also known for his History (Istoria), a unique source for events in Wallachia between 1602 and 1618, which exists in multiple manuscript variants. He also composed liturgical works (services and canons).

Genesis of the Work

The Advices originated as a 40-verse poetic appendix to the second variant of Matthew's History, composed during the reign of Radu Mihnea. When Matthew sought to narrate the circumstances of Radu Mihnea's rise to the throne, he also recalled events from his predecessor Radu Șerban's reign, and appended moralizing verses addressed to the ruler.

These verses — without outstanding literary merit on their own — were later reconverted and amplified during the reign of Alexandru Iliaș (grandson of Alexandru Lăpușneanu) into a full-fledged parenetic discourse. After Alexandru Iliaș's overthrow and the accession of Gavril Movilă, the Advices were annexed to the history covering events from Șerban Voievod to Gavril Voievod.

The work is dated by Matthew himself to February 27, 7126 (i.e., 1618 in the Byzantine calendar), composed in Târgoviște. A complete edition from 1638 was discovered in the Vienna library by Pidonia Komnini.

Thematic Analysis

Religious Foundation: Faith and the Fear of God

The Advices open in accordance with the conventions of the Byzantine parenetic tradition (katoptre or "mirrors of princes"). The very first recommendation establishes the theological foundation:

"First of all, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. / This is the foundation of righteous judgment. / And he who has acquired the fear of God / Has saved himself from the death of the intelligent beast."

The work affirms that authentic rule is grounded in divine legitimacy. The ruler's power must be exercised as service to God — a principle with deep roots in Byzantine political theology (echoing Pope Leo I's letter to Emperor Marcian and Agapet the Deacon's Ekthesis).

Judicial Justice

A central chapter, "For princes must fear God and be righteous judges," instructs the ruler to show no favoritism based on social or material status:

"For you owe much, because you have received much / From God on high — many chances. / He has exalted you and made you lord over all / And you have the duty to fear Him more than all, with great trembling. / Be a righteous judge, without a haughty heart, / Distinguish the truth, according to the law. / Do not look on faces, nor accept gifts, / Nor ask whether he is a boier [noble] or a peasant. / But only see, without distinction, the deed of each / And take the appropriate decision, in order."

This reflects the Byzantine ideal of the ruler as the earthly image of divine justice, further discussed in the institutional foundations of monarchic legitimacy.

Relationship with Neagoe Basarab's Teachings

Sapovici identifies specific thematic overlaps with Neagoe Basarab's Teachings:

Theme in Matthew's Advices Parallel in Neagoe's Teachings
Princes should do nothing without counsel ✔
Princes should not break their oath ✔
Princes should be at peace with neighbors ✔
The country's borders must be well guarded ✔
Princes should not be proud, but moderate ✔
Confession and communion for all in the Palace ✔

Other shared themes (celebration of holidays, almsgiving, helping the poor, chaste living, wisdom, self-mastery) appear throughout Byzantine parenetic literature, making direct attribution uncertain.

The Innovative Contextual Dimension

Unlike classical Byzantine parenesis, Matthew's Advices are remarkably contextual and pragmatic, offering advice adapted to the specific sociopolitical realities of 17th-century Wallachia:

1. Demographic Crisis and Tax Abuse

In "The country's borders must be guarded," Matthew warns of depopulation caused by the abuses of haratzareii (tax collectors):

"They devastate your land and have no shame, / They devastate your land entirely, the whole country. / Elsewhere people flee because of injustice. / The borders of Transylvania have filled up / Because of the frequent tribute and many taxes / And the hardships of those who labor."

2. Infrastructure and Public Welfare

In "It is necessary to build bridges and wells for travelers," Matthew paints a vivid picture of societal struggle for survival, and calls on the prince to intervene in Christian spirit — describing how he himself once helped pull a poor man's oxen and cart from mud, an experience that prompted his written plea:

"Again, Illustrious One, do this: / Where there is mud and water, build bridges, / So that people may pass and thank you / And pray to God for you."

3. Education and Literacy

Matthew advocates for public instruction, justifying it through Christian anthropological arguments. Ignorance of letters is described as a "heavy" and "great cloud" covering the "sun" — i.e., the soul and mind of a person. The humanist influence is tempered by theological framing.

Rhetorical and Literary Analysis

Matthew writes in popular Greek (greaca populară), with well-structured verses that are rhymed and rhythmic, but Sapovici judges that they do not demonstrate exceptional poetic talent. His gift lies not in philosophical meditation (as Neagoe does) but in narrative argumentation — illustrating advice through Gospel parables and Church tradition.

Sapovici characterizes Matthew as:

  • A good storyteller rather than a philosopher-poet
  • Possessing a distinctive sensitivity to the social problems of his time
  • Writing boldly and without restraint, dwelling on social imbalance, popular poverty, ignorance, and the precarious state of Wallachia

The Advices thus function as both a moral guide and a social indictment, a dimension that distinguishes them from the more idealizing Byzantine mirrors.

Linguistic Analysis: Code-Switching Between Greek and Romanian

One of Sapovici's central contributions is the identification of code-switching (alternation between Greek and Romanian) as a defining linguistic feature of the Advices. This phenomenon — later richly documented throughout the Phanariot period — finds early expression in Matthew's work.

Examples of Code-Switching

Greek Form Romanian Source Meaning
βοηβόνδα, βοεβόδας, βόδας voievod, vodă Prince
Δόμνα Doamna Lady (the princess)
καλαράσηδαις călărași Cavalrymen
κούρτην curtea Court
λεζιατζέρεη legea țării Law of the land
λέζα legea Law
Ὄτζηνα obcina Mountain ridge
σφάτον sfat Council
τάπμαρον tabără Camp
Τζάραν Ţara The Land (Wallachia)
τζοκόντνιτζες ciocoi Young boy / lackey

Functional Dimensions

Sapovici identifies two main functions of these code-switches:

  1. Lexical coverage: Filling gaps for Romanian sociopolitical realities that contemporary Greek had no reasonable equivalents for — e.g., λέζα and λεζιατζέρει ("the law of the land")
  2. Textual strategy and reader address: By alternating languages, Matthew signals the Romanian destination of his text and demonstrates personal engagement with the realities of the moment. The switches are absent from his other works (the Plaint of Constantinople, older History versions, liturgical services), which were either addressed to Greek audiences or referred to Greek contexts.

This makes Matthew one of the precursors of a cultural and linguistic "fashion" characteristic of Romanian sociopolitical space — a bilingual and bicultural phenomenon of the pre-Fanariot and Fanariot periods.

Sapovici explores this phenomenon in greater depth in a companion article: Code-Switching Between Greek and Romanian in the Writings of Metropolitan Matthew of Myra (Limba română, nr. 3, 2017).

Relationship to Other Sapovici Articles in the KB

This article sits within a broader research program by Sapovici on Greek-Romanian linguistic and cultural symbiosis in the early modern period. Key connections:

Conclusions

Sapovici's analysis demonstrates that Matthew of Myra's Advices, while respecting the general thematic and rhetorical directives of Byzantine parenetic tradition, depart significantly from it through contextual adaptation and pragmatic engagement with Wallachia's specific problems. The work is less a philosophical treatise than a courageous social document, notable for its unflinching insistence on injustice, poverty, administrative dysfunction, and the need for education.

Linguistically, the Advices mark Matthew as a precursor of bilingual cultural practices that would become dominant in the Romanian Principalities. His code-switches between Greek and Romanian are simultaneously a lexical strategy, a rhetorical device, and evidence of deep bicultural immersion.

Source Attribution

Article based on: Anca Mihaela Sapovici, "Sfaturile lui Matei al Mirelor către Alexandru Iliaș: Tematică, Retorică, Limbaj," Revista de Istorie a Limbii Române (RITL), nr. 1–4, pp. 171–178, București, 2018.

References

  • Sapovici, Anca Mihaela. 2018. "Sfaturile lui Matei al Mirelor către Alexandru Iliaș: Tematică, Retorică, Limbaj." RITL, nr. 1–4, pp. 171–178.
  • Sapovici, Anca Mihaela. 2016. "Sfaturile lui Matei al Mirelor către Alexandru Iliaș: între tradiție și inovație." Proceedings of the International Conference on Linguistic and Cultural Contacts, Iași, Sept. 2015. Roma: Aracne Editrice, pp. 395–406.
  • Sapovici, Anca Mihaela. 2017. "Schimbări de cod între greacă și română în scrierile Mitropolitului Matei al Mirelor." Limba română, nr. 3, pp. 391–408.

  • Legrand, Émile. 1881. Bibliothèque grecque vulgaire, t. II. Paris, pp. 231–277. (edition of the Greek text)

  • KB Index