Processed from: Sapovici-Matei-171-179.txt

Date Compiled: 2026-04-12

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.

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).

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 [[sapovici-intemeierea-institutiei-monarhice|the institutional foundations of monarchic legitimacy]].

Relationship with Neagoe Basarab's Teachings

Sapovici identifies specific thematic overlaps with [[neagoe-basarab-teachings-intertextual|Neagoe Basarab's Teachings]]:

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.

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

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: [[sapovici-genealogia-soi|Code-Switching Between Greek and Romanian in the Writings of Metropolitan Matthew of Myra]] (Limba română, nr. 3, 2017).

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.