Deacon Joannes Eugenikos. Monodia in fall of Thessalonica

Translation from Greek and notes by D. S. Chepel

Abstract

Johannes Eugenicus (1400–1456) — younger brother of St Mark Eugenicus, of Ephesus, is known for his excellent education, as a theologian, as a hymnographer, poet and author of historical speeches, who devoted his life to the defense of the Orthodox Church and the Greek nation. Following his older brother, he adhered to anti-Unitarian positions, for which he was disgraced by Patriarch Mitrophan II of Constantinople, a supporter of union with the Roman Catholics. «Monodia» (or lament-song) «for the fall of Thessalonica» tells about the terrible events of the capture of Thessalonica by the Turks in 1430 and is an important historical source.