{{Short description|Cypriot Orthodox monk, priest and sometime hermit (1134–1214)}} '''Neophytos of Cyprus''', '''Saint Neophytos''', '''Neophytos the Recluse''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Άγιος Νεόφυτος ο Έγκλειστος; 1134–1214) was a Cypriot [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] monk, [[priest]], and sometime [[hermit]], whose writings preserved a history of the early crusades.
==Life== Neophytos was born in the mountain village of [[Kato Drys]] near [[Pano Lefkara]], [[Cyprus]], to farming parents Athanasios and Eudoxia,<ref>Eudoxia was her assumed name as a nun in her later life. (Galatariotou)</ref> one of eight children. An arranged marriage planned by his parents ended with him fleeing to the Monastery of Saint John Chrysostomos in [[Koutsovendis]].<ref name="Galatariotou-13">Galatariotou, Catia (2002) ''The Making of a Saint: The Life, Times and Sanctification of Neophytos the Recluse'' Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, [https://books.google.com/books?id=QUDFu-JTIPMC&pg=PA13 page 13], {{ISBN|978-0-521-52188-8}}</ref> After much ado, the marriage contracts were broken and Neophytos went back to the monastery as a novice, becoming a tonsured monk in 1152.<ref name="Galatariotou-14">Galatariotou (2002) page 14</ref> During this time he learned to read and write and was eventually appointed as assistant [[sacristan]].<ref name="Kakoulli">Kakoulli, Ioanna and Fischer, Christian (2009) [http://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/doaks_eid_2424.html "An innovative noninvasive and nondestructive multidisciplinary approach for the technical study of the Byzantine wall paintings in the Enkleistra of St. Neophytos in Paphos, Cyprus"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402201958/http://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/doaks_eid_2424.html |date=2012-04-02 }} Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC; archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20101124072541/http://doaks.org//research/byzantine/doaks_eid_2424.html here] by [[Internet Archive]] on 24 November 2010</ref> Although Neophytos wanted to be a hermit, his [[abbot]] declined to let him go, citing his youth.<ref name="Galatariotou-14" />
In 1158, however, Neophytos was allowed to make a pilgrimage to the [[Holy Land]]. While he was there he unsuccessfully sought out hermits who might sponsor him. He returned to Cyprus, but still wanted to pursue the hermitic life. He tried to escape to [[Beşparmak Mountains|Mount Latmos]] in Asia Minor, but was arrested at [[Paphos]] upon his attempted embarkation.<ref>Kakoulli (2009) indicates that the sources do not state the basis for his arrest. But Galatariotou (2002) indicates that it was because he was mistaken for a fugitive.</ref> He was soon released from prison, but the guards had stolen his travel funds, so, in June 1159, he went to the hilly area above Paphos, where he found a cave that had been used by a previous hermit. He enlarged the space, eventually creating three caves known today as the Cell, the Bema and the Naos.<ref>''The complex also includes the Narthex and the Refectory found adjacent to the principal caves as well as the Skevophylakion, the Ayiastyrion (which is the room for St. Neophytos sanctification and holy attendance) and the New Zion located above the Narthex and the Naos.'' Kakoulli (2009)</ref> Neophytos's life as a hermit attracted the religious in the area who brought him food and gifts. His air of sanctity brought many to visit him, and in 1170 Vasilios (Basil) Kinnamos, the Bishop of Paphos, ordained him as a priest and required him to take a disciple, which started the monastery which now bears his name.
Neophytos wrote a chronicle titled Περὶ τῶν κατὰ χώραν Κύπρον σκαιῶν (''On the calamities against the country of Cyprus'') dated to 1196, which is one of the few Greek primary sources that record the events of the [[Third Crusade]] in Cyprus and the pursuit of the Byzantine ruler of Cyprus, [[Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus|Isaakios Komninos]] by the English king [[Richard I of England|Richard the Lionheart]]. Neophytos took a judgmental stance against the crusaders and his chronicle is anti-Latin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Coureas|first=Nicholas|date=2013|title=The Conquest of Cyprus during the Third Crusade According to Greek Chronicles from Cyprus|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48577683|journal=The Medieval Chronicle|volume=8|pages=193–204|jstor=48577683|issn=1567-2336|access-date=2021-03-21|archive-date=2022-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323102958/https://www.jstor.org/stable/48577683|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Legacy== [[Agios Neophytos Monastery|Saint Neophytos Monastery]] was named in his honor.
== Publication history ==
* Σάθας, K. [https://anemi.lib.uoc.gr/php/pdf_pager.php?filename=%2Fvar%2Fwww%2Fanemi-portal%2Fmetadata%2F9%2Fb%2F0%2Fattached-metadata-181-0000011%2F71268_02.pdf&rec=%2Fmetadata%2F9%2Fb%2F0%2Fmetadata-181-0000011.tkl&do=71268_02.pdf&width=364&height=580&pagestart=1&maxpage=821&lang=en&pageno=165&pagenotop=165&pagenobottom=161 Νεόφυτου πρότερον μοναχού και Εγκλείστου, περί των κατά την χώραν Κύπρον σκαιών]. ''Μεσαιωνική Βιβλιοθήκη Τόμος Β΄. Χρονογράφοι Βασιλείου Κύρπου''. Εν Βενετία: Τύποις του Χρόνου (1873).
== See also ==
* [[Kingdom of Cyprus]] * [[Leontios Machairas]] * [[Georgios Boustronios]]
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * Coureas, Nicholas (2003) ''The foundation rules of medieval Cypriot monasteries: Makhairas and St. Neophytos'' Cyprus Research Centre, Nicosia, Cyprus, {{ISBN|978-9963-0-8080-9}} * Englezakis, Benedict (1995) ''Studies on the History of the Church of Cyprus, 4th–20th Centuries'' (translated from Modern Greek by Norman Russell) Variorum, Aldershot, Hampshire, England, {{ISBN|978-0-86078-486-9}} * Epstein, Ann Wharton (1981) "Formulas for Salvation: A Comparison of Two Byzantine Monasteries and their Founders" ''Church History'' 50(4): pp. 385–400, {{doi|10.2307/3167393}} * Galatariotou, Catia (2002) ''The Making of a Saint: The Life, Times and Sanctification of Neophytos the Recluse'' Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, {{ISBN|978-0-521-52188-8}} * Mango, C. A. and Hawkins, E. J. W. (1966) "The Hermitage of St. Neophytos and Its Wall Paintings" ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'' 20: pp. 119–206 * Papageōrgiou, Athanasios (1998) ''The Monastery of Agios Neophytos: History and Art (a short guide)'' Holy Royal and Stavropegiac Monastery of Saint Neophytos, Nicosia, Cyprus, {{ISBN|978-9963-614-03-5}} * Tsiknopoullos, Ioannis P. (1965) ''The Encleistra and Saint Neophytos'' Zavallis Press, Leukosia, Cyprus, {{OCLC|254973241}}
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[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints]] [[Category:13th-century Christian saints]] [[Category:Cypriot saints]] [[Category:People from Larnaca District]] [[Category:1134 births]] [[Category:1214 deaths]] [[Category:13th-century Eastern Orthodox priests]] [[Category:12th-century Eastern Orthodox priests]] [[Category:12th-century Byzantine monks]] [[Category:Eastern Orthodox chroniclers]] [[Category:Cypriot historians]] [[Category:Eastern Orthodox Christians from Cyprus]] [[Category:People from the Kingdom of Cyprus]] [[Category:12th-century writers]] [[Category:13th-century historians]] [[Category:Cypriot non-fiction writers]] [[Category:12th-century Cypriot people]] [[Category:13th-century Cypriot people]]