STUDION MONASTERY

STUDION MONASTERY. The great monastery dedicated to St. Joh n the Baptist in Constantinople, which, founded sometime before 454, rose to prominence under the abbacy of Theodore of Studion during the continuation of the controversy of icons (qq.v.) during the 8th-9th c. The Studion remained the capital’s most important monastery to the end of the Byzantine era (q.v.). Following Theodore till the reform of the liturgy (q.v.) by Patriarch Philotheos in the late 14th c., the Studion also provided the dominant influence on Constantinopolitan worship, and hence its typikon came to play an important role throughout the Orthodox oikoumene (q.v.), making significant contributions to the hymnology of the Church. As the capital’s most important monastic presence, the monastery finally provided a standing counterbalance to the policies of emperor and patriarch.