Why Do I Love Kassia of Constantinople?
In my opinion, Kassia of Constantinople is one of history’s most brave and brilliant women, alongside Enheduanna from Ancient Mesopotamia and Anna Komnene who also lived during the Byzantine Empire. But, Kassia’s story is rarely discussed in the public sphere and it is also rarely raised in the field of religious studies and theology too as her life story and beliefs become overshadowed by contemporary theologians, such as John of Damascus. Nevertheless, this article intends to set out a variety of reasons for why Kassia of Constantinople, the Byzantine abbess, poet, composer, hymnographer and almost empress who lived between 810–865AD deserves to be more widely known and appreciated in today’s society. A society that values head-strong women. Thus, I aim to offer a way in which this might be achieved… Through a reinterpretation of Kassia herself.
Kassia of Constantinople, in my opinion, should be regarded as a proto-feminist. Indeed, Kassia was not only extremely intelligent, but she was also not afraid to speak her mind to men and to men who were above her station within the Byzantine social system. We are aware that Emperor Theophilos had a ‘bride show,’ during which he was expected to pick a Byzantine empress to rule at his side. Due to Kassia of Constantinople’s correspondence with the theologian, Theodre the Studite (which she began at a young age), we are aware that this took place and we are also aware that Kassia of Constantinople was among the contenders to become Emperor Theophilos’ royal bride. Indeed, Edward Gibbon described the event in his infamous ‘The History of the Decline and the Fall of the Roman Empire’ as follows:
‘With a golden apple in his hand he [Theophilos] slowly walked between two lines of contending beauties; his eye was detained by the charms of Icasia, and, in the awkwardness of a first declaration, the prince could only observe that in this world, women had been the occasion of much evil [in reference to Eve, the first created woman]: “And surely, Sir,” she [Kassia] pertly replied, “they have likewise been the occasion of much good” [in reference to the Virgin Mary]. This affectation of unseasonable wit displeased the imperial lover; he turned aside in disgust; Icasia concealed her mortification in a convent, and the modest silence of Theodora was rewarded with the golden apple.’
The truly intriguing part of this interaction is the theological remarks exchanged between Emperor Theophilos and Kassia. Their comments on Eve and the Virgin Mary have been studied by scholars before, but they have simply been analysed no further than this because academics seem to have taken Emperor Theophilos and Kassia’s theological comments merely at face value. However, when we look closely at Kassia’s quick-witted lexis to the Emperor who ‘turned aside in disgust,’ I believe that we can reinterpret Kassia as not only a feminist icon for today by proving herself to be a woman who wasn’t afraid to voice her opinion in an unforgiving patriarchal world, but we also find a theologian.
This is not a word that I have stumbled upon in any Byzantine Studies articles on Kassia, for example. Kassia is often merely regarded as an abbess or a hymnographer or a woman who was whipped for her stand against imperial Iconoclasm. She has not been granted the title of ‘theologian’ when the well-known theologian Theodre the Studite himself (one of the most important theologians of the 9th century) even contextually remarked upon her ‘intellect’ during their written correspondence. He even wrote that he was ‘astonished’ by Kassia. Thus, I propose through this article that we might be able to regard Kassia of Constantinople as a feminist icon today if we reinterpret her as a theologian within her own right. Worthy of just as much scholarly attention as those, such as St. Augustine, Philo, Maximus the Confessor and John Damascene, for instance.
Indeed, Kassia founded a monastery at Xerolophos after Emperor Theophilos decided to marry Theodora. It was at this monastery that Kassia dedicated herself to theology. She engaged in the theological debates of the day, challenged the Iconoclast Movement supported by Emperor Theophilos and suffered lashes as a result of this doctrine. Still, Kassia continued to speak out and support the veneration of religious icons going as far as to write: ‘I hate silence when it is time to speak’ and even daring to save one of Theodre the Studite’s disciples who shared her belief in the worship of theological icons.
Furthermore, Kassia devised theological poetry and hymns. Kassia’s most well-known hymn used on ‘Ash Wednesday’ gives a voice to a nameless woman featured in the Gospels of the New Testament, which can be seen below:
But, when we delve deeper into this composition, I do not believe that we should merely cast Kassia aside as a talented hymnographer. This is far too over-simplistic. This composition supports this article’s main assertation that Kassia of Constantinople should be regarded as a theologian because we can see Kassia performing some of the earliest examples of ‘feminist theology’. This hymn is not simply a hymn, it is potentially, in my opinion, is one of the earliest and few works of feminist Byzantine theology.
Thus, Kassia and her works of music and literature should be studied more widely in the public sphere and in the discipline of theology and religious studies in light of my reinterpretation of Kassia of Constantinople as a protofeminist and a feminist theologian in the Byzantine Empire.
Written by Sophie Bea Louise Overton
