Three Medieval Texts about Euphemia

Abstract With the dispersal of her relics after their alleged return from Lemnos, Euphemia’s cult in Constantinople settled into relative obscurity. The great battles for the defense of the faith in which she had played a leading role—Chalcedon and Iconoclasm—were receding into the distant past. Pilgrims continued to visit her churches, but Euphemia became just another saint in a city brimming with relics, miraculous icons, and wonders. Yet the martyr and her miracles continued to fascinate and be relevant, as evidenced by the three texts that constitute the focus of this chapter. The first is the Martyrdom Account of the All-Praiseworthy Martyr Euphemia contained in the Menologion of Symeon Metaphrastes. The second is titled Enkomion to the Holy and All-Praiseworthy Great-Martyr Euphemia by the Blessed Theodore Bestes. The third is called Hypomnema [“memorandum, treatise”] on Some Miracles and on the Discovery and Translation of the Relics of the Holy and All-Praiseworthy Great Martyr Euphemia, written by Makarios Makres (ca. 1383–1431).