r. No
marks were found by which to identify the persons whose remains
were thus brought to view. But there can be no doubt that five of
the bodies belonged to the five persons mentioned above. To whom
the three other bodies belonged is a matter of pure conjecture. They
might be the remains of three intimate friends of Theodore, viz.
Athanasius, Euthemius, Timotheus, or more probably of the abbots,
Sophronius (851-55), Achilles (858-63), Theodosius (863-64). Cf.
_Itin. russes_, p. 100.

It would be a mistake, however, to think of Theodore only as a
controversalist and defier of the civil authority. He was a deeply
religious man, a pastor of souls, and he revived the religious and moral
life of men, far and wide, not only in his own day, but long after his
life on earth had closed. He made the Studion the centre of a great
spiritual influence, which never wholly lost the impulse of his
personality or the loftiness of his ideal. The forms of mediaeval piety
have become antiquated, and they were often empty and vain, but we must
not be blind to the fact that they were frequently filled with a passion
for holy living, and gave scope for the creation of characters which,
notwithstanding their limitations, produced great and good men.

[Illustration: PLATE VI.
(1) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION. FACADE OF THE NARTHEX.
(2) S. JOHN OF THE STUDION. THE RUINED INTERIOR: WEST END OF THE NORTH
SIDE.
_To face page 40._]

Speaking of Eastern monks and abbots, especially during the eighth and
ninth centuries, Mr. Finlay, the historian, justly remarks that 'the
manners, the extensive charity, and the pure morality of these abbots,
secured them the love and admiration of the people, and tended to
disseminate a higher standard of morality than had previously prevailed
in Constantinople. This fact must not be overlooked in estimating the
various causes which led to the regeneration of the Eastern Empire under
the iconoclast emperors. While the Pope winked at the disorders in the
palace of Charlemagne, the monks of the East prepared the public mind
for the dethronement of Constantine VI. because he obtained an illegal
divorce and formed a second marriage. The corruption of monks and the
irregularities prevalent in the monasteries of the West contrast
strongly with the condition of the Eastern monks.' Certainly to no one
is this tribute of praise due more than to the brotherhood in the
monastery of Studius.

The monk