Andrew of Crete

For the martyr of 766 of the same name, see Andrew of Crete (martyr).

Saint Andrew of Crete (Greek: Ἀνδρέας Κρήτης, c. 650 – July 4, 712 or 726 or 740), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was an 8th-century bishop, theologian, homilist, and hymnographer. He is venerated as a saint by Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians.

Life

Born in Damascus of Christian parents, Andrew was a mute from birth until the age of seven, when, according to his hagiographers, he was miraculously cured after receiving Holy Communion. He began his ecclesiastical career at fourteen in the Lavra of St. Sabbas the Sanctified, near Jerusalem, where he quickly gained the notice of his superiors. Theodore, the locum tenens of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem (745–770) made him his Archdeacon, and sent him to the imperial capital of Constantinople as his official representative at the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680–681), which had been called by the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus, to counter the heresy of Monothelitism.

Andrew of Crete (martyr)

For the archbishop of the same name, see Andrew of Crete.

Saint Andrew of Crete is a martyr of the Christian Church. A fervent iconophile, he was executed in the Forum Bovis of Constantinople at the orders of Emperor Constantine V in 766 or 767, during the Byzantine Iconoclasm. His feast day is October 17. The monastery of St Andrew in Krisei in Constantinople, currently the Koca Mustafa Pasha Mosque in Istanbul, was dedicated to him. It should be noticed that according to modern sources, the figure of Andrew of Crete, like those of many iconophile Saints lived under the iconoclastic period, is unverified.

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Crete

Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, Kríti ['kriti]; Ancient Greek: Κρήτη, Krḗtē) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete and a number of surrounding islands and islets constitute the region of Crete (Greek: Περιφέρεια Κρήτης), one of the 13 top-level administrative units of Greece. The capital and the largest city is Heraklion. As of 2011, the region had a population of 623,065.

Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits (such as its own poetry and music). It was once the center of the Minoan civilization (c. 2700–1420 BC), which is currently regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe.

Name

The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and the Bible (Caphtor). It was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting a similar Minoan name for the island.

Cretan wine

Cretan wine is wine from the Greek island of Crete. It has a long history since wine was certainly being made by the Minoans since the Bronze Age. Wines from Crete are not listed among those specially prized in classical Greece, but under the Roman Empire in the 2nd century AD Crete was known for a sweet wine, protropos, which was exported to Italy. In late medieval Europe, in the 14th to 16th centuries, vino di Candia (Candia is modern Heraklion) and Crete are wine names listed as highly valued in several sources from western and northern Europe; they were sweet and "hot" wines (hot in a dietary sense). Within the current classification of Greek wine there are several Cretan appellations, including Peza, Archanes, Dafnes and Sitia.

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Crete (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the name Crete (Κρήτη) may refer to several figures, all of whom are associated with the homonymous island of Crete, and may have been considered its eponyms:

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