Isauropolis Explained

Isauropolis (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ἰσαυρόπολις) was a Roman and Byzantine-era town in southern Turkey.^[1]

Possibly also known as Isaura Vetus, the city was in the Anatolian countryside of what was Lycaonia in today's southern Turkey and may have been the chief town of Isauria (Ἰσαυρία) district.^[2] The town was mentioned by Sozomen,^[3] Ptolemy,^[4] and Heirocles.^[5] About 450 Maximinus entered the town in his war with Zeno.^[6] Its location is not known, but suggestions include Siristat or Tris Maden, about 13miles west of Isaura, or Isaura Vetus. It must have been near Isaura Nova with which it was joined.

Bishopric

The city was also the site of an ancient bishopric^[7] which dates from the early Christian era.Bishops from here attended both Council of Nicea and Chalcedon. There is no mention of Isauropolis in any Notitiae episcopatuum, so Ramsay supposes that the Diocese was joined with that of Leontopolis which is mentioned in all the "Notitiae".^[8] The see was resurrected in 1925^[9] as a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.^[10]

Known bishops

Ancient bishopric

• Silvanus of Isauropolis at Council of Nicaea
• Ilyrius of Isauropolis (Council of Constantinople 381)^[11]
• Aetius, 451

Titular see

• Bernard Gozdzki Auxiliary Bishop in Poznań (Poland-Lithuania) July 6, 1722 – March 16, 1725.
• Gregorio de Molleda y Clerque September 26, 1725 – August 3, 1729
• Louis-Mathias-Joseph de Barral Coadjutor Bishop of Troyes (France) September 15, 1788 – December 22, 1790
• Michele Di Pietro (February 21, 1794 – August 9, 1802)
• Jean-Louis Taberd MEP Vicar Apostolic of Cochin (Vietnam) September 18, 1827 – July 31, 1840^{[12] [13]}
• Dominique Lefebvre (Vicar Apostolic of Western Cochin) (Vietnam) December 10, 1839 – April 30, 1865.
• Tomás Badía January 19, 1842 – September 10, 1844
• Stanislas-Gabriel-Henri Baudry Apostolic Vicar of Ningyüan (Republic of China) March 18, 1927 – April 11, 1946.
• Jean-Baptiste Urrutia MEP Apostolic Vicar of Hue (Vietnam) February 21, 1948 – November 24, 1960.
• Philip Francis Pocock (February 18, 1961 – March 30, 1971)^[14]

Notes and References

1. Rogers, Clifford (June 2010). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. p. 42.
2. W. M. Ramsay, The Historical Geography of Asia Minor (2010) p395.
3. W. M. Ramsay, The Historical Geography of Asia Minor (Cambridge University Press, 2010)p18.
4. W. M. Ramsay, The Historical Geography of Asia Minor (Cambridge University Press, 2010)31.
5. [Hierocles (author of Synecdemus)|Hierocles's]
6. Priscus Embassi to Attila.
7. [Michel Le Quien]
8. W. M. Ramsay, The Historical Geography of Asia Minor (2010) p429.
9. http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0940.htm Isauropolis
10. Annuario pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 p819.)
11. C.H. Turner, ECCLESIAE OCCIDENTALIS MONUMENTA IURIS ANTIQUISSIMA (Oxford, 1899–1939).
12. https://books.google.com/books?id=p68IAAAAQAAJ&dq=Bishop+of+Isauropolis&pg=PA413 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 11, Part 2
13. The late bishop of Isauropolis, Sydney Gazette Tuesday 23 March 1841 p3.
14. David M. Cheney,Isauroplis at catholic-hierarchy.org. (2016).