ress, and the country round it was ravaged
in 1322 by the Bulgarians. It was attacked in vain by John
Cantucuzene, but was captured in 1355 by John VI. Palaeologus.

[Illustration: PLATE LXXXIII.
S. SAVIOUR IN THE CHORA. THE INNER NARTHEX, LOOKING SOUTH.]

[Illustration: S. SAVIOUR IN THE CHORA. THE INNER NARTHEX, LOOKING
SOUTH.
_To face page 296._]

Another name associated with the Chora at this period is that of the
Patriarch Cosmas, who was commemorated annually in the church on the 2nd
of January. He had occupied the patriarchal seat in days troubled by the
intrigues and conflicts which drove first Michael VII. Ducas, and then
Nicephorus Botoniates from the throne, and invested Alexius Comnenus
with the purple. They were not days most suitable to a man who, though
highly esteemed for his virtues, was without education or experience in
public affairs, and nearly ninety years old. Still, to his honour be it
said, it was at his earnest request that Botoniates finally agreed to
forego a bloody contest with the Comneni, and to withdraw quietly to the
monastery of the Peribleptos. Moreover, when it seemed uncertain whether
the victorious Alexius would remain faithful to Irene Ducaena and raise
her to the throne, Cosmas, notwithstanding all the efforts of Anna
Dalassena (who was ill-disposed towards Irene) to persuade him to lay
down his office, firmly refused to resign until he had placed the
imperial crown upon the emperor's lawful wife. Soon after that event, on
the 7th of May 1081, the festival of S. John the Evangelist, Cosmas,
having celebrated service in the church dedicated to that apostle at the
Hebdomon (Makrikeui), turned to his deacon, saying, 'Take my Psalter and
come with me; we have nothing more to do here,' and retired to the
monastery of Kallou. His strength for battle was spent.

After its restoration under the Comneni, the Chora again disappears from
view until the reign of Michael Palaeologus (1261-1282). In the interval
the fortunes of the Empire had suffered serious reverses, what with
domestic strifes and foreign wars. Bulgaria had reasserted her
independence and established the capital of a new kingdom at Tirnovo,
while Constantinople itself had been captured by the forces of the
Fourth Crusade and made the seat of a Latin kingdom. Consequently, it is
not surprising to find that the Chora, like other churches of the
ravaged city, was in a deplorable condition at the close of those