Early Life and Court Career
Niketas was born in Paphlagonia, a region of Asia Minor, in 761 or 762; his parents are thought to have been named Gregory and Anna. According to the hagiographic tradition he was castrated by his parents at a young age and given a good education, after which he was sent to Constantinople at about seventeen years of age, around 778.
At the imperial court he entered service and distinguished himself among the court eunuchs, drawing the attention of the Empress-mother Irene, who served as regent after 780. He was raised to the rank of patrikios (patrician). Around 797 he is recorded as having served as governor (strategos) of Sicily, an office that ended before 799.
Several further offices have been tentatively associated with him, though the identifications are not certain: a patrician connected with the Gastria Monastery, a founder of the Church of St. Stephen in Trigleia in Bithynia, an admiral who led Byzantine fleet operations in 807–808 to reoccupy Dalmatia and Venice, and possibly the office of General Logothete in 808–811.
Monastic Life
With the accession of the Emperor Michael I Rhangabe (811–813), Niketas received monastic tonsure in late 811. The emperor himself acted as his sponsor and granted him the convent of Chrysonike near the Golden Gate of Constantinople, where Niketas served as hegumenos (abbot). One account relates that after he renounced his court positions the emperor requested that he remain in a monastery within the capital rather than withdraw into solitude.
He is also remembered in connection with the transfer of the relics of Saint Euphemia.
Confession Under Iconoclasm
In late 815 the second phase of Byzantine iconoclasm began under the Emperor Leo V the Armenian (813–820). Refusing to accept iconoclast policies, Niketas left Constantinople for its suburbs. Accused of sheltering an icon, he suffered the confiscation of the image and his house and was placed under house arrest.
During the reign of the Emperor Theophilos persecution intensified, with monks becoming particular targets. Despite a probable family connection to the empress, Niketas was ordered to enter communion with the iconoclast patriarch Antony Kassymatas or face exile, and he chose exile.
He fled to Bithynia with his disciples and other like-minded monks, moving from place to place around the coast of the Sea of Marmara to evade harassment by iconoclast officials. He finally settled in the villages of Zouloupas and then Katesia, where he founded the Monastery of the Archangels (Mone Asomaton) and where he died on 6 October 836. One account places his death around 838, at the age of seventy-five.
Miracles and Traditions
Historically Documented: The principal source for his life survives in a twelfth-century manuscript in the National Library of Greece, written by an anonymous monk of the Monastery of the Archangels at Katesia shortly after Niketas' death and based on notes from his nephew, who succeeded him as abbot.
Traditional Accounts: Tradition holds that during his life and after his death he worked many miracles. The scholar K. Ringrose notes that he was held to specialize in healing men tormented by sexual desires.
