ANTONIO, archbishop of Novgorod. — Various political developments brought this monk, whose secular name was Dobrynia Jadrejkovič, in 1211 to the episcopal see of Novgorod, his native city, then to that of Przemysl in Galicia in 1219, and again to Novgorod in 1225. Having become mute, he withdrew to the monastery of Khutyn, where he died, probably in the year 1231. The Russian Church commemorates him on 10 February. Thanks to his support, the wealthy commercial city of Novgorod concluded treaties with the Germans of the Baltic, resisted the princes who wanted war, and entered into relations with the Pope’s legates.
He is known for his Book of the Pilgrim, which first describes the church and treasures of St Sophia in Constantinople, then lists the riches, images, and especially the relics, even the most fabulous, preserved in 1200 in the various churches of the imperial city. This document, with its brief but precise information, is of great importance for archaeology and hagiography because it was written before the sack of 1204 (ed. by Loparev, in Pravoslavni Palestinskii Sbornik, XVII, fasc. III, 1899; French translation in B. de Khitrovo, Itinéraires russes en Orient, Geneva 1889, pp. 85–111).