Peter of Goulaion

Peter of Goulaion (Greek: Πέτρος τοῦ Γουλαίου or ὁ Γουλαιάτης, romanized: Petros tou Goulaiou/ho Goulaiates) was a Byzantine abbot of the early 9th century, who was used by Emperor Nikephoros I as envoy.

He was abbot (hegumenos) of the monastery of Goulaion, whose exact location and identity are not known.^[1] He is commonly identified with the Petrus abbas who was one of the leaders (along with Michahel episcopus, identified with Michael of Synnada) of an embassy sent by Nikephoros I to Charlemagne in 802/3.^[2] In 806, during the invasion of Asia Minor by the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, Peter and Michael, along with Gregory, the steward of Amastris, were sent to the Caliph to propose negotiate a peace.^[2]

He may also be identifiable with the unnamed abbot of Goulaion, who according to Theodore Stoudites abandoned the veneration of icons in c. 816, but later (c. 824/6) returned to an iconophile position.^[2]