Photios I of Constantinople

"Photios" redirects here. For other people with the name, see Photios (name).
Saint

Photios the Great
Photios baptising the Bulgarians, miniature from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible
The Great, Confessor of the Faith, Equal to the Apostles, Pillar of Orthodoxy[1]
Bornc. 815
Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
Died6 February 893 (aged c. 78)
Bordi, Armenia
Venerated inEastern Orthodox Church
FeastFebruary 6

Photios I (Greek: Φώτιος, Phōtios; c. 815 – 6 February 893),[a] also spelled Photius[2] (/ˈfoʊʃəs/), was the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople from 858 to 867 and from 877 to 886.[3] He is recognized in the Eastern Orthodox Church as Saint Photios the Great.

Photios is widely regarded as the most powerful and influential church leader of Constantinople subsequent to John Chrysostom's archbishopric around the turn of the fifth century. He is also viewed as the most important intellectual of his time – "the leading light of the ninth-century renaissance".[4] He was a central figure in both the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity and the Photian schism,[5] and is considered "[t]he great systematic compiler of the Eastern Church, who occupies a similar position to that of Gratian in the West," and whose "collection in two parts...formed and still forms the classic source of ancient Church Law for the Greek Church."[2]

Photios was a well-educated man from a noble Constantinopolitan family. Photios's great uncle was a previous patriarch of Constantinople, Saint Tarasius.[6] He intended to be a monk, but chose to be a scholar and statesman instead. In 858, Emperor Michael III (r. 842–867) decided to confine Patriarch Ignatius in order to force him into resignation, and Photios, still a layman, was appointed to replace him.[7] Amid power struggles between the pope and the Byzantine emperor, Ignatius was reinstated. Photios resumed the position when Ignatius died (877), by order of the Byzantine emperor.[7] The new pope, John VIII, approved Photios's reinstatement.[8] Catholics regard as legitimate a Fourth Council of Constantinople (Roman Catholic) anathematizing Photios,[7] while Eastern Orthodox regard as legitimate a subsequent Fourth Council of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox), reversing the former.[7] The contested councils mark the end of unity represented by the first seven Ecumenical Councils.

Photios was canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1847.

  1. ^ "Photius the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople". Online Chapel. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b Fr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materials in Canon Law: A Textbook for Ministerial Students, Revised Edition" [Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1990]), p. 61
  3. ^ White, Despina Stratoudaki (1981). The Life of Patriarch Photios. Holy Cross Orthodox Press. ISBN 978-0-91658626-3. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
  4. ^ Louth 2007, Chapter Seven: "Renaissance of Learning: East and West", p. 159; Mango 1980, p. 168.
  5. ^ Treadgold 1983, p. 1100
  6. ^ Jenkins 1987, Chapter Thirteen: "Ignatius, Photius, and Pope Nicholas I", p. 168.
  7. ^ a b c d Cross & Livingstone 2005, "Photius".
  8. ^ Durant 1972, p. 529.