Ignatios of Constantinople

Ignatius of Constantinople
Ignatius of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Installed	847
Term ended	858, 867–877
Personal details
Denomination	Chalcedonian Christianity

Saint

Ignatius of Constantinople
Saint; Ignatius of Constantinople
	Ignatios of Constantinople, Northern tympanon, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Patriarch of Constantinople
Born	798; Constantinople; (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey)
Died	23 October 877 (aged 78–79); Constantinople; (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey)
Venerated in	Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Canonized	Pre-Congregation
Feast	October 23

Ignatius or Ignatios (Greek: Ἰγνάτιος; c. 798 – 23 October 877) was a Patriarch of Constantinople from July 4, 847, to October 23, 858, and from November 23, 867, to his death on October 23, 877.^[1] In the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches, he is regarded as a saint, with a feast day of October 23.

Biography

Ignatius is appointed patriarch by Empress Theodora. Scene from the 12th century Madrid Skylitzes.

Ignatius, originally named Niketas, was a son of the Emperor Michael I Rangabe and Prokopia. His maternal grandfather was Nikephoros I. Although he was still a child, Niketas had been appointed nominal commander of the new corps of imperial guards, the Hikanatoi. He was forcibly castrated (and thus made ineligible for becoming emperor, since the emperor could not be a eunuch) and tonsured after his father's deposition in 813. He founded three monasteries on the Princes' Islands, a favourite place for exiling tonsured members of the imperial house.

Empress Theodora appointed Ignatius, a staunch opponent of Iconoclasm, to succeed Methodios I as patriarch of Constantinople in 847. Ignatius soon became embroiled in the conflict between the Stoudites and the moderates in the Church, the issue being whether or not to depose clergymen who had cooperated with iconoclast policies in the past. Ignatius took the side of the conservative Stoudites and deposed the archbishop of Syracuse, Gregory Asbestas, the leader of the moderate party. Asbestas appealed for redress to Pope Leo IV and thus inaugurated a period of friction in relations between the Roman and Constantinopolitan churches.

A fervent critic of the Caesar Bardas, Ignatius lost support after Emperor Michael III and Bardas removed Theodora from influence in 857. Ignatius was forced to resign in 858 and was replaced by the layman Photios. Those questions were discussed at councils held in Constantinople in 859, and again in 861.^[2] When Photios reversed some of his predecessor's policies, Ignatius's supporters appealed to Pope Nicholas I, who at first tried to stay out of the controversy, but then condemned Photios (863). The immediate issues in the conflict were the question of papal precedence over the patriarch, and jurisdiction over newly converted Bulgaria.

In 867 Basil I the Macedonian usurped the throne and, seeking an alliance with Nicholas I and Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor, banished Photios and restored Ignatius on the patriarchal throne. Reinstated, Ignatius persuaded the Bulgarian prince to expel the hierarchy of the Latin rite from Bulgaria in 870.^[3] Since Ignatius and Photios pursued the same policy, the latter was recalled and reinstated as tutor to the emperor's children.

Of him the Roman Martyrology recorded the following: "At Constantinople St. Ignatius, Bishop, who, when he had reproved Bardas the Cæsar for having repudiated his wife, was attacked by many injuries and sent into exile; but having been restored by the Roman Pontiff Nicholas, at last he went to his rest in peace."^[4] When he died in October 877, Photios was reinstated as patriarch and contributed to Ignatius's canonisation.

References

^ Dvornik 1948.
^ Dvornik 1948, pp. 70–90.
^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Ignatius of Constantinople". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Ignatius of Constantinople". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2021-10-07.

Sources

Dvornik, Francis (1948). The Photian Schism: History and Legend. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

External links

The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Ignatius of Constantinople". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Titles of Chalcedonian Christianity
Preceded by Methodios I	Patriarch of Constantinople 847–858	Succeeded by Photios I
Preceded by Photios I	Patriarch of Constantinople 867–877	Succeeded by Photios I

[FOOTNOTEDvornik1948-1] Dvornik 1948.

[FOOTNOTEDvornik194870–90-2] Dvornik 1948, pp. 70–90.

[3] "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Ignatius of Constantinople". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2021-10-07.

[4] "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Ignatius of Constantinople". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2021-10-07.

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v t e Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal

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