Arsenios Autoreianos

Arsenius of Constantinople
Arsenius of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	November 1254 – February/March 1260; March/June 1261 – May 1264
Predecessor	Manuel II of Constantinople,; Nicephorus II of Constantinople
Successor	Nicephorus II of Constantinople,; Germanus III of Constantinople
Personal details
Born	Arsenius Autorianus; c. 1200; Constantinople
Died	30 September 1273

Arsenius of Constantinople (Latinized as Arsenius Autorianus; Greek: Ἀρσένιος Αὐτωρειανός; c. 1200 – 30 September 1273), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, lived about the middle of the 13th century.^[1]

Born in Constantinople c. 1200, Arsenius received his education in Nicaea at a monastery of which he later became the abbot, though not in orders. Subsequently, he gave himself up to a life of solitary asceticism in a Bithynian monastery, and is said to have remained some time in a monastery on Mount Athos.^[2]

Life

From this seclusion, he was called by the Byzantine Emperor Theodore II Laskaris to the position of patriarch at Nicaea in 1255.^[2] Upon the emperor's death Arsenius may have shared guardianship of his son John IV Laskaris with George Mouzalon - while the later historians Nicephorus Gregoras and Makarios Melissenos say the Patriarch was so named, the contemporary historians Pachymeres and Acropolites name only Mouzalon.^[3] Nevertheless, a few days after Theodore's death George Mouzalon was murdered by Michael VIII Palaiologos, and who, at an assembly of the aristocracy presided over by Patriarch Arsenius, was appointed regent for the boy. Arsenius also performed the double coronation of Michael VIII Palaiologos and John IV Laskaris in August 1258.^[4]

Through the time between the death of Mouzalon and the double coronation, Arsenius had worked to protect the rights of the young emperor John IV Lascaris, at one point insisting that John IV and Michael VIII exchange mutual oaths of loyalty. He also insisted that at the double coronation John IV Lascaris should be crowned first, which Michael VIII Palaiologos saw as a serious barrier to his final usurpation. Pressure was put upon the patriarch to allow Palaiologos to be crowned alone, and even the young emperor was threatened. The patriarch found no support from the bishops assembled: except for two prelates, all believed that Palaiologos had the right to be crowned first. Arsenius at last conceded the point and crowned Michael VIII and his wife first, while John IV Lascaris received only a special head-dress.^[5]

The ceremony completed, Arsenius took refuge in the monastery of Paschasius, retaining his office of patriarch but refusing to discharge its duties. Nicephorus II of Constantinople was appointed in his stead. Michael VIII Palaiologos, having recovered Constantinople from the Latin Empire, induced Arsenius to undertake the office of patriarch, but soon incurred Arsenius' severe censure by ordering the young prince John IV to be blinded. Arsenios went so far as to excommunicate Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos; after attempting to frighten the patriarch into rescinding the excommunication by threatening to appeal to the Pope, Michael VIII at last convened a synod, had Arsenius deposed, and towards the end of May 1265 sent him into exile.^[6] There he died some years afterwards (according to Johann Albert Fabricius in 1264; others say in 1273).^[2]

Throughout these years Arsenius declined to lift the sentence of excommunication from Michael VIII and after his death, when the new patriarch Joseph I of Constantinople gave absolution to the emperor, the dispute was carried on between the "Arsenites" and the "Josephists". The "Arsenian schism" lasted till 1315, when a reconciliation was pronounced by the patriarch Nephon I of Constantinople. Arsenius is said to have prepared the decisions of the councils and the works of the Fathers a summary of divine laws under the title Synopsis Canonum.^{[citation needed]} Some hold that Synopsis was the work of another Arsenios, a monk of Athos; the ascription depends on whether the patriarch Arsenius did or did not reside at Mount Athos.^[2]

Notes and references

^ Arsenius Autoreianus - Catholic Encyclopedia article.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Arsenius Autorianus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 654.
^ Deno John Geanakoplos, Emperor Michael Palaeologus and the West, 1258–1282 - A Study in Byzantine-Latin Relations, (Cambridge, Harvard, 1959), p. 33n.
^ Geanakoplos, Emperor Michael, pp. 41-46.
^ Michael Angold, A Byzantine Government in Exile - Government and Society Under the Laskarids of Nicaea (1204–1261), Oxford University Press, 1975, p. 89f.
^ Donald Nicol, The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453, second edition, Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 45.

Eastern Orthodox Church titles
Preceded by Manuel II	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1254 - 1261 In exile at Nicaea	Succeeded by Nicephorus II
Preceded by Nicephorus II	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1261 - 1264 In exile at Nicaea	Succeeded by Germanus III

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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Life

Notes and references

Further reading