Antony I Kassymatas ( el, Αντώνιος Α΄ Κασσυματάς , translit=Antōnios I Kassymatas), (? – 21 January 837)
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople ( Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of ...
from January 821 to January 837.
[Matthew Thomas Herbst (1998). ''The medieval art of spin: constructing the imperial image of control in ninth-century Byzantium''. University of Michigan.]
Life
Antony was of undistinguished background, but received a good education, becoming a lawyer in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
in c. 800. He later became a monk and advanced to the position of abbot. By 814, he had become the bishop of
Syllaion in
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
. Although Antony was an
Iconodule
Iconodulism (also iconoduly or iconodulia) designates the religious service to icons (kissing and honourable veneration, incense, and candlelight). The term comes from Neoclassical Greek εἰκονόδουλος (''eikonodoulos'') (from el, ε ...
, he became an
Iconoclast
Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be conside ...
in 815, when Emperor
Leo V the Armenian
Leo V the Armenian ( gr, Λέων ὁ ἐξ Ἀρμενίας, ''Leōn ho ex Armenias''; 775 – 25 December 820) was the Byzantine emperor from 813 to 820. A senior general, he forced his predecessor, Michael I Rangabe, to abdicate and assumed ...
reinstituted Iconoclasm. The reason for Antony's change of heart is said to have included his hope for attaining the patriarchate. The emperor appointed him a member of the committee headed by the future Patriarch
John Grammatikos to find patristic support for Iconoclasm. In 821, the new Emperor
Michael II appointed Antony patriarch, disappointing the
Stoudites, who were hoping that icons would be restored. When the patriarch of Antioch crowned
Thomas the Slav
Thomas the Slav ( gr, Θωμᾶς ὁ Σλάβος, Thōmas ho Slavos, – October 823) was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt in 821–23 against Emperor Michael II the Amorian ().
A ...
rival emperor, Antony had him excommunicated in 822. The iconodule historians record that Antony was stricken with a wasting disease as divine punishment for his participation in Iconoclast councils. The patriarch died early in 837 and was later
anathema
Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...
tized in the Orthodox ''synodika''.
References
* ''The
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzant ...
'', Oxford University Press, 1991.
837 deaths
9th-century patriarchs of Constantinople
Byzantine Iconoclasm
Year of birth unknown
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