Gregory IV ( el, ) was
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 ...
for two months in 1623.
Life
Before he was elected as Patriarch of Constantinople, Gregory IV was Metropolitan of
Amasya
Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey and is the capital of Amasya Province, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ...
. At the time of his election, he was old and blind in one eye, and so he was given the sobriquet ''Stravoamaseias'' ( el, ), i.e. ''the blind of Amasya''.
His short reign has to be considered in the context of the clash between the pro-
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
Patriarch
Cyril Lucaris, supported by the Protestant
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
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* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
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ambassadors to the Ottoman capital, and his opponents supported by the Catholic
French,
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
and
Venetian ambassadors. The latter were successful at persuading the
Grand Vizier to depose Cyril Lucaris on 12 April 1623 and to appoint in his place Gregory IV, the head of the pro-Western faction.
Eugenia Kermeli reports, "In 1623, the metropolitan of Amaseia Gregory promised
he French ambassadorCécy to appoint metropolitans friendly to Rome in case he was elected."
Gregory IV proved to be incompetent and could not pay the appointment fee (''peshtesh'') due to the
Ottoman Sultan. Further the
Metropolitans and the bishops were unsatisfied with him because he had not been canonically elected by the
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...
. Thus, on 18 June 1623, the Holy Synod deposed Gregory IV and formally elected
Anthimus II in his place.
After his deposition, Gregory IV was exiled to the island of
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...
. The date of his death is not known.
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory 04 Of Constantinople, Patriarch
16th-century births
17th-century deaths
17th-century Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople
Simony