Metrophanes II (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Μητροφάνης Β'; ? – 1 August 1443) served as

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Cyzicus Cyzicus (; grc, Κύζικος ''Kúzikos''; ota, آیدینجق, ''Aydıncıḳ'') was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peni ...

Asia Minor 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 re ...

when he was called to join the delegation of bishops attending the

Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...

. He was appointed by the Emperor John VIII in May 1440 as successor to

Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople Joseph II (1360 – 10 June 1439) was Patriarch of Constantinople from 1416 to 1439, of Bulgarian origin. Born the (possibly illegitimate) son of Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria in 1360, little is known of his early life before he became a monk on Mo ...

following the death of the latter in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

. The Emperor was eager to secure help from

Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

to deal with Turkish aggression, so he forced the patriarch and all other bishops to submit to papal authority. Only one bishop did not submit:

Markos Eugenikos Mark of Ephesus ( Greek: Μάρκος ό Εφέσιος, born Manuel Eugenikos) was a hesychast theologian of the late Palaiologan period of the Byzantine Empire who became famous for his rejection of the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438–1439) ...

, Metropolitan of

Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...

, and without his signature the document of Union between East-West fell inactive. For his submission to the Union, he was nicknamed Mitrofonos (Mother-Killer). Metrophanes consecrated several unionist bishops and repeatedly pressed the Emperor John VIII to support the union openly. John finally agreed to summon a local council of bishops, but Metrophanes died before the council could meet. Metrophanes died 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 (" ...

on August 1, 1443.

Bibliography

Louis Bréhier Louis René Bréhier (; 5 August 1868 – 13 October 1951) was a French historian who specialized in Byzantine studies. His brother was the philosopher Émile Bréhier. Biography Louis Bréhier was born in Brest, France on 5 August 1868. He st ...

, Life and Death of Byzantium, republication Abin Michel, Paris, 1969. * Ivan Djuric, Twilight of Byzantium, Maisonneuve & Larose, Paris, 1996 (). * Venantius Grumel, Treaty of Byzantine Studies, vol. I: The Chronology, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1958. * Donald MacGillivray Nicol, The last centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453, Texto reissue Les Belles Lettres, 2005 (). * Nicolas Viton de Saint-Allais, The art of verifying dates, Volume I, Paris, 1818, p. 493. Joseph Gill, The Council of Florence Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1959. Year of birth missing 1443 deaths 15th-century patriarchs of Constantinople Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Greek Orthodox Christians Greek Eastern Catholics Bishops of Cyzicus {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub