Joseph II (1360 – 10 June 1439) was

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 th ...

from 1416 to 1439, of Bulgarian origin. Born the (possibly illegitimate) son of

Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria Ivan Shishman ( bg, Иван Шишман) ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 June 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire. In the wake of the death of Ivan Alexan ...

in 1360, little is known of his early life before he became a monk on

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the peni ...

. He became 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 ...

in 1393, before being elected Patriarch of Constantinople on 21 May 1416. Together with

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as ...

John VIII Palaiologos John VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( gr, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, Iōánnēs Palaiológos; 18 December 1392 – 31 October 1448) was the penultimate Byzantine emperor, ruling from 1425 to 1448. Biography John VIII was ...

, 23 Metropolitan bishops and about 700 scholars and theologians, he took part in 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 ...

. While 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 ...

, he was quartered in the Palazzo Ferrantini. He is portrayed in

Benozzo Gozzoli Benozzo Gozzoli (4 October 1497) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. A pupil of Fra Angelico, Gozzoli is best known for a series of murals in the Magi Chapel of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, depicting festive, vibrant processions ...

's frescoes in the

Magi Chapel The Magi Chapel is a chapel in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi of Florence, Italy. Its walls are almost entirely covered by a famous cycle of frescoes by the Renaissance master Benozzo Gozzoli, painted around 1459 for the Medici family, the effective ...

Palazzo Medici Riccardi The Palazzo Medici, also called the Palazzo Medici Riccardi after the later family that acquired and expanded it, is a Renaissance palace located in Florence, Italy. It is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Florence and a museum. Overview ...

, which celebrates the entrance of the Byzantine dignitaries in the city. Joseph was very old and ill and died on 10 June 1439. His death caused much grief to all present at the council, as he was a fervent supporter of union between the Churches; before his death, he drew up and signed an important pro-union declaration for the council. His grave in the Dominican

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...

church of

Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The chu ...

survives, with an elaborate

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

portrait in a semi-Byzantine style. He was succeeded as Patriarch of Constantinople by Metrophanes II, who was appointed by Emperor John VIII on account of his similarly pro-unionist sentiments. He was cousin of

Constantine II of Bulgaria Constantine II ( bg, Константин II Асен, ''Konstantin II Asen''), allegedly ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1397 to 1422. He was born in the early 1370s, and died in exile at the Serbian court on 17 September 1422. Constanti ...

Sources

Council of Florence, at the Catholic Encyclopedia
* Sergey F. Dezhnyuk, "Council of Florence: The Unrealized Union", CreateSpace, 2017.
Plamen Pavlov. Patriarh Jossif II

External links

* 1360 births 1439 deaths Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Greek Eastern Catholics Former Greek Orthodox Christians Bulgarian Orthodox bishops Sratsimir dynasty 14th-century Bulgarian people 15th-century Bulgarian people 15th-century patriarchs of Constantinople Bishops of Ephesus Sons of emperors People associated with Mount Athos {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub