Philotheos Bryennios ( el, Φιλόθεος Βρυέννιος; 7 April 1833 – November 18, 1917) was a

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Nicomedia Nicomedia (; el, Νικομήδεια, ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocle ...

, and the discoverer in 1873 of an important

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

with copies of early Church documents.

Life

Born in the Tavtalos (Kurtuluş) district of

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 (" ...

, with the secular name of

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...

, he was educated at the theological school in Halki, and at the universities of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. He became a professor at Halki in 1861, and then director in 1863. In 1867 he went to head the Patriarchal School in Constantinople, leaving in 1875 to attend the

Old Catholic The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the Great Chu ...

conference in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, during which he was appointed metropolitan of

Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...

in Macedonia. In 1877 he became Metropolitan of Nicomedia. In 1877, he participated in a commission dealing with plundered monasteries in

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

and

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

. Metropolitan Bryennios died in 1917 in his native

Works

In 1873, he discovered a manuscript in the Jerusalem Monastery of the Most Holy Sepulchre, located in the Greek quarter of

, which contained a synopsis of the Old and New Testaments arranged by St.

John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of ...

, the

Epistle of Barnabas The ''Epistle of Barnabas'' ( el, Βαρνάβα Ἐπιστολή) is a Greek epistle written between AD 70 and 132. The complete text is preserved in the 4th-century ''Codex Sinaiticus'', where it appears immediately after the New Testament ...

, the First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, the Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (''Didache''), the spurious letter of Mary of Cassoboli, and twelve Ignatian Epistles (Five of these more generally being regarded as spurious). The letters were published in 1875, and the ''Didache'' in 1883; the letters of Clement and the Didache had notes written by Bryennios. The discovery of the ''Didache'' was significant because writers of the early 3rd, 4th and later centuries had spoken of it, but it was presumed lost.

References

External links

* A fuller profile of the Metropolitan can be found at the Orthodox Wiki Portal
Philotheos (Bryennios) of Nicomedia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philotheos Bryennios 1833 births 1917 deaths Clergy from Istanbul Eastern Orthodox metropolitans Bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Theological School of Halki alumni Constantinopolitan Greeks People from Şişli