Arsenius of Constantinople ( Latinised as ''Arsenius Autorianus''; ; – 30 September 1273),

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...

, lived about the middle of the 13th century. Born in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, Arsenius received his education in

Nicaea Nicaea (also spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

at a monastery of which he later became the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

, though not in orders. Subsequently, he gave himself up to a life of solitary asceticism in a

Bithynia Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...

n monastery and is said to have remained some time in a monastery on

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

Life

From this seclusion, he was called by the

Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Theodore II Laskaris Theodore II Laskaris or Ducas Lascaris (; November 1221/1222 – 16 August 1258) was Emperor of Nicaea from 1254 to 1258. He was the only child of Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes and Empress Irene Laskarina. His mother was the eldest da ...

to the position of

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

at Nicaea in 1255. Upon the emperor's death Arsenius may have shared guardianship of his son

John IV Laskaris John IV Doukas Laskaris (or Ducas Lascaris) (; December 25, 1250 – 1305) was the fourth emperor of the Nicaean Empire from August 16, 1258 to December 25, 1261, one of the Greek successor states formed after the Sack of Constantinople by th ...

with George Mouzalon - while the later historians

Nicephorus Gregoras Nicephorus Gregoras (; Greek: , ''Nikēphoros Grēgoras''; c. 1295 – 1360) was a Byzantine Greek astronomer, historian, and theologian. His 37-volume ''Roman History'', a work of erudition, constitutes a primary documentary source for th ...

and Makarios Melissenos say the Patriarch was so named, the contemporary historians Pachymeres and Acropolites name only Mouzalon. Nevertheless, a few days after Theodore's death George Mouzalon was murdered by

Michael VIII Palaiologos Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1261 until his death in 1282, and previously as the co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea from 1259 to 1261. Michael VIII was the founder of th ...

, and who, at an assembly of the aristocracy presided over by Patriarch Arsenius, was appointed regent for the boy. Arsenius also performed the double coronation of Michael VIII Palaiologos and John IV Laskaris in August 1258. Through the time between the death of Mouzalon and the double coronation, Arsenius had worked to protect the rights of the young emperor John IV Lascaris, at one point insisting that John IV and Michael VIII exchange mutual oaths of loyalty. He also insisted that at the double coronation John IV Lascaris should be crowned first, which Michael VIII Palaiologos saw as a serious barrier to his final usurpation. Pressure was put upon the patriarch to allow Palaiologos to be crowned alone, and even the young emperor was threatened. The patriarch found no support from the bishops assembled: except for two prelates, all believed that Palaiologos had the right to be crowned first. Arsenius at last conceded the point and crowned Michael VIII and his wife first, while John IV Lascaris received only a special head-dress. The ceremony completed, Arsenius took refuge in the monastery of Paschasius, retaining his office of patriarch but refusing to discharge its duties. Nicephorus II of Constantinople was appointed in his stead.

, having recovered

from the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantin ...

, induced Arsenius to undertake the office of patriarch, but soon incurred Arsenius' severe censure by ordering the young prince John IV to be blinded. Arsenios went so far as to

excommunicate Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the co ...

Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos; after attempting to frighten the patriarch into rescinding the excommunication by threatening to appeal to the Pope, Michael VIII at last convened a synod, had Arsenius deposed, and towards the end of May 1265 sent him into exile.Donald Nicol, ''The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453'', second edition,

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1993, p. 45. There he died some years afterwards (according to

Johann Albert Fabricius Johann Albert Fabricius (11 November 1668 – 30 April 1736) was a German classical scholar and bibliographer. Biography Fabricius was born in Leipzig, son of Werner Fabricius, director of music in the church of St. Paul at Leipzig, who was the ...

in 1264; others say in 1273). Throughout these years Arsenius declined to lift the sentence of excommunication from Michael VIII and after his death, when the new patriarch

Joseph I of Constantinople Joseph I of Constantinople (; - died 23 March 1283) was a Byzantine monk who served twice as list of Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, from 1266 to 1275 and from 1282 until shortly before his death ...

gave absolution to the emperor, the dispute was carried on between the "Arsenites" and the "Josephists". The "Arsenian schism" lasted till 1315, when a reconciliation was pronounced by the patriarch Nephon I of Constantinople. Arsenius is said to have prepared the decisions of the councils and the works of the

Fathers A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fathe ...

a summary of divine laws under the title ''Synopsis Canonum''. Some hold that ''Synopsis'' was the work of another Arsenios, a monk of Athos; the ascription depends on whether the patriarch Arsenius did or did not reside at Mount Athos.

Life

Notes and references

Further reading