Cosmas II of Constantinople (''Atticus'' ; died after 1147) was

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 ...

from April 1146 until 26 February 1147. He was born in

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, in Greece, and was a

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before his ascension, after Michael II of Constantinople abdicated. He was highly respected for his learning and for his holy character.John Kinnamos (1976), The Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus,

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

, p. 56. Cosmas II reigned during the rule of

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 ...

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos (; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history o ...

Deposition

Cosmas II was condemned and deposed on 26 February 1147 by a

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held at the Palace of Blachernae because of indulgence in relation to the

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Niphon, a condemned

Bogomil Bogomilism (; ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic, dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Peter I in the 10th century. I ...

since 1144, whom he received in his home and at his table. The exact reasons for the conviction and deposition of Cosmas II are not clearly established; perhaps he was the victim of political intrigue.

Dimitri Obolensky Sir Dimitri Dimitrievich Obolensky (; – 23 December 2001) was a Russian-British historian who was Professor of Russian and Balkan History at the University of Oxford and the author of various historical works. Biography Prince Dimitri Dim ...

, A study in Balkan Neo-Manichaeism, « Byzantine Bogomilism »,

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, 1948, pp. 221–222. It is clear however that Emperor Manuel I intervened directly in forming the Synod that deposed Cosmas II, interviewing personally those who accused him, and testing Cosmas II directly on his opinions of the heretical Niphon. This affair is typical both of the doctrinal controversies common in the reign of Manuel I and also of the Emperor's readiness to become actively involved in them. Joan M. Hussey (1986), The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire,

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, p. 151.

Notes and references

12th-century patriarchs of Constantinople People from Aegina Officials of Manuel I Komnenos {{EasternOrthodox-bishop-stub