Cosmas I of Constantinople (; died 1082) 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 2 August 1075 to 8 May 1081.

Biography

Originally from

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

, Cosmas was educated and resided in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

for a large part of his life, earning his geographic epithet. He may have been appointed to the patriarchate out of a monastery near or in Jerusalem. He crowned the Byzantine Emperor

Nikephoros III Botaneiates Nikephoros III Botaneiates (; 1002–1081), Romanization of Greek, Latinized as Nicephorus III Botaniates, was Byzantine Empire, Byzantine List of Byzantine Emperors, Emperor from 7 January 1078 to 1 April 1081. He became a general du ...

. He disapproved of Nikephoros' marriage to the ex-wife of the previous Emperor

Michael VII Doukas Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (), nicknamed Parapinakes (, , a reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078. He was known as incompetent as an emperor and reliant on ...

but took no further action than degrading the priest who performed the service. Later he used his influence to try to convince him to resign as his popularity declined and the empire entered a period of instability. Cosmas I likewise crowned by Emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

in 1081. When Alexios I attempted to repudiate his wife

Irene Doukaina Irene Doukaina or Ducaena (, ''Eirēnē Doúkaina''; – 19 February 1138) was a Byzantine empress by marriage to the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. She was the mother of Emperor John II Komnenos and the historian Anna Komnene. She w ...

to marry the ex-empress Maria of Alania, Cosmas I successfully blocked the move as she had already been twice married. Cosmas I resigned or was forced out soon after, as Alexios I's mother, Anna Dalassene, disliked Irene's link to the Doukas family and resented this interference. She further pressed for the resignation as she wished to place her favourite on the patriarchal throne, which she achieved with the appointment of the ill-educated Eustratius Garidas. According to

Anna Komnene Anna Komnene (; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine Greek historian. She is the author of the '' Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Her work constit ...

, Cosmas I resigned voluntarily on the condition that he be allowed to crown Irene Doukaina empress first, which he did and then left. The most important synodal action taken by Cosmas I was the condemnation, in 1076–1077, of certain heretical views taken by John Italus, a scholar connected to the Doukas family. In a more general sense, Cosmas I's retirement is said to mark a period where, between Alexios I and the emperor

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 ...

, the Church was moved to a position of dependence on, identification with, and subservience to the state, reversing the greater self-determination the Church had exercised through the eleventh century. The historian John Skylitzes (''continuatus'') speaks poorly of Cosmas I, suggesting that the emperor selected him for his lack of greatness, writing that after the death of the previous patriarch, Michael I of constantinople "chose another, not from those of the senate, nor from those of the

Great Church The term "Great Church" () is used in the historiography of early Christianity to mean the period of about 180 to 313, between that of primitive Christianity and that of the legalization of the Christian religion in the Roman Empire, correspond ...

, nor any other of the Byzantines famed for word and deed, but a certain monk Cosmas I sprung from the Holy City, and honoured by the Emperor ..although he was without wisdom or taste ...Buckler, p. 290, note 5. He was proclaimed a saint by the Orthodox Church, with his feast day on 2 January (new calendar).

Notes and references

Bibliography

* Buckler, Georgina; ''Anna Komnena - A Study'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1929. * Joan M. Hussey, ''The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire'',

, 1986. *

Paul Magdalino Paul Magdalino (born 10 May 1948) is a British Byzantinist who is Bishop Wardlaw Professor (Emeritus) of Byzantine History at the University of St Andrews. He received the 1993 Runciman Award for his monograph on the reign of Manuel I Komneno ...

, ''The Empire of Manuel Komnenos'',

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. *

John Julius Norwich John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich, (15 September 1929 – 1 June 2018), known as John Julius Norwich, was an English popular historian, writer of widely read travel books, and television personality. Biography Youth Norwich was born ...

, "Byzantium - The Decline and Fall", New York,

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...

, 1996, p. 7. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosmas 01 Of Constantinople, Patriarch 11th-century patriarchs of Constantinople Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown People from Antioch Byzantine saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church