''Protopapas'' ( el, πρωτοπαπάς, "first priest, archpriest") is 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 call ...

ecclesiastical office. The office appeared in Byzantine times, when the ''protopapas'' was a subaltern of a bishop, along with his own deputy, the ''deutereuon'' ("the second one"). Already in the middle Byzantine period (8th–12th centuries), ''protopapades'' were appointed as the head clerics of particularly important churches, or as a bishop's representatives in the rural districts. The mid-14th century ''Book of Offices'' of

Pseudo-Kodinos George Kodinos or Codinus ( el, Γεώργιος Κωδινός), also Pseudo-Kodinos, '' kouropalates'' in the Byzantine court, is the reputed 14th-century author of three extant works in late Byzantine literature. Their attribution to him is me ...

mentions the role of the ''protopapas'' of the imperial palace during imperial church ceremonies on Christmas and Epiphany, as well as during the

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, wh ...

. According to Pseudo-Kodinos, the ''protopapas'' of the emperor and the ''protopapas'' of the Great Church (i.e., of the

Ecumenical 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 ...

) were distinct, but could sometimes be held in tandem by the same person. In the late 14th century, the head of the "imperial clerics" was the ''protopapas'' of the Blachernae Church (located in the main imperial residence, the

Palace of Blachernae The Palace of Blachernae ( el, ). was an imperial Byzantine residence in the suburb of Blachernae, located in the northwestern section of Constantinople (today located in the quarter of Ayvansaray in Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey). The area of the pala ...

), while another ''protopapas'' was responsible for the coronation and funerary

Church of the Holy Apostles The Church of the Holy Apostles ( el, , ''Agioi Apostoloi''; tr, Havariyyun Kilisesi), also known as the ''Imperial Polyándreion'' (imperial cemetery), was a Byzantine Eastern Orthodox church in Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman E ...

, where the early Byzantine emperors were buried. In the Greek lands under Latin rule, including in

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

following the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

, Orthodox bishops of the

Greek Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. The canonical hours ar ...

were often displaced by

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

bishops of the

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language onc ...

. As Church canons forbade the simultaneous presence of two bishops in the same see, in these areas, a ''protopapas'' (in Latin also ''archipresbyter Graecorum'') served as the head of the Greek Orthodox clergy. This system survived longest in the Ionian islands, which were a Venetian possession until 1797. In Corfu, where the local Orthodox bishopric had been abolished already by the Angevins in the late 13th century, the Orthodox nobility and ecclesiastical canons chose the ''megas protopapas'' ("grand archpriest"), since there were junior ''protopapades'' in the districts of the island. As he lacked the bishop's power to consecrate priests, all candidates had to go to

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It ...

, where the Orthodox bishopric continued in existence, to be ordained. To secure its control over the office, from 1578 the Venetian government removed the ''megas protopapas'' of Corfu from the jurisdiction of both the local Latin Archbishop as well as the

. The smaller islands of Ithaca and

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Za ...

each had a ''protopapas'' of their own, subject to the Bishop of Cephalonia.

References

Sources

* * * * {{cite book , editor-first = Jean , editor-last = Verpeaux , language=fr , title = Pseudo-Kodinos, Traité des Offices , location = Paris , publisher = Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique , year = 1966 Eastern Christian ecclesiastical offices Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy