Alexius of Constantinople (original) (raw)

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Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1025 to 1043

Alexius of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Appointment of Alexius of Constantinople as patriarch (top) by Emperor Constantine VIII (below)
Church Church of Constantinople
In office 15 December 1025 –20 February 1043
Predecessor Eustathius of Constantinople
Successor Michael I of Constantinople
Personal details
Died 20 February 1043

Alexius of Constantinople (Alexius Studites Greek: Ἀλέξιος ὁ Στουδίτης; died 20 February 1043), an ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, was a member of the Monastery of Stoudios (founded 462), succeeded Eustathius of Constantinople as patriarch in 1025, the last of the patriarchs appointed by Emperor Basil II.

Alexius set out to reform the church institution of the charistike dorea (donation), which recent research dates to the period just after the Feast of Orthodoxy (843). Effectively, it involved the donation of monasteries to private individuals unrelated to the establishments founders, for a limited period of time. Ostensibly undertaken so that the monastery buildings could be repaired or conserved and the estate out to good use, while at the same time protecting and preserving its spiritual functions, in actuality it was widely abused by the landed gentry and so became a source of abused patronage by high church officials and a tool against the powerful monastic establishment.[1] Alexius tried to temper the worst abused of the notorious charistike by appointing through Synodal legislation the patriarch's chancellor, the chartophylax, as the official to serve as the final point of approval for all grants under the system. Alexius also restricted the granting of charistike to nondiocesan monasteries and eukteria. The fact that Alexius sought reform over abolishment of the charistike dorea likely shows the inability of the Church to claim back many of these properties from the powerful land-owning elite who held them.[2]

Alexius promoted the zealous actions of John of Melitene whose interest it was to limit the influence of the Syro Jacobite Church in the south east of the Byzantine Empire, especially in the newly conquered themes of Mesopotamia and Telouch. For this reason, the Syro-Jacobite Patriarch John VIII bar Abdoun was arrested and brought to trial in Constantinople and then forced into a monastery on Mount Ganos. In 1034 he crowned Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian, the favorite of the Byzantine Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita, who, to make way for him, procured the death of her husband, the Emperor Romanos III Argyros. He thwarted the attempts of John the Orphanotrophos (the emperor's brother) to gain the patriarchal see in 1036, and died in 1043.

Alexius also established a monastery for which he wrote the rule (typikon) which was then used as the rule for the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves.

Decrees of Alexius are still extant.[3][4][5] He is noted for the elevated style employed in the numerous decrees of his which have survived.

The synod decrees are unusual for their number and the fact they are dated precisely:

Notes and references

[edit]

  1. ^ Thomas and Constantinides, pp. 49, 305. See also: "The Middle Byzantine Period", accessed at http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/09/en/k/867/main/k10a.html, January 2011.[_unreliable source?_]
  2. ^ Thomas and Constantinides, p. 204.
  3. ^ ap. Jus Gr. Rom. vol. i, lib. iv, p. 250, Leunclav. Francof. 1596
  4. ^ Christie, Albany James (1867). "Alexius I of Constantinople". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 131.
  5. ^ Johann Albert Fabricius, Bibliotheca Graeca, vol. xi, p. 558.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Alexius I of Constantinople". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

Titles of Chalcedonian Christianity
Preceded byEustathius Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1025 – 1043 Succeeded byMichael I
vteBishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium(Roman period, 38–330 AD) Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople(Roman period, 330–451 AD) Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople(Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD) Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV† Theodore II† Maximus II† Μanuel I† Germanus II† Methodius II† Manuel II† Arsenius† Nicephorus II† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople(Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD) Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople(Turkish period, since 1923 AD) Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
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