Nephon II of Constantinople
Nephon II | |
|---|---|
Metropolitan of Thessaloniki | |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | August 11 |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church |
Nephon II or Nifon II (
feast day is August 11.[2]
Life
He was born in the
Prince of Wallachia, Vlad Călugărul, who thus inaugurated Wallachian participation in the history of external influences on the Patriarchate's election process.[5]
: 195
After eighteen months a scandal arose, which led to Nephon's removal. Specifically, the previous patriarch,
Symeon I, died without making his will. İşkender Bey, one of the sons of Symeon's main sponsor, George Amiroutzes, had converted to Islam and was at the time the treasurer of the Sultan.[6] He requested that all the inheritance of Symeon, which included also ecclesiastic items, should pass to the Sultan's treasury. To avoid this, Nephon pretended that a nephew of the deceased patriarch was the legitimate heir, finding three monks that bore false witness. After discovering the truth, Sultan Bayezid II confiscated the property of Symeon, punished the clergy involved in the scandal, and exiled Nephon.[7][3] Nephon was exiled to some island in the Black Sea off Sozopol and was deposed in the first months of 1488. According to scholar Steven Runciman, Nephon was a foolish and unsatisfactory patriarch.[5]
: 198
In summer 1497 Nephon was elected for the second time to the patriarchal throne, always with the support of the Wallachian ruler
Adrianople
.
So great was the reputation of Nephon that the Wallachian ruler Radu IV bowed down when he went to visit the jailed patriarch. Shortly after Radu obtained bail for Nephon from the
Ottoman Sultan. Nephon moved to Wallachia, where he was given a warm welcome by the clergy and laity and where he immediately ordained two bishops. In 1502 the Holy Synod elected him Patriarch of Constantinople for the third time and sent emissaries to Wallachia to inform him, however Nephon resolutely refused the appointment and did not return to Constantinople.[4]
Between 1503 and 1505, Nephon de facto led the
Monastery of Dionysiou
, who initially thought him a simple herdsman.
Nephon died in the
Monastery of Dionysiou on Mount Athos in 1508. Immediately after his death he was honored as a saint in many areas and the Eastern Orthodox Church recognized him as a saint just nine years later, in 1517, setting his feast day on August 11. His relic
is kept in a shrine in the Monastery of Dionysiou, where there is a chapel in his name.
Notes
- ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6.
- Gregorian Calendar
- ^ a b B.G.Niebuhr, I.Bekker, ed. (1849) [1584]. "Historia Politica et Patriarchica Constantinopoleos". Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae, Volume 49. Bonn. pp. 128–132, 134–5, 138.(in Latin)
- ^ a b "Nifon II". Ecumenical Patriarchate. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-31310-0.
- ^ Moustakas Konstantinos. "Symeon I of Constantinople". Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
- ISBN 978-90-04-12106-5.
- ^ Vergatti, Radu-Ştefa. "Le règne de Radu le Grand". Simpozionul International. Cartea.Romania.Europa 20-23 Sept 2008. pp. 168–169.
Other sources
- Μωυσέως Μοναχού Αγιορείτου (2008). Οι Άγιοι του Αγίου Όρους. Εκδόσεις Μυγδονία. pp. 369–370. ISBN 978-960-7666-72-7.
- Προκοπίου Τσιμάνη, Από υψηλή σκοπιά οι Πατριάρχαι Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, Athens 1981, τόμ. Α΄, σελ. 105-109
- Sathas, Konstantinos (1868). Νεοελληνική Φιλολογία: Βιογραφία των εν τοις γράμμασι διαλαμψάντων Ελλήνων, από της καταλύσεως της Βυζαντινής Αυτοκρατορίας μέχρι της Ελληνικής εθνεγερσίας (1453-1821). Athens: Τυπογραφείο των τέκνων Ανδρέου Κορομηλά.
External links
- Historia politica et patriarchica Constantinopoleos, Cap X: P. Nipho, (trans. Martin Crusius, 1584) Main primary source. (in Greek and Latin)
- St Niphon the Patriarch of Constantinople of Mt Athos Orthodox synaxarion
