Theoleptus I of Constantinople
Theoleptus I | |
|---|---|
Metropolitan of Ioannina |
Theoleptus I (Greek: Θεόληπτος; died December 1522) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1513 to 1522.[1]
Life
Theoleptus was native of
Adrianople where he found favour with Sultan Selim I.[3]: 199 After the payment of the usual fee for any patriarchal appointment, the Sultan appointed him as Patriarch of Constantinople. Afterwards Theoleptus went to Constantinople for the formal election and enthronement in mid-1513.[4]
In September 1520 his patron, Sultan Selim, died, and so Theoleptus' position was weakened. The first rumors began to arise, which later led to formal charges of leading an immoral private life. The Holy Synod decided that he should stand for trial, but he died, in December 1522, before the judgment.[5]
Patriarchate
The power of the Patriarch of Constantinople increased with the
Antioch and Jerusalem were incorporated to Ottoman Empire. These patriarchates retained their religious autonomy, but were de facto subjected to the influence of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who was near the Sultan and was his deputy as civil ruler of all Eastern Orthodox Christians in the Empire in accordance with the millet system. This influence of Constantinople increased during the next centuries, especially with regards to appointments. With the conquest of Palestine and the fall of Jerusalem in 1517 to Selim, Theoleptus obtained from the Sultan the right to maintain the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[2]
Theoleptus established good relations since 1516 with the
Grand Duchy of Moscow became in that age the most powerful independent Orthodox kingdom. In 1518 Theoleptus sent the scholar Maximus the Greek to Russia.[3]
: 327
In about 1520, Sultan Selim, who desired a forced conversion of all Christians to
Koran and were believed.[3]
: 189
As Patriarch, Theoleptus re-shaped the ecclesiastic organization of the
Notes
- ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6.
- ^ a b c "Theoliptos I". Ecumenical Patriarchate. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-31310-0.
- ^ B.G.Niebuhr, I.Bekker, ed. (1849) [1584]. "Historia Politica et Patriarchica Constantinopoleos". Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae, Volume 49. Bonn. pp. 151–2.(in Latin)
- ^ R. Janin (1956). "Costantinople, Patriarcat grec". Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques. Vol. 13. Paris: Letouzey et Ané. 677.(in French)
External links
- Historia politica et patriarchica Constantinopoleos, Cap XVIII: P. Theoleptus, (trans. Martin Crusius, 1584) Primary source. (in Greek and Latin)
