Manuel II of Constantinople

This article is about the patriarch. For the emperor, see Manuel II Palaiologos.

Manuel II of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	c. September 1243 – 3 November 1254
Predecessor	Methodius II of Constantinople
Successor	Arsenios Autoreianos
Personal details
Died	3 November 1254

Manuel II of Constantinople (Greek: Μανουήλ; died 3 November 1254) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1243 to 1254. Because of the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204–1261), Manuel II resided at the temporary Byzantine capital in Nicaea. He worked in close collaboration with Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes, particularly in negotiations concerning possible union with the Latin Church. In 1249, Manuel II was likely involved with the delegation from Pope Innocent IV and led by the Franciscan friar John of Parma, which arrived at the temporary Patriarchal seat in Nymphaeum in 1249 and until 1250, there to debate the filioque against the Orthodox spokesman Nikephoros Blemmydes. The delegation from the Pope returned to him with a note from the Patriarch which exhorted unity under Christ as the only head of the Church, avoiding the term "Schism" and referring only to the "separation" of the Churches.[1] In 1253, the Emperor and Manuel II sent envoys to Pope Innocent IV to more formally discuss ecclesiastical union, renewing these negotiations. These were conducted in Perugia, and appear to have achieved some entente, with Innocent acknowledging the sincerity of the Orthodox Church's desire for union. Despite continued disagreement about the filioque clause in the Nicene Creed, negotiations continued, which resulted in an initial offer of formal recognition of the Greek Patriarchate. No further progress was made after 1254, however, as the architects of the entente – Pope Innovent IV, Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes, and the Patriarch Manuel II – all died within a few months of each other, and the impetus was lost.[2]

In 1247–1248 he wrote to the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Hethum I and the Catholicos regarding their relations with the Byzantine Church, and in July 1250 he composed a series of responses to canonical questions. In 1253–1254 he received solemn assurance, under pain of censure, from the regent Michael VIII Palaiologos, that he would not intrigue against the Emperor of Nicaea, Theodore II Laskaris (1254–1258); and early in 1254, he addressed a letter to the emperor instructing him on his duties.

Manuel held, before his patriarchate, the position of protopapas among the ecclesiastics of the Byzantine court, then fixed at Nicaea. Noted as a man of piety and holiness, "though married", Akropolites comments sourly that he was a man "who had no experience of letters, nor was able to unravel the meaning of what he read".[3] The three Sententice Synodales of the patriarch Manuel II given in the Jus Graeco-Romanum undoubtedly belong to this patriarch.[4]

Manuel II's death is distinctly fixed as having occurred two months before that of Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes, on 30 October 1255. The duration of his patriarchate is fixed by Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos, at eleven years. George Akropolites and Xanthopoulos both suggest the throne was vacant "for some years" before Manuel was appointed (1240–1243).[5] It is therefore relatively certain Manuel II died in office that year, on 3 November 1254.

Notes and references

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 648.

1. Hussey, p. 217.
2. Angold, p. 526.
3. Akropolites, p. 51.
4. Grumel (ed).
5. Macrides, p. 223, 225, n. 14.

Bibliography

• Michael Angold, Church and Society in Byzantium under the Comneni 1081–1261, Cambridge University Press, 1995 ISBN 9780511562341.
• Grumel, V. (ed.); Les Regestes des actes du Patriarcat de Constantinople, 2e éd., Institut français d'études byzantines, Paris (3, rue François 1er, 75008), 1971.
• Joan M. Hussey, The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire, Oxford University Press, 1986 ISBN 9780199582761.
• Kazhdan, Alexander (1991), The Oxford Dictionary Of Byzantium, Oxford University Press.
• Ruth Macrides, George Akropolites - The History - Introduction, translation and commentary, Oxford University Press, 2007 ISBN 9780199210671.
• Jacques Paul Migne, Patrologia Graeca, vol. 145-147, Greek text and Latin translation.

Eastern Orthodox Church titles
Preceded by Methodius II	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople In exile at Nicaea 1243 – 1254	Succeeded by Arsenius

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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
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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
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal