Basil II of Constantinople

Basil II of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	August 1183 – February 1186
Predecessor	Theodosius I of Constantinople
Successor	Nicetas II of Constantinople
Personal details
Born	Basil Kamateros
Died	After 1186

Basil II of Constantinople (Basil Kamateros Greek: Βασίλειος Καματηρός; died after 1186) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from August 1183 to February 1186.

Basil was a member of the Kamateros family, which provided a number of leading officials in the 12th century. He initially served under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180) as a diplomat, but after a disastrous mission in Italy, he fell out of favour and was banished. His fortunes revived under Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos (r. 1183–1185), who had also been exiled by Manuel I.^[1]

At the time, Andronikos I was having trouble with Patriarch Theodosius I of Constantinople, who opposed the emperor on a number of issues. These were the projected marriage of his illegitimate daughter Eirene to Alexios II Komnenos, the illegitimate son of Manuel I, although they were close relatives, as well as the expulsion of the Empress dowager Maria of Antioch from the Great Palace. Theodosius I was forced to abdicate and replaced by Basil II.^[2]

Basil II immediately complied with Andronikos I's wishes, clearing the path for the marriage and even absolving the murderers of the young emperor Alexios II Komnenos (r. 1180–1183). After Andronikos I was overthrown and executed in September 1185 however, Basil II failed to ingratiate himself with the new emperor Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–1195 and 1203–1204), despite officiating at his coronation. He was deposed and condemned by a synod for his approval of Eirene's and Alexios II's marriage. Nothing further is known of him after that.^[1]

Notes and references

[edit]

^ ^a ^b Kazhdan 1991, p. 262.
^ Kazhdan 1991, p. 262, 2052.

Bibliography

[edit]

Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.

Eastern Orthodox Church titles
Preceded by Theodosius I	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1183 – 1186	Succeeded by Nicetas II

v t e Bishops 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
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal

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