Nephon II of Constantinople

Nephon II of Constantinople
Nephon II of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
	Fresco depicting Nephon II (in the middle)
Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	Late 1486 – early 1488; 1497 – 1498; Spring 1502
Predecessor	Symeon I of Constantinople; Maximus IV of Constantinople; Joachim I of Constantinople
Successor	Dionysius I of Constantinople; Joachim I of Constantinople; Pachomius I of Constantinople
Previous post(s)	Metropolitan of Thessaloniki
Personal details
Born	Peloponnese
Died	11 August 1508
Sainthood
Feast day	11 August
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church

Nephon II of Constantinople (Nifon II (Greek: Νήφων; Albanian: Nifoni; died 11 August 1508), born Nicholas (Νικόλαος), was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople three times: from 1486 to 1488, from 1497 to 1498 and for a short time in 1502.^[1] He is honored as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and his feast day is 11 August.^[2]

Life

He was born in the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece to an Albanian father and a Greek mother.^[3] He was tonsured a monk at Epidaurus, taking the religious name of Nephon. He was involved in calligraphy and copying manuscripts. He then followed a monk named Zacharias and settled in the Monastery of the Theotokos in Ohrid. When Zacharias was elected Archbishop of Ohrid, Nephon went to Mount Athos and there he was ordained a hieromonk. In 1482 he was elected Metropolis of Thessaloniki and at the end of 1486 he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople,^[4] supported by the wealthy 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 II's removal. Specifically, the previous patriarch, Symeon I of Constantinople, died without making his will. Skanderbeg, 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 I, which included also ecclesiastic items, should pass to the Sultan's treasury. To avoid this, Nephon II 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 I, punished the clergy involved in the scandal, and exiled Nephon II.^[7]^[3] Nephon II 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 II was a foolish and unsatisfactory patriarch.^[5]^: 198

In summer 1497 Nephon II was elected for the second time to the patriarchal throne, always with the support of the Wallachian ruler Radu IV the Great,^[5]^: 195 but his reign lasted only until August 1498 when he was overthrown by the young Joachim I of Constantinople, who was supported by king Constantine II of Georgia.^[5]^: 198 Nephon II was sentenced to life imprisonment and exiled to Adrianople.

So great was the reputation of Nephon II that the Wallachian ruler Radu IV bowed down when he went to visit the jailed patriarch. Shortly after Radu obtained bail for Nephon II from the Ottoman Sultan. Nephon II 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 II resolutely refused the appointment and did not return to Constantinople.^[4]

Between 1503 and 1505, Nephon II de facto led the Church of Wallachia, until he came into conflict with the Prince.^[8] The conflict arose because of the intransigence of the patriarch in refusing to celebrate the marriage of Radu's older sister Calpea with the Moldovan boyar Bogdan Logothete, who had already been married. Threatened by Radu, Nephon II gathered the people, made a speech, and excommunicated the groom. He also prophesied accidents, left the patriarchal vestments on the altar and departed the church, taking to a deserted hut. In order to avoid the outcry of the people, Radu tried to placate the old man with flattering words, promises and gifts and begged him to forgive his brother-in-law, but Nephon II remained adamant and left for Macedonia, taking with him two of his students. In Macedonia, he went through all the towns performing missionary preaching. On his return to Mount Athos, he appeared unrecognisable to the monks of the Monastery of Dionysiou, who initially thought him a simple herdsman.

Nephon II 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 recognised him as a saint just nine years later, in 1517, setting his feast day on 11 August. His relic is kept in a shrine in the Monastery of Dionysiou, where there is a chapel in his name.

Notes and references

^ Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate. Wildside Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6.
^ or 24 August according to the 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, 134–135, 138. (in Latin).
^ ^a ^b "Nifon II". Ecumenical Patriarchate. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Runciman, Steven (1985). The Great Church in captivity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-31310-0.
^ Moustakas Konstantinos. "Symeon I of Constantinople". Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
^ Stavrides, Theoharis (2001). The Sultan of Vezirs - the Life and Times of the Ottoman Grand Vezir Mahmud Pasha Angelovic. Boston: Brill Publishers. p. 89. ISBN 978-90-04-12106-5.
^ Vergatti, Radu-Ştefa. "Le règne de Radu le Grand". Simpozionul International, Cartea Romania, Europa, 20-23 September 2008. pp. 168–169.

Bibliography

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 icon and synaxarion

Eastern Orthodox Church titles
Preceded by Symeon I	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Late 1486 – early 1488	Succeeded by Dyonysius I
Preceded by Maximus IV	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1497 – 1498	Succeeded by Joachim I
Preceded by Joachim I	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1464 – 1465	Succeeded by Pachomius I

[Kiminas-1] Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate. Wildside Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6.

[2] r 24 August according to the Gregorian Calendar

[HC-3] B. G. Niebuhr, I. Bekker, ed. (1849) [1584]. "Historia Politica et Patriarchica Constantinopoleos". Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae, Volume 49. Bonn. pp. 128–132, 134–135, 138. (in Latin).

[EP-4] "Nifon II". Ecumenical Patriarchate. Retrieved 13 August 2011.

[Runciman-5] Runciman, Steven (1985). The Great Church in captivity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-31310-0.

[EHW-6] Moustakas Konstantinos. "Symeon I of Constantinople". Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. Retrieved 15 August 2011.

[Stavrides-7] Stavrides, Theoharis (2001). The Sultan of Vezirs - the Life and Times of the Ottoman Grand Vezir Mahmud Pasha Angelovic. Boston: Brill Publishers. p. 89. ISBN 978-90-04-12106-5.

[Vergatti-8] Vergatti, Radu-Ştefa. "Le règne de Radu le Grand". Simpozionul International, Cartea Romania, Europa, 20-23 September 2008. pp. 168–169.

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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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