Fourth Council of Constantinople

Technically, there were two of these synods, both held in Constantinople. One of them was called by Emperor Basil I, with the cooperation of Pope Adrian II, whose support Basil wanted after his recent coup (he had assassinated the previous emperor, Michael III).  So although it was held in Constantinople, it is considered a council of the Roman Catholic Church, not of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The catalyst for calling this council (October 869 - February 870) was to depose Patriarch Photios I, who was appointed inappropriately by Michael III, and to reinstate his predecessor, Ignatios. Clergy who were supporters of Photios were defrocked. Photios himself was incarcerated in a monastery.

There were over two dozen other decisions laid down as canons from this council that carried great weight doctrinally, even thought it was poorly attended; the first meeting had only 12 bishops, and the total in the few months it was held barely exceeded 100 clerics. The council was held in the Hagia Sophia (the illustration is a 16th century depiction by Cesare Nebbia). 

One of its statements was a re-affirmation of the Second Council of Nicaea's support of the use of icons and holy images. It even declared that an image of Jesus was to be venerated equally as the Gospel itself:

We decree that the sacred image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the liberator and Savior of all people, must be venerated with the same honor as is given the book of the holy Gospels. For as through the language of the words contained in this book all can reach salvation, so, due to the action which these images exercise by their colors, all wise and simple alike, can derive profit from them. For what speech conveys in words, pictures announce and bring out in colors.

It went further to declare that holy images of subjects other than Jesus were also considered worthy of veneration:

The image of his all-pure Mother and the images of the holy angels as well as the images of all the saints are equally the object of our homage and veneration.

The Roman Catholic popes were pleased to have the Eastern Orthodox Church looking to it for guidance, and Pope Adrian II got the credit, though he was not a particularly powerful pope, serving exactly five years. I'll tell you more about him tomorrow and his good luck with family connections and his bad luck with temporal authority.

The Patriarch and the Pope

Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople was vaulted to his position (which he held at two different times, 858–866 and 877–886 CE) because of his brilliance as a religious scholar and his family connection to the current emperor, Michael III. He wasn't even a priest, but in less than a week was ordained and promoted so that he could "properly" become patriarch. This irregular appointment caused trouble among the local Eastern Orthodox Church as well as the Roman Catholic Church.

Shortly after his Christmas 858 elevation to patriarch, a local council was held in 859 to confirm his appointment formally (rather than risk the ire of the emperor). Supporters of his predecessor Ignatios, however, appealed to Rome for support. Ignatios had been removed and incarcerated solely on the will of the emperor, without trial. These "Ignatians" declared Photios' appointment as patriarch illegitimate.

Pope Nicholas I sent papal legates to Constantinople to conduct an inquiry. By the time they arrived, however, and with the 859 council's confirmation, Photios was firmly established in his role; trying to depose him and restore Ignatios would be difficult and disruptive in its own way. At a synod in Constantinople in 861 they re-affirmed Photios' appointment. Then the legates returned to Rome.

Upon their return, they discovered that Pope Nicholas had wanted an entirely different outcome. In an 863 synod in Rome Nicholas declared Photios deposed and Ignatios restored. Photios held his own synod in which he declared the pope excommunicated for the Filioque heresy. This synod also discussed who had authority over the recently converted Bulgarians, the Eastern Orthodox Church who did the work, or the Roman Church, which felt it had authority over all Christians?

Then in 867 Emperor Michael III was assassinated by a rival who became Emperor Basil I. Basil wanted an alliance with the West, so he sided with the pope, deposed Photios, and reinstated Ignatios. The Fourth Council of Constantinople in 869-870 condemned Photios, officially ending what was considered the "Photian Schism." This council did more than that, however, and deserves its own entry, which it will get next time.

Photios I of Constantinople

Poor Photios! One of the most powerful and influential church leaders in Eastern Orthodox history, tutor of a future emperor whom he tried to protect from a vengeful father, and then replaced by that same emperor with an unqualified teenage boy. His time as Patriarch of Constantinople was broken into two periods because of imperial fickleness, 858–866 and 877–886 CE. He accomplished so much more than being mistreated by the imperial family, however.

One example was his role in the Christianization of Bulgaria. Bulgaria in the early 9th century wanted to ally and trade with the Byzantine and Frankish Empires, but because it was pagan there were barriers to equal treatment. Photios in 864 went to the Bulgarian capital and converted Khan Boris, who took the Christian name Michael. Photios also baptized the Khan's family and high-ranking dignitaries. (The illustration shows him preaching to the Bulgarians.)

He had enemies outside of any upset emperors. His ethnicity is uncertain because chroniclers called him many different things that sound like they intended to demean him: he was Armenian, a Greek Byzantine, or Khazar-faced. He also antagonized people. In his younger years he was a scholar and teacher with a large library. He was the tutor of the sons of Emperor Basil I. He wrote texts analyzing and explaining earlier theological writings.

His brilliance sometimes put him in opposition to other religious leaders. He once proposed the fanciful theory to the Patriarch Ignatios that people had two souls. Once Ignatios tried to argue in earnest against this, Photios embarrassed him by telling him he wasn't serious, and just wanted to see if Ignatios would fall into his trap.

It was the conflict between Patriarch Ignatios and Emperor Michael III that catapulted Photios into the top position in the Church. Michael's uncle, Bardas, was refused entry into the Hagia Sophia by Ignatios because Bardas was thought to be having an affair (more shockingly, with his widowed daughter-in-law). Bardas and Michael accused Ignatios of treason, imprisoned him, and chose Photios (related to Bardas), as his replacement.

At this point, Photios was a scholar and teacher, not a cleric. Photios was tonsured as a monk on 20 December 858, then on the next four days was ordained a lector, then a sub-deacon, then a deacon and priest, and on Christmas Day was consecrated a bishop and made the new Patriarch.

This was disputed by other church leaders, and the pope in Rome himself, but that's a story for tomorrow.

The New Church

Explanation of cross-in-square from this fascinating site.

Today is May Day, and the anniversary of the consecration of the Nea Ekklesia [Greek: "New Church"] in 880.

It was built by Emperor Basil I the Macedonian (c.830 - 886). Although he started as a peasant, he advanced politically until he was in a position to usurp the throne of Emperor Michael III in 867. He set out to create a new golden age of Byzantine art, and he wound up being considered one of the greatest Byzantine emperors. In his desire to reproduce the glory of the reign of Justinian I, he started a building campaign. The pinnacle of this campaign was the Nea Ekklesia, which he considered his answer to the magnificent Hagia Sophia.

One of the things that made it "new" was the floor plan, something called "cross-in-square." Typical churches before that time—and, truthfully, after that time as well—were laid out like a cross, longer than they were wide. Nea Ekklesia broke that mold. Byzantine architecture had already shown a preference and flair for domes, and mounting them on a square base with a feature called a pendentive. Nea Ekklesia was a new style that filled out the cross shape by centering it in a square and putting several domes over the four additional sections. (See the illustration above for an example of a standard cross-in-square.)

As important as the Nea was, it was eventually turned into a monastery (called, perhaps predictably, "New Monastery") in the 11th century. After the Ottomans conquered the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the building was used to store gunpowder. It was destroyed in 1490 when it was struck by lightning.