[February 6] St. Photios I, patriarch of Constantinople

Surnamed: The Great

Parents: Sergios

Date of Birth: c. 820

Reign: 858 – 867, 877 – 886

Predecessor: Ignatios

Summary: Photios was a nobleman from a family that had produced at least one other patriarch, Tarasios, his uncle. It is highly possible that Photios was, on his mother's side, an Armenian. Virtually nothing is known of his upbringing except that he often taught students from his home. His brother, Sergios, was married to a sister of Empress Theodora, and thus all paths were open to Photios. He became a captain of the guard and chief imperial secretary. He also served as an ambassador to the Abbasid Caliphate. When Theodora was deposed by her son, Michael, and Bardas, Photios became a political pawn. The patriarch Ignatios was a thorn in their sides and they orchestrated his deposition and confinement on charges of treason. Photios took over as the new patriarch, with little in the way of church titles prior to that.

For Photio's first reign, he was constantly under attack by the church. The Pope and western bishops would not acknowledge him as the rightful patriarch since Ignatios was still alive. He was not accepted as patriarch by them until 861, but was again renounced in 863. Photios retaliated in 867 by excommunicating the pope on grounds of heresy. Photios was deposed in 867 when Bardas and Michael III were both murdered by Basil the Macedonian and Ignatios was reinstated. Photios, however, was not seen as an enemy to Basil and was soon tutoring his children within the imperial palace. When Ignatios died in 877, Basil reinstated Photios to the patriarchate, this time as the fully-recognized and legitimate patriarch of Constantinople. He sought to end the conflict over Bulgaria between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. The result was odd, as Rome was granted control of the region but the Orthodox church retained de facto control as most of the inhabitants had become Orthodox Christians in the confusion. Photios became a major sponsor of the conversion of Slavs to Christianity throughout the Balkan Peninsula during his reign. Unfortunately, his reign also saw the end of unity between West and East. Two ecumenical councils were held to resolve disputes between patriarchal authority and church law. One of the issues, that of adding "and from the son" to the Nicene Creed, became a breaking point two centuries later when the East-West Schism ended all formal unity of the church. Photios was deposed again in 886 by the new emperor, Leo VI, who placed his brother, Stephen, on the throne instead. Photios spent the rest of his life at a monastery in Armenia, though his reputation was revived by Leo VI prior to his death.

Date of Death: 6 February 893

Successor: Stephen I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Ogimachi, emperor of Japan (1593)
• Charles II, king of England, Scotland and Ireland (1685)
• Clement XII, pope of Rome (1740)
• George VI, king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (1952)