Joseph II (1360 – 10 June 1439) was
Patriarch of Constantinople
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...
from 1416 to 1439, of Bulgarian origin.
Born the (possibly illegitimate) son of
Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria
Ivan Shishman ( bg, Иван Шишман) ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 June 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire.
In the wake of the death of Ivan Alex ...
in 1360, little is known of his early life before he became a monk on
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
. He became Metropolitan of
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
in 1393, before being elected Patriarch of Constantinople on 21 May 1416. Together with
Byzantine Emperor
This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
John VIII Palaiologos
John VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( gr, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, Iōánnēs Palaiológos; 18 December 1392 – 31 October 1448) was the penultimate Byzantine emperor, ruling from 1425 to 1448.
Biography
John VIII was ...
, 23 Metropolitan bishops and about 700 scholars and theologians, he took part in the
Council of Florence
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
. While in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, he was quartered in the Palazzo Ferrantini. He is portrayed in
Benozzo Gozzoli
Benozzo Gozzoli (4 October 1497) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. A pupil of Fra Angelico, Gozzoli is best known for a series of murals in the Magi Chapel of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, depicting festive, vibrant processions wi ...
's frescoes in the
Magi Chapel
The Magi Chapel is a chapel in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi of Florence, Italy. Its walls are almost entirely covered by a famous cycle of frescoes by the Renaissance master Benozzo Gozzoli, painted around 1459 for the Medici family, the effective ...
of
Palazzo Medici Riccardi
The Palazzo Medici, also called the Palazzo Medici Riccardi after the later family that acquired and expanded it, is a Renaissance palace located in Florence, Italy. It is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Florence and a museum.
Overview
T ...
, which celebrates the entrance of the Byzantine dignitaries in the city.
Joseph was very old and ill and died on 10 June 1439. His death caused much grief to all present at the council, as he was a fervent supporter of union between the Churches; before his death, he drew up and signed an important pro-union declaration for the council. His grave in the
Dominican convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
church of
Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church.
The chu ...
in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
survives, with an elaborate
fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
portrait in a semi-Byzantine style. He was succeeded as Patriarch of Constantinople by
Metrophanes II, who was appointed by Emperor John VIII on account of his similarly pro-unionist sentiments.
He was cousin of
Constantine II of Bulgaria
Constantine II ( bg, Константин II Асен, ''Konstantin II Asen''), allegedly ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1397 to 1422. He was born in the early 1370s, and died in exile at the Serbian court on 17 September 1422. Constanti ...
.
Sources
Council of Florence, at the Catholic Encyclopedia*
Sergey F. Dezhnyuk
Serhii F. Dezhnyuk (Ukrainian: Сергій Федорович Дежнюк; born January 5, 1976) is a Ukrainian-American theologian, historian, and political analyst. He was a chair of the Ethnic Council, CBA of Oklahoma City until 2005. Since 2 ...
, "Council of Florence: The Unrealized Union", CreateSpace, 2017.
Plamen Pavlov. Patriarh Jossif II
External links
*
1360 births
1439 deaths
Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy
Greek Eastern Catholics
Former Greek Orthodox Christians
Bulgarian Orthodox bishops
Sratsimir dynasty
14th-century Bulgarian people
15th-century Bulgarian people
15th-century patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Ephesus
Sons of emperors
People associated with Mount Athos
{{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub