Joseph I Galesiotes ( el, Ἰωσὴφ Α´ Γαλησιώτης; ? – 23 March 1283) was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

monk who served twice as

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 1266 to 1275 and from 1282 until shortly before his death in 1283. He is most notable as an opponent of Emperor

Michael VIII Palaiologos Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...

' plans to unite the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, for which he is recognized as a

confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as french: lecteur, en, lector, pl, lektor and russian: лектор. It has various specialized uses. ...

(''anagnostes'') from 1222 until 1254, and in 1259/60 became

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of the Lazaros monastery on Mount Galesios. Joseph became the confessor to Emperor

(reigned 1259–82). In this capacity, he was sent in 1264 by Michael to Patriarch

Arsenios Autoreianos Arsenios Autoreianos (Latinized as Arsenius Autorianus) ( el, Ἀρσένιος Ἀυτωρειανός), ( 30 September 1273), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, lived about the middle of the 13th century. Born in Constantinople c. 1200, A ...

to seek the lifting of the Patriarch's

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

of the Emperor on account of the blinding of the young

John IV Laskaris John IV Doukas Laskaris (or Ducas Lascaris) ( el, Ἰωάννης Δούκας Λάσκαρις, ''Iōannēs Doukas Laskaris'') (December 25, 1250 – c. 1305) was emperor of Nicaea from August 16, 1258, to December 25, 1261. This empire was one ...

(r. 1258–61). Arsenios remained intransigent, however, and at length Michael deposed him and on 28 December 1266 named Joseph to the patriarchate. Joseph soon issued a pardon to the emperor, which enraged the supporters of his predecessor and exacerbated the so-called "Arsenite

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

". In 1272 Joseph officiated at the coronation of

Andronikos II Palaiologos , image = Andronikos II Palaiologos2.jpg , caption = Miniature from the manuscript of George Pachymeres' ''Historia'' , succession = Byzantine emperor , reign = 11 December 1282 –24 May 1328 , coronation = 8 Novembe ...

as co-emperor, but soon fell out with Michael VIII over the latter's projected union of the

with the

. For Michael, who was threatened by the ambitions of

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) i ...

, the Union was the sole instrument for preventing a full-scale assault by the Western powers on his empire, but the Byzantine clergy and people almost universally opposed the concessions made to the

Papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

on matters of doctrine and

Papal supremacy Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Catholic Church that the Pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, the visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful, and as pastor of the ...

. In 1273, Joseph swore an oath not to accept the Union under the terms set out by the Pope, and in early 1274, as the Byzantine delegation prepared to travel to Italy to effect the Union, retired from his official duties to the Peribleptos Monastery. Joseph resigned his office on 9 January 1275, retiring to the Monastery of

Anaplous Anaplous or Promotou was a town of ancient Thrace on the Bosphorus, inhabited during Byzantine times. Its site is tentatively located near Arnavutköy in European Turkey East Thrace or Eastern Thrace ( tr, Doğu Trakya or simply ''Trakya''; ...

and later to the town of Chele on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

coast, before returning to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

in summer 1280 to the

Monastery of Kosmidion A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

. Following the death of Michael VIII in 1282, Andronikos II reversed his father's ecclesiastical policies, deposing the pro-Unionist

John XI Bekkos John XI Bekkos (also, commonly, Beccus; name sometimes also spelled ''Veccus'', ''Vekkos'', or ''Beccos''), (c. 1225 – March 1297) was Patriarch of Constantinople from June 2, 1275 to December 26, 1282, and the chief Greek advocate, in Byzantin ...

and recalling Joseph to the patriarchate (31 December 1282). Joseph's poor health however forced him to resign his office shortly before his death on 23 March 1283. Due to his staunch anti-Unionite stance, he was declared a

30 October Events Pre-1600 * 637 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Antioch surrenders to the Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of the Iron Bridge. * 758 – Guangzhou is sacked by Arab and Persian pirates. *1137 – Ranulf of Apulia defeats Roger ...

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph 01 Of Constantinople 13th-century births 1283 deaths 13th-century patriarchs of Constantinople Byzantine saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church 13th-century Christian saints Byzantine abbots