Leontius ( bg, Леонтий) was the first Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Very little is known of his life and tenure. He was mentioned as the first Patriarch of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

in the Book of Boril, written in 1211. The renowned Bulgarian medievalist

Vasil Zlatarski Vasil Nikolov Zlatarski ( bg, Васил Николов Златарски; – 15 December 1935) was a Bulgarian historian-medievalist, archaeologist, and epigraphist. Life Vasil Zlatarski was born in Veliko Tarnovo in 1866, the youngest c ...

assumes that in the aftermath of the major Bulgarian victory over the

Byzantine Empire 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 ...

in the battle of Achelous in 917, the Bulgarian monarch Simeon I (r. 893–927) summoned a church council in 918 in order to raise the

autocephalous Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...

Bulgarian Archbishopric to a completely independent Patriarchate. After the triumph at Achelous, Simeon I demanded that Byzantines recognize him not only as Emperor of the Bulgarians, which they already did in 913, but also of the Romans. Zlatarski argues that the first act of Simeon I after the battle was to raise the statute of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, because according to the Byzantine imperial tradition the autocrat must have a patriarch and there could be no empire without a Patriarchate. At the convocation of all Bulgarian bishops they elected one of their numbers, Leontius, a

Patriarch of Bulgaria The Patriarch of All Bulgaria is the patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The patriarch is officially styled as ''Patriarch of All Bulgaria and Metropolitan of Sofia''. Patriarch Neophyte acceded to this position on 24 February 2013. Hist ...

. Patriarch Leontius then crowned Simeon I "Emperor and Autocrat of all Bulgarians". The results of the council were not recognized by the Byzantines. Zlatarski notes that before 917 and immediately after the battle of Achelous, the Patriarch of Constantinople

Nicholas Mystikos Nicholas I Mystikos or Nicholas I Mysticus ( el, Νικόλαος Α΄ Μυστικός, ''Nikolaos I Mystikos''; 852 – 11 May 925) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from March 901 to February 907 and from May 912 to his death ...

did approach the Archbishop of Bulgaria to try to impact Simeon I but since then Mystikos never addressed the head of the Bulgarian church, most likely because he did not recognize his title – another indirect fact in support of this theory. Historian John Fine deems Zlatarski's theory plausible, arguing that Simeon I was capable of creating his own Patriarchate since he did not hesitate to call himself Emperor of the Romans and to demand that the Byzantine recognize him as such. He believes that the council could have taken place at any time between 914 and 925, but notes that the Bulgarian Patriarchate was not mentioned in pre-927 sources. With the Byzantine–Bulgarian Treaty of 927, which affirmed the Bulgarian victory in the War of 913–927, the

Ecumenical 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 ...

eventually recognized Leontius' successor

Demetrius Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter". Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, Dimitri, Dimitrie, Dimitar, Dumi ...

as Patriarch of Bulgaria.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leontius 9th-century births 10th-century deaths 9th-century Bulgarian people 10th-century Bulgarian people Patriarchs of Bulgaria People from Veliki Preslav 10th-century archbishops