Isaias (sometimes spelled ''Esaias'', ''Jeaias'' or ''Jesaias''), (? – 13 May 1332) was 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 th ...

from 1323 to 1332. The Byzantine Emperor

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 ...

had Isaias confined to the monastery section of the

Magnaura The Magnaura (Medieval el, , possibly from Latin: ''Magna Aula'', "Great Hall") was a large building in Byzantine Constantinople located next to the Great Palace. It was situated to the east of the Augustaion, close to the Hagia Sophia, and next ...

school in

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 1327, possibly due to the Patriarch's support for the emperor's grandson,

Andronikos III Palaiologos , image = Andronikos_III_Palaiologos.jpg , caption = 14th-century miniature. Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek. , succession = Byzantine emperor , reign = 24 May 1328 – 15 June 1341 , coronation = ...

during the civil war of 1321–1328. Upon the overthrow of Andronikos II by his grandson on 23/14 May 1328, a delegation was sent to the monastery to retrieve Isaias. On his way back to the palace, Isaias was escorted not by the usual ecclesiastics, but by a troupe of musicians, dancing girls and comedians, one of whom had him so helpless with laughter that he almost fell off his horse.J. J. Norwich, ''

A Short History of Byzantium ''A Short History of Byzantium'' (1997) is a history of the Byzantine Empire by historian John Julius Norwich. It is a condensed version of his earlier three-volume work on the same subject, published from 1988 to 1995 in 1200 pages, which is ap ...

'', Alfred A. Knopf Pub., 1997, p. 338.

References

14th-century patriarchs of Constantinople 1332 deaths {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub