''Protothronos'' ( el, πρωτόθρονος, "first-throned") is a Greek term used in 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 ...

to denote precedence among bishops (or rather their sees). Thus it can denote the first-ranked

metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the b ...

within a

patriarchate Patriarchate ( grc, πατριαρχεῖον, ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were esta ...

, or the first among the

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

s of a metropolitan see. Such bishoprics were in turn often raised to separate archbishoprics or metropolises.

References

Sources

* {{cite book , editor-last=Kazhdan , editor-first=Alexander , editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan , title=

The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzant ...

, year=1991 , location=New York and Oxford , publisher=Oxford University Press , isbn=978-0-19-504652-6 , ref={{harvid, ODB Greek words and phrases Eastern Orthodox Church

See also

References

Sources