Metropolitan Photius of Kiev () (died July 2 or February 7, 1431), was the
Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus'
The Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus' (russian: Митрополит Киевский и всея Руси, Mitropolit Kiyevskiy i vseya Rusi; ) was a metropolis of the Eastern Orthodox Church that was erected on the territory of Kievan Rus'. It exi ...
in the
Patriachate of Constantinople of 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 ...
. He was of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
descent.
Early life
Photius was born in the town of
Monemvasia
Monemvasia ( el, Μονεμβασιά, Μονεμβασία, or ) is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a small island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea. The island is connected t ...
(
Despotate of Morea
The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...
, Byzantine Empire), located on an island near the southeastern tip of the
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...
peninsula. He became a monk in his youth. From 1397 he served with Metropolitan Akakios of Monemvasia.
Career
On 1 September 1408, Patriarch
Matthew I of Constantinople consecrated him in Constantinople as Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Rus'. He was given the right to rule the whole metropolis excluding the
Metropolis of Halych The Metropolis of Halych was a metropolis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was erected on the territory of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia in 1303 by Patriarch Athanasius I of Constantinople. The ...
. By that time, only two of the five dioceses remained in Halych. On 1 September 1409, Photius arrived in Kyiv, and by Easter (April 22, 1410) - in Moscow.
North-eastern Rus', including the Metropolitan region, was devastated by the invasion of Khan
Edigu
Edigu (or Edigey) (also İdegäy or Edege Mangit) (1352–1419) was a Mongol Muslim emir of the White Horde who founded a new political entity, which came to be known as the Nogai Horde.
Edigu was from the Crimean Manghud tribe, the son of B ...
in 1408, resulting in famine and pestilence. Photius found his metropolitan residence ravaged and that the