Tryphon ( gr, Τρύφων) (died 933) was a 10th-century

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 ...

. He is venerated as a saint 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 ...

Life

Tryphon was a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

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 (" ...

. Patriarch Stephen II died on 15 July 928. Tryphon was raised to the post of the Patriarch in December 928 by

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Romanos I Lekapenos Romanos I Lekapenos ( el, Ρωμανός Λεκαπηνός; 870 – 15 June 948), Latinisation of names, Latinized as Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for the infant Constantine ...

on condition that he would resign in favor of the Emperor's son Theophylaktos when the boy comes of age. Theophylactus turned 16 in 931 and Roman asked Patriarch Tryphon to step down as promised so Theophylaktos could assume the Patriarchate. Tryphon refused to hand over the throne to a boy and remained in office. Romanos was infuriated and wanted to arrest him and execute him but Tryphon was very much loved by the people for his virtues. Then the Emperor's advisors came up with a better plan to remove him from office without causing a rebellion. During a meeting with other bishops, Bishop Basil accused Tryphon of being illiterate, and the Patriarch protested that he was not. Bishop Basil had an Imperial agent ask him to prove that by signing his name on a blank paper, Tryphon signed the blank paper and then Bishop Basil sent the paper to the Palace where the Imperial Clerks wrote the document of his resignation on the blank paper with Tryphon's signature. When he found out that he was deceived it was too late, Theophylactus had been already proclaimed Patriarch and Tryphon was forced to retire to monastery where he died in 933.

Veneration

Tryphon is

venerated Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Etymo ...

as a saint in the

. His feast day is .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tryphon of Constantinople 933 deaths Year of birth unknown 10th-century patriarchs of Constantinople 10th-century Byzantine monks