Seal of Stephen, Patriarch of Constantinople

Stephen I ( el, Στέφανος Α΄, Stephanos I) (November 867 – 18 May 893) 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 ...

from 886 to 893. Born at

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 ( ...

, Stephen was the son of

Eudokia Ingerina Eudokia (or Eudocia) Ingerina ( el, Ευδοκία Ιγγερίνα) (c. 840 – c. 882) was a Byzantine Empress as the wife of the Byzantine emperor Basil I, the mistress of his predecessor Michael III, and the mother of emperors Leo VI and Alex ...

and, officially, Emperor

Basil I Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...

. However, at the time when he was conceived, Eudokia was the mistress of Emperor Michael III. Consequently, it is most probable that like his older brother

Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, called the Wise ( gr, Λέων ὁ Σοφός, Léōn ho Sophós, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well ...

, Stephen was Michael's son. Castrated by Basil I, Stephen became a monk and was designated for a career in the church since his childhood. In 886 his brother, the new Emperor Leo VI, dismissed the Patriarch Photios and appointed the 19-year-old Stephen as patriarch in his stead. As patriarch Stephen participated in the ceremonial reburial of Michael III by Leo VI in the imperial mausoleum attached to the

Church of the Holy Apostles The Church of the Holy Apostles ( el, , ''Agioi Apostoloi''; tr, Havariyyun Kilisesi), also known as the ''Imperial Polyándreion'' (imperial cemetery), was a Byzantine Eastern Orthodox church in Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman E ...

. There are no important events associated with Stephen's patriarchate and the patriarch, who acquired a reputation for piety, died in May 893 at the age of 25. His feast day 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 vi ...

is on

May 18 Events Pre-1600 * 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople. * 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of ...

.
Ὁ Ἅγιος Στέφανος Πατριάρχης Κωνσταντινουπόλεως
'' 18 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.

References

Sources

* ''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 ...

'', Oxford University Press, 1991.

Stephen I of Constantinople Stephen I ( el, Στέφανος Α΄, Stephanos I) (November 867 – 18 May 893) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 886 to 893. Born at Constantinople, Stephen was the son of Eudokia Ingerina and, officially, Emperor Basil ...

9th-century patriarchs of Constantinople Byzantine saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church

9th-century Christian saints Sons of Byzantine emperors {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub