Eustratius Garidas ( el, ; ? – after 1084) was
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 ...
between 1081 and 1084. A monk, he was elevated to the patriarchal throne through the influence of the mother of the emperor
Alexios I,
Anna Dalassene
Anna Dalassene ( el, ; ca. 1025/30 – 1 November 1100/02) was an important Byzantine noblewoman who played a significant role in the rise to power of the Komnenoi in the eleventh century. As '' Augusta'', a title bestowed upon her by her son, A ...
, to whom he had become an intimate advisor. He was an
eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...
.
Anna Comnena
Anna Komnene ( gr, Ἄννα Κομνηνή, Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the ''Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, ...
and other writers describe him as uneducated and of weak character. Due to his illiteracy and apparent gullibility he was involved in the case of
John Italus
John Italus or Italos ( el, , ''Iōánnēs ho Italós''; la, Johannes Italus) was a neoplatonic Byzantine philosopher of the eleventh century. He was Calabrian in origin, his father being a soldier. He came to Constantinople, where he became a ...
, whom his predecessor,
Patriarch Cosmas I of Constantinople
Cosmas I of Constantinople ( el, Κοσμάς Α΄ Ιεροσολυμίτης), (? – after 1081) was Patriarch of Constantinople from 2 August 1075 to 8 May 1081.
Biography
Originally from Antioch, Cosmas was educated and resided in Jerusalem ...
had condemned. Alexios had to take over the case against Italus as Eustratius, in his words,"rather dwelt at leisure and preferred peace and quiest to noisy throngs, and turned to God alone."
During the war against the
Normans
The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...
, at the beginning of the reign of Alexios in 1081–1082, Garidas did not resist the expropriation of artworks and consecrated treasures of the capital's churches, destined to be melted for currency to pay the army of
Alexios I. This lack of resistance was not forgiven by
Leo of Chalcedon who sought to expel him from his throne, at one point also accusing him, without evidence, of diverting part of the appropriate treasure for his own use.
[Hussey, p. 148.] Finally, accused of heresy, Eustratios was cleared by a commission of inquiry established by Alexios in 1084, but he chose to abdicate.
References
Sources
Ecumenical Patriarchate*Buckler, Georgina. ''Anna Komnena: A Study''. Oxford: University Press, 1929.
*Comnena, Anna. ''The Alexiad''. New York: Penguin, 2003.
*Hussey, J.M.. ''The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire''. Oxford: University Press, 1986.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eustratius 01 Garidas
11th-century patriarchs of Constantinople
Byzantine eunuchs