Sophronius I ( el, ), (? – after 1464) 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 ...

from 1463 to 1464. The dates of his reign are disputed by scholars in a range from 1462 to 1464.

Life

Almost nothing is known about the life and the patriarchate of Sophronius. It is known an act with his name dated August 1464 which certified a cross belonged to Emperor

David of Trebizond David Megas Komnenos ( gr, Δαυίδ Μέγας Κομνηνός, David Megas Komnēnos; – 1 November 1463) was the last Emperor of Trebizond from 1460 to 1461. He was the third son of Emperor Alexios IV of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzen ...

: the document is probably a forgery, but it confirms us that Sophronius was actually the patriarch. According to Blanchet, who places the reign of Sophronius after Joasaph's, he was Metropolitan of Heraclea before being elected patriarch. One primary source designates Sophronius with the name ''Syropoulos''. Thus it was conjectured, but not proven, that Sophronius was indeed Sylvester Syropoulos, the Orthodox cleric who participated at the

Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...

and who wrote a chronicle of it. Sylvester Syropoulos belonged to the faction which was in favor of the East-West Union of Churches, and he signed the documents of the council. This fact works against the possible identification of Sophronius with Sylvester Syropoulos; if however he is indeed the same person, it could justify the virtual

damnatio memoriae is a modern Latin phrase meaning "condemnation of memory", indicating that a person is to be excluded from official accounts. Depending on the extent, it can be a case of historical negationism. There are and have been many routes to , includi ...

displayed in the primary sources against him.

Disputed chronology

The chronology of the reign of Sophronius I is disputed among scholars. Recent scholarship, such as Kiminas (2009), Podskalsky (1988), Laurent (1968) and Runciman (1985), places the reign of Sophronius I after Joasaph I, dating it between June 1463 and August 1464. Other scholars, following Bishop Gemanos of Sardeis (1933–38) and Grumel (1958), as well as the official website of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, propose that Sophronius I reigned before Joasaph I, however the dates they provide differ only by a few months from the ones mentioned above due to a different suggested length of the second term of

Gennadius Scholarius Gennadius II ( Greek Γεννάδιος Βʹ; lay name Γεώργιος Κουρτέσιος Σχολάριος, ''Georgios Kourtesios Scholarios''; c. 1400 – c. 1473) was a Byzantine Greek philosopher and theologian, and Ecumenical Patriarc ...

. Blanchet (2001) places Sophronius' reign from 1 April 1462 to summer 1464, directly after Isidore II and immediately before Joasaph. Furthermore, there is no consensus among scholars on the length and chronology of the second and third terms of

, which supposedly alternated the patriarchates of Joasaph and Sophronius. For a comparison of the main scholar suggestions, see the

List of Patriarchs of Constantinople This is a list of the Patriarchs of Constantinople. Bishops of Byzantium (until 330) *1. St. Andrew the Apostle (38), founder *2. St. Stachys the Apostle (38–54) *3. St. Onesimus (54–68) *4. Polycarpus I (69–89) *5. Plutarch (89–10 ...

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sophronius 01 Of Constantinople, Patriarch 15th-century patriarchs of Constantinople