Thomas Morosini ( it, Tommaso Morosini;

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, c. 1170/1175 –

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, June/July 1211) was the first Latin Patriarch of Constantinople, from 1204 to his death in July 1211. Morosini, then a sub-deacon, was elected patriarch by the Venetians immediately after the sack of

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 ( ...

by the Fourth Crusade and the establishment of the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzant ...

. At first, his election was contested as uncanonical by

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...

. His tenure was troubled and decreased the Latin Church's prestige. His relationship to the court of the Latin emperor

Henry of Flanders Henry (c.1178 – 11 June 1216) was Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1205 until his death in 1216. He was one of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade in which the Byzantine Empire was conquered and Latin Empire formed. Life Henry was born i ...

was strained due to questions of jurisdiction, accusations of embezzlement from the treasury of the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

, and chiefly due to Morosini's exclusive promotion of Venetian clergy to higher ecclesiastical offices. He also failed to reconcile the Orthodox

Byzantine Greeks The Byzantine Greeks were the Greek-speaking Eastern Romans of Orthodox Christianity throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. They were the main inhabitants of the lands of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), of Constantinople ...

, both clergy and people, to Catholic rule; instead, they transferred their allegiance to the Empire of Nicaea. After his death, the see remained vacant until the election in November 1215 of Bishop Gervasius (Gervais) of

Heraclea Pontica __NOTOC__ Heraclea Pontica (; gr, Ἡράκλεια Ποντική, Hērakleia Pontikē), known in Byzantine and later times as Pontoheraclea ( gr, Ποντοηράκλεια, Pontohērakleia), was an ancient city on the coast of Bithynia in Asi ...

Sources

* * * 1170s births 1211 deaths Latin Patriarchs of Constantinople Latin Empire people 13th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Republic of Venice clergy {{europe-RC-bishop-stub