Antonios II. Kauleas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Antonios II. Kauleas (Greek Αντώνιος Β΄ Καυλέας ; † February 12, 901 in Constantinople ) was Patriarch of Constantinople (893-901). He is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox and Catholic Churches . His feast day is February 12th .

Life

At the age of twelve Antonios became a monk, later a priest and hegumen (abbot) of a monastery in Constantinople. He supported Emperor Leon VI. against Patriarch Photios I in an effort to reconcile the supporters of Photios with those of his successor Ignatios . In August 893, after the death of Leon's brother Stephan I, he became the preferred candidate of the imperial advisor Stylianos Zautzes Patriarch of Constantinople.

Antonios was a prostudist and acted as a mediator in the dominant theological conflict between the supporters of Patriarch Ignatios I and those of Patriarch Photios I. Since it was consecrated by Ignatios (or perhaps by his predecessor Methodios I ), it was not rejected by the Ignatians either. Probably for the year 899 he convened a synod at which the dispute between the two parties (allegedly also in the presence of a representative of the Pope) was declared to be settled, but neither side was expressly condemned. After his death, Antonios was credited with re-establishing the unity of the Orthodox Church.

The tetragamy dispute began during his term of office . After the death of his first wife, Emperor Leo VI married . very quickly his lover Zoë Zautzina. Antonios could not do anything about it, but he removed the priest who had carried out the marriage. How he reacted to the emperor's third marriage, which took place only a short time later, is not known. It was only under his successor, Patriarch Nicholas I , that a serious conflict arose over this issue.

Antonios II is said to have been a particularly pious man and made several donations to monasteries. In particular, he founded the Kaulea Monastery again or again and was buried there after his death on February 12, 901. Some miracles are ascribed to him. An otherwise unknown Nikephoros Philosophos and the historian Nikephoros Gregoras each wrote a work about him.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ JM Hussey: The orthodox church in the byzantine empire. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1990, pp. 102 f.
  2. Steven Runciman : The byzantine theocracy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003, p. 96.
  3. Hans-Georg Beck : Church and theological literature in the Byzantine Empire (= Handbook of Ancient Studies , XII.2.1). CH Beck, Munich 1959, p. 563 and 720.
predecessor Office successor
Stephanos I. Patriarch of Constantinople
893–901
Nicholas I. Mysticus