Gregory II of Cyprus

Gregory II of Cyprus ( Middle Greek Γρηγόριος Β΄ Κύπριος , also Georgios of Cyprus ; * 1241 in Lapithos in Cyprus , † 1290 in Constantinople ) was the Patriarch of Constantinople .

Gregor's baptismal name was Georgios, therefore he is also called Georgios of Cyprus . He came from a wealthy noble family from Cyprus . As a teenager he went to a Greek school in Nicosia , and later to a Latin school there, which only came into being after the arrival of the Crusaders in Cyprus. He then went to Nicaea , where Michael VIII Palaeologus was preparing the reconquest of Constantinople , and to Thrace , in the hope of receiving a scholarship . Without success he returned to Nicaea and lived in poverty for a time.

After the reconquest of Constantinople, he went to the school of the Grand Logothete Georgios Akropolites for seven years from 1264 . After graduation he became a teacher there himself and taught other students, such as the Byzantine scholar Nikephoros Chumnos . After the Second Council of Lyon and the proclamation of the unification of the Greek and Latin churches around 1274, he supported the policy ( Creed of Michael Paleologus ) of Emperor Michael VIII and the Patriarch John XI. After the enthronement of Emperor Andronicus II , he changed his positions in relation to the relationship between the Orthodox Churches and the Latin Church . On March 23, 1283, after the death of Patriarch Joseph I Galesiotes , he was appointed as his successor to Patriarch of Constantinople under the name of Gregory II . Around 1285 he wrote a treatise against the teaching of the Latin Filioque , which he officially proclaimed at a council in the Blachernen Palace . His writings on the doctrines of faith in Orthodoxy (with the passages: independent of the "essence" and "power" of God, as well as the "manifestation" of the Eternal Holy Spirit "through" the Son of God) were at that time heavily controversial and were especially of the Patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria Athanasios III. vehemently rejected. Gregory's tenure was mainly characterized by the division and the contradictions within the Patriarchate of Constantinople, namely between the supporters of his predecessors Arsenios Autoreianos and Joseph I. Galesiotes. Gregory of Cyprus was unable to mediate in the various conflicts and was unable to settle them or to assert himself accordingly. He was forced to give in and was suggested to resign. Due to these disputes and further conflicts within the Patriarchate of Constantinople, as well as the threatened split in the Byzantine Church, he finally resigned from his office in June 1289 and resigned. He was succeeded by Patriarch Athanasios I. After his resignation, Gregory wrote a few more books and an autobiography . He died withdrawn in Constantinople in 1290.

literature

• Georgi Kapriev: Gregorios II. (Georgios of Cyprus). In: Laurent Cesalli, Gerald Hartung (ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy . The philosophy of the Middle Ages. Volume 1: Byzantium, Judaism. Schwabe, Basel 2019, ISBN 978-3-7965-2623-7 , pp. 94–97, 263 f.
• Bruno Albin Müller : Gregorios 2 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VII, 2, Stuttgart 1912, Sp. 1852-1857.
• Sofia Kotzabassi: The handwritten tradition of the rhetorical and hagiographic works of Gregory of Cyprus (= Serta Graeca 6). Reichert, Wiesbaden 1998.
• Jean-Claude Larchet (ed.): La vie et l'œuvre théologique de Georges / Grégoire II de Chypre (1241–1290), patriarche de Constantinople. Cerf, Paris 2012, ISBN 978-2-204-09715-4 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Gregory II of Cyprus in the catalog of the German National Library
• Publications by and about Gregory II of Cyprus in Index theologicus
• A previously unknown letter from Patriarch Gregory of Cyprus to John II, Sebastocrator of Thessaly on plosjournal.deepdyve.com
• Gregory-II-Cyprius on britannica.com
• Carmelo Giuseppe Conticello, Georges-Grégoire de Chypre. Répertoire des œuvres et bibliographie. Paris 2012 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michel Stavrou: Une réévaluation du Tomos du Deuxième Concile des Blachernes (1285): commentaire, tradition textuelle, édition critique et traduction . In: Christian host [u. a.]: The Patriarchate of Constantinople in Context and Comparison (= publications on Byzanzforschung 41), Vienna 2017, pp. 47–93.
2. ↑ Byzantine Journal , January 1988; Gregory II, of Cyprus, Patriarch of Constantinople, 1241-1290. In: id.loc.gov. June 13, 2008, accessed November 23, 2011 .  ; Gregory II of Cyprus, Patriarch of Constantinople 1241-1290. In: worldcat.org. September 19, 2010, accessed November 23, 2011 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Joseph I. Galesiotes	Patriarch of Constantinople 1283–1289	Athanasios I.