Joseph II (Patriarch)

Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople, depicted as one of the three Holy Kings, fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli (1420–1497), Florence

Joseph II (* 1360 ; † June 10, 1439 in Florence ) was Patriarch of Constantinople from 1416 to 1439 .

Joseph, a son of the Bulgarian prince and later Tsar Ivan Shishman , was a monk in an Athos monastery and was elected Metropolitan of Ephesus in 1393 . On May 21, 1416 he became Patriarch of Constantinople.

Joseph took part in the Council of Ferrara-Florence in 1438/39 , at which the unity between the Eastern and Western Churches was to be restored. Like the then Byzantine emperor John VIII and the Russian metropolitan Isidore of Kiev , he was a supporter of union and submitted to the Roman claim to primacy shortly before his death. The union decree drawn up at the council was signed by 31 bishops and the Byzantine emperor, but was not permanently accepted by Orthodoxy due to persistent differences in questions of faith. 21 of the signatories revoked their signatures by 1445.

The remains of Joseph II are now buried in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.

Web links

Commons : Joseph II (Patriarch)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Joseph II of Constantinople article in orthodoxwiki
• Gerhard Podskalsky :  Joseph II. (Patriarch). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 3, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, ISBN 3-88309-035-2 , Sp. 690-692.

predecessor	Office	successor
Euthymios II	Patriarch of Constantinople 1416–1439	Metrophanes II.