Thomas Morosini

This article deals with the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople Thomas Morosini. On the admiral, see Thomas Morosini (Admiral) .

Thomas Morosini (Italian: Tommaso Morosini ; † June or July 1211 in Thessaloniki ) was the first Latin patriarch of Constantinople .

Life

Morosini was a native Venetian but his family originally came from Mantua . During the fourth crusade and the conquest of Constantinople in 1204 he served as a subdeacon in the Curia of Rome . Against the will of Pope Innocent III. he was elected between June and October 1204 by the chapter of Hagia Sophia as the first Latin Patriarch of Constantinople after the Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X. Kamateros († 1206) fled. The chapter was composed of six canons after the conquest, all of whom were Venetians. The Doge Enrico Dandolo had agreed on a division of office with the French crusaders, in which the French should determine the new emperor and the Venetians the new patriarch. On the part of the Pope, however, the election was initially regarded as uncanonical and therefore illegitimate because it was not authorized by him. In addition, since the diversion of the crusade, the crusaders were under the ban and their first measures to establish a church hierarchy in Constantinople were enacted without the participation of the Pope. But in the end Pope Innocent III recognized. the election in the spring of 1205 "to show the Venetians and their doges a favor", as he explained in a letter to the vice-duke. The Pope also approved the conquest of Constantinople retrospectively, since "the Church of Constantinople has returned to the obedience of the apostolic See like the daughter to her mother".

Before Morosini could take office, the Pope had to ordain him a deacon on March 5, 1205, a priest on March 26, and a bishop on March 27, before he could finally receive the pallium on March 30 . However, he first traveled from Rome to Venice , where on May 13, 1205 he presented the Supreme Court to the Venetian Patriarch of Grado , Benedictus Faletro , over the churches of the Venetians in Constantinople (St. Akindynos, St. Marco, St. Maria, St. Niccolo ) recognized, with which he acted entirely in the sense of the Doge. Then Morosini was led to Constantinople by a Venetian fleet, on the way they conquered Ragusa , Durazzo and Corfu for the "Serenissima". Morosini arrived in Constantinople in May 1205, a month after Emperor Baldwin I fell into captivity by the Bulgarians after the Battle of Adrianople . His arrival was witnessed by the Greek historian Niketas Choniates , who later put his astonishment at the Latin patriarch's beardlessness on paper. A few months later, the Legate Benedict of Santa Susanna arrived, who was supposed to exercise the papal authority on site in addition to the Legate Peter von Capua , who was already present , which further restricted Morosini's room for maneuver. In the following years he also had to accept canons of Franconian origin into the cathedral chapter of Hagia Sophia, who from then on competed with the Venetians.

As a Venetian, Morosini was in conflict with the Holy See in Rome throughout his term of office, over the structure of the Latin church hierarchy in Greece and the competencies of his office. On August 20, 1206 he crowned Heinrich Emperor in the Hagia Sophia . With his support, he tried to integrate the Greek clergy from Constantinople into the new church hierarchy, after the Greek patriarch John X. Kamateros had died in exile shortly before. The Greek clergy under the leadership of Nikolaos Mesarites (* 1163/4; † after 1214) rejected this request, however, because they did not want to recognize the supremacy of the Pope, and instead went into exile to Nicaea , where they continued a Greek patriarchate. During his tenure, Morosini had the Hodegetria , the legendary original icon made by the Apostle Luke , transferred from the imperial palace chapel to the Hagia Sophia. In addition, he banned the traditional Tuesday procession in honor of the icon , which he caused additional resentment against the Latins in the Greek population. The Podestà of the Venetians of Constantinople became aware of the Hodegetria, seized it by force and had it brought to the Venetian Pantocrat monastery . Morosini banished the icon robbers, which was confirmed by the Pope. Nevertheless, the Hodegetria remained with the Venetians until it returned to Greek possession in 1261 (see: Recapture of Constantinople 1261 ).

Thomas Morosini died in the summer of 1211 during an inspection tour in Thessaloniki . After him there was a vacancy of several years because the Franks and Venetians could not agree on the choice of a new patriarch.

literature

• Robert Lee Wolff: Footnote to an Incident of the Latin Occupation of Constantinople: The Church and the Icon of the Hodegetria , in: Traditio , 6 (1948), pp. 319–328
• Robert Lee Wolff: Politics in the Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople, 1204-1261 , in: Dumbarton Oaks Papers , Vol. 8 (1954), pp. 225-303

Individual evidence and note

1. ^ Chronicon Altinate , MGH SS XIV, 29: "Mauroceni de Mantua venerunt"
2. ↑ see the letter from Innocent III. to the Vice-Duke Ranieri Dandolo in: Pontificia Commissio ad redigendum Codicem Iuris Canonici Orientalis (CICO) Fontes II pp. 285–289 (No. 68)
3. ↑ See the letter from Innocent III. of February 21, 1205 to the Latin clergy in Constantinople in: Pontificia Commissio ad redigendum Codicem Iuris Canonici Orientalis (CICO) Fontes II p. 287 (No. 68), "... ecclesia Constantinopolitani reddit ed oboedientiam apostolicae sedis, tanquam ad matrem filia"
4. ↑ The Hodegetria has been missing since the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453.

predecessor	Office	successor
Office newly created	Latin patriarch of Constantinople 1204–1211	vacancy