Photius

{foh'-shuhs}

A saint of the Orthodox church, Photius, b. c.820, d. Feb. 6, 891?, patriarch of Constantinople (858-67, 877-86), was long considered the initiator of the schism between the Eastern and Western churches. The greatest scholar of medieval Byzantium, he had a distinguished career as a diplomat, teacher, and writer before becoming patriarch.

When Byzantine emperor Michael III forced the resignation of the patriarch Ignatius in 858, Photius, still a layman, was elevated to the patriarchate after having received the lesser orders in six days. He soon entered into a conflict with Pope Nicholas I. Nicholas was eager both to extend the growing power of the papacy over Byzantium and interested in the jurisdiction over the Bulgarians, converted (864) to Byzantine Christianity under Photius. The conflict, purely administrative at the beginning, acquired doctrinal undertones when Frankish missionaries in Bulgaria, acting as the pope's emissaries, began to introduce an interpolated text of the Nicene Creed. In the original text the Holy Spirit was said to have proceeded "from the Father," whereas in Carolingian Europe (but not yet in Rome) the text had been revised to say "from the Father and the Son" (filioque).

In 867, Photius summoned a council that deposed Nicholas. A change of dynasty in Constantinople, however, brought the deposition (867) of Photius and a temporary return of Ignatius to the patriarchal throne. A reconciliation eventually occurred between Ignatius and Photius, and Photius was restored (878) to the patriarchate after the death of Ignatius. In 879-80 a great council, presided over by Photius, was held at Hagia Sophia, with legates of Pope John VIII present. The council, with the legates' approval, confirmed the original form of the creed, and normal relations between Rome and Constantinople were restored. Photius was forced to retire in 886. Feast day: Feb. 6.

John Meyendorff

Bibliography
Dvornik, Francis, The Patriarch Photius in the Light of Recent Research (1958) and The Photian Schism, History and Legend (1958); Gerostergios, Asterios, St. Photios the Great (1980; Haugh, Richard, Photius and the Carolingians (1974); Meyendorff, John, Orthodoxy and Catholicity (1966); White, Despina S., Patriarch Photius and His Correspondence (1978).