Basil I
Emperor under whom two councils at Constantinople gave opposite judgements on Photius. The council of 869–870 condemned the patriarch; ten years later Basil presided at the session that confirmed him and signed its definition on the creed.
Basil and the restored patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople asked Rome for the council that met at Constantinople in 869–870 and condemned Photius; the emperor and his sons signed its acts (Council of Constantinople (869–870), introduction). Ten years later it was to Basil and his sons that Pope John VIII addressed the letter recognizing Photius as patriarch (John VIII, Letters, 207 (August 879), pp. 167–176).
At the council of 879–880 Basil stayed away from the earlier sessions. He told the bishops, when they came to him in the palace on 3 March 880, that he had done so in order that no one could say they had agreed out of fear of him (Council of Constantinople (879–880), session 6, Mansi 17, cols 511–514). He then signed the council’s definition, confirming the seventh council, the promotion of Photius and the annulment of all that had been written or said against him (Council of Constantinople (879–880), session 6, the emperor’s subscription, Mansi 17, col. 518). In August 880 the pope thanked him for warships sent to defend the lands of Saint Peter and for letting the Roman see have the Bulgarian diocese (John VIII, Letters, 259 (13 August 880), pp. 228–229).
In the timeline
- November AD 879 – March 880, firm dateThe Council of Constantinople Restores Photius
A council at Constantinople, with legates of Pope John VIII, recognizes Photius as patriarch, rejects the council that had condemned him ten years earlier and forbids any change to the creed. Orthodox documents count it among the councils of universal authority.