Photius
Scholar and imperial official made patriarch of Constantinople in place of Ignatius. Rome declared him deposed; he denounced the Latin addition to the creed. Twice patriarch, he is commemorated among the holy patriarchs in the Orthodox Church.
The two churches left opposite pictures of Photius. In the letters of Pope Nicholas I he is a layman from the imperial service, tonsured and consecrated in haste, who seized the see of a living patriarch (Nicholas I, Letters, 91, chapter 1 (13 November 866), pp. 519–520); the council of 869–870 declared that he had never been a bishop (Council of Constantinople (869–870), canons 2, 4 and 6). In his own encyclical he is the defender of the faith of the councils against Latin clergy who were teaching the newly baptized Bulgarians to add “and from the Son” to the creed (Photius, Encyclical to the Eastern Patriarchs 4–9).
He was removed in favour of Ignatius of Constantinople and later became patriarch again; in 879 Pope John VIII argued that the Roman see could release him from the earlier sentence (John VIII, Letters, 207 (879)). The Synodikon of Orthodoxy commemorates Ignatius and Photius together among the holy and orthodox patriarchs (Synodikon of Orthodoxy, acclamations). See the Photian Schism.
In the timeline
- AD 863 to AD 867, estimated dateThe Photian Schism
Pope Nicholas I refuses to recognize Photius as patriarch of Constantinople and declares him deposed; Photius denounces Latin teaching in Bulgaria, the filioque above all, and his council condemns the pope. The breach is healed, but its arguments return.
- AD 864–866, estimated dateThe Baptism of Boris and the Conversion of Bulgaria
Boris, ruler of the Bulgars, accepts baptism from Constantinople and takes the name Michael. He puts down a revolt of his nobles, then asks the pope for bishops, and his country becomes a prize in the quarrel between Rome and Constantinople.
- 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.