Jim Bugslag wrote:
" Perhaps this is a question that will be answered in the Supple
Doctor's (hopefully) promised new series, but it is my understanding
that Constantinople was only founded in 330. Certainly, this was
under direct imperial sponsorship, but was there a Patriarch of
Constantinople before this? Did he, for instance, attend the council
of Nicaea in 325? And if this was a new position, was he
*immediately* the most senior, or did his importance grow with that
of the new eastern capital?"
The city of Byzantium before being renamed Constantnople and for a
time after, remained under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of
Heraclea.The city was represented at the first Nicean Council by Potamon of
Heraclea, whom we are told, along with Paul of Neocaesarea regaled the
council with stories of persecution.( Socrates Sozomenos). Their role in
substantive debates remains unattested.
The first Bishop of the rededicated city of Constantinople to bear
the title of Patriarch was Nectarios ( 381-397). The transfer to imperial
capitol did however earlier entail the titular autocephaly from Heraclea,
although the actual territorial jurisdiction of the Bishop of Const. was
at first limited to the city proper and the imperial'military' estates
west and n.west of the the city of Constantinople.It was at the Councilof
Constantinople in 381that the Bp. of Const.was accorded an honorary
preeminence following the aniquity of the Bp. of Rome. Despite Papal
objections, the full patriarchal powers ( territorial jurisdiction,
disciplinary prerrogative, etc.) were accorded by by the Council of
Chalcedon (nomocanon 28) in 451. Re: the growth of his power in parallel
with that of the city; You bet!
Hope this helps.
Josef Gulka
Josef Gulka
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215- 732-8420
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