John VII of Constantinople

John VII of Constantinople
John VII of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
	The embassy of John VII in 829, between Emperor Theophilos (right) and Caliph Al-Ma'mun, from the Madrid Skylitzes.
Installed	837
Term ended	843
Personal details
Denomination	Chalcedonian Christianity

John VII, surnamed Grammatikos or Grammaticus, i.e., "the Grammarian" (Greek: Ἰωάννης Γραμματικός, Iōannīs Grammatikos; died before 867), was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from January 21, 837 to March 4, 843, died before 867. He is not to be confused with the much earlier philosopher John Philoponos.

Life

John was born into an aristocratic family.^[a] His father was Pankratios Morocharzanios, and he had a brother, Arsaber. Warren Treadgold identifies the latter as Arsaber, who married a sister of Empress Theodora, wife of Emperor Theophilos. John's sister was the mother of the future Patriarch Photios.^[5]

John, who began his clerical career c. 811, was also a painter of icons and a correspondent of Theodore of Stoudios. By 814 John had become an iconoclast, and Emperor Leo V chose him to head a committee to collect patristic texts supporting this theological position in preparation for the Synod of 815, which reinstated iconoclasm. John was rewarded for his efforts by being appointed abbot of the prestigious monastery of Sergius and Bacchus (now the Little Hagia Sophia), where recalcitrant iconodules were re-educated.

John was known for his learning (hence his nickname Grammatikos) and for his persuasive rhetoric in the endless debates that are a favorite subject of hagiographic sources reflecting the second period of the Iconoclasm. John was also charged with tutoring the future Emperor Theophilos during the reign of his father, Michael II, and is credited with instilling strong iconoclastic sympathies in his pupil. Upon Theophilos' accession, John was appointed synkellos (assistant to the patriarch), a position that made him a likely heir to the patriarchate. In c. 830, John was sent on an embassy to the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun, but this did little to prevent a period of fierce warfare between the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasids. He did, however, bring back a plan of the Abbasid palace in Baghdad for his emperor's amusement, and oversaw the construction of a similar structure in Bithynia.

The circumstances of John VII's patriarchate are unclear. Appointed patriarch in 837^[6] by his disciple Theophilos, he may have been responsible for a slight increase in the persecution of the iconodules. He was deposed in 843 by Theophilos' widow, Theodora, his own relative, as a prelude to the end of iconoclasm. The deposed patriarch survived until the 860s.

Citations

^ John VII Grammatikos // Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium / Editor in chief Alexander Kazhdan. — Oxford University Press, 1991. — Vol. 2. — P. 1052.
^ Bromige 2023, p. 22: "Shirinian identifies many influential Byzantines in the mid-ninth century, such as Photios, John the Grammarian and Leo the Mathematician, as Armenian in origin, but these claims have been challenged".
^ Bryer 1980, p. 165.
^ Kaldellis 2019, p. 155-195.
^ Threadgold, Warren. 'Photius Before His Patriarchate.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 53:1-17, 2002.
^ Timothy E. Gregory, A History of Byzantium, (Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2010), 227.

Notes

^ There are speculations that John was of Armenian ancestry,^[1] but these claims have been challenged.^[2] There is a tendency amongst certain Byzantinists to propose an "Armenian" ancestry for certain Byzantine individuals and/or families with an obscure heritage as a "convenient solution",^[3] even if the evidence is flimsy, non-existent or completely fictional.^[4]

Sources

Bromige, Toby (2023). Armenians in the Byzantine Empire: Identity, Assimilation and Alienation from 867 to 1098. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-0-7556-4242-7.
Bryer, Anthony (1980). The Empire of Trebizond and the Pontos. Variorum Reprints. ISBN 978-0-86078-062-5.
Kaldellis, Anthony (2019). Romanland: Ethnicity and Empire in Byzantium. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-98651-0.

References

The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.
J.B. Bury, A History of the Eastern Roman Empire from the Fall of Irene to the Accession of Basil I (A.D. 802–867), London, 1912.
Smith, Jason Domonick "John Grammatikos: An Oblique History of a Damned Patriarch", Thesis, California State University, Sacramento, 2010. http://csus-dspace.calstate.edu/handle/10211.9/503

Titles of Chalcedonian Christianity
Preceded by Antony I	Patriarch of Constantinople 837–843	Succeeded by Methodios I

[1] John VII Grammatikos // Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium / Editor in chief Alexander Kazhdan. — Oxford University Press, 1991. — Vol. 2. — P. 1052.

[FOOTNOTEBromige202322:_"Shirinian_identifies_many_influential_Byzantines_in_the_mid-ninth_century,_such_as_Photios,_John_the_Grammarian_and_Leo_the_Mathematician,_as_Armenian_in_origin,_but_these_claims_have_been_challenged"-2] Bromige 2023, p. 22: "Shirinian identifies many influential Byzantines in the mid-ninth century, such as Photios, John the Grammarian and Leo the Mathematician, as Armenian in origin, but these claims have been challenged".

[FOOTNOTEBryer1980165-3] Bryer 1980, p. 165.

[FOOTNOTEKaldellis2019155-195-4] Kaldellis 2019, p. 155-195.

[6] Threadgold, Warren. 'Photius Before His Patriarchate.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 53:1-17, 2002.

[7] Timothy E. Gregory, A History of Byzantium, (Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2010), 227.

[5] There are speculations that John was of Armenian ancestry,^[1] but these claims have been challenged.^[2] There is a tendency amongst certain Byzantinists to propose an "Armenian" ancestry for certain Byzantine individuals and/or families with an obscure heritage as a "convenient solution",^[3] even if the evidence is flimsy, non-existent or completely fictional.^[4]

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v t e Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal

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