Editing Flavian of Constantinople

{{Short description|Archbishop of Constantinople from 446 to 449}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
| name             = Flavian of Constantinople
| image            = Flavian_the_Confessor_the_Patriarch_of_Constantinople.jpg
| imagesize        = 220px
| caption          = Saint Flavian, as depicted in the 11th century, [[Menologion of Basil II]]
| titles           = [[List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]]
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = 
| birth_place      = 
| death_date       = 11 August 449
| death_place      = [[Hypaepa]], [[Lydia]], [[Asia Minor]]
| canonized_date   = 451
| canonized_place  = 
| canonized_by     = [[Council of Chalcedon]]
| attributes       = 
| patronage        = 
| major_shrine     = Relics venerated in [[Italy]]
| feast_day        = 18 February
| venerated_in     = [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br />[[Catholic Church]]
}}

'''Flavian of Constantinople''' ({{langx|la|Flavianus}}; {{langx|grc|Φλαβιανός}}, ''Phlabianos''; {{abbr|d.|died}} 11 August 449), sometimes ''Flavian I'', was [[list of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople|Archbishop of Constantinople]] from 446 to 449. He is venerated as a [[saint]] and [[martyr]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Memory of Saint Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople |publisher=Orthodox Times |url=https://orthodoxtimes.com/memory-of-saint-flavian-patriarch-of-constantinople/ |access-date=10 May 2024 |website=orthodoxtimes.com/ |language=en}}</ref> by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and the [[Catholic Church]].

== Consecration as archbishop and imperial dispute ==
Flavian was a presbyter and the guardian of the sacred vessels of the great Church of Constantinople and, according to [[Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos]], was reputed to lead a saintly life, when he was chosen to succeed [[Proclus of Constantinople]] as Archbishop of Constantinople.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06098c.htm Rudge, F.M. "St. Flavian", Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 6, New York, [[Catholic Encyclopedia]], 1909, 6 February 2019</ref>

During his [[consecration]], [[Roman Emperor]] [[Theodosius II]] was staying at [[Chalcedon]]. His eunuch [[Chrysaphius]] attempted to extort a present of gold to the Emperor but as he was unsuccessful, he began to plot against the new archbishop by supporting the [[archimandrite]] [[Eutyches]] in his dispute with Flavian.

== Home Synod of Constantinople ==
Flavian presided at a council of forty bishops at Constantinople on 8 November 448, to resolve a dispute between the metropolitan [[See of Sardis|bishop of Sardis]] and two bishops of his province. [[Eusebius of Dorylaeum]], bishop of Dorylaeum, presented an [[indictment]] against [[Eutyches]]. The speech of Flavian remains, concluding with this appeal to the bishop of Dorylaeum: "Let your reverence condescend to visit him and argue with him about the true faith, and if he shall be found in very truth to err, then he shall be called to our holy assembly and shall answer for himself". Eventually the synod deposed Eutyches.<ref name=oca>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2011/02/18/100556-saint-flavian-the-confessor-patriarch-of-constantinople|title=Saint Flavian the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople|website=www.oca.org}}</ref>

== Second Council of Ephesus ==
However, Eutyches protested against this verdict and received the support of [[Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria]], and he fled to Alexandria. The Emperor [[Theodosius II]], already angered by Flavian's refusal to pay him the customary bribe, was persuaded by the eunuch [[Chrysaphius]] to convoke [[Second Council of Ephesus|another Council to Ephesus]]. At this council, which assembled on 8 August 449, Eutyches was declared an orthodox teacher and reinstated, while Flavian was anathematised, deposed, and ordered into exile.<ref name="oca" />

== Death and Martyrdom ==
[[File:Martyrdom of Saint Flavian.png|thumb|The Martyrdom of Saint Flavian by Shea (1894)|alt=Depiction of the Martyrdom of Flavian by Dioscorus and Barsumas]]

At the previously mentioned second Council of Ephesus at the crux of the council the various leaders opposed to Eutyches' [[Monophysitism]] were variously assaulted.<ref>{{Cite web |title=St. Flavian, Martyr, Archbishop of Constantinople |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/st-flavian-martyr-archbishop-of-constantinople-5466 |access-date=10 May 2024 |website=EWTN - Global Catholic Television Network |language=en}}</ref> Once Flavian's condemnation was read, some of his supporters (namely bishops Onesiphorus of [[Iconium]], Marinianus of [[Synnada]], Nunechius of [[Diocese of Laodicea in Phrygia|Laodicea]] and others) rushed to appeal to  Dioscorus, who summoned the [[Comes|counts]] Helpidius and Eulogius to restore order. They entered the church, led by the [[proconsul]] Proclus  and followed by soldiers and a mob. Flavian feared for his life and escaped to the [[sacristry]], where he was under guard. He wrote a letter to [[Pope Leo I|Pope Leo]], which [[papal legate]] and future Pope [[Pope Hilarius|Hilarius]] conveyed to Rome after escaping Ephesus with much difficulty. Flavian, however, was then beaten, kicked, and trampled over by impudent monks led by a certain [[Barsauma (died 456)|Barsauma]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scholasticus |first=Evagrius |title=Ecclesiastical History |date=593}}</ref> He succumbed to his injuries after three days at [[Hypaepa|Epipus]] in [[Lydia]], and was buried obscurely.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Comes |first=Marcellinus |title=Annales |date=534}}</ref>

The exact circumstances of Flavian's death, and the extent of Dioscorus' personal responsibility for it, are unclear and remain controversial in [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern]]-[[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox]] dialogue. Flavian's lettter to Leo says that soldiers "with unsheathed swords" threatened the bishops, and that a crowd of soldiers surrounded him and prevented him from taking sanctuary in the altar, but he does not mention any physical assault.<ref name="Chadwick">{{cite book |last=Chadwick|first=Henry|author-link=Henry Chadwick (theologian)|year=1955|title=The Exile and Death of Flavian of Constantinople: A Prologue to the Council of Chalcedon|publisher=Oxford Publishing Limited(England) |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-theological-studies_1955-04_6_1/|access-date=2 December 2024}}</ref> At the [[Council of Chalcedon]] two years later, eyewitnesses gave several conflicting accounts. One deacon, Ischyrion, accused Dioscorus of ordering his [[Synkellos|syncelli]] (personal clerics) to murder people at Ephesus and even promoting them for the killings. [[Basil of Seleucia]] claimed "Armed soldiers burst into the church, and there were arrayed Barsauma and his monks, [[parabalani]], and a great miscellaneous mob" and that Dioscorus controlled the bishops there using "the threats of the mob". According to [[Diogenes of Cyzicus]], a group of Barsauma's monks beat up Flavian while Barsauma cried "Strike him dead!". Finally, some bishops testified that Dioscorus' soldiers killed Flavian with clubs and swords. However, Richard Price and Michael Gaddis question the impartiality of these accounts, noting that these bishops had to place all blame for Flavian's death on Dioscorus to exculpate themselves.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Price |first=Richard |url=http://dge.cchs.csic.es/dge-i/lst-trad/Bookzz/Price%20-%20Gaddis%202007.pdf |title=The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon |last2=Gaddis |first2=Michael |date=2007 |isbn=978-1-84631-100-0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140211072052/http://ixoyc.net/data/Fathers/624.pdf |publisher=[[Liverpool University Press]] |archive-date=11 February 2014}}</ref>

Additional, possibly embellished details about Flavian's death only appear in later authors. The earliest source on Flavian's death, [[Nestorius]], describes how Flavian was beaten at Ephesus, though not to death, and then banished to his home city of [[Hypaepa]]. However, the soldiers rushed him to his place of exile (with murderous intent, according to Nestorius), so that Flavian's injuries combined with the fatigue of the journey led to his death after four days.<ref name="Chadwick"/> [[Prosper of Aquitaine]], another contemporary, affirms that Flavian was killed by the soldiers taking him to his place of banishment. In a disputed letter to [[Theodoret]] dated 11 June 453, Pope Leo blamed Dioscorus in a general sense for Flavian's death. [[Liberatus of Carthage]] relates that Flavian suffered blows and died as a result. According to [[Evagrius Scholasticus]], [[Eusebius of Dorylaeum]] complained at the council that Dioscorus himself, along with Barsauma's monks, beat and kicked Flavian.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Evagrius Scholasticus |author-link=Evagrius Scholasticus |title=Ecclesiastical History (431–594 AD), Book 2 |translator=Edward Walford |translator-link=Edward Walford |url=https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/evagrius_2_book2.htm |isbn=978-0353453159 |quote=He also said that Flavian had even been brought to a miserable end by being thrust and trampled on by Dioscorus himself.}}</ref> [[Theophanes the Confessor]], writing three centuries after the event, mentions that Dioscorus personally struck Flavian "both with hands and feet".<ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Joseph Hefele |author-link=Karl Josef von Hefele |title=A History Of The Councils Of The Church |url=https://www.ecatholic2000.com/councils/untitled-35.shtml |isbn=978-1500177898}}</ref> The detail of Flavian clutching the altar as he was beaten is also a later invention.

== Aftermath ==
[[Pope Leo I]], whose legates had been ignored at the council, protested, first calling the council a "robber synod", and declared its decisions void.

After Theodosius II died in 450, his sister Pulcheria returned to power, marrying the officer [[Marcian]], who became Emperor. The new Imperial couple had Flavian's remains brought to Constantinople<ref name=oca/> in a way that, in the words of a chronicler, more resembled "a triumph... than a funeral procession". The [[Council of Chalcedon]], called in 451, condemned Eutyches, confirmed Pope Leo's ''Tome'' (letter 28)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3604028.htm |author=Pope Leo I |author-link=Pope Leo I |title=Letter 28 - The Tome |access-date=18 February 2011 |publisher=[[New Advent]]}}</ref> and canonised Flavian as a [[martyr]].

In the Catholic Church St. Flavian is commemorated on 18 February, the date assigned to him in the [[Roman Martyrology]]. [[Flavian of Ricina]] is sometimes identified with him.<ref name="santiebeati">{{Cite web|url=https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/91718|title=San Flaviano di Ricina|website=Santiebeati.it}}</ref><ref>Among the documents which touch on the career of Flavian are the reply of [[Peter Chrysologus]], [[Bishop of Ravenna|archbishop of Ravenna]], to a circular appeal of [[Eutyches]], and various letters of [[Theodoret]]. [[Pope Leo I]] wrote Flavian a beautiful letter before hearing that he was dead.</ref>

== Notes and references ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Attribution ===
* {{DCBL|wstitle=Flavianus (8), bishop of Constantinople}}:
** [[Evagrius Scholasticus]], ii, 2;
** Facund, Pro Trib. Capit. viii, 5; xii, 5;
** [[Pope Leo I]], Epp. 23, 26, 27, 28, 44;
** [[Liberatus of Carthage]], Breviar, xi, xii;
** [[Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos]], Constant, xiv, 47;
** [[Sozomen]], H. E., ix, 1;
** [[Theophanes the Confessor]], ''Chronology'' pp. 84–88.

== See also ==
* [[Fravitta of Constantinople]], known as Flavian or Flavianus II in some sources

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Meyendorff |first=John |date=1989 |title=Imperial unity and Christian divisions - The Church 450–680 AD |series=The Church in history |volume=2 |location=Crestwood, NY |publisher=[[Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary|Saint Vladimir's Seminary Press]] |isbn=978-0-88-141056-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6J_YAAAAMAAJ}}

== External links ==
* [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100556 St Flavian of Constantinople] Orthodox Synaxarion (18 February)

{{S-start}}
{{s-rel|grt}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Proclus of Constantinople|Proclus]]
| title  = [[List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople|Archbishop of Constantinople]]
| years  = 446 – 449
| after  = [[Anatolius of Constantinople|Anatolius]]
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Patriarchs of Constantinople}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flavian Of Constantinople}}
[[Category:449 deaths]]
[[Category:5th-century Archbishops of Constantinople|Flavian]]
[[Category:Ancient Christians involved in controversies]]
[[Category:5th-century Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]