Pyrrhus of Constantinople

Pyrrhus of Constantinople (Greek: Πύρρος; died 1 June 654) was the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople from 20 December 638 to 29 September 641, and again from 9 January to 1 June 654.

Pyrrhus of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Installed	20 December 638, 9 January 654
Term ended	29 September 641, 1 June 654
Predecessor	Sergius I of Constantinople
Successor	Paul II of Constantinople Peter of Constantinople
Personal details
Died	1 June 654
Denomination	Chalcedonian Christianity

He was a supporter of Monotheletism, a christological doctrine propounded by the Emperor Heraclius. In 638, with the support of Heraclius, he was elected to the patriarchal throne. In the unrest following the death of Heraclius, he was accused of plotting against the life of Emperor Heraclius Constantine with Empress Martina to favor her son, Heraclonas. The army and the populace rose in revolt and the powerful Valentinus deposed and banished Pyrrhus to Exarchate of Africa. Soon after, Martina and Heraclonas were also deposed and exiled; Constans II, son of Heraclius Constantine, was proclaimed the sole emperor.

While in exile, in 645 he conducted with Maximus the Confessor a public discussion on faith (Disputatio cum Pyrrho), after which he rejected Monothelitism, and visited Rome in 647. From there he continued to Ravenna and returned to Constantinople, where he again reversed his position and re-embraced Monothelitism. He was excommunicated by Pope Theodore I as a consequence, but succeeded in becoming again patriarch in early 654, holding the office until his death on 1 June of the same year.

He was posthumously cast out as heretical by the Third Council of Constantinople in 680–681.

Notes and references

Bibliography

• Meyendorff, John (1989). Imperial unity and Christian divisions - The Church 450–680 A.D. The Church in history. Vol. 2. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88-141056-3.
• Hovorun, Cyril (2008). Will, Action and Freedom - Christological Controversies in the Seventh Century. Leiden-Boston: Brill Publishers. ISBN 978-9004166660.

External links

• Richard Barrie Dobson, ed. (2000). Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages - Pyrrhus I of Constantinople. Vol. 2. p. 1201. ISBN 9781579582821..

Titles of Chalcedonian Christianity
Preceded by Sergius I	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 638 – 641	Succeeded by Paul II
Preceded by Paul II	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 654	Succeeded by Peter