Alexius of Constantinople | |
|---|---|
| Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople | |
 Appointment of Alexius of Constantinople as patriarch (top) by EmperorConstantine VIII (below) | |
| Church | Church of Constantinople |
| In office | 15 December 1025 – 20 February 1043 |
| Predecessor | Eustathius of Constantinople |
| Successor | Michael I of Constantinople |
| Personal details | |
| Died | (1043-02-20)20 February 1043 |
| Denomination | Chalcedonian Christianity |
Alexius of Constantinople (Alexius StouditesGreek:Ἀλέξιος ὁ Στουδίτης; died 20 February 1043), anecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, was a member of theMonastery of Stoudios (founded 462), succeededEustathius of Constantinople as patriarch in 1025, the last of the patriarchs appointed by EmperorBasil II.
Alexius set out to reform the church institution of thecharistike dorea (donation), which recent research dates to the period just after theFeast of Orthodoxy (843). Effectively, it involved the donation of monasteries to private individuals unrelated to the establishments founders, for a limited period of time. Ostensibly undertaken so that the monastery buildings could be repaired or conserved and the estate out to good use, while at the same time protecting and preserving its spiritual functions, in actuality it was widely abused by the landed gentry and so became a source of abused patronage by high church officials and a tool against the powerful monastic establishment.[1] Alexius tried to temper the worst abused of the notoriouscharistike by appointing through Synodal legislation the patriarch's chancellor, thechartophylax, as the official to serve as the final point of approval for all grants under the system. Alexius also restricted the granting ofcharistike to nondiocesan monasteries andeukteria. The fact that Alexius sought reform over abolishment of thecharistike dorea likely shows the inability of the Church to claim back many of these properties from the powerful land-owning elite who held them.[2]
Alexius promoted the zealous actions of John of Melitene whose interest it was to limit the influence of theSyro Jacobite Church in the south east of the Byzantine Empire, especially in the newly conqueredthemes ofMesopotamia andTelouch. For this reason, the Syro-Jacobite PatriarchJohn VIII bar Abdoun was arrested and brought to trial in Constantinople and then forced into a monastery onMount Ganos. In 1034 he crowned EmperorMichael IV the Paphlagonian, the favorite of the Byzantine EmpressZoë Porphyrogenita, who, to make way for him, procured the death of her husband, the EmperorRomanos III Argyros. He thwarted the attempts ofJohn the Orphanotrophos (the emperor's brother) to gain the patriarchal see in 1036 and died in 1043.[citation needed]
Alexius also established a monastery for which he wrote the rule (typikon) which was then used as the rule for theKyiv Monastery of the Caves.[citation needed]
Decrees of Alexius are still extant.[3][4][5] He is noted for the elevated style employed in the numerous decrees of his which have survived.
The synod decrees are unusual for their number and the fact they are dated precisely:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Alexius of Constantinople".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
| Titles of Chalcedonian Christianity | ||
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| Preceded by | Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1025 – 1043 | Succeeded by |
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