Ignatius | |
|---|---|
| Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' | |
 | |
| Church | Russian Orthodox Church(LaterEastern Catholic) |
| See | Moscow |
| Installed | 30 June 1605 |
| Term ended | 1606 |
| Predecessor | Job |
| Successor | Hermogenes |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1540 |
| Died | c. 1620 |
| Buried | Holy Trinity Church of the Basilian Monastery, Vilnius |
Ignatius (Russian:Игнатий,Greek:Ιγνάτιος) (1540–1620) was aRussian Orthodox bishop ofGreek descent who was the secondPatriarch of Moscow and All Russia in 1605–1606, even though his status is now disputed and he is frequently omitted from the list of Patriarchs of Moscow by theRussian Orthodox Church.
Ignatius was reported to be ofCretan descent. He came to Russia in 1595 as a member of anecclesiastic mission, sent by thePatriarch of Constantinople. He took part in thecoronation ofBoris Godunov. In the early 17th century, Ignatius was appointedArchbishop ofRyazan. After the death of Godunov, he expressed support toFalse Dmitriy I and, even before the pretender reached Moscow, was swearing in his supporters inTula. On 30 June 1605, Ignatius was electedpatriarch by the council of bishops to replacePatriarch Job, who was sent into exile for refusing to acknowledge the pretender's rights for Russian throne. Ignatius performed thecoronation ofFalse Dmitriy I on 21 July 1605 and later also celebrated thecoronation of his wifeMarina Mnishek and their marriage. At that time, Ignatius was also an ardent opponent of theUnia.
After the assassination of False Dmitriy I, Ignatius was removed from his see and confined in theChudov Monastery by the order ofTsar Vasili IV. In 1610, patriarch Ignatius supportedFalse Dmitriy II. In April this year the patriarch Hermogen, consistently calling on the Russians to participate to arms and the expulsion of the Poles from the country was thrown into prison in the Chudov Monastery. His duties were taken over, this time without the confirmation of this fact by the council, by Ignatius. But the latter did not want to remain in the civil war-stricken Russia and December 27, 1611, made an attempt to escape from Moscow. In the vicinity of Smolensk, Ignatius was assaulted, robbed, and then stopped in the Polish camp outside the city. Polish KingSigismund III Vasa hoped that in the future will be able to renew war with Russia, and intended to use the former patriarch person Ignatius was taken to Vilnius and settled in theHoly Trinity Church of the Basilian Monastery. At that time he also converted fromRussian Orthodoxy ("the Disunia") toByzantine Rite Catholicism ("the Unia"), thus entering intofull communion with the Pope.
The date of the death of Ignatius traditionally were positioned around 1640,[1] but in more recent studies mentioned much earlier years 1618 or 1619.[1] The clergyman was buried in the church of the Holy Trinity in the Basilian monastery in Vilnius. His remains were probably removed from the tomb and exported out of the city by the Russian army after thecapture of Vilnius in 1655.
Due to his active role in the installation ofFalse Dmitriy I to theMoscow throne and later conversion to the Unia, Ignatius has suffered fromdamnatio memoriae in subsequent ages and often is not counted among the legitimate patriarchs by theRussian Orthodox Church. Even though his predecessorPatriarch Job was removed from his post by force, the legitimacy of Ignatius' election and his status aspatriarch was not questioned by his contemporaries.
| Eastern Orthodox Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia 1605–06 | Succeeded by |