Euthymius I

Euthymius I (born c. 834, Seleucia, Cilicia, Asia Minor—died Aug. 5, 917, Constantinople) was an Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, monk, and theologian. He was a principal figure in the Tetragamy (Fourth Marriage) controversy of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise.

A monk of a monastery on Mt. Olympus, Asia Minor, Euthymius became abbot of St. Theodora in Constantinople and confessor to Leo VI. He used his influence over the Emperor to protect the followers of the late-9th-century patriarch Photius, one of the leading theologians of the Greek Church.

When Leo, still seeking a male heir after the death of his third wife, took a mistress, Zoe, Euthymius refused to appear at the imperial court but accepted a monastery built for him near the palace. The Emperor, denied a dispensation by the patriarch Nicholas I the Mystic to marry Zoe after she had borne him a son in 905, appealed the case to the pentarchy (“five patriarchs”), viz., Rome (Pope Sergius III), Constantinople, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch. This tribunal allowed it on the grounds that it was necessary for the good of the state. Euthymius was named patriarch by Leo in 907, after Nicholas resigned rather than consent to the judgment of the four patriarchs. The new patriarch accepted his office after stipulating that the four patriarchal representatives repeat their decisions on the marriage in his presence and after verifying that Nicholas’ resignation was genuine. He degraded Thomas, the priest who had performed the marriage, and refused to crown Zoe in church or to put her name in the diptychs, the list of those commemorated in the Orthodox liturgy. He also resisted the Emperor’s urging that a new law be enacted legitimizing the marriage. Strife raged as the Emperor persecuted the Nicholaites, who had organized as persistent adversaries to the Euthymian party. On the death of Leo in 912, his brother Alexander deposed Euthymius and reinstated Nicholas as patriarch, who in turn condemned and banished Euthymius and his followers. The two were reconciled, however, shortly before Euthymius’ death. Euthymius is said to have chosen monastic retirement rather than return as patriarch on an offer of Empress Zoe in 913.

The Vita S. Euthymii (“Life of St. Euthymius”), by a contemporary, is a valuable source for Byzantine history. His homilies, or liturgical addresses, on the Virgin Mary and other subjects attest to his reputation in theology and oratory. A Latin–English text of the Vita S. Euthymii was edited by P. Karlin-Hayter in 1957.