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 GENNADIUS

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GENNADIUS

Gennadius I, Saint, Patriarch of Constantinople (458-471), has left scarcely any writings. Facundus (Defensio, II, iv) states that he wrote against St. Cyril of Alexandria, probably in 431-2, and quotes a passage to show that his work was more violent even than the letter of Ibas. If St. Cyril's letter of 434 (Ep. Ivi) is to the same Gennadius, they were friends in that year. Gennadius succeeded Anatolius as Bishop of Constan- tiiiople in 458. On 17 June, 460, St. Leo wrote to him (Ep. clxx) warning him against Tunothy ^Elurus, the Monophysite who had made himself Patriarch of Alexandria. Not later, it seems, than 459 St. Genna- dius celebrated a great council of eighty-one bishops, many of whom were from the East and even from Egj'pt, including those who had been dispossessed of their sees by jElurus. The letter of this council against simony is still preserved (Mansi, VII, 912). About the same time St. Daniel the Stylite began to live on a column near Constantinople, apparently without the patriarch's leave, and certainly without the per- mission of Gelasius, the owner of the property where the pillar stood, who strongly objected to this strange invasion of his land. The Emperor Leo protected the ascetic, and some time later sent St. Gennadius to ordain him priest, which he is said to have done stand- ing at the foot of the column, since St. Daniel objected to being ordained, and refused to let the bishop mount the ladder. At the end of the rite, however, the patriarch ascended to give Holy Communion to the stylite and to receive it from him. Whether he then imposed his hands on him is not said. Possibly he considered it sufficient to extend them from below towards the saint. According to Theodorus Lector, Gennadius would allow no one to become a cleric unless he had learned the Psalter by heart. He made St. Marcian ceconomus of the Church of Constantinople.

St. Gennadius is said by Joannes Moschus to have been very mild and of great purity. We are told by Gennadius of Marseilles that he was lingua nitithis et ingenio acer, and so rich in knowledge of the ancients that he composed a commentary on the whole Book of Daniel. The continuation of St. Jerome's Chronicle by Marcellinus Comes tells us (according to some manuscripts) that Gennadius commented on all St. Paul's Epistles. Some fragments are collected in Migne, P. G., LXXXV, chiefly from the two catenas of Cramer on Romans; a few passages are found in the catena of fficumenius, and a few in the Vienna MS. gr. 166 (46). Some fragments in the catena; of Nice- phorus show that Gennadius also commented on Genesis. He is seen to have been a learned writer, who followed the Antiochene school of literal exegesis. He is celebrated in the Greek Menaea on 25 Aug. and 17 Nov.; and on the former day in the Roman Martyr- ology.

Acta SS., 2.5 Aug.; Tillemont, Mhnoires, XVI; Tdbner in Hast., Diet, of the Bible, extra volume, 517.

John Chapman.

Gennadius II, Patriarch of Constantinople (1454- 1456). — His original name was George Scholarius {Tedpyios Kovprriaios SxoXdpios). He was born about 1400, was first a teacher of philosophy and then judge in the civil courts under the Emperor John VIII (1425-1448). In this capacity he accompanied his master to the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438- 1439) and was at that time in favour of the union. He made four speeches at the council, all exceedingly conciliatory, and wrote a refutation of the first eight- een of Marcus Eugenicus's syllogistic chapters against the Latins. But when he came back to Constanti- nople, like most of his countrymen, he changed his mind. Marcus Eugenicus converted him completely to anti-Latin Orthodoxy, and from this time till his death he was known (with Marcus) as tlie most un- compromising enemy of tlie union. He then wrote many works to defend his new convictions, which differ

so much from the earlier conciliatory ones that Alla- tius thought there must be two people of the same name ("Diatriba de Georgiis" in Fabricius-Haries, "Bibliotheca Grseca", X, 760-786); to whom Gib- bon: "Renaudot has restored the identity of his per- son, and the duplicity of his character" (" Decline and Fall", Ixviii, note 41. For Renaudot's work see bibh- ography below). Scholarius entered the monastery "of the Almighty" (toO IfavToKpiTopos) under Con- stantine XI (1448-1453) and took, according to the invariable custom, a new name — Gennadius. Before the fall of the city he was already well known as a bitter opponent of the union. He and Marcus Eugen- icus were the leaders of the anti-Latin party. In 1447, Marcus on his death-bed praised Gennadius's ir- reconcilable attitude towards the Latins and the union (P. G., CLX, 529). It was to Gennadius that the an- gry people went after seeing the Uniat services in the great church of Santa Sophia. It is said that he hid himself, but left a notice on the door of his cell: " O unhappy Romans, why have you forsaken the truth? Why do you not trust in God, instead of in the ItaUans? In losing your faith you will lose your city", and so on (quoted by Gibbon, ibid., ed. Burv, VII, 176).

As soon as the massacre of 29 May, 1453, was over, when Mohammed the conqueror thought of reorganiz- ing the now subject Christians, he was naturally anx- ious to put an end to any sort of alliance between them and the Western princes. So he sent for this Genna- dius because he was one of the chief enemies of the union, and told liim to be patriarch. The see had been vacant three years, since the resignation of Athana- sius II (1450). On 1 June, 1453, the new patriarch's procession passed through the streets that were still reeking with blood; Mohammed received Gennadius graciously and himself invested him with the signs of his office — the crosier (diKaviKiov) and mantle. This degrading ceremony has continued ever since, ex- cept that now (since the Turks hanged Parthenius III in 1657) the sultan thinks it beneath his dignity, so that it is performed by the grand vizier (Pitzipios, " L'Eglise Orientale ", Rome, 1855, III, S3). Moham- med also arranged with, Gennadius the condition of Orthodox Christians (the so-called " Roman na- tion") in the Turkish Empire, made the patriarch their acknowledged civil head before the Porte and gave him a diploma (called berai) exactly defining his rights and duties. This berat is still given to every patriarch before his consecration (or enthronement). Gennadius, who was not in Holy orders, was then or- dained to each grade. Although he so disliked Latins, he seems to have kept good relations with the sultan. One of the symbolic books of the Orthodox Church is the Confession ('0^0X07(0) made by him to Moham- med, by which he is said to have secured a certain measure of tolerance for his people (see below). As the Santa Sophia had been made into a mosque, he used as his patriarchal church, first that of the Apos- tles (where the emperors were buried), then that of the All-Blessed {riis Tafi/iaKaphrov^the Blessed Virgin). But after two years, in 1456 (Gedeon in his llaTpmpxiKol IKra/tts, Constantinople, 1890; others say it was in 1459), he resigned. It is difficult to give the full reason for this step. It is commonly attributed to his disappointment at the sultan's treat- ment of Christians. On the other hand, Mohammed seems to have kept the fairly tolerant conditions he had allowed to them; various writers hint darkly at other motives (see Michalcescu, op. cit. infra, 13). Gennadius then, like so many of his successors, ended his days as an ex-patriarch and a monk. He lived in the monastery of St. John Baptist at Seres in Mace- donia (north-east of Saloniki), and wrote books till his death in 1468 (Papageorgiu in the " Byzantinische Zeitschrift", III, 315). Gennadius Scholarius fills an important place in Byzantine history. He was the