Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/278

Rh 264 GERMAN US. are unimportant. One of them, which is not now extant, but which Nennius quotes (c. 50), contained an account of the death of the British king, Guor- tigirnus or Vortigern. ( Nennius, Histor. c. 30 — 50 ; Baeda, De Sex Aetat, and Hist. Eccles. Gent Anglor. i. c. 17 — 21, Acta Sanctor. Julii, 31, vol.vii. 7. Of Constantinople, was the son of the patrician Justinian, who was put to death by the emperor Constantine IV. Pogonatus, by whom Ger- manus himself was castrated, apparently on account of his murmurs at his father's death. Germanus was translated A. D. 715 from the archbishoprick of Cyzicus, which he had previously held, to the patri- archal see of Constantinople. About two years after- wards he negotiated the abdication of Theodosius III. in favour of Leo III. the Isaurian, with whom he was subsequently involved in a cpntest on the subject of the use of images in worship. It is pro- bable that some difference between them had com- menced before Germanus was called upon to baptize Constantine, the infant son of Leo, afterwards the emperor Constantine V. Copronymus. The infant polluted the baptismal font (whence his surname), and the angry patriarch declared prophetically that gion through him." Germanus vehemently opposed the iconoclastic measures of Leo ; and his pertina- cious resistance occasioned his deposition, A. n. 730. He was succeeded by Anastasius, an oppo- nent of images, and the party of the Iconoclasts ob- tained a temporary triumph. Germanus died A. d. 740. He was anathematised at a council of the Iconoclasts held at Constantinople A. d. 754, in the reign of Constantine Copronymus; but after the overthrow of that party he was regarded with reverence, and is reckoned both by the Latin and Greek churches as a confessor. Several works of Germanus are extant. 1. Hepl Toiu dy'uav olKou/jLcuiKoiv (rvvodcvv iroffai elai, Kal TTOTC Kal 8io ri avvr]6poiadriaav Of the Getieral Councils; how many they are, and when, and on what account tlvey were assembled. This work, in an imperfect form, and without the author's name, was, with the Nomocanon of Photius, published by Christopher Justellus, 4to. Paris, 1615 : it is also contained in the BihliotJieca Canonica of Henry Justellus ; but was first given in a complete foiin, and with the author's name, in the Varia Sacra of Le Moyne. 2. Epistolae. Three letters addressed to different bishops, are in the Acta of the Second Nicene, or Seventh General Council, held A. D. 787. 3. Homiliae, included in the Collection of Pantinus (8vo. Antwerp, 1601) ; the Auctarium of Ducaeus, torn. ii. ; and the Novum Auctarium, and the Originum rerumque Constantinopolitanurum Manipulus of Combefis. Latin versions of them are in the various editions of the Bibliotlieca Patrum. 4. A work mentioned by Photius, but now lost, against those who disparaged or corrupted the writings of Gregory Ny ssen. 5. Commentaries on the writings of the pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita. (Theo- phan. Chronog. vol. i. pp. 539, 599—630 ; Phot. BibL cod. 233 ; Zonaras, xiv. 20 ; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vii. p. 10, vol. viii p. 84, vol.xi. pp. 155 — 162 ; C&ye,Hist.Litt.vol.l p. 62 l,ed. Oxford, 1740—43.) 8. Of Constantinople, the younger, was born at Anaplus on the Propontis, and before his eleva- tion to the patriarchate (a. d. 1222) was a monk of piety and learning. Though counted in the suc- cession of the Greek patriarchs of Constantinople, GERMANUS. he discharged the functions of his office at Nice, in Bithynia, Constantinople itself being then in the hands of the Latins. He was anxious for the union of the Greek and Latin churches, and wrote to the pope Gregory IX. a letter, of which a Latin version is included among the letters of that pope, and is given, with the version of a letter of Ger- manus to the cardinals, and the pope's answer, by Matthew Paris. (Historia Major, p. 457, &c., ed. Wats, fol. Lond. 1640.) The letters are assigned by Matthew Paris to the year 1237, instead of 1232, which is their proper date. The emperor Joannes Ducas Vataces was also favourable to the union, and a conference was held in his presence by Germanus and some ecclesiastics sent by the pope. A council on the subject was afterwards held (a. d. ] 233) at Nymphaea, in Bithynia, but it came to nothing. Oudin affirms that after the failure of this negotiation, Germanus became as hostile to the Romish church as he had before been friendly. According to Cave and Oudin, Germanus was deposed A. D. 1240, restored in 1254, and died shortl}' after ; and their statement is confirmed by Nicephorus Gregoras {Hist. Byzant. iii. 1, p. 55, ed. Bonn), who says that he died a little before the election of Theodore Lascaris II., in a. d. 1254 or 1255. According to other statements, founded on a passage in George Acropolita, c. 43, Germanus died A. D. 1239 or 1240. The writings of Germanus are very numerous, and comprehend, 1. Epistolae. Beside those pub- lished in the Historia Major of Matthew Paris, there are two. Ad Cyprios, in the Monumenta Ec' cles. Graec. of Cotelerius, vol. i. p. 462. 2. Ora- tiones, and Homiliae. These are published, some in the Homiliae Sacrae of David Hoeschelius ; others in the Auctarium of Ducaeus, vol. ii., in the Auctarium of Combefis, vol. i., in the collection of Gretser De Cruce, vol. ii., and in the Originum Re- rumque CPolitanarum Manipidus of Combefis, and in some editions of the Bibliotlieca Patrum. 3. De- creta. Three of these are published in the Jus Graeco-Roma7ium of Leunclavius,lib. iii. p. 232, and in the Jus Orientate of Bonefidius. 4. Idiomelum in Festum Annunciationis, in the Auctarium of Com- befis. 5. Rerum Ecclesiasticarum Theoria, or Ex- positio in Liturgiam, given in Greek and Latin in the Auctarium of Ducaeus and the Graec. Eccles. Monum. of Cotelerius. There is some difficulty in distinguishing his writings from those of the elder Germanus of Constantinople. Many of his works are unpublished. Fabricius gives an enume- ration of them. (Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. xi. p. 162 ; Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. ii. p. 289 ; Oudin, De Script. Ecc. vol. iii. col. 52, &c.) 8. Of Constantinople, was bishop of Adria- nople, and a friend of the emperor Michael Palaeo- logus, at whose solicitation he was elected patriarch of Constantinople by a synod held A. D. 1267- He unwillingly accepted the office ; and resigned it within a few months, and retired to a monastery, in consequence of the opposition made to his ap- pointment, either on the ground of some irregu- larity in his translation, or more probably of bis holding the patriarchate, while his deposed pre- decessor, Arsenius, was living. He was a learned man, of mild disposition, polished manners, and irreproachable morals. He was afterwards one of the ambassadors of the emperor to the fourteenth General Council, that of Lyon (a. d. 1277), and there supported the union of the Greek and Latin
 * ' much evil would come to the church and to reli-