John Scholasticus

John Scholasticus
John Scholasticus
Patriarch of Constantinople
Installed	12 April 565
Term ended	31 August 577
Predecessor	Eutychius of Constantinople
Successor	Eutychius of Constantinople
Personal details
Born	Sirimis, Cynegia, near Antioch
Denomination	Chalcedonian Christianity

John Scholasticus or Scholastikos^[1] (Greek: Ἰωάννης Γ' ό Σχολαστικός; c. 503 – 31 August 577) was the 32nd patriarch of Constantinople from 12 April 565 until his death on 31 August 577. He is also regarded as a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Life

He was born at Sirimis, in the region of Cynegia, near Antioch. There was a flourishing college of lawyers at Antioch, where he entered and did himself credit. This was suppressed in 533 by Emperor Justinian I. John was ordained and became agent and secretary of his church. This would bring him into touch with the court at Constantinople. When Justinian I, towards the close of his life, tried to raise the sect of the Aphthartodocetae to the rank of Orthodoxy and determined to expel Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople for his opposition, the able lawyer-ecclesiastic of Antioch, who had already distinguished himself by his great edition of the canons, was chosen to carry out the imperial will.

He was also credited for methodical classification of Canon law, the Digest of Canon Law. Following some older work which he mentions in his preface, he abandoned the historical plan of giving the decrees of each council in order and arranged them on a philosophical principle, according to their matter. The older writers had sixty heads, but he reduced them to fifty.

To the canons of the councils of Nicaea, Ancyra, Neocaesarea, Gangra, Antioch, Ephesus, and Constantinople, already collected and received in the Greek church, John added 89 "Apostolic Canons", the 21 of Sardica, and the 68 of the canonical letter of Basil. Writing to Photios I of Constantinople, Pope Nicholas I cites a harmony of the canons which includes those of Sardica, which could only be that of John. When John came to Constantinople, he edited the Nomocanon, an abridgment of his former work, with the addition of a comparison of the imperial rescripts and civil laws (especially the Novels of Justinian) under each head. Theodore Balsamon cites this without naming the author, in his notes on the first canon of the Quinisext Council. In an MS. of the Paris library, the Nomocanon is attributed to Theodoret, but in all others to John. Theodoret would not have inserted the "apostolical canons" and those of Sardica, and the style has no resemblance to his. In 1661 these two works were printed at the beginning of vol. ii of the Bibliotheca Canonica of Justellus, at Paris. Photios (Cod. lxxv.) mentions his catechism, in which he established the teaching of the consubstantial Trinity, saying that he wrote it in 568, under Emperor Justin II and that it was afterwards attacked by the impious John Philoponus. Johann Albert Fabricius considers that the Digest or Harmony and the Nomocanon are probably rightly assigned to John.

Little is known of his episcopal career. Seven months after his appointment Justinian I died. The new emperor, Justin II, was crowned by the patriarch, on 14 November 565.

He organized a compromise between the Chalcedonians and Non-Chalcedonians in 567, and temporarily reunited the two sects in 571.

John died shortly before Justin II in 577.

Original citations

Johann Albert Fabricius, xi, 101; xii, 146, 193, 201, 209; Evagrius Scholasticus, H. E., iv, 38, v. 13, Patrologia Graeca lxxxvi, pt. 2; Theophanes the Confessor Chronogr. 204, etc., Patrologia Graeca, cviii; Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos, iii, 455; Patrologia Graeca, cxlvii; Victor of Tunnuna, Patrologia Latina, lxviii, 937; Caesar Baronius, ad. ann., 564; xiv, xxix, 565; xvii, 578; 5, Patr. Constant, in Acta Sanctorum August, I, p. * 67.

Notes and references

^ Viscuso, Patrick (2007) [2006]. Orthodox canon law - a casebook for study (2nd ed.). Berkeley, California: Inter Orthodox Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-935317-16-6..

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Sinclair, W. M. (1911). "Joannes Scholasticus, bishop of Constantinople". In Wace, Henry; Piercy, William C. (eds.). Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century (3rd ed.). London: John Murray.

Titles of Chalcedonian Christianity
Preceded by Eutychius	Patriarch of Constantinople 565 – 577	Succeeded by Eutychius

[:2-1] Viscuso, Patrick (2007) [2006]. Orthodox canon law - a casebook for study (2nd ed.). Berkeley, California: Inter Orthodox Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-935317-16-6..

[1]

v t e Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal

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