Paul I of Constantinople

Paul I or Paulus I or Saint Paul the Confessor (died c. 350), sixth bishop of Constantinople, elected first in 337 AD. Paul became involved in the Arian controversy which drew in the Emperor of the West, Constans, and his counterpart in the East, his brother Constantius II. Paul was installed and deposed three times from the See of Constantinople between 337 and 351. He was murdered by strangulation during his third and final exile in Cappadocia. His feast day is on June 7.

Biography

He was a native of Thessalonica, a presbyter of Constantinople, and secretary to the aged bishop Alexander of Constantinople, his predecessor in the see. Both the city and its inhabitants suffered much during the Arian controversies. No sooner had Alexander breathed his last than the Arian and Orthodox parties came into open conflict. The Orthodox party prevailed; in 337 Paul was elected and consecrated by bishops who happened to be at Constantinople in the Church of Peace, close to what was afterwards the Hagia Sophia.^[1]

First exile

The Emperor Constantius II had been away during these events. On his return he was angry at not having been consulted. He summoned a synod of Arian bishops, declared Paul quite unfit for the bishopric, banished him, and transported Eusebius of Nicomedia to Constantinople. This is thought to have been around 339. Paul, seeing himself rendered useless to his flock, while Arianism reigned in the East under the protection of Constantius, took shelter in the West, in the dominions of Constans. He went to Rome where he met Athanasius, who also had been expelled from his see.^[2]

Athanasius of Alexandria was then in exile from Alexandria, Marcellus from Ancyra, and Asclepas from Gaza; with them Paul betook himself to Rome and consulted Pope Julius I, who examined their cases severally, found them all staunch to the creed of Nicaea, admitted them to communion, espoused their cause, and wrote strongly to the bishops of the East. Athanasius and Paul recovered their sees; the Eastern bishops replied to Pope Julius altogether declining to act on his advice.^[1]

Second exile

Paul returned to Constantinople. Eusebius died in 341, and Paul was reinstated as bishop.^[3] The Arians seized the occasion; Theognis of Nicaea, Theodorus of Heraclea, and other heterodox bishops, consecrated bishop Macedonius in the church of St. Paul; and again the city became the prey of a civil war.^[1]

The Emperor Constantius was at Antioch when he heard of this, where he ordered Hermogenes, his general of cavalry, to see that Paul was again expelled. The people would not hear of violence being done to their bishop; they rushed upon the house where the general was, set fire to it, killed him on the spot, tied a rope round his feet, pulled him out from the burning building, and dragged him in triumph round the city.^[1] Constantius was not likely to pass over this rebellion against his authority. He rode on horseback at full speed to Constantinople, determined to make the people suffer heavily for their revolt. They met him, however, on their knees with tears and entreaties, and he contented himself with depriving them of half their allowance of corn, but ordered Paul to be driven from the city.^[1]

Third exile

Paul seems to have retired to Triers, but is back in Constantinople in 344, with letters of recommendation from Constans, the emperor of the West, who wrote to Constantius, that should Paul not receive his patriarchal see, he would attack him. Constantius only allowed Paul's re-establishment for fear of his brother’s arms, and the saint’s situation in the East continued very uneasy, for he had much to suffer from the power and malice of the Arian party.^[3]

Constans died in 350. Constantius, in Antioch, ordered Philippus, prefect of the East, to once more expel Paul and to put Macedonius in his place. At a public bath called Zeuxippus, adjoining a palace by the shore of the Bosphorus, Philippus asked bishop Paul to meet him, as if to discuss some public business. When Paul arrived, he showed him the emperor's letter, and ordered him to be quietly taken through the palace to the waterside, placed on board ship, and carried off to Thessalonica, his native town. Philippus allowed him to visit Illyricum and the remote provinces, but forbade him to set foot again in the East.^[1]

Paul was later loaded with chains and taken to Singara in Mesopotamia, then to Emesa, and finally to Cucusus in Cappadocia.^[1] Here he was confined in a close, dark place, and left to starve to death. After he had passed six days without food, he was, to the great disappointment of his enemies, found alive. Upon which they strangled him, and gave out that he died after a short sickness.

The body of St. Paul was brought to Ancyra in Galatia, and, by the order of Theodosius the Great, was thence translated to Constantinople in 381, about thirty years after his death. It was buried there in the great church built by Macedonius, which from that time was known by no other name than that of St. Paul. 6 His remains were removed to Venice in 1226, where they are kept with great respect in the church of St. Laurence

References

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Sinclair, W. M. (1911). "Paulus I, bishop of Constantinople". In Wace, Henry; Piercy, William C. Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century (third ed.). London: John Murray. sources used by Sinclair:
- Socrates Scholasticus, H. E. ii. 6, etc.
- Sozomenus, H. E. iii. 3, etc.
- Athanasius of Alexandria, Hist. Arian. ad Monach. 275;
- Mansi, Concil. i. 1275.

Titles of the Great Christian Church
Preceded by Alexander Eusebius of Nicomedia Macedonius I	Archbishop of Constantinople 337–339 341–342 346–350	Succeeded by Eusebius of Nicomedia Macedonius I Macedonius I

Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople

Bishops of Byzantium (to 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 (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 Modern period (since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew

^† in exile at Nicaea

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