Cosmas II of Constantinople
{{Short description|Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1146 to 1147}}
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{{Infobox Christian leader
| name = Cosmas II of Constantinople
| image =
| caption =
| church = Church of Constantinople
| archbishop_of = Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
| term = April 1146 – 26 February 1147
| predecessor = Michael II of Constantinople
| successor = Nicholas IV of Constantinople
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Aegina, Greece
| death_date = After 1147
| death_place =
| religion = Eastern Orthodoxy
}}
Cosmas II of Constantinople (Atticus {{langx|el|{{lang|grc|Κοσμᾶς ὁ Ἀττικός}}}}; died after 1147) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from April 1146 until 26 February 1147. He was born in Aegina, in Greece, and was a deacon of Hagia Sophia before his ascension, after Michael II of Constantinople abdicated. He was highly respected for his learning and for his holy character.John Kinnamos (1976), The Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus, Columbia University Press, p. 56. Cosmas II reigned during the rule of Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ec-patr.org/list/index.php??lang=gr&id=111 |script-title=el:Κοσμᾶς Β´ ὁ Ἀττικός |publisher=Ecumenical Patriarchate |language=el |access-date=24 December 2011}}
Deposition
Cosmas II was condemned and deposed on 26 February 1147 by a synod held at the Palace of Blachernae because of indulgence in relation to the monk Niphon, a condemned Bogomil since 1144, whom he received in his home and at his table.Lysimachos Oeconomos, La vie religieuse dans l'empire byzantin au temps des Comnènes et des Anges, 1918, réédition 1972, pp. 44–45.
The exact reasons for the conviction and deposition of Cosmas II are not clearly established; perhaps he was the victim of political intrigue.Dimitri Obolensky, A study in Balkan Neo-Manichaeism, « Byzantine Bogomilism », Cambridge University Press, 1948, pp. 221–222. It is clear however that Emperor Manuel I intervened directly in forming the Synod that deposed Cosmas II, interviewing personally those who accused him, and testing Cosmas II directly on his opinions of the heretical Niphon.{{The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos|page=277}} This affair is typical both of the doctrinal controversies common in the reign of Manuel I and also of the Emperor's readiness to become actively involved in them.Joan M. Hussey (1986), The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire, Oxford University Press, p. 151.
Notes and references
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{{succession box
| before = Michael II
| title = Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
| years = 1146 – 1147
| after = Nicholas IV
}}
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{{Patriarchs of Constantinople}}
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Category:12th-century patriarchs of Constantinople
Category:Officials of Manuel I Komnenos
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