Dionysius IV of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	8 November 1671 – 25 July 1673 29 July 1676 – 29 July 1679 10 July 1682 – 30 March 1684 end of March 1686 – 17 October 1687 August 1693 – April 1694
Predecessor	Parthenius IV of Constantinople, James of Constantinople, Callinicus II of Constantinople
Successor	Gerasimus II of Constantinople, Athanasius IV of Constantinople, Parthenius IV of Constantinople, James of Constantinople, Callinicus II of Constantinople
Personal details
Born	unknown Istanbul
Died	23 September 1696 Târgoviște

Dionysius IV Mouselimes (Greek: Διονύσιος Μουσελίμης; died 23 September 1696) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople for five times, in 1671–73, 1676–79, 1682–84, 1686–87, and 1693–94.

Life

He was born in Istanbul, where he grew up. He studied at the Phanar Greek Orthodox College and worked as an administrative officer at the Patriarchate. On 9 August 1662 he was elected bishop of Larissa, where he remained until 1671, when he was first elected Patriarch of Constantinople. After serving his first term as Patriarch of Constantinople, Dionysius was appointed the Metropolitan of Philippopolis (Plovdiv).^[1]

During his second term, in 1678 Dionysius merged eparchies of Gothia and Caffa in Crimea on decision of the Holy Synod.^[1]

After his second term as Patriarch of Constantinople, from 1676 to 1679, he settled in Wallachia, a historical region of Romania, while serving another term at the eparchy of Philippopolis.^[1] Dionysius was in conflict with Patriarch James, Patriarch of Constantinople from 1679 to 1682, whom he forced to resign in 1682. After his third term (1682–84), when Parthenius IV (1684–85) was restored for his fourth time, he moved to Chalcedon until 1686. He returned to Constantinople on 7 April 1686 and overthrew James again, who was restored for the first time (1685–86). He wrote letters to the Patriarch of Moscow which effectively established the Metropolis of Kiev (Patriarchate of Moscow). James retaliated by offering a large sum to the Grand Vizier and overthrew Dionysius on 17 October 1687.

He was imprisoned by the Ottoman Turks twice, in 1679, and from 1687 until 1688. After his final removal from the patriarchal throne in 1694, he retired in Bucharest, Romania. Dionysius died on 23 September 1696 at Târgoviște in Wallachia and was buried in Radu Vodă Monastery, a Romanian Orthodox monastery in Bucharest, where he lived his last years.

During his time of patriarchy he dealt with many religious and political subjects including the position of the Orthodox church against the Protestant confessions and Calvinist theologians.

References

Sources

List of Patriarchs on the official website of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Preceded byParthenius IV Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1671–1673 Succeeded byGerasimus II Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1676–1679 Succeeded byAthanasius IV Preceded byJames Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1682–1684 Succeeded byParthenius IV Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1686–1687 Succeeded byJames Preceded byCallinicus II Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1693–1694 Succeeded byCallinicus II

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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Life

See also

References

Sources